Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25 – Quick Summary
In The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25, “He Who Pulls the Strings,” Alpha planned to deal with an assassin entering the store. But a surprise member of Shadow Garden stepped in to take care of things – Gamma! Will she defend the store – or destroy it? Meanwhile, Yukime shows off her first batch of counterfeit bills to John Smith (a.k.a. Cid). She’s proud of her team’s work – until Cid points out an obvious problem. Or is it?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25
When even your misfires can wreck buildings, you don’t really need precision. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
You know that noise Gamma makes when she trips? The noise right before she hits the ground? I could listen to that all day, and it wouldn’t get old. I enjoy the time we get to spend with her. We all know how any given scene is going to end — with her face down. But she throws herself into each scene with such gusto that she always entertains me.
Like she did with my favorite quote. She faced off against the strongest of Gettan’s Clovers. He thought he’d make quick work of the elegantly dressed Gamma (wearing high heels – who fights in high heels?). The guy was most decidedly wrong.
He could tell seconds into the fight that he was in trouble. His best hope for survival was when she tripped for the first time. But she rallied and recalled the words of her mentor and master. Yeah, she remembered what a bored, younger version of Cid had told her.
Given her ridiculously high magical stats, making his advice up even as he spoke it, Cid had given her words to fight by – which she relayed to the doomed Clover and us.
“Jam a lot of magical energy into it and hack away!” she said in a wildly happy and excited voice (06:09).
And, boy oh boy, did she follow his instructions! It’ll take them weeks to replace the entire side of the building that she destroyed. And I’m not sure if that Clover is dead or alive. Well, he asked for it!
Favorite Moment from The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25
Rose is strong – she’s just comparing herself to the wrong person. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Setup: Keeping OP Interesting
I’m still chuckling over Gamma’s battle. Alpha and Nu’s reaction to the aftermath, too. At least I think it was Nu – I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it’s hard for me to tell some of the characters apart!
This show likes to take the idea of an immensely overpowered character – Cid – and how they interact with the world. He might be the most OP character I can think of. Sure, Anos Voldigoad’s power is a running joke, to the point where death itself is a minor annoyance. But Cid? His every utterance warps the fabric that his spacetime so that no matter what BS he spouts, it comes true.
Even when he’s wrong.
That’s some serious power. And in the wrong narrative hands, it could become boring fast. But I’ll say this for The Eminence in Shadow: I haven’t been bored yet. I could just say it comes down to Daisuke Aizawa’s creativity, and leave it at that. But I want to give you a little more to go on. So, I present to you my favorite moment.
Rose saw the thread before 664 and 665 did. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
Of course, Shadow Garden would be the first to investigate the counterfeit bills. Of course, John Smith was waiting for them. And of course they were absolutely no match for him. So far, pretty predictable, right? Sure, it was funny when 664 thought she would be all clever and cut John Smith’s threads – only to have her knife shatter. “It’s kind of unbreakable!” number 665 announced in shock.
We need to give credit to Rose (a.k.a. 666), though. She noticed the threads before the others. Rose also remained free long enough to launch an attack. She even got close to John Smith before he stopped her. Did she really have a chance? No – and that was the point. But she got closer than the other two. By far.
Delivery: Rose, Following in Éowyn’s Footsteps
Rose proved her bravery and her intelligence at the end of the previous season. She’s a capable woman, who’s been through rigorous training. Against most humans, especially anyone outside of Shadow Garden, she’s more than a match. She’s even been training with Shadow Garden. I would have thought that would boost her confidence.
And maybe it did. Until she went up against John Smith and got shrugged aside. She didn’t know that was Lord Shadow. Rose didn’t know she had been pitted against someone whose words warped reality. She only knew that she went up against someone who just looked like some guy – kinda a mundane man, if you get my drift.
Rose wasn’t ready to give up – though by now, she realized she stood no chance against John Smith. Capture from the HIDIVE stream.
As she stood with 664 and 665 staring at the train as it sped away, in a dejected voice, she said (22:05), “Why am I so weak?” The snow beginning to fall as she said those words fit the moment perfectly.
That damn near broke my heart. Seeing that capable, proud woman reduced so seemed wrong. It seemed tragic. It seemed like a creative consequence of going up against an OP character – and showing us another way such a character can interact with his environment and the characters around him. It’s one of the things that keeps bringing me back to the show. That, and Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta!
What did you think of Cid’s meeting with Yukime? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Season 2 • The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 – Episode 5 discussion
- The Otaku Author: The Eminence in Shadow (Episode 25) – He Who Pulls the Strings
- Otaku Sinh: When No One Knows What The Other Knows.. It Leads To? The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 5 [Review]
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 21: The Lawless City
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 22: The Haven
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 23: The Hour of Awakening
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 24: The Mask of Falsehood
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 25: He Who Pulls the Strings
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 26: John Smith
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 27: Something Precious
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 28: The Dragon’s Tears
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 29: The Key
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 30: The Caged Bird
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 31: Determination
- The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 32: Highest
One thing I knew for sure was that Cid couldn’t quite tell them apart, and was doing his usual BS pretending to know, which of course impressed Yukime.
What I wasn’t so sure of was whether Yukime herself knew the difference!
I’m also glad that while she’s now in the Shadow Garden fold, Rose still has a strong independent streak. 664 and 665 aren’t enough to hold her back! I too was sad that she felt like she was weak … she really isn’t, compared to most humans!
I’m not sure about Yukime, either. I think she _thought_ she could tell them apart. But I think it was intentionally ambiguous.
Rose is a bit difficult to control, and I like that about her. I think she’d be considered strong even within Shadow Garden; it’s really too bad she unknowingly compared herself to Cid.
I loved it how everyone knew there was a fake note, but once they were side by side no one could tell which one was the fake and which was the real one.
That’s the real terror of governments managing an economy: someone comes up with counterfeits so real, they’re indistinguishable! This episode was really subtle (or maybe not so much!) in how they approached that angle.