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The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9 – Quick Summary
In The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9, “The End of a Lie,” Cid helped Sherry finish her work on the artifact that would control the Eye of Avarice. Saying she didn’t need him anymore, Cid let her travel the tunnels alone. From there, she found her way into the auditorium. Would the artifact work the way she expected? Meanwhile, where did Cid go? Would he be able to make the grand entrance he hoped for? And is Nu safe pretending to be a captive student so we can feed intel to Shadow Garden?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9
Cid knows how to make an entrance! Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
My favorite quote was actually going to be my favorite moment. Until my favorite moment happened. More on that in a minute.
I admire Cid’s attention to detail. He prepared the set for his arrival. When he crashed through the ceiling and protected Princess Rose, he was the model of composure. His cape flowed just so; his swordsmanship was impeccable.
But he wasn’t content making an entrance alone. He held up his sword and said (08:30), “We are Shadow Garden.”
And in perfect unison, all of the assembled women of Shadow Garden said, “We lurk in the shadows. We hunt the shadows.”
Why make an individual entrance when you can arrive with a high-powered army? That’s obviously more impressive!
Favorite Moment from The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9
I did not expect this level of authentic drama. But I sure enjoyed it! Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Setup: Near Favorite Moments Built on Each Other
This show just shocked me. The first eight episodes got me to the point where I can almost see where Cid’s coming from. He’s out there, in that he’s living a trope-driven fantasy, and somehow, the world goes along for the ride.
He’s shown he’s beyond the temptations of this world. Carnal desires? Alpha made her intention very clear back in episode 4. She couldn’t get his attention. Some of the most powerful villains power up to their full form, even in this episode? Cid played the nuclear card in episode 5 just to show how far he was beyond all of them.
But in this episode? This episode showed us something different. As Luthern Barnett went on and on about his evil plot, Cid listened absently. At one point he asked the guy to hurry it along. Something changed, though, after Barnett described how he murdered Sherry’s mom right in front of her.
Cid asked him point blank if he had used Sherry “for his your own selfish ends.”
Cid said he wasn’t sure. I think that was because he wasn’t used to caring for someone else. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Barnett sensed the change. He asked if he had made Cid angry.
Cid answered that he wasn’t sure. I got the sense he was being totally honest. Cid almost seemed a little surprised he had even asked the question. But it didn’t change what was about to happen. Barnett attacked and seemed to kill Cid. An instant later, Shadow showed up.
Did you notice something about the fight? Cid usually puts an enemy down with a flashy move, or maybe an overwhelmingly powerful move. Here, he recreated the torture that Barnett had put Sherry’s mother through.
Yeah, I think how Barnett used Sherry did, in fact, piss Cid off.
Delivery: Cid Protected Sherry’s Memories of her Father
Then came the moment when Sherry walked in one the end of the fight in time to see Shadow brutally kill the man she thought of as her father. Cid thought about telling her the truth. You could even see him hesitate. But he kept quiet. He did so for two reasons, I think. First, it fit the Eminence in Shadow persona. More importantly, though, I think he wanted to spare her from knowing the truth of what her “father” had done.
Even if that act meant he knew she would brand Shadow and Shadow Garden as her enemy.
All of that directly set up my favorite moment. Cid and Sherry were about to part ways. She told him she was going to study somewhere else, and that she had a mission. That mission would require her to learn a lot more. When he asked what the mission was, her face went through some heart-rending expressions before she told him it was a secret.
Sherry’s in a very dark place by the end of this episode. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
As she drove off, Cid paused. He looked up, slightly away from the camera, at the clouds overhead (22:15).
That’s not the level of subtly-presented drama I expected from this show. Maybe I found it so effective because I didn’t expect it! Whatever the reason, the fact that Sherry had become someone important to him, and the fact it bothered him that she would consider him an enemy when she learned the truth, really hit home. The clarity of the feelings evoked at Cid’s slight gesture, just of him looking at the clouds, shocked me.
This show’s delivering some serious entertainment!
What did you think of Barnett burning down the school? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! | The Eminence in Shadow – Episode 9 discussion
- RABUJOI: The Eminence in Shadow – 09 – Doing What They Must
- OTAKU SINH: A Believable Tragedy.. The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9 [Review]
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 1: The Hated Classmate
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 2: Shadow Garden is Born
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 3: Fencer Ordinaire
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 4: Sadism’s Rewards
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 5: I Am
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 6: Pretenders
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 7: A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 8: Dark Knight Academy Under Attack
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 9: The End of a Lie
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 10: The Sacred Land, City of Deception
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 11: The Goddess’ Trial
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 12: The Truth Within the Memories
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 13: A Bloody Showdown as an Offering to Annihilation
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 14: Your Life, Your Wish
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 15: The Strongest Weakest Man
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 16: Unseen Intentions
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 17: The Moonlight That Pierces the Darkness
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 18: Betting on a Moment
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 19: Dancing Puppet
- The Eminence in Shadow Episode 20: Advent of the Demon
What’s interesting is Shadow’s response to Lutheran’s evil plan. Lutheran intended to have the “good guys” Shadow Garden be painted as villain but what did they do that make themselves out to be good? They slaughter people by the dozens, they nuke an entire block without caring about lives getting caught in the blast and one of them(Nu) seems to be intent on killing a seemingly innocent knight.
From Shadow’s perspective, Lutheran is trying to make them care about the world who they always saw as collateral damage. Even if Cid’s misinterpreting the situation, he has a point. The world did nothing but make young girls like Alpha, Beta, Nu to suffer so they have no obligation to be sad if thousands of people are crying and screaming from their actions.
The show presents a world that I find more difficult than most to understand. And I’m not convinced I’m right about the parts I do understand!
Given I think the show continues to be internally self-consistent, I’m enjoying the ride. But I’m still bothered by that nuclear blast, for example. I can try to convince myself that somehow, Shadow Garden relied on Iris’s people to evacuate it. Alpha did warn her, though cryptically. And Alexia survived. Still, I don’t really have any evidence anyone did anything to save the townsfolk who lived within the blast radius.
That lends an interesting air of uncertainty to the show.
Would Sherry have believed him if he told her the truth about her father? I have doubts.
True, she wouldn’t have believed if he’d simply told her. Certainly not right then. That’s another surprise this episode gave me, as I’d have expected her to be there to overhear that smug little confession, or something in that vein. But, still, the choice to simply withhold the truth from her is still worse than telling her. Heck, the episode was entitled “End of the Lie,” or something like that, but the lie is still going strong.
Good point. From her perspective, it looked exactly like the same guy who had killed her mom now killed her dad.
I really feel bad for Sherry.
No matter how much layers he puts on his mentalscape, he can’t bury his humanity.
Which is a hopeful statement, think!
This went in SUCH a different direction than I would have ever guessed! I mean, they just ensured that Sherry will absolutely make it her lifelong quest to DESTROY Shadow, making her a prime ally of the Cult. I absolutely disagree with Shadow about it being better for Sherry to keep believing the lie. Truth may be painful, but it does not ensnare, poison, corrode, and destroy as lies do, and if Sherry does evil and hurts Cid’s girls and possibly gets herself killed as well, all because she still believes a lie… well, that will be far more tragic than simply telling her the truth.
Cid himself is confusing me a bit. We’ve seen him be a sociopath, not caring if the princess was killing people, and he’s killed people without remorse as well. We’ve seen him be more of a psychopath as well, with the whole classroom of corpses arranged all to frighten one guy for one instant before he’s killed. And now this flash of righteous anger for Sherry’s mother, and his stone-cold demeanor afterward, even leaving Sherry behind in a burning building. He’s like a cornucopia of madness, and his followers treat him practically like their god.
I didn’t expect it to take the direction it did, either! But it all worked, from a narrative perspective.
Though Sherry is the clear loser here.
I’m with you on the implications of not being honest with Sherry. At fight, I thought Cid was trying to spare her feelings. I think he’s shown more affection for her than most people in his life (though I could be wrong). But after thinking about it for awhile, I wonder: did Cid really do it because he thought the story of a tragic innocent who became his nemesis was cool?
I hope not; but I’m inclined to think that might have been the reason.
“cornucopia of madness” I like that! It’s descriptive and to the point. And as far as his followings worshiping him: how often have we see that happen in history? Too often, I think.
Half the time, even when I’m laughing at this show, I’m cringing, too!
Yeesh, I forgot about how Cid sees and considers everything based on the story around his delusion, but now you’ve mentioned it, it makes an uncomfortable amount of sense.