Record of Grancrest War: Pandora’s Warning

Warning!

If you haven’t watched the 24th episode of Grancrest Senki…

PLEASE STOP READING THIS POST NOW!

This article is one large spoiler for that episode, and in fact, for the entire series.

If you are at all inclined to watch the show, I think it’s best for you to watch episode 24 before reading this. It won’t ruin the show for you, but it’ll drain away a little of the “Oh, that’s kinda cool” feeling, and I’d hate to see that happen to you!

Pandora’s Warning

If you’re sure you’ve watched episode 24…

So I’m happily watching the last episode of this series, and I’m enjoying myself quite a bit. The first time through, as Theo and Siluca watched Pandora’s warning unfold like something out of the original Star Trek episode City on the Edge of Forever, I was entertained. But as I re-watched it to write my review, I noticed something odd — there were images that I thought I recognized in Pandora’s stream. Then I realized that, “Holy crap, those are images…”

Well, let’s walk through it, okay?

To share my appreciation of what unfolded, here’s my sometimes clumsy attempt to capture the clearest images of the sequence. All captures are from the Crunchyroll stream for episode 24.

We start with a idyllic image of the civilization that existed before the Age of Chaos:

So far, so normal. Nothing of note! Here’s the next image:

Nothing hugely revealing here, though it doesn’t really look like any location we’ve seen in the series so far.

This is where I started to take notice. This looked way too much like something we see on the evening news instead of this series.

I was starting to realize, I think, what Grancrest was trying to tell me.

There’s a reason Sistina looks a lot like Sicily.

There’s a reason the continent looks a lot like Europe.

There’s a reason Mirza looked like a Middle Eastern archetype.

There’s a reason so many of the characters seemed to be based on traits from our world.

Have you guessed yet? The images so far have been pretty suggestive, but I have to admit they weren’t yet conclusive.

I included the image above for completeness; it didn’t tell me much.

Those really look like modern rifles to me. How about you?

A mushroom cloud in the world of Grancrest? Granted, any large explosion could generate one, but still…

Pandora’s blocking a clear view of the tip, but that looks a lot like an ICBM launch. At this point, I was nearly convinced. But the next image pushed me over the proverbial edge. Check it out:

I know Grancrest liked to throw characters at us at a sometimes alarming rate, but I’m absolutely positive they never introduced Albert Einstein. And yet, there he is!

You’ve guessed by now, haven’t you?

If not, maybe something that looks like the construction of the first atomic bomb will help?

How about a shot of the Doomsday Clock?

Not sure what this is. Almost looks orbital… Any guesses?

This has got to clinch it for you. That’s Bill Clinton, a past President of the United States! All this time, Pandora has been showing us images from our past! Grancrest’s world is a future version of ours, after a terrible catastrophe.

I’m not sure what this is, but it looks vaguely sinister and dangerous…

I’m guessing, but this looks like a shot of our future. Maybe it’s the creator of the infinite energy that Pandora mentioned in her monologue?

Pandora showed Theo and Siluca what Earth looked like — I’d guess just beyond the orbit of the moon. Looks quiet and peaceful, doesn’t it?

Here’s what Pandora was trying to warn Theo and Siluca about. The infinite energy source powered a nasty weapon that apparently toasted life on Earth. All this time, the Mage Academy and Pandora were trying to protect Earth from technology!

So how’d all the people in this series come to be? Maybe the Chaos unfurled a parallel Earth? Or restored the biosphere of our Earth?

And now we come to moral of the story! Siluca observes that the stronger humans became, the stronger their light and dark natures became, too. Surprisingly deep, I thought!

Parting Thought

Honestly, I’m pleasantly surprised Grancrest had something like this waiting for us! The idea of parallel Earths, future Earths, post apocalyptic Earths, etc. may not be completely original, but I think it fits this story really well! This idea turns the Mage Academy and Pandora into villains with some depth, and I’m always happy about that.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Other Posts of Interest

• Record of Grancrest War Episode 1: Contract