Episode six of Aldnoah.Zero 2, titled “The Rose and the Ring,” is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu for paid members. Free members can watch this same episode six days from now on February 21st.
It is already apparent that Slaine will be focusing on a secret plan to purge the Vers Empire’s nobility of every corrupt element and Inaho will be focusing helping Earth advance in the war between the two planets. Slaine has his hands full to unify the surviving Orbital Knights under his banner, but there are arrogant and condescending nobles that look down upon him for being from Earth.
This whole situation reminds me of the Charlton Heston film Ben-Hur because the relationship between Lord Saazbaum and Slaine Troyard is somewhat reminiscent of the relationship between Pontius Arrius and Ben-Hur.
Any number of corrupt nobles can easily fill the role of Messala.
Slaine’s duel is also reminiscent of the chariot race between Ben-Hur and Messala, which he will use to point out the hubris of the Orbital Knights. He does have a point because most have fallen to Inaho Kaizuka.
Yet, the Orbital Knights don’t even realize it.
Slaine’s calculating nature is a benefit to him as he reveals to Princess Lemrina that the duel is a blessing in disguise. It obviously shows that he and Inaho represent different sides of the same coin as the former is skilled in politics and the latter is skilled in military tactics.
The Orbital Knights should not forget about Inaho, either, who proves to be just as dangerous outside a mecha as he is piloting one. He proves to be dangerous in a support role capacity by giving coordinates on the enemy’s location for the Ducalion to attack.
The Orbital Knight is royally f—ked because Inaho is giving his teammates accurate coordinates.
It is obvious that the Knight is royally p—sed, which proves Slaine’s point about the air of hubris within the Orbital Knights.
The duel between Slaine and Count Marylcian was just as exciting as Inaho’s battle against the Orbital Knight in this episode. It reminded me of the duel between Galfa and Sir Jean in the previous episode of Maria The Virgin Witch.
Like Slaine, Galfa is of lowly status.
Galfa made the mistake of sleeping with Sir Jean’s mistress, Eugenie, because it is forbidden by law for a noble and commoner to mix.
Nobles have a habit of underestimating the people that they condescend like Sir Jean did with Galfa and Count Marylcian did with Slaine.
“The Rose and the Ring” is perhaps one of the episodes that makes a major impact in Aldnoah.Zero 2 because it repeats the lesson to never underestimate your opponents even if they are of a “lower status” than you are.
Count Marylcian lost to Slaine and the Orbital Knights continue losing to Inaho.
