For the first time in centuries, the Etats-Generaux has
been called: a meeting of the three ruling bodies of France. But what should be a chance to better the
lives of all living in Paris becomes a power keg ready to explode as Nobles and
Rebels alike threaten to damage the conference for their own nefarious
ends. Oscar and Company B find
themselves in an impossible situation.
Will they obey orders to put down any resistance by any means
necessary? Or will Oscar be forced to
take a stand against the very Nobility she has served without hesitation?
After Monday’s…questionable storytelling choices, The
Rose of Versailles re-righted itself by doing what it arguably does best:
turning up the heat with its depiction of historical drama.
And yes, even Oscar and Andre found ways back
to their more familiar selves, settling into new roles and even making some
interesting discoveries themselves (nothing we didn’t already know on Andre’s
end though).
Honestly, it’s just good to
get away from all the romantic drama and back to the steady escalation towards
the French Revolution.
Which does make
me wonder: how much of the show is going to cover that event?
That’s a mini discussion/rant I can get into
later.
For now, only the start of the
final 10 episodes.
The major event surrounding these five episodes was the Etats-Generaux,
a gathering of representatives from the three ruling bodies of French Society:
The Nobility, the Clergy and the Commoners.
Now since they’re all hear to discuss just how terrible life is for
everyone not living a life of luxury, you can imagine there wasn’t a lot of
talking so much as constant shouting.
The Commoners need relief from the constant taxing and near starvation
while the Nobility and Clergy refuse to budge on centuries of tradition and
power hoarding.
The one thing they can
all agree on is Marie.
The scene where
she enters the Etats-Generaux and the whole room goes dead silent with nothing
but angry looks on everyones face is meant to be a big turning point for
Marie’s character, illustrating more than ever just how far she has fallen with
everyone around her…but ngl, this made me chuckle.
Bunch of guys in a room cant agree on
societal change but for one brief moment they can all agree that Marie
Antoinette is the most hated person in the room.
The match was lit on a possible explosive situation when
the Nobility and Clergy worked hand in hand to bully Louis XVI into ordering
the removal of the Commonfolk after Oscar allowed them to enter the Etats-Generaux
when they were almost banned.
Once
again, I felt my heart was racing as we saw Oscar buck authority and race to
prevent a massacare on the Commonfolk by her old unit.
Now, me being not as up on my French History
as I should, I’m learning about Pre Revolutionary events through this
Anime.
So I’ll admit, I was kind of
disappointed things ended rather peacefully and without too much fuss.
I get it, I get it, this is likely how a
similar situation went down IRL only Oscar is the OC inserted into it all.
And yeah, I don’t want to see anyone die, be
it the Commonfolk or Girodelle but at the time I thought Girodelle might fire
the shot that kicked off the Revolution at last, or O\scar would be forced to
kill her former Second in Command.
Neither happened and while that’s fine, it’s history, I do feel slightly
let down but that’s just me quibbling.
It wasnt just the Commonfolk on the verge of rioting,
Oscar’s Company B had its own share of complaints and near scrapes with death
as well.
Their entire regiment is
comprised of regular citizens who are in the same boat as anyone else living in
the city.
Some are even selling their
weapons and gear illegally just to be able to send money to their families in
order to survive.
Alain and Company B
have become Oscar’s eyes into how bad everything truly is from the
aforementioned selling to military provisions to Alain’s sisters death due to a
noble moving onto a more wealthier woman.
Her Company may look tough and put on a brave front but they are
hurting.
And after a while even she
couldn’t stand seeing them suffer along with everyone else.
Granted she also got a first hand experience
with the terror of the people of Paris right now in what’s one of the shows
strongest and most horrific moments when she and Andre were attacked in their
carriage by an angry mob looking to kill anyone riding in anything with Noble
emblems. It was almost like watching a Zombie movie play out and the decision
to animate the entire sequence in blood red colors was a nice touch.
It’s safe to say that Oscar has changed quite a bit over
the last few episodes but here in the penultimate chapter is where she’s poised
to take a bold new position in the coming changes in history.
Oscar acted more like a rebel and hero of the
people as she told off her superiors when they told her to remove the
Commonfolk from the Etats-Generaux and fought tooth and nail to keep Alain and
those who stood with her from being executed.
Oscar’s been a mostly loyal soldier who has been willing to overlook and
forgive more than she should have but not anymore.
The scene where she secretly meets with
Bernard aka the Black Knight, to propose a plan to free her comrades was great
stuff.
At first I thought she’d enlist
his bandit tactics for a stealth rescue mission.
Instead she got him to assemble a crowd
around the prison to call for the release of Alain and the others.
Oscar may not be out of the Military yet but
she’s now got the trust of two military units and one of the prominent speakers
of the Commonfolk.
It may not be where
she ultimately ends up but Oscar has never been more amazing than she’s been in
these five episodes.
Some other odds and ends notes before I wrap up this
review cause wow a lot did go down.
Oscar and Alain’s duel in the rain was awesome with both fighting with
the right amount of respect and honor that inched them closer to becoming true
allies and Oscar earning the overall respect of her unit.
Hans made a brief return and continued to
show why he is one of this shows true MVPs as he got the angry mob that was
about to hang Andre to follow him, since he’s the man Marie Antoinette had an
affair with and is thus a bigger fish to fry than Andre.
Speaking of, I feel like Marie’s role has
been greatly reduced since the Diamond Necklace Incident.
.
The
show seems to have skewered more towards Oscar than Marie as of late.
While Marie did get some devastating moments
(that aforementioned silent treatment and the unfortunate loss of her son), is
it weird to say I’ve actually kind of missed some of the backroom/ballroom
societal drama surrounding her that made the show surprisingly addictive?
Lastly, “Hans, save My Andre”, what a time
for Oscar to learn she’s in love with her childhood bestie than seeing him
dragged away by peasants ready to beat him to death.
The Rose of Versailles bounced back big time in this
penultimate set of episodes.
Oscar and
Company B’s harrowing brushes with death and defiance of the military stood as
some of Oscar’s strongest moments in the series while the Etats-Generaux
brought back the thrilling nail-biting intrigue that’s made this show such a
strong watch.
With five episodes left to
go though, seriously how much of the French Revolution are we going to see and
who is going to survive when the chaos starts?
Well I’m not going to spoil myself by looking through some historical
articles.
Next Monday we reach the
climactic (and very possibly tragic af) finale of The Rose of Versailles right
here over at the Gundam Anime Corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment