#like instead of this being Just Wargreymons Helmet

[caramel-mousse]

hehehehehehohoohoho

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 32 arrives! It’s, I gotta say, quite an improvement on what we’ve had lately. Quite an improvement. Even so, it’s nothing that’s gonna rock the world... but hey, I was so desperate for something different to happen that y’know what, I’ll take it.

Pic of the week:

A Digimon who just wants to roll around in the grass. Go’way, baddies.

More below!

So as you probably gather... we start with Takeru this week! Haha! Good riddance Taichi! I luv ya but I’ve had enough of ya! Take a break!

jk I totally missed him the whole thirty seconds he wasn’t on screen

Takeru and Patamon are running for their lives, of course! Patamon makes a valiant effort to evolve to protect Takeru but...

... Poor baby. He gave it the ol’ college try but he just ain’t as young as he used to be.

Things look grim until Komondomon shows up with a creepy disembodied hand sticking out of his fur!

Phew, it’s just Sora. Her brilliant plan to rescue Takeru is to grab his arm and drag him along with them... I mean... sure... Whiplash has been proven Not A Thing in this universe so...

After getting rid of their pursuer, the group checks in with the others. I’m reminded of how silly separations feel when you can just communicate with each other by walkie-talkie. Yamato’s been riding Garurumon for a long time now lol. At least we got to see him...

He sweetly encourages Takeru and tells him the best thing he can do to help Patamon with his evolution issues is be there to support him. Then he tells Taichi “I leave Takeru in your case.” Ok sure, like Sora’s not right there...

Taichi: In my care? Should I point out that I already lost one little sibling to the dark side? Nah...

Seriously, though... that’s the current situation. Taichi is actively going over SkullKnightmon to get Hikari back. If Takeru stays with him that just means Takeru gets to go into danger again too. Of course, it seems that the dark side is suddenly uninterested in Takeru and Patamon so... I guess it’s okay 9_9

We then check in with Mimi! Who is being her awesome Mimi-tastic self. Ugh I love her.

Wondered what happened to Golemon. Turns out there was nothing much to worry about because no one loves a macho boxing match like Tachikawa Mimi. If there’s ever a season where these kids grow up, I hope Mimi is like, a big fan of sumo or something.

Taichi: O... kay... well... Mimi sure is... an intersting person...

Agumon: Hey you should make her your girlfriend!

Taichi: what nOOO BAD IDEA ABORT ABORT

Meanwhile, the situation with Jou is, um, questionable to say the least...

(how is keeping that towel on)

Jou: HEEEEELP!!!

Taichi: ... you didn’t hear anything, did you? Me neither. *closes link*

Finally we check in with Koushirou. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what he says. -__-;

At least we see him get bombed a bit. He’s okay though.

Meanwhile unconscious Patamon gets a visitor from baby angel Lopmon, who tells him about hist lost memories.

He adds that the other legendary warriors have lost their power and it’s up to Patamon and his bond with Takeru to save the world more or less.

He encourages Patamon to find his hope.

Patamon: Who am I? What am I? All before me is dark. I know not what path to take.

The others, having nothing better to do, peep on Patamon’s crisis of faith.

Takeru relates a story about learning to swim and being scared of the water, but Yamato stayed with him so eventually he was able to learn to do it. Aww. Not quite comparable to Hikari’s “I wet the bed and Taichi changed the sheets and then told our parents that he was the one that did it” from the 99 series but still pretty good.

The sweet moment is interrupted by a flash of light! Then dark! Then light! Then dark!

It’s another scary Digimon! Oh dear. It’s Kerberomon. A three-headed Cerberus as I’m sure you figured out. Once again, this show does not how to convey what the stakes are. After everything we’ve been through, it’s hard to take random nobody Digimon as serious as each episode wants us to take them... but it’s obvious from the build up here that Kerberomon’s going to be tough to beat for Reasons.

Greymon gets hit and says, “I let down my guard!” MAYBE DON’T DO THAT THEN

Also it is very windy.

Le ouch. This is the Digimon from earlier whose name I forgot to take down. He’s come back with his friend...

... Scarier-in-the-dark-mon.

They’re surrounded~ Oh noes and whatnot.

Taichi is a bit cool here, clinging to Komondomon’s helmet and directing the battle like a war general. Mostly he’s telling them how to avoid getting hit by Kerberomon’s powerful attacks but I like that we get to see him using his head like this.

What I think is happening here is, Komondomon isn’t as fast as the kids could be if they were on their own, so their speed is hampered and that plus the number of assailants makes this battle tough. I am sure we’re supposed to assume that the reason WarGreymon doesn’t appear is because it takes a lot of energy to bring him out, even though last time he appeared twice in the same episode -.-;

Sora decides to be useful and goes to help Takeru get to safety.

... She is immediately struck by an attack and collapses, badly hurt somehow. This is so dumb. First of all, they don’t even animate her getting hit. There’s a flash and then she’s down. She should at least get to throw herself over Takeru protectively or something. Geez. 90s anime did it so much better. She’s just standing there and gets hit. What, did she forget there was a battle raging around her?

Second, WE ALREADY HAD DAMSEL IN DISTRESS SORA. It was Jou’s motivation to be cool way back when this show was rather more interesting than it has been of late. Why do the boys need Sora to get SERIOUSLY INJURED to be able to fight?? WHY?? Like, Taichi gets caught in the line of fire ALL THE TIME, but he never gets injured to the point where he can’t continue on. (Except for that one time with Devimon but those were exceptional circumstances!)

Like, why are we making Sora so weak?? This is so unnecessary.

I guess Yamato was right by entrusting Takeru to Taichi instead of Sora though...

... Uhhh.... never mind X’D

Taichi: Whew... m-maybe no one saw that...

Our be-bibbed god reappears to offer sage advice.

Patamon recalls his final moments as Seraphimon... being enveloped into darkness.

This is cool - we see his angelic wings turn to demon ones briefly before he slides back to lower levels. Not sure if it means anything but we have been theorizing that Patamon could still be infected by the evil that wounded him in the past.

Patamon then recalls things that happened after he was reborn and I’m reminded for the billionth time how much harder the emotions around Angemon’s death hit in the 99 show...

Suddenly Patamon realizes - his hope is Takeru, and he is Takeru’s hope.

The boys put on their game faces. This is what I mean by Sora really didn’t need to get hurt here. I get that it gives Takeru a reason to be protective, but the thing that evolves Patamon is Patamon’s feelings, the same way Agumon’s feelings were what rescued them from Devimon etc. That’s an interesting thing about this show - the Digimon’s feelings seem as important to evolution as, if not more than, the kids’.

Patamon evolves!! Very creepily! But... not to Angemon!

He becomes Pegasusmon! Who... looks a lot bigger than I remember, even considering Takeru is very small... xD

So this is pretty cool! I’ve been wondering how on earth the show was gonna keep introducing evolutions after already using up so many key players, especially for Taichi. But it looks like Armor Digimon can appear, and that makes me think that we could see all kinds of evolutions for the entire team that we’ve never seen before. I like that idea, but I don’t really know if this show has time for it. Maybe it will just be Pegasusmon and Nefertimon who are available to Takeru and Hikari so the writers can preserve the angels for the most epic moments only. That seems the most likely way things will go here, and the only qualm I have with it is, they’ve played all of Taichi’s cards already, and he’s the main character. He has to have something else in the future...

He attac!!!!

Kerberomon doesn’t last long, although why is wholly inexplicable. What about Pegasusmon gives him the edge when MetalGreymon and Garudamon couldn’t handle it? Is it because he’s an Armor Digimon? That may be it but the show doesn’t bother to explain.

Another thing I’d love to see, if there are gonna be more than just one evolutionary tree for the partners, is the kids actually strategizing when they decide which evolution to use. One of the cool parts of Tamers was the kids actively supporting their partner with skill as well as heart. I don’t think that’s gonna happen in this season, but you know, a girl can dream.

Takeru: Hurray for murder!

The three Digimon work together to put the lid on Kerberomon. Garudamon has the coolest moment. Squash.

Taichi checks on Sora who seems fine now. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Aw, but these two really are adorable.

What a sweet ending card T_T I want more of these.

Okay so yeah, this episode was a much needed upper after the stream of “watch Taichi fight random forgettable monsters” episodes we’ve had lately. I’m glad we got it. I still, just, like, why can’t they get the emotional build up right?? I wouldn’t say 99 Adventure did anything insanely unusual in how it treated the various crises the kids faced, but it def did a better job than this show. In 99, they understood the importance of moments of reflection, of talking about things, of showing expressions and how other characters react... And I still feel like this reboot DID do that, at least somewhat better, in the beginning. Like what went down between Yamato and Taichi after Ogremon was killed. That was pretty good.

They’ve totally lost what makes Digimon great. I hope this episode is a sign that they’re gonna take it back, but, my heart just hearts y’all.

Next episode... I’m rather surprised since we are REALLY overdue some face time with Yamato, not to mention Mimi and Jou, but apparently we’re sticking with Taichi. At least it looks lke we’ll get some new plot stuff related to Hikari.

If this all leads up to something that makes sense, I will retract all my complaints, I swear. Except about the gratuitous nonstop fighting. But the rest, I will take back.

Taichi’s determined!! This is Digimon Adventure! Let’s go on a freaking adventure!!

[theswordandshield]

About the Golden Commander

- So... How did you meet your strategist, Duftmon?

The Gomamon would ask, in curiosity, before giving a bite to his meal. The three of them were sitting around a campfire, next to the river shore. The curious rookie helped them to get the fishes they were cooking right now on the fire, so it was only natural they would pay back the favour.

Anselm and Cathair would exchange a look, before the first one would raise a hand and lay it over his cheek, in a thoughtful gesture.

- It was the day Cathair would be assigned to be my bodyguard -he would start-. I was nervous, to be honest. Sir Grabiel was significant, the Second in Command and leader in the times Lady Alexis would be away.

- Something that, due to her role, was often.

- Indeed -the Duftmon sighed, before continuing, green gaze focusing in the Rookie-. Not only that. He was always described as being beautiful, intelligent, charming, able to compel anyone to obey him without even raising his voice.

- And the rumours were true? - The Gomamon would raise an eyebrow-. I bet it was all an exaggeration, right?

But Anselm would shake his head and even would hide a bit his face under the shadow of the helmet cast by the flames:

- All the contrary, they didn’t even get near reality. He was -he sighed- a dream sight. His hair formed by golden locks reflecting the sunlight, entirely white and cleaned feathers in his wings. His armour already heavy enough to show a superior rank, and his mismatched eyes, one blue, almost white, and one green, seemed to look through your soul. But not only that. His aura was powerful, yet warm. To be honest, he looked close to the Great Angels than to a neutral Royal Knight. And however, he was one.

- He was, indeed, quite the sight -Cathair would continue, all the time staring at Anselm before turning his blue eyes to their temporal companion-. I was quite nervous as well. I trained hard to work under the command of the Royal Knights, even directly from Lady Alexis herself.

- Lady Alexis was…?

- Our Alphamon.

- The day we met -Anselm resumed-. I was in Sir Gabriel’s office, waiting for him, as he ordered in his letter. He got in precisely at the hour we were supposed to meet. Arms crossed behind his back, stern gaze, wings back. I tried to pretend I wasn’t scared, and I greeted him with a bow:

“You must be Anselm”, he said, his voice gentler than I expected. “You already know who I am, but a proper introduction is always good. I am Sir Gabriel, Strategist of the Royal Knights, Second in Command… And, from now on, your master.”

He would walk to his desk, getting behind it, and then he would uncross his arms:

“I will save you the details: You are aware this is not going to be easy. You’ll need not only to study but to train your brain. Just by what are you already, you may be in danger. Because of that, is there someone else I want you to meet. Cathair: Please, come in.”.

- I’ll narrate this part if you don’t mind, love -the Wargreymon would interrupt, a hand in his partner’s one, before continuing-. At that moment, I was expecting to be put directly under the command of Sir Gabriel. He wasn’t Lady Alexis, of course, but it was still a blast for me. When I received the call and got inside, closing the door behind me, I found Anselm as well. I may say… I was confused, something the Strategist would notice, of course, observant as he was:

“Anselm, let me introduce you to your bodyguard: Cathair, from the Flame Clan.”

“A bodyguard?”, Anselm said. I was sure he even sounded upset even if he tried to hide it. “I don’t understand. Why would I need one?”

“As I said before, your current position is already a dangerous one. Evil will use you to try and reach me, or any other of the Royal Knights, and corrupt the order from inside. Besides, you’re still too fresh to be left alone in a real fight at our level.” Sir Gabriel then turned to me. “I know you had high expectations, but you must show first your value and get used to your rol. That’s why you’re starting with something that should be simple for a warrior like you.”

And, oh, was I angry! I wanted to yell at his pretty face, but as soon as he stared directly at me, I couldn’t even open my mouth to protest. He could be too… Imponent, and he was used to be obeyed without hesitation.

- I see you two didn’t start well… -the Gomamon scratched his head.

- Well -Anselm answered-. I was used to having my intimacy, even if just a few hours a day, and with a bodyguard that would be no more. And Cathair was frustrated as well. But soon enough I felt rather sorry for him, being stuck with someone like me instead of having his dream coming true.

- Yep, but, what can I say? -The Wargreymon approached the Duftmon, and passed an arm around his wrist, pulling him closer- I found a better one.

Of course, Anselm would blush with that. Cathair couldn’t help himself but think how cute he was. But there was no lie in his words.