I feel like the events that took place in this episode really upped the level of craziness. First, the Laquium disappearing means that Gibeon and Lucius can no longer maintain a physical form. I was shocked that this was how Gibeon was going to go out. I thought he was immortal, but I guess not. Fortunately, he was able to get forgiveness from his actions those of Amethio. It was nice to see that Gibeon was once a kind person underneath his nefarious actions, and once the White Zygarde left, he was able to see the errors of his ways. Since Zygarde just left on its own accord, I believe that it will come back, though, obviously no longer under the possession of Gibeon .
Spinel then takes the helm as the true final villain of Horizons,, as he plans on taking control of Laqua. He even uses the Laquium Sphere on the Six Heroes, causing them to go berserk and forcing Amethio, his squad, and the Rising Volt Tacklers to retreat. I think we all knew Spinel was going to betray Gibeon, but I don't think any of us predicted it'd be like this! This might be a controversial take, but I think that Spinel is the best Pokémon anime villain so far. He is very ambitious,to the point that he frames the Rising Volt Tacklers for the incident in Laqua while he paints himself as a prim and proper company president. Just what happened to Cervantes for him to relinquish his position, I wonder? Speaking of which, Spinel looks good with the "dead anime mom" hair. He's my favorite character right now, but I can’t wait to see his downfall… Considering that both Sidian and Coral were against his actions, I do wonder what will become of them in the coming timeskip as well…
OLM’s CG game is at an all-time high in this episode, particularly regarding the sequence of seeing the Brave Olivine going through its transformation into Infinite Rising mode via the red button mentioned at the beginning of the arc. It was crazy seeing three detailed transformations in the past two weeks, from Pagogo’s Stellar Form and to Floragato evolving into Meowscarada last episode, and then to the airship transforming. Sure, the transformation scene took a while, but it was still amazing to watch.
It’s still pretty crazy how Horizons has decided to age up the characters by a year for the new arc, which we get to see here in the final scenes of this episode. I love the subtle changes, like how the back of Liko’s hair is longer, and Roy losing his hat and letting his own hair get a little longer. I wonder how the other characters will look and if this change will also apply to the Gym Leaders… Roy is also now sporting a Mega Ring, and a yellow Lucario. Horizons is known for giving out quality flashback episodes, so I know the story of how Roy met and caught Lucario will be quite the tale. I also like the implications that the events of the first four arcs was Liko reminiscing about her adventures, with Liko narrating about how seeing Friede and Charizard being blown away was the last sight she saw in her adventure. It’s almost like passing the baton in a way as Lucius, Liko’s great-great grandfather, was the narrator of the first episode as he was observing the journey through Zygarde, but now that he’s gone, the narrator torch has passed to his descendant Liko.
Now that the anime will be on a two-week break before the premiere of the Mega Voltage arc on April 11th, I just want to take the time to thank all of my readers, whether it be on my blog, Tumblr, or Bulbagarden, for reading my reviews and going on this journey with me. The adventure isn’t over yet, but I’m grateful for all the likes, comments, and attention my reviews have gotten since 2023. To be honest, I had been on and off with writing reviews, but Pokémon Horizons was one of the triggers that helped me get back into writing anime reviews and it’s even gotten me to write for Bulbagarden! This series has a special place in my heart because of it, and it’s all thanks to you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me write and thank you for reading. I’ll see you again on April 11th.
