Eureka Seven AO - Episode 20

With Allied forces attacking Generation Bleu's headquarters, Blanc making a desperate last-ditch attempt to put paid to Truth's attempts to interfere with everything and numerous other revelations and plot points popping up all over the place, to call the current state of Eureka Seven AO "chaotic" would probably be an understatement.

With Blanc and possibly Truth lost to the quartz-born Fusion explosion deep within Generation Bleu's headquarters, the now leaderless remaining staff have to figure out what to do next - despite Allied forces swarming around the base and biding their time to make a move, it seems that giving up isn't on anyone's agenda.  Thus, reliance is once again foist upon the Secret-infected Gerog to get the Triton up and running, while Ao takes Nirvash to venture into the hepths of headquarters to retrieve the so-called "Quartz gun" - something which he only succeeds in doing in a massive outpouring of Quartz.

With the Triton just escaping the collapse of what is left of headquarters, and the re-emergence of Team Harlequin and some of its staff into the fray, once again allegiances become decidedly fluid in the second half of this episode, with Harlequin seemingly putting its eggs into the Allied basket (on the surface, at least) and Elena seemingly looking to defect to the Allies herself.  The biggest twist in the tale comes from Blanc himself however - he may be dead, but his final preparations prior to his demise couldn't have been more thorough, offering Generation Bleu a pivotal deal... a deal make with the Secrets themselves!

The politics and shifting allegiances of Eureka Seven AO at this point may be chaotic as I alluded to earlier, but I'm actually rather enjoying that facet of this series - it certainly isn't trying to dumb down any of its elements and its complex geo-political landscape adds both a feeling of tension and a little more realism to proceedings.  That aside, this week's episode was another thrilling rollercoaster ride, with short bursts of action seeking only to punctuate the emotional turmoil and dilemmas facing its characters at every turn - it's truly compelling stuff, and probably the best this series has had to offer into the bargain.  It's perfect timing as well as we reach the final straight of a series that still feels like it could head off in any given direction even as some of its conflicting elements look set to settle down.