I wonder what manner of reinforcements Gaius will get this time. Whatever he thought he'd get last time, it wasn't zombies.
I wonder what manner of reinforcements Gaius will get this time. Whatever he thought he'd get last time, it wasn't zombies.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
-The ram wasn't exactly a very exciting surprise, but it must have been a nice gift for the assaulting soldiers.
-Honestly, if Gaius could detect that guy snooping in his tent, Arawn must have noticed him snooping around his lands too. It's not like he had spies in the Empire to tell him it would stir up shit though, so in that sense it was a pretty bold (or stupid) move not to kill him when he had the chance.
-Electrum Golems must be hard to defeat.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
LOL HAYS GUYZ I GOT A GREAT IDEA! IMMA LEAD A REVOLT AGAINST THE EMPIRE BUT FIRST I AM GONNA KILL OFF A SIZABLE AND FORMIDABLE FORCE THAT WOULD MOST LIKELY HELP ME DESTROY THE EMPIRE!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
/sarcasm
It's not like it makes zero sense, however.
Defeating Arawn is the only way for Gaius to go back to the empire with power.
A powerless man gathering troops is bound to be suspicious.
You could argue that siding with Arawn would give him better chances of succeeding, but:
a) He's interested in ruling, not letting Arawn/Gaels rule
b) Siding with Arawn would mean an all-out war against the Empire. Going back, then starting a revolution would require less troops and allow him to situate troops around the capital undetected before the revolt.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
He is trying to be like Caesar (obvious parallel btw). With victory in the field, he will have the backing of the common people for being a returning hero, and (hopefully) a great deal of respect with the army because they know firsthand that he is a capable leader. With those two groups backing him, he could overthrow the senate and possibly the aristocracy.
However, I wouldn't count on the military backing him after the tremendous losses he is incurring against Avalon. This is one of the reasons the senate is shaming him, and it is especially bad because they are "uncultured barbarians" who have neither the percieved organization nor technological advantage when it comes to war machines. I guess most aren't considering magic or the fact that many of the living elves have sided with or sent representatives to Arawn.
One counterpoint to all this.
The Gaels are a long ways from the empire, and Gaius just killed off their only set of eyes and ears. What would keep him in this situation from just getting the Gaels to join up with him, head back to the empire in glorious victory and just say he slaughtered them all. At this point I get the impression from the soldier he was talking to that all his men are behind him, also fed up with the empires shit, would be willing the not open their mouths (at least I assume that was the point of that whole scene). I'm just saying theres a much larger tactical advantage to be given by allying with the Gaels instead of wholesale slaughter.
But wouldn't all it take to ruin that is a very generous "pay raise" from a senator to some random dipshit greedy soldier who isn't quite so behind Gaius? Gaius' soldiers aren't like Lidia's Rublum soldiers, who were fiercely displined and zealots to her leadership.
Gaius would have to be absolutely certain in his men if he was going to try that angle.
Gaius is an Empire man, not interested in allying with savage tribes if it isn't for simple tactical advantage after which he could easily get rid of them. Gaels, on the other hand, have an eternal tradition of trying to stay away from the Empire. The last thing they would want is to try to replace one emperor with another that even has a history of harassing them and kidnapping their precious Riannon, no less. Gaels would have nothing to do with Gaius, most likely, short of an armistice to get rid of him, even if just for a while.Originally Posted by EpyonNext
So, I don't think an alliance theory of any kind has much basis at all. These aren't chess players but peoples with long histories and different cultures, like their oft irrational actions have quite forcefully proven.
Gaius talked way too long for a dead guy. Given how hard Arthur sliced him the amount of gore was ridiculously small. That scene would have been much better if he asked for a favour, called him a king and told him to succeed his ambition all in a few words.
The eye-shadow was very off-putting as well. What's wrong with the regular shade of black? Sure, it's been used and reused frequently during these past few years, but turning him into Re-l Mayer (Ergo Proxy) doesn't make it any better.
Arawn's scenes were much better in comparison. Him simply just being there radiates so much confidence that he just needs to blast a door and stand there. Gaius, on the other hand seemed totally out of character.
He completely had the upper hand in that fight too, smashing Arthur all over the place. Him missing that last swing just like that seems a bit unbelievable.
As for Octavia yuri,
You can never have too much Octavia yuri.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Octavia and Morgan yuri was... well YURI. What more can I say?
The whole scene after the fight between Dipshit and Gaius was kind of absurd, and is probably the direction I dreaded the most. Why does Arthur need to be the future King?
The fight was going great, then some random plot device had to make Arthur win without any valid reason or prior indication. This was probably one of the worst executed fights in TTT.
Peace.
Indeed. I just wish it was with someone else, though. Damn it, why did Lidia have to die?
That Lord of the Rings reference was sweet, and I was hoping for Gaius's force to break into the castle before Ogam and Arthur's force came, but oh well, it was still cool. I didn't mind the short battle between Arthur and Gaius, though I wish they did make it longer.
I am training in the shadows.
Currently playing: All of your games, probably.
Not that I'd ever desire to defend Arthur, but Gaius's sword was meant for slicing horses in two or five men at once in the middle of a blind charge into enemy rows, not fighting against a single extremely agile and fast opponent. It was a nobrainer Gaius couldn't last long. Although Arthur trying to block all of those rock shattering swings was inane.
A decent episode otherwise, I suppose. Though I'd have liked to see Arawn fight a bit more, but maybe he's saving his strength to be able to beat the dude with a fiery sense of humour...
If Gaius sword was meant for slicing horses, all those times that Arthur took it head on, his sword should have broken and his body crushed, but it didn't. Realism is simply not important in this show. What made that fight look idiotic was, Gaius was completely overwhelming Arthur, then all of a sudden, he dies. How difficult would it be to replace a few of the Arthur bashing scenes (while I like them) with scenes showing him slowly gain the upper hand?
Peace.
Arthur had an upper hand from the beginning when it was shown Gaius's sword couldn't break Arthur's sword. Arthur took some beating for sure, but it only seemed to make him more determined. So, in short, Gaius had no effective means of attacking Arthur, because the heavy and cumbersome sword prevented him from hitting Arthur directly instead of his adamantium blade.
We all hate Arthur and his new meak friendship attitude makes him no more likable, but it doesn't automatically mean he's weaker in combat than some badass looking enemy. Thinking Gaius must have been stronger and only lost due to story elements is a predisposition, not an objective analysis.
I don't agree that since Gaius couldn't break Arthur's sword that it automatically gives him a disadvantage. Even if it doesn't smash the object, Gaius's swings carried much more momentum and power. Each time Arthur blocks them, the shocks should travel up the sword and damage his wrists. We've also seen him get knocked flying several times. Judging from Gaius's expressions and gait, his own attacks aren't tiring him out like you'd expect.
Gaius never showed much weakness to Arthur's attempt neither. Every time Arthur charged at him, he either hit his blade directly, or kicked up so much debris that it confused and hurt Arthur anyway. There's no proof that Gaius is proficient at his dust-blind-smash tactic, but given he's got experience with that sword, it's not that unlikely.
What's more is that Arthur's comeback was so sudden. The way Gaius so obviously had the upperhand, it's almost like he slipped and missed. If Arthur was becoming more determined with each hit, it certainly didn't show.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
How was it sudden? Arthur is now a bit harder to read because he's not anymore as hot-headed and single-mindedly idiotic as he was before his "great revelation", but you can surmise he was learning Gaius's movements and tactics during the whole exchange of blows, and then at a suitable point ended the fight simply and gracefully like we saw. For that is how a fight with deadly weapons optimally ends.
Gaius was so full of his own ambition that he considered Arthur hardly worth fighting in the first place. He was only seeing himself marching to the throne room, getting rid of Arawn and the whole tribe and then returning to the Empire to claim the crown. He only saw Arthur for the first time in the first place when he realised Arawn wasn't interested in ruling but making Arthur a ruler. But it was too late at that point anymore.
Besides, dust-blind-smash tactic not only blinds your opponent but yourself as well. With Gaius having a monster sword like that, Arthur had little worries of getting surprised when he made his own move after Gaius's swing. Gaius was a fine swordsman, but his inappropriate choice for a weapon decided the winner of this bout.
Maybe we just saw it differently, so it would be pointless to argue. I just hope they showed a bit more indication of Arthur realizing something (or any change in battle circumstances for that matter) that allowed him to land that blow after being roughed up so much (yet strangely not getting seriously injured, maybe his body is as tough as his head).
Last edited by shinta|hikari; Wed, 08-05-2009 at 09:47 AM.
Peace.
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