"Any card—so long as it exists—has a power that is needed."

framechampion:

blackthunder-chan:

Damn, this episode. ;^;

I have started to like Ed a lot more throughout the last two episodes. Despite everything that has happened he wants to help Judai because he had also helped him and Saiou. Also, he cared about Echo, whom he has just met, and wants to prevent Amon from sacrificing her.

And in the scene above, my jaw dropped and I really had to pause because it left such an impression on me. Killing someone because of power is basically what had happened to Ed’s dad, and this explains his reaction right here.

Additionally, Judai (who has been quiet and emotionless throughout the duel) realizes that Amon is going to do the same mistake that he did and tells him to stop (the sound of Judai’s voice at that moment almost made me cry D:).

And Amon… I never liked him.

This is one of the episodes I am going to remember, because it was so powerful and heartbreaking (actually, many parts of this season are). It really left an impression on me and I cannot even put it in words properly.

Yeah, realizing that Ed is getting so emotionally involved because he’s (subconsciously?) drawing parallels between Amon and DD throws a new light on everything, and it’s great. I think Ed also sees himself in Echo. He cared deeply for DD, but in the end DD admits that he was just using him and that his usefulness has come to an end. Echo loves Amon, and Amon is going to use and then discard her (whether or not Amon loves Echo is a complicated issue and I think Yubel does a better job of picking that apart than I could, so I’ll leave that to zir). DD killed Ed’s father to obtain power, but he also almost did the same thing to Ed — IIRC his duel with Ed was supposed to prove that he was a suitable host for the Light.

Not to mention that Saiou was basically supposed to be a sacrifice to the Light as well. It’s really no wonder that Ed has a problem with the concept of sacrificing others to gain power. He has a problem with the concept of sacrifices in general, really — he refuses to let his own death be called a sacrifice, because screw that, he was only doing what he felt was right. Ed might not have been able to save his father, and he ultimately had to rely on Judai to save Saiou, but he’s going to try his hardest to save Echo — and when that fails, at least he can save the rest of his friends, and repay his debt to Judai in the process.

The first time I watched this episode, I missed all that subtext and was just like, REALLY SHOW? ED’S REALLY GOING TO DIE TO AMON BECAUSE OF SOMEONE HE JUST MET? But when I rewatched it, I thought it was a really great crystallization of Ed’s character arc up until this point.

(via framechampion)