Lina and company have managed to catch up with Pokota and have given chase yet again. Pokota is particularly annoyed and wants to get them off his tail today of all days. Pokota gives them all the slip and while they try to decide what to do, they are quickly surrounded by a deep mist as Pokota curses his luck.

Zelgadis notices a presence in the bushes and tosses pieces of his hair at the area (as a chimera he has rather sharp and pointed hair) revealing the intruder. It’s Xellos of all people and he’s holding a hastily captured Pokota. Lina asks him what he’s doing there and Xellos answers in his usual way. It’s a SECRET. He changes the subject and has the group look around at their surroundings. Amelia spots something in the mist and Pokota again curses his luck. They approach what appears to be a town hidden in the fog. Devoid of people, they quickly assume it abandoned to which Pokota takes offense and claims it’s his birthplace. He demands to know who Xellos is and what his purpose is. Lina doesn’t do a good job of explaining but manages to get across that Xellos is VERY powerful and for Pokota not to try anything if he values his safety.

Pokota explains that the town is hidden in the mist of the forest and the passageway only appears once every few months. The others recognize the story and Pokota exposes that the town is named Taforashia and it was a “mage city”. Xellos takes up the story by explaining the town vanished in one night after the inhabitants contracted a plague known as “Durum Disease” which had no cure. Neighboring countries ignored them but one wizard tried to help but the town disappeared before he could.

Pokota claims that Xellos’ story is only partially true and opens a magic seal for them as they enter a large building. He claims that the wizard did appear to help them and he reveals the inhabitants of the town in a sort of suspended animation, held there until a cure is found and the town hidden until that day. Zelgadis points out that the disease has been cured but Pokota says the people will still sleep as the wizard who cast the seal is missing. The wizard’s name: Rezo, the Red Priest. Old Slayers fans will remember him as the “villain” from the first season of The Slayers, responsible for Zelgadis’ condition as well as accidentally freeing the demon “Ruby Eyes” Shabranigdo onto the world. Xellos seems to note something that makes it look like he knows more than he lets on but before Lina can grill it out of him he takes his leave and disappears in front of them.

Pokota wants the party to leave since they aren’t really welcome in the first place but Lina still wants to know exactly he is and what is his problem with the mage-tanks as well as his Sword of Light antics. She also tells him that Rezo is no longer alive but he laughs it off, stating that if he really were dead that the seal would be broken and the people would be free. Before the discussion can go farther, there’s an explosion in another part of town as they rush off to investigate. They find that the King’s mansion has been broken into. Pokota rushes in, demanding to know who the intruder and the voice that answers claims that Pokota’s real name is Posel Corba Taforashia and that he’s actually the prince of the hidden country.

Pokota answers the voice, naming his as Duclis who reveals himself (a walking upright white tiger). Pokota claims he is the one who stole the mage tanks while another pair reveal themselves, a regal woman and her maid/retainer. She names herself as Gioconda and as a marquis of the kingdom of Ruvinagald. Her maid, Ozel. Lina realizes that they are the true thieves and Gioconda claims that the rumors of Lina’s involvment in the matter with the mage-tanks are problematic as their market value will drop. Gioconda reveals that she’s basically a merchant of war who is selling off the tanks as weapons. Amelia reveals herself as a princess of Seyruun and Gioconda claims to hate the country and threatens it. Pokota gets tired of all the talk and attacks with some dangerous spells. However while Ozel clears Gioconda of the blast, Duclis takes the attack head on with no damage.

Shocked at the display, Pokota notes that Duclis is wearing what is called Zanafar Armor which is very resistant to magical attack and Duclis states that while it’s still incomplete it’s still powerful enough to stop his attack. In a brief exchange, Pokota reveals that Duclis used to be a part of Taforashia in some way and Duclis attacks, nearly taking Lina’s head off with a spell. After another unsuccessful attack, Pokota attacks with his Sword of Light and Duclis is forced to dodge it, claiming it’s the only weakness of the Zanafar Armor and that Pokota took the copies most likely because of that. Ozel, carrying Gioconda, reappears and hands her a very large sword as she plans to join the battle in order to keep the market value of her investment up by getting rid of our heroes. Duclis tells her it’s not need and he will kill them all himself.

Lina takes offense and talks big but realizes there’s not much she can do against the Armor without a real big spell. Just then, the Armor cracks as Pokota’s Sword of Light copy managed to cut it slightly. Pokota attacks but is suddenly stopped by Xellos who claims that he’s currently on the side of Duclis and his group. He wants to call the fight off but Gioconda protests briefly. A protest that’s silenced very quickly as Xellos briefly shows off his rather menacing side. Xellos tosses Pokota away and vanishes while the rest of them take their leave as well.

Back in her kingdom, Gioconda inquires about the Zanafar Armor and its “invincibility”. Duclis, bowing before her, claims the Sword of Light is its only weakness but that the Armor itself is still incomplete. Gioconda is irritated but Xellos notes that the Armor will fetch a much higher price when completed. Duclis then asks if Xellos found what he was looking for in Taforashia and he produces an old page with writing. The page is a copy of instructions on how to produce the Zanafar Armor, from the Claire Bible (an important magical book that Lina was searching for in the second season of The Slayers) as well as clues on to how to get it closer to completion. Upon reading the information, Xellos destroys the page. Sharp Slayers viewers may remember that during Slayers Next, Xellos’ job was to destroy all manuscripts of the Claire Bible. He also wants the group to be careful of Lina and her party but Gioconda seems unconcerned as she requests Ozel to summon an assassin named Zuuma.

Thoughts:
Well the story has certainly moved quickly with the discovery of a good deal of Pokota’s past as well as the introduction of the villains of the show and that Xellos is working for them. However, if Xellos is involved it’s safe to say that an old lady and her maid will hardly be the biggest threat the show has to offer. We should probably expect yet another ridiculous incursion of mazoku/demons somewhere down the line as I’m sure they are probably just using Gioconda for their own purposes.

Duclis and Pokota have some unspoken history as it’s quite possible that Duclis will end up the begrudging ally type by shows end, most likely sacrificing himself for the party and Pokota in particular. But that’s just my “cliche villain turned ally” hunch. He could join permanently and live through the show but since Zelgadis basically fills that role in the group, there’s no room for a new bad guy turned good guy.

This assassin, Zuuma, is also more than likely the black clad figure fighting Gourry in the intro we haven’t seen yet in show. Possibly another rival there, potentially showing how weak Gourry is without a real sword that can handle his strength which will be the start of the “subplot” of Gourry somehow getting the Sword of Light back. The original or an upgraded “copy” of Pokota’s? It’s anyone’s guess but there’s no way they’re going to get all the way through this show without Gourry getting his hand on SOME Sword of Light.

Well the next episode seems to be going back to the silly side. Even more than usual. So we might only get a glimpse of Zuuma and the rest of the villains if that. We’ll just have to wait and see.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2008 at 4:39 pm and is filed under Anime, Slayers Revolution.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.