We finally get to see John Smith in action this episode. I actually really like how the anime sets things in an industrializing world. One of the things it means is that John Smith gets to have his fights with wires on a train rather than just on the open road near a horse-drawn carriage like the LNs. A confined space like a train car makes the wires feel much more threatening and oppressive in my opinion. Also, in case you were wondering if Cid recognized who 666 was, that is still no. In the LN he just refers to this group as “Mitsugoshi’s hit women”.

The other bit of action this episode focused on Gamma and her unconventional fighting style. If it wasn’t very clear from the very short flashback in this sequence, basically Cid gave up trying to teach her proper fighting technique due to her clumsiness. So, instead he told her to just use loads of magic and swing her sword hard and fast while making a swoosh noise. Thus, Gamma’s fighting style was born.

The other interesting bit about this Gamma sequence is that in the LNs, it is Nu that accompanies Gamma rather than Kai and Omega. In fact, Kai and Omega don’t really play much of a role at all in the LNs despite being characters in the original WN. From interviews during the first season (and some easter eggs in the show), it is clear that the director was a fan of the original WN and has worked to try to incorporate Kai and Omega into the story where it won’t have a negative impact. They even get their turns at singing the ED this season (this episode was Omega).

Really looking forward to the next episode to see some more John Smith action.