By Within the caves of an Innocent dome, Elchi orders a group of troops. From above, Biram negotiates payment with Caron Cal for taking down the Iron Gear. Meanwhile Jiron wanders the wilderness in the Gallier, while Fatman has fun trying on Elchi’s clothes and looking at himself in a mirror. Jiron asks Fatman if he knows where Point H is and realizes Fatman has brought fresh clothes for Elchi with him. Suddenly blasts start coming towards them, which Fatman and Jiron narrowly avoid. They make their way back into the Gallier and find themselves surrounded by several Walker Machines. Suddenly several blasts hit the Walker Machines, having been fired by a landship passing by. The Walker Machines flee. Jiron pursues after the landship, calling out to it to say thanks. Jiron requests for it to stop several times and it finally does so. Jiron calls out to those on the bridge to show themselves and is surprised to see Blume. Blume says to move out but Jiron jumps on board saying he wants to thank the captain. Blume tells him he’s got nothing to worry about, and finally reveals he is the captain of the ship. Jiron is impressed with how well Blume has done for himself. Jiron wanders around the ship, fascinated by the ship’s equipment, food and beds. Jiron asks Blume for help, but he has no interest in doing so. Upon asking about Point H, Biel, who is lying down, under a blanket, starts talking. He says the Iron Gear won’t be enough. Biel says he was saved by Blume and asks for some pills, claiming the air isn’t good for an Innocent like him. Jiron asks him about Point H and Biel asks why he wants to rescue Elchi so much. Biel asks what he’d do if Elchi wasn’t his ally and something was done to her body. Jiron still insists on it. Biel smiles and puts his hand on Jiron’s shoulder. Meanwhile within the Innocent cave, Elchi orders around some men, practicing combat, while Caron watches. Biram says they need to develop themselves. Jiron, Fatman and Blume sneak their way towards the Innocent dome. Remaining on the landship bridge, Biel thinks of how they’ll need a way to overcome Elchi’s brainwashing. Jiron disarms a trap along the way and they work on avoiding some others. Blume places some plastic explosives on an entrance and they blast an opening that they run into. The three of them make their way to an Innocent control room where they quickly take out everyone. They look on surveillance cameras for Elchi, eventually seeing her ordering around some people. Using this they are able to track her down and grab her, pulling her into an empty room. All Elchi can think about is Dr. Manet constantly telling her Jiron is her enemy. Elchi grows angry but holds it in. Jiron tells her of the clothes Fatman has brought for her. Blume talks about blasting their way out of there, but Elchi says there’s another way and has them follow her.
Elchi leads Jiron, Blume and Fatman out of the dome into the caves. She runs too fast for Jiron and the others and Jiron eventually loses track of her. Suddenly some lights shine from far off and they are fired at by many sides. The three of them flee. Above, Biram is surprised that Jiron is here and Caron tells him she can take care of him if he pays her price. Jiron and the others wonder where Elchi has gone to. Two Walker Machines chase them and by throwing rocks at stalactites, Jiron and the others are able to defeat them and run further. The three continue fleeing across a stone bridge which collapses after a Walker Machine runs on it. Upon falling to the ground, they are seized by two more Walker Machines but one of them is swiftly hit by a blast. Jiron thinks it is Elchi that helped them but soon realizes it is Biel instead, firing a bazooka. He says for now they have to hurry up and get out of here. They soon find a group of troops in front of them, with Elchi leading them. Fatman loses the bundle of clothes he brought with him and tries to get it despite being fired at. Biel says she is no longer the Elchi they knew and they need to get out of here. Jiron drags Fatman away with him and they flee. Biel tells Jiron that Elchi’s mind has been altered to hate him and this is part of the Innocent’s plot to control the superior Civilians. Biel says there are those in the Innocent who fear the Civilians will rule the planet instead of them. He says that many years ago a great accident occurred. The culture of Zola was destroyed and several people fled to the moon or other planets to get away from it. Blume is surprised that civilization advanced that far. Biel says that thousands of years later, people returned to Zola but realized they couldn’t live on it. As such they began experimenting on living organisms. This included the Toran, the Hanawan, and finally the civilians. They were made with strong instincts for conflict so they could survive on this world. They continue making their way through the cave. Biel says regardless of Salt, there was proof the civilians were starting to become independent. Biel speaks of Kashim King, who seeks power among the Innocent and Arthur Rank, whom Jiron recalls speaking to before. Biel says Arthur is an ally to the civilians. They make their way to a port, but Jiron is concerned about leaving without Elchi. Biel says they need to come up with a new plan and try again. The four of them are spotted. Biel fires at a pursuing Walker Machine with his bazooka and fights back against those pursuing them. He soon takes a shot to the chest. Elchi orders her men to continue attacking. Biel tells Jiron to not worry about him and leave, also claiming Elchi won’t be able to return to whom she was. He knows as the one originally responsible for the brainwashing treatment. Elchi comes upon them and Fatman walks up to Elchi. Elchi’s fires, hitting him in the arm. Suddenly, the cave shakes and on the loudspeaker it is claimed that Salt is coming. Jiron, Fatman and Blume take this opportunity to make their escape from Elchi. At that moment a large group of Salt members are attacking the Innocent’s dome. Jiron and the others make their way out of the cave, back to the Gallier, and take part in the assault. Jiron calls out to Blume, who has returned to his ship and says they will lose this battle. He contacts Salt as well and they retreat. Back in the dome, Biram is pleased with how his forces have done. He also provides Caron permission to do what she likes. On Blume’s landship, he tells Jiron they won’t be able to beat the Innocent the way they have been fighting previously. Fatman cries over Elchi. Jiron says they need to ensure Salt has more military might. Salt’s forces continue their retreat.
For much of this episode things come off as yet another attempt on Jiron and Fatman’s part to take back Elchi, who at this point is clearly brainwashed enough to refuse to depart. Things do escalate in an interesting way though. It is good to see Blume again, who has formally teamed up with Biel and received a landship from him (although I do question how, as Biel has lost all his power within the Innocent). It was good to see Biel participate in the mission with our heroes, even fighting with a bazooka! The most interesting part of the episode is Biel’s revelations about the history of Zola, which provides some confirmation and backstory details about things that the viewer could have theorized about by this point. That the Toran Toran and Hanawan are failed Innocent experiments is something I didn’t expect, however. The stakes continue to rise as we reach the episode’s end. Salt has grown more powerful, but so have the Innocent. Biel is shot, in what looks like could be a mortal blow. Although it isn’t definitely made clear here, his lack of an appearance in the subsequent episodes makes it likely that he died.
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