Toll for the Brave

Toll for the Brave (旋転する罠) is the third episode of ALDNOAH.ZERO Second Cour, it was first aired in Japan on January 24, 2015.

Synopsis
After Slaine Troyard faces discrimination for being a Terran, Count Saazbaum makes a surprise announcement. Meanwhile, Inaho Kaizuka and Slaine Troyard meet again on the battlefield as the war rages on.

Plot
Act One At Trident Base, Ensign Kaizuka plays chess with Capt. Magbaredge while XO Mizusaki referees. Ensign Kaizuka asks the Captain if it is a good idea to send him into battle because if he dies, the Deucalion's Aldnoah will shut down.

The Captain is aware, but she says they'll worry about that when they have to. XO Mizusaki asks Ensign Kaizuka if he wants to be removed from the front lines, but he denies that and says he'll go into battle. The Captain's King takes his Queen, so Ensign Kaizuka moves his Bishop. The Captain asks if he came up with the strategy himself, or was it the analytical engine. Ensign Kaizuka claims it is about "70-30"; he assigns tasks to unused brain cells to try to optimize its processing.

So it's both the device's suggestion and his own idea at the same time. The Captain says the ship and her crew both owe him their lives and believe that if he wants to fight, they should support it. Ensign Kaizuka remembers Princess Asseylum getting shot and believes he does not deserve any special treatment. The Captain asks him if he heard that Aldnoah activation tests were conducted using blood samples that had been drawn from the Princess.

It didn't meet the requirements for it to power up, so Ensign Kaizuka could indeed be considered a particular case. The activation factor transferred to him when he came into contact with royal blood while administering emergency treatment.

Over the past ten months or so, the UFE has obtained plenty of intel on Aldnoah and their Kataphrakts. But the Vers still have the overwhelming edge in military strength. There's no guarantee that the UFE will win if they keep on fighting. The Captain says she would bet on him to win. Ensign Kaizuka wins the chess game. The Captain is left wondering if it was his own idea or his eyes with Inaho just saying telling her he'd leave it to her imagination.

The Tharsis is in the Satellite Belt and continuously shoots bullets away from the Earth. Sir Slaine supposes that not even the Tharsis can see so far into the future. He retreats back to the Marineros Base. He is greeted by Harklight, who told Sir Slaine to clustered shots in the region he calculated. Harklight hopes they are not influenced by some unexpected "wind". Two Orbital Knights, Marylcian and Barouhcruz make snide comments about Sir Slaine because he is a Terran. Count Marylcian pulls out his sword and tries to hit Sir Slaine with the sheath still on but is blocked by Count Saazbaum's cane.

Count Saazbaum apologizes for anything Slaine has done because he is Count Saazbaum's vassal. Still, if the treatment is unwarranted. He threatens Count Marylcian. Count Barouhcruz says if Slaine was simply a pet, then it would be eccentric yet tolerable. But believes Count Saazbaum appointing Slaine a knight would be taking his game too far. Count Saazbaum retorts that it is not Count Barouhcruz's place to make opinions on his vassals.

Count Marylcian concedes but makes a point that letting Sir Slaine fighting alongside them is another matter entirely because he could turn traitor at any moment. Sir Slaine says if that is the case, he requests they strike him down right now but then says if they go into battle, he may very well be him who is attacked from behind. Count Marylcian pulls the sword from his sheath. However, Count Barouhcruz holds him back, and Count Saazbaum declares Slaine Troyard to be his son, with everyone in the hangar as his witnesses.

The two counts, as well as Sir Slaine, are shocked, Count Saazbaum tells his newly adopted son to stand. Count Marylcian will let be if Count Saazbaum is willing to go to such lengths. Still, if Sir Slaine's behavior is the least suspicious, he will put him down without mercy.

Sir Slaine apologizes for putting Count Saazbaum in an awkward position, but Count Saazbaum says it is fine. He had decided to do what he did long ago; as he also takes to the field of battle, he must have a successor just in case. Count Saazbaum requests Sir Slaine from now on to think of him as a father. Count Saazbaum leaves and Sir Slaine bows. Harklight congratulates Sir Slaine because him being the Count's heir puts him one step closer to his dream. But Slaine says he has no dreams.

Princess Lemrina anticipates the upcoming battle and asks Eddelrittuo who she thinks will win. Eddelrittuo says the glorious Vers Imperial Forces will emerge victoriously. Princess Lemrina doubts her words because she has friends aboard a UFE ship, but Eddelrittuo denies that. Princess Lemrina jokingly makes a wager, betting her sister's life if the Vers Empire wins, which frightens Eddelrittuo. Princess Lemrina wonders what her sister is dreaming of right now. Act Two Nina Klein ask Yutaro Tsumugi and Kisaki Matsuribi where's Inko. Kisaki suggests she is probably at the electromagnetic catapult with Rayet and tells her not to get lost. Nina jumps round the corner in the zero-G. Yutaro bangs the wall shouting "Sweats?!" because Nina is not in her UFE uniform but instead wearing sweats. Kisaki tells Yutaro that he is too greedy.

Meanwhile, Inaho lies on his bed with his eye-patch on, thinking about the Tharsis. He has no details of its abilities, but he knows it has a high rate of attack evasion and, as he holds up the Princess's charm, knows the pilot to be Slaine Troyard. He remembers the Princess told him that her tear Terran friend gave it to her when they arrived at Earth. Inaho hypothesizes that Slaine is equipped with a neuro-linked analytically engine too.

Still, he does not have enough data to explain why it seemed Slaine was able to predict the future. Calm, who is on the top bunk of Inaho's bed, peers over as he hears Inaho talking to himself. Calm leaps off in the zero-G onto the floor and compares Inaho to the warrior god Odin. Inaho calls Calm a know-it-all for knowing his Norse mythology to which Calm asks his intelligent friend if he is being messed with. Calm tells Inaho that after the battle in Russia, he wanted off the ship and was terrified, but then it hit him that if he did, he'd never be able to look Okojo in the eye if he dies.

Calm tells Inaho to see him day or night if Inaho's horse is ever acting up as he can fix it in a flash. Calm suggests they both grab a bite to eat before the battle. Still, Inaho says he'll pass because his stomach was apparently empty when he was shot by Slaine. The doctors told him he would've died if his organs had been contaminated by stomach contents. Calm is confused. Inaho says he may not get another chance, so he is happy to go for some tea.

Rayet and Inko float around Trident Base discussing reel selections, Nina finds them. Two soldiers make comments about Rayet being Martian and the pilots being female. Inko sticks out her tongue after they pass by. Rayet says they are not wrong, as all Martians are the enemy. She knows that better than anyone. Inko rubs Rayet's hair and tells her that she has got "tsun" down but wishes she shows a little more "dere" and joins Nina.

The Marineros base prepares to enter defense airspace within 30 minutes, and the knights get into their Kataphrakts. Count Saazbum pilots his new Dioscuria II and Sir Slaine launches in his Tharsis. The Stygis Squadrons follow and combine. Trident Base detects the Martian Kataphrakts squadron, and their commander calls out to all forces to commence the operation. Yutaro receives the message and Capt. Magbaredge orders them to launch and provide support for the attack platoons as a guerrilla force.

Their shipboard Kataphrakts are instead launching from Trident base, as XO Mizusaki reports. Inko launches in her KG-7 Areion from an electromagnetic catapult, as does Rayet. They deploy umbrellas to protect them from debris. The Stygis Squadron disconnect and fires at the UFE Kataphraktoi. They cannot hit in the wind, so the racist UFE soldier from earlier tells his comrades to hold their fire and hit when they get close. Inko's umbrella is destroyed, and the debris begins to damage her KG-7. Ensign Kaizuka comes to assist Inko with his KG-6, but he has no umbrella. Ensign Kaizuka just considers the debris to be "drizzle." Plus, he can't use the umbrella in a dogfight anyway.

Ensign Kaizuka uses his cybernetic eye to calculate how much he needs to compensate for the wind. He and his comrades successfully destroy several Stygis. He then returns to combat airspace by firing a hook and wire from his KG-6's backpack towards an asteroid and pivoting around. He releases and has gained momentum, but he suddenly encounters the Tharsis. They engage in combat while the Deucalion approaches Marineros base. The timer on the Tharsis' monitor counts down to something. The racist UFE soldier, aka Rhinelander 22, is being chased by Stygis. Rayet, aka Mustang 22, destroys it for him despite the hassle from him earlier.

The Marineros Base is now in the firing range of the Deucalion with no friendly units in the line of fire, and thus Capt. Magbaredge fires the main guns, angering Count Barouhcruz. The Marineros Base begins to move away, so the Trident Base's commander issues a disengage order to attack platoons and the guerilla unit, putting them on defense. Inko tells Ensign Kaizuka of this order, but he is still busy fighting the Tharsis.

Ensign Kaizuka confirms that Sir Slaine is using predictions too and swings behind an asteroid, preparing to shoot the instant the Tharsis appears. Sir Slaine anticipates this and timer on his monitor counts down. Confirming coordinates, there are two minutes to an impact of some kind. Ensign Kaizuka fires two shots. The second one hits the right arm of the Tharsis despite Sir Slaine's mysterious dodging abilities. The Dioscuria II then appears, Count Saazbaum also wants retribution from the orange Kataphraktos.

Ensign Kaizuka fires at the same spot on the enemy Kataphraktos as he did last time they met in battle, but the gap in the barrier has moved, and his shots are all absorbed. The Dioscuria II separates and heads towards the KG-6. Ensign Kaizuka launches hooks onto both of the components, but the cables are destroyed by the Tharsis. Ensign Kaizuka hooks onto another asteroid and retreats while the Dioscuria II's arms reconnect.

Count Saazbaum deploys an energy sword on the Dioscuria II's left arm and slices the giant asteroid Ensign Kaizuka is hiding behind into two parts. Inko arrives at the fight and tries to cover Ensign Kaizuka. He tells her to stay back, right behind the Diosucria II.

Count Saazbaum prepares to destroy the KG-6 once and for all, but it jettisons its right kick thruster. Ensign Kaizuka fires at it once its inertia takes it behind the Dioscuria II. The explosion reveals the gap in the barrier to Inko, and so she fires at it. Ensign Kaizuka fires a hook and Inko's KG-7 grabs it, and they both retreat together. Count Saazbaum asks Sir Slaine to help him. But the timer on the monitor of the Tharsis hits zero and the defenseless Dioscuria II is hit by many projectiles. Inko asks what it is, Ensign Kaizuka says it is a high-speed debris cluster. He picked up a cloud of it closing in at high speed on his 3D Doppler radar, he thanks Inko for saving him because a split second later, he'd have been caught in it.

With the panoramic cockpit around him falling apart, Count Saazbaum cannot believe that his Dioscuria II can be brought low by small debris. According to Sir Slaine, it is not debris, but the many bullets he fired before the battle. They were aimed to swing around the Earth and land in the spot the Dioscuria II is in right now. Initially, Sir Slaine meant it as a trap to defeat Inaho Kaizuka, the trick was disabled the Dioscuria II's dimensional barrier.

Sir Slaine then thought that if anyone could manage it, it was him. Sir Slaine reveals that he never could swear fealty to the man who pulled the trigger against Princess Asseylum. Sir Slaine checks his monitor, and the second volley of bullets arrives soon. He says goodbye, calling Count Saazbaum his father. Count Saazbaum smiles at Sir Slaine's ingenuity as he dies from another rain of bullets.

Later, Sir Slaine makes a speech at Count Saazbaum's funeral, using it for propaganda. Calm, Rayet, Inko, and Inaho watch the broadcast from the mess hall of Trident base. Inaho says to his friends that Slaine isn't lying about Her Highness Asseylum biding her time at the Vers lunar base.

After Slaine's speech, Harklight gives him the clothes of an Orbital Knight. Slaine asks Harklight if he was born into the third class, Harklight confirms that and although his parents were poor and of a low class. They worked hard to raise him and used every means to get him into the Orbital Knights; that is why he has the utmost respect for Slaine.

Slaine has attained the rank of Count even though he is Terran. Slaine says to Harklight that this new era will be for people like them. He tells Harklight to begin and dons the jacket of a count, Harklight affirms and follows...Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard.

Songs

 * &Z (OP)


 * GENESIS (ED)

Trivia

 * The chess game played between Inaho and Magbaredge is a hommage to the famous 1961 game between Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and Ludek Pachman.