By Alus invades Avalon’s Force Nest and is surprised to see so many Divers waiting to confront him, and Kyoya orders the assembled Divers to attack. At the Milaag temple on Eldora, the Build Divers watch the battle in GBN and see that everything is going according to plan. Freddie wishes everyone well and tells them he’ll be with them in spirit. Alus’ ships open fire and cause the sky to crack open. In the administration center, Ms. Tori and the Game Master see that Alus is directly attacking GBN servers. Emilia calls Kyoya and reports that someone is attempting a forced transfer into their server. A portal from Eldora opens, and from it emerges the Core Gundam II, Ex Valkylander, Wodom Pod + and Aegis Knight. Rommel leaves his subordinate Kurt in charge so he can take care of some preparations. In space, Cuadorn and Masaki destroy the mainframe in the lunar base, which will prevent Alus from ever returning to Eldora. Alus’ flagship fires a massive beam that the many Divers attempt to counter, but the beam continues unimpeded and further damages the server. A staff member tells the Game Master and Ms. Tori that the servers can’t handle another attack like this. Alus presses his attack and sends forward his army, including a Psycho Daughtress, the Alus Core Gundam, Dubious Arche, Fake v and Reverse Turn X. Hiroto attempts to perform a core change, but Alus fires a beam that steals control of the Jupiter Armor and attaches its parts to the Alus Core Gundam. Alus opens fire on Hiroto, but Ken flies by with a Gunperry and takes the shot. On the ground, Momo is targeted by a Guard Eye and is rescued by Nanami. Divers start pouring in from other servers and begin attacking the One-Eyes. The Game Master joins the fight in his Gunpanzer, and Ms. Tori applies a security patch to repair the server. More Guard Eyes appear on the ground, but Nanami single-handedly destroys them. Force Mu Dish joins the fight, and Gojo tells Kazami that his video inspired many people. The v-Zeon Gundam destroys a large number of One-Eyes with its hi mega bowgun, and Captain Zeon asks Kazami if he can keep up with him. On the ground, Koichi and Tsukasa tear through multiple One-Eyes in their Load Astray Double Rebake. Ken calls Hiroto and tells him he can’t get the armors out of the crashed Gunperry, but Hiroto responds that there’s no limit to the PLANETS System. He then performs an extra limited change and docks with pieces from the Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn armors. Hiroto uses multiple armaments to destroy the Alus Core Gundam, and Alus is bewildered by the bonds he sees between the Divers. Parviz attacks the Dubious Arche, and Ark and Zen perform a combo attack that destroys one of Alus’ ships. Parviz and Shahryar perform a Twin Meteor Cannon attack to destroy the Dubious Arche and another of Alus’ ships. Kazami and Captain Zeon perform a massive sword attack that destroys the Fake v and a ship. May tells Alus that they’ll bring back the feelings and wishes he was entrusted with, and she slams the Reverse Turn X into a ship. Koichi and Tsukasa then smash their way into the ship and destroy it from the inside. Alus wonders when the day will come that the Ancients return and opens fire with his flagship, but Mobile Doll Sarah blocks the attack with a protective barrier. Kyoya uses the TRY AGE Magnum’s Try Age System and activates a digital card for the Gundam AGE-1 Titus, which causes a massive fist to appear in the sky and punch Alus’ flagship and destroy it. Alus realizes that his forces are heavily damaged and he has no option to retreat. The Alus Core Gundam then attaches to pieces of the flagship, and May takes a hit to protect Sarah. The two then fall through the air but are caught by Riku and Hiroto. Sarah and May tells Alus that he’s done enough and should return to GBN’s sea of data and start a new life. Riku and Hiroto then blast the Alus Core Gundam, destroying both it and Alus. In a void space, the Ancients come to Alus and tell him it’s time to go with them. As pieces of data float through the sky, Freddie is reminded of the Space Crossing festival. May finds a baby in a field of flowers and tells everyone that it isn’t Alus, but people’s feelings of love for GBN and Alus’ desire to protect Eldora have created a new EL-Diver. Hiroto sees that the baby is holding a necklace marked with One-Eyes rings, and May comments that it has inherited something just like she did. She then removes her jacket and reveals that Eve’s earring is tied to her arm. Hiroto thanks May and says that because of her they were able to connect so many people’s feelings. May apologizes for crying and says she still doesn’t understand human emotions, but Hiroto counters that she’s wrong and explains that humans also cry when they’re happy.
Later, at a meeting in a real world cafe, Ms. Tori reminds Kyoya and Katsuragi (Game Master) about a hacking incident that occurred when GBN was still in development. Katsuragi recalls a big delay caused by outside access during a closed internal test, and Kyoya remembers that they never discovered who was responsible. Ms. Tori explains that the hack left lingering data traces, and they detected similar traces just before Sarah was discovered. She then reveals that they picked up the same data traces when Alus came to GBN. She also notes that some of the Ancients left Eldora as data lifeforms, and although she has no proof, their presence in GBN could’ve been the final factor that triggered the birth of EL-Divers. Before leaving the hospital, Masaki tells the children he befriended that he’ll come back to check on their Gunpla progress. Osamu is amazed to read the truth behind the communications failure and thinks it’ll make an epic story. In GBN, Divers talk about how exciting the Event mission was and the rumors that it was real. On Eldora, the people work together to reconstruct their villages. People work inside the Milaag temple, which has landed in the former spot of Seguri. The Build Divers bring Hinata to Eldora to show them around, and Hiroto introduces her to Freddie as a team member who inspired them on Earth. Freddie and the children offer to show Hinata around the village. Kazami wants to wrap up his tasks quickly so he can eat Maiya’s cooking. Elsewhere, Calico and Zabun drive through the desert and encounter a lone damaged Guard Eye. They offer it a ride, and it gets on the back of their car.
Build Divers Re:RISE concludes with an epic battle to save GBN, although most of its participants had no idea that it was real and not some big Event mission. Given that the Build Divers wanted to lure Alus to GBN, it looks like what Masaki and Cuadorn said to him at the end of the previous episode was done with the intention of goading him into that action. It was clear that Alus was too dedicated to his programming to ever change, so the only way to “save” him was to destroy his current incarnation and let him be reborn (in part) as an EL-Diver. How was this possible? Ms. Tori generates the theory that the Ancients of Eldora who turned themselves into data lifeforms somehow ended up in GBN, and this created the situation that allowed EL-Divers to be “born” within the MMO. Frankly, this makes far more sense than the explanation in the first series that people’s feelings of love for Gunpla just magically came together somehow and birthed sentient life. I was pretty hard on the first series overall, but Re:RISE is definitely a contrast to its predecessor in every way. The cast is more interesting, the mecha design is better, and most importantly, the story develops properly and actually has real stakes. It’s also worth noting that this is the kind of sequel that utilizes the prior cast in the right amounts without having them overshadow the new cast. The series wasn’t without its pacing issues, mainly at the beginning but also the unnecessary start to the second season retelling backstory from Freddie’s perspective. While Re:RISE definitely clears up and improves some aspects of the first series, it also stands alone and doesn’t need it as required viewing beforehand. At this point, I’m not sure this universe needs much more exploring beyond Battlogue shorts, but only time will tell.
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