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Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11 – Brutal Aerial Battle and Shortsightedness

Quick Summary of Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11

In Saga of Tanya the Evil episode 11, “Resistance,” Tanya Degurechaff’s companies face off against their most deadly enemy yet: the resurrected Colonel Anson Sioux and a battalion of Allied Kingdom mages. Can even Tanya stand up against one of Being X’s chosen ones? Meanwhile, the strategy unveiled in the last episode pays off for the Empire, and they win the battle. Is the enemy really defeated though? Or Is history about to repeat itself — with a lull like our world saw between WWI and WWII? Is an even greater conflict waiting just around the corner?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious!

What’s In This Post

Quick Episode Summary
What Happened in this Episode
What I Liked in this Episode
What I Liked Not so Much in this Episode
Thoughts about the Episode
Related Posts

What Happened in Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11

Tanya, Seeing Her Battalion Is Outnumbered, Charged

Despite being terribly outnumbered, Tanya orders her mages to attack. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

As we saw in the last episode, an Allied Kingdom battalion of mages, led by the resurrected Colonel Sioux, attacks Tanya’s troops. Outnumbered, Tanya realizes that running won’t help, so she orders a charge. Sioux prayers that he be granted the power to eliminate the Devil of the Rhine, and his eye glows yellow.

Tanya’s companies acquit themselves well, but the enemy has overwhelmingly superior numbers, so Tanya retreats into a cloud bank to regroup. Using her tremendous speed advantage, she launches herself through the center of the enemy’s line until she meets Sioux. Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov tries to keep up to provide cover and they manage to evade Being X’s chosen one. The longer the battle goes on, the more of Tanya’s troops fell, until she sees First Lieutenant Matheus Johan Weiss about to fly into an ambush.

She chants her prayer until her eyes, too, glow yellow, and she’s granted enhanced power. She pushes Weiss aside only to find herself locked, alone, in a dogfight with Sioux. They end up so close together that she can kick the gun out of his hand. She plunges her knife into his chest. But that’s not enough to kill her foe. Using his overwhelming physical strength, he grabs her and prepares to self-destruct. He’s too strong; she can’t get free. It takes Viktoriya shooting him from behind to loosen his grip.

Tanya Turns Sioux’s Own Gun against Him

Pulling the gun she had taken from him before from her backpack, she empties the clip into Sioux. Yet even then, he wasn’t done. He completes the self-destruct sequence, engulfing both himself and Tanya in an enormous explosion. The Allied Kingdom sees the Empire’s reinforcements coming, and they retreat. Viktoriya’s relieved when she hears Tanya coughing, having suffered only minor injuries. Most of her troops, even Grantz, somehow managed to survive. They return to base.

Colonel Sioux is nothing if not tenacious. One might say almost possessed. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The Empire’s forces destroy the last resistance remaining on the battlefield. They begin celebrating their victory. The Empire’s army marches through the streets of Paris after the Republican troops evacuate. Hans von Zettour and his staff’s next meeting with the business men and politicians has a completely different tone than before. This time, everyone’s jubilant. The military says they will not interfere with the private sector’s quest for reparations. Everyone seems done with the war; they’re making plans for the peace afterward.

On her way to her office, Tanya sees three bullies beating up on a child. The child, undaunted, declares that he’ll never forgive the bullies. Later, she’s reading a newspaper declaring victory when Viktoriya mentions that the Republican navy is withdrawing. Tanya checks a map and sees that the navy isn’t withdrawing; it’s evacuating the army. Tanya decides to attack the port where the navy’s evacuating the army. Unfortunately, theater command won’t cooperate, so she tries to use her orders to test the V-1 rockets as cover. Then, strategic HQ learns of her plan. Desiring peace, they order her to stand down. Knowing what’s to come, knowing that she’s doomed to years of war, Tanya falls into despair.

Having heard the order from HQ to stand down, Tanya seethes. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

What I Liked about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11

Tanya’s Development as an Officer

Tanya’s come a long way as an officer. She’s never been given to panic, but I wouldn’t’ve blamed her at the beginning of this episode if she had broken and run. Instead, she immediately launched a counter attack, because that was the best tactic open to her. She’s turned into a clear-thinking advocate for her troops. Bit of a contrast to evil, isn’t it?

The animation hit new levels of fluidity this week, and the sound seemed determined to keep up. I’m not sure what trouble Studio NuT had that forced them to create a filler episode, but they certainly seem to have things under control now.

Tanya, always one to first learn the rules and then dedicate herself to playing by them, took umbrage at Sioux’s using a Trench Gun in aerial combat, which was apparently a treaty violation. I thought that was perfectly in character, and the act of a lawful good actor to boot! Well, I suppose she could technically have been lawful evil, but I think her concern for her troops indicates otherwise.

Tanya was not happy that Sioux was using a weapon outlawed by international treaties. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Tanya’s at a Disadvantage in Close Quarters Combat

As long as she can use magic at a distance, Tanya’s almost unassailable (I say almost, because Sioux certainly pushed her abilities). Yet, as soon as she get within physical reach of a soldier, her child’s body puts her at a terrible disadvantage. If Viktoriya hadn’t fired when she did, Tanya would likely not have survived Sioux’s initial attempt at self destruction. Those little bits of realism keep this show interesting and dramatic.

Tanya tried to protect the Empire — and herself! — from a prolonged conflict. She went to theater command first, and managed to at least convince them not to interfere. Then she tried to use her orders to test the rockets to launch herself at the military port. It took a direct command from HQ to force her to stop. She had to choose between obeying orders and setting herself up for years of war; or face a firing squad for disobeying orders. She chose the former.

What I Liked Less about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11

What did I like less in this episode? Being X! I like Being X less and less every week. What. A. Beast. Jeesh!

Thoughts about Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11

Tanya’s Painful View of History

For it to intentionally put Tanya through all of this — just what kind of cruel and sadistic monster is Being X? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

How terrible must Tanya feel to know how history unfolded in our world and seeing the same conditions play out in her world — and knowing that she’ll be forced to keep fighting, year after year, until her country’s defeated at the hands of the rest of the world?

Knowing that Being X will keep sending soldiers like Sioux after her?

Knowing that Being X, a god who orchestrates events in this world, has her right in his cross-hairs?

I think her reaction at the end was perfectly reasonable in that light. In fact, I have to again compare her approach to the war to Sioux’s. She was willing to let him go until he charged her again in a previous episode. Her goal’s to get through the war so she can live in comfort and peace. Sioux didn’t even contact his family when he came out of his coma. What kind of father or husband does that? I’ll tell you: a father or husband bent on revenge; a father or husband who prioritizes the lust for getting even over comforting his family.

Seems like just the kind of person Being X wants to use against Tanya!

Tanya’s Breakdown is Understandable

Where do we go from here? How can Tanya prevail against a god — especially a cruel and uncaring god? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

This series has gone in a direction I never expected, and it’s held my interest. Seeing Tanya break down at the end was particularly affecting, given her strength and determination. It took a lot to get her to that point! But where’s the story go from here? How does Carlo Zen and the staff writers wrap up this narrative in one more episode?

I can see it going one of two ways:

  1. Being X freezes time as Tanya hits the depth of her despair and gives her one last change to “repent.” Of course, she won’t, so Being X keeps the timeline going and subjects Tanya to the horrors of the next World War and other wars beyond it.
  2. Being X realizes it can’t break Tanya, and it just kills her. No more reincarnations; fade to black.

I don’t particularly like either option, but I’m confident I’m wrong. Why? Like I said earlier, the writers have kept me guessing until now. I’m sure they have some other tricks up their sleeves.

How do you think the series will end? Let me know in the comments!

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3 thoughts on “Saga of Tanya the Evil Episode 11 – Brutal Aerial Battle and Shortsightedness

  1. Thinking about it. What if the Germans in WWII had an opportunity to destroy the naval forces and the troops being evacuated at Dunkirk? The war in the west would have been over rather than just delayed a couple of years. With the British army essentially gone, Churchill could have been given the boot. Britain might have signed an armistice. That means no US invasion in North Africa or Sicily or Normandy. Russia would have stood alone and that might have gone to an armistice as well.

    Tanya was right.

    1. Sounds like you have a good handle on history. The bits I know seem to align with what you’re saying. I’ve read a few alternate histories of WWII that included ideas like what if Germany had not invaded Russia. The world we have, all the benefits of the Marshall Plan, would be quite different.

      It’s sobering to think about how fragile it all is.

Please let me know what you think!

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