Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing - Episode 20

The penultimate episode of Fam, the Silver Wing brings us the ultimate stand-off to cap off this series, as Luscinia looks set to use the Grand Exile now at his command.

Of course, his demands while sat behind the proverbial wheel of this superweapon are simple enough - give in and lay down your arms, or be blasted into oblivion.  It isn't the kind of prospect to which anybody within the Alliance takes kindly, and thus they work tirelessly to bolster their forces and attack strategy as much as possible, even going so far as allowing Dian to pilot despite Millia's mixed feelings towards the girl who killed her sister.

As soon as the Alliance assault begins, the Grand Exile has a perfect opportunity to strut its stuff, with a handful of ridiculously powerful weapons at its disposal that makes your common or garden Exile look a little.... well, weak, in comparison.  It isn't all good news for Luscinia however, as the Grand Exile's most potent weapons appear to be decidedly single use affairs that literally fall off after providing an impressive blast.  As Millia sacrifices her own Exile to save Turan from further damage, the attacking forces use the gaps in the Grand Exile's defence made by that crumbling weaponry to invade the craft so that they can seek out Luscinia and, more importantly, Augusta.  Ultimately, it appears that Fam may well be the difference between peace and utter destruction as we move towards the show's final episode...

Given how well Fam, the Silver Wing has displayed its epic battles throughout the series, it's no surprise to see that it does a great job here once again - admittedly there's no real feeling of tactical thought throughout much of the episode despite its best efforts to suggest otherwise ("charge and fire" would just about sum it up), but there was enough in the way of sufficiently spectacular visuals both inside and out of the Grand Exile to pull off the feeling of a climatic battle pretty well.  In terms of the show's wider story, it's really entirely down to the contents of the final episode to decide its legacy - will we get a stupid, cop-out of an ending or something more solid and believable?  I'm certainly hoping for the latter, but only time will tell.