Summary:

Somehow in between episodes, the plan got completely changed.  Although Rosie is no match for Zaka’s crazy hand signal skills, her team is able to both free the Darcsens from their stinky pig sty and wire the railroad track with explosives (since the Equus lacks underamour).  Largo just ends up tagging along with Welkin as he assaults the mining base, and Ramal and Isara hijack an Imperial tank to destroy all the other unsuspecting Imperial tanks.  The plan goes very smoothly and when Berthold moves the Equus into position, Zaka times the blast perfectly.

Unfortunately, only half the explosives go off, and Berthold calls on Squad 7 to give up lest the Equus fire on the fleeing Darcsen.  Welkin is unsure what to do, so Faldio takes over and orders their forces to charge anyway.  Berthold kills all the Darcsen, but before he can take out Rosie and Zaka, Isara and Ramal show up and kill Berthold by firing at the remaining explosives under the Equus.  Rosie is very upset at all the Darcsen casualties, but a brief flashback of young Rosie and her family plays as she states she still cannot forgive the Darcsens.

Reaction:

First off, what’s with the spoiler-filled OP?  I mean, sure I suspected that Alicia was part Valkyrur and in love with Welkin, but seeing Alicia hold hands with Welkin and symmetrically dock shields with Selvaria was a bit much.  Furthermore, I noticed several tactical errors in this episode.  Why would you put all the explosives in the hands of the guy with limited depth perception?  I would have set a few charges to go off first to stop the Equus and then used the main charges to detonate after the train had stopped, but Zaka did manage to time the explosives perfectly.  Too bad his wiring skills suck, implying that not all Darcsen are as skilled as Isara.

Speaking of which, Faldio really screwed up in this episode.  Why would he charge?  Their whole purpose was a feint to buy time.  Why would you attack or surrender?  Neither choice advances your purpose.  Welkin had the right idea, because this buys more time for the Darcsen to escape and Isara to destroy the Equus.  In another “all your eggs in one basket” mistake, it would have made more sense to have the Darcsen split up into two or three groups and take different routes, to cause more confusion (since this was also a feint).  Then, at least half (and probably two thirds) of the Darcsen would have survived the operation.  On a positive note, once again Alicia’s nice body saved her life, as the enemy was too busy scoping out her T&A to fire before getting shot by Welkin.

Related posts:

1. Valkyria Chronicles 13
2. Valkyria Chronicles 15
3. Valkyria Chronicles 07