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Edens Zero Chapter 68 Review/Recap

The battle for Sun Jewel’s over, and the Scarlet Women’s been sent to a fate worse than death. Even though Sun Jewel’s free, victory’s soured by the knowledge of Valkyrie’s death. Now Shiki must break the news of Valkyrie’s death. If anyone still doubts it now, I think this chapter proves for good that machines have hearts.

Recap

As Xiao Mei explains, with the fall of Kurenai, Sun Jewel will prosper by exporting its valuable ore. Combined with being a popular destination for treasure hunters, and the planet’s future remains bright. However, in the immediate time, Shiki and the others return to Edens Zero and inform the the machines of Valkyrie’s death.

Sister’s furious that Homura chose to leave Valkyrie’s body on Sun Jewel. With her powers, combined with the backup data of the Shining Stars, could restore her to life. Witch argues that this wouldn’t restore the feelings she felt for Homura, but Sister doesn’t budge. Ultimately, Shiki tells her of something Ziggy said once: that machines grow old and die like other beings. Therefore, machines have hearts. In other words, they have to accept Valkyrie’s passing, with Homura vowing to become the new Valkyrie.

Sister ends up storming off on her own to cope with her friend’s death. Witch meets up with her on the ship’s observation deck, and the two of them tearfully break down over the loss of their friend, comforting each other.

Review

I might be reading a little too deeply into it, but I think I understand the main theme of Edens Zero. At least, I think I understand what Mashima’s trying to say. In a world that’s rapidly developing advanced robots and AI, there are going to be questions of morality and rights. Can an AI learn to care about people and feel emotions? In other words, can machines have hearts? I think that Mashima’s answer is yes. It may seem silly to some, but if we develop super-advanced robots one day, they can learn how to have feelings. It’s either that or let them be run on cold-logic, and that can lead to Skynet or HAL.

Philosophy aside, I thought that this was a touching chapter. As I predicted, Homura has stepped up to become the new Valkyrie for Edens Zero. It’s not a moment too soon, either. Witch and the others were able to fool him using a holographic decoy, but Drakken Joe’s on the hunt for the ship. The confrontation between the Demon King Shiki and Drakken Joe is inevitable. I’m looking forward to how it turns out in the end, as this will likely be the crew’s biggest test yet. With Shiki and the Four Shining Stars in the fight, though, I don’t think Edens Zero has anything to worry about.

I Give “Valkyrie” a 4.5/5. Slow but emotional chapter

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South Park Season 23, Episode 6- “Season Finale” Review

In the first half of South Park’s 23rd Season, Randy Marsh became the Walter White of marijuana. He’s killed dozens of cows while high, murdered Winnie the Pooh, and worst of all, the Halloween Special. It looked as though viewers needed to wait until the end of the Season to see Randy brought down. However, last night’s episode “Season Finale” seemed to finally throw fans a bone. In addition, it did all this while tying together the plots of most of the episodes.

The episode starts off with Randy being arrested by the police. They figured out he blew up everyone’s pot gardens in “Mexican Joker”, and they have the footage to prove it. In addition, all of Randy’s other actions have essentially left South Park sick of Tegridy Farms.

I made my dislike for Tegridy Farms clear from the beginning, and it looks like Matt and Trey took notice of the fans dislike. I looked at the comments in the teaser for this episode, and a lot of them shared my disdain. It’s clear that Tegridy Farms wore out its welcome, and the writers know it.

The ones who are most excited about Randy’s arrest are, naturally, the Marsh’s. If Randy goes to jail, then they can move back to South Park and live their old lives again. They’re so happy at the prospect that they throw a party to celebrate. It’s at this point, though, that the town goes through its crisis of the week.

No One Cares About the Whites

While playing football in the park, a kid named Jason White gets run over by a cop car. In real life, this would be a horrific tragedy, but in South Park, few people care. Except for the Whites, who we last saw in “Splatty Tomato”. Mr. White uses his son’s funeral to complain about how no one cares about them. I think it’s supposed to satirize how Caucasians are becoming the minority in America, but I didn’t care. They also happen to be big supporters of Tegridy Farms, and they show up to ruin the Marsh’s party. Cartman, in a rare display of sympathy, offers to help the White’s move on from the loss of Jason. The place he sends them to, though, is one the show’s familiar with: the ICE detention camp.

The story involving the ICE detention camp never got resolved, so I felt surprised to see it brought back. However, this time the show knows what’s its bashing and doesn’t hold back on it. In this case, South Park tears into ICE’s policy of letting the kids of deported parents be adopted by American families. The fact that it’s portrayed like a pet center’s not only black comedy gold, but reinforces how inhumane the practice is.

At any rate, the White’s adopt a Mexican boy named Alejandro, and viewers see how harmful their actions can be. While they think they’re being loving and affectionate foster parents, Alejandro doesn’t see it that way. All he wants is to see his actual parents, which the Whites fail to understand. This ultimately leads to Alejandro snapping in the biggest way possible.

Randy Marsh Has a Sobering Realization

Meanwhile, Randy Marsh, now cut off from Tegridy Weed, starts to feel guilt for his actions. He calls President Garrison for advice and tries to use his “reverse-blame” tactic, but it fails. Fully sober, Randy realizes how big a jerk he’s been the whole season. At his subsequent hearing, Randy owns up to his actions and that he deserves to be in jail.

Considering how much of a bonehead Randy’s been this season, this moment feels almost cathartic. For a moment or two, it even looks like Tegridy Farms will be brought down for good. Then, the status quo steps in with a bang.

Having snapped over his anger at the US, Alejandro starts causing way more destruction than a normal boy should be capable of. Since the White’s covered him in sunscreen, he looks exactly like Mexican Joker. As a result, Alejandro gets all the blame as he flees the police, leaving Randy a free man. DRAT!

Tegridy Farms Future?

So, Randy Marsh got off the hook for everything that he did, and Tegridy Farms remains in business. I wanted to see his weed business go down, but “Season Finale” reaffirmed my belief that this won’t happen until the finale. That is, if it happens at all. For now, though, the show makes it look like Tegridy Farms’ done for the forseeable future. As in, the growing season for weed’s done. That’s where the title “Season Finale” comes.

It felt good to see Randy get a taste of karma, even if the status quo meant he got off the hook in the end. However, I remain skeptical over whether or not he’s learned his lesson. If the show’s smart, then it will stop focusing on Tegridy Farms. It’s been forever since we had a classic episode about the four main boy. If we’re lucky, it will focus on that in the remaining episodes. Howerver, I now want to see if they’ll do anything with Alejandro and the Mexican Joker plot. That’s too big a plot thread to leave by the wayside. For now, though, I think this was one of the better episodes of the season. Second only to “SHOTS!!!” in my opinion.

I Give “Season Finale” a 4/5.

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