Quick Summary
In To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 07, “The Trigger of Memories,” Nancy Schaal Bancroft makes a surprisingly fast recovery, and it is related to something Elizabeth Weezer did. Was it intentional? Accidental? Schaal makes her way back to her town, but everyone’s strangely distant. It doesn’t get any better when Claude, Liza Renecastle, and a company of soldiers show up. They’re tracking an Incarnate that was spotted nearby. Liza volunteers Schaal to be their guide. What she finds tests everything Schaal thinks she knows — and inflicts yet more pain on the resilient young woman.
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Best Moment in the Show
Talk about a cruel twist of fate. She had a chance to see her father again, but he was in the form of an insane zombie dragon. It almost sounds funny, but Schaal wasn’t laughing. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Schaal’s had a rough way to go, hasn’t she? She had to watch her father go insane, then get shot in the head by Hank Henriette. She tried to kill Hank, only to end up tailing him to learn why he had to kill the other Incarnates. As she was coming to grips with what she had learned, Cain Madhouse and his minions kidnapped her, dressed her in a spider-silk gown, and shot her in front of Hank, just to drive him insane. And in this episode, she got to meet her father again. Only he was in the form of a zombie dragon.
Claude’s company tried to kill the beast, and they actually managed to blow off one of its wings. Now, it could no longer fly, but it still shambled towards Schaal’s hometown. How does one kill a zombie dragon? Earlier in the episode, Liza had given Schaal a box of Incarnate-killing bullets, so Schaal thought she knew how.
But zombie or not, the dragon was her father.
She and Liza had tried to convince the townspeople to evacuate. Some did; others argued; and then the dragon appeared, wreathed in flames, and the already confused situation exploded into chaos. Schaal was frozen, unable to decide what to do. She remembered her father’s words, just before he left for the war: “This is my time to pull the trigger” (16:59).
Properly presented (as it was here), a single moment of decision can be powerful and dramatic. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Liza called out to her as she raced past, towards the dragon. The dragon didn’t recognize her. She realized that he’d lost his soul, and suddenly she recalled how Hank had spoken of his mission to kill the Incarnates before they completely lost their humanity. In that moment, she completely understood.
She pulled the hammer back on her rifle and raised it to her shoulder.
As she struggled to pull the trigger, her love for her father still warring with her, she recalled more of his words. This time, she remembered how he had told her that if she went hunting, he knew she’d be able to pull the trigger if she had to.
Tears in her eyes, she pulled the trigger (18:10).
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts took its time and laid the foundation for this moment. And poor Schaal, who’s such a kind-hearted young woman, will never be the same.
What did you think of the zombie dragon? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Other Posts about This Series
Other Anime Sites
This Site (Crow's World of Anime!)
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 01 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 02 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 03 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 04 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 05 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 06 – Best In Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 07 – Best in Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 08 – Best in Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 09 – Best in Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 10 – Best in Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 11 – Best in Show
- Review: To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts Episode 12 – Best in Show
