The End of a Lie (偽りの果て, Itsuwari no Hate?) is the ninth episode of the The Eminence in Shadow anime adaptation.
Synopsis
When the students fight back, Shadow Garden joins the fray as their reinforcements. Amidst the chaos, Cid confronts the Gaunt Knight.[1]
大講堂にたどり着いたシェリーは、“強欲の瞳”を無効化する装置を投入。学生が反撃を開始すると、シャドウガーデンも参戦。混乱の中、首謀者“痩騎士”の前にシャドウが現れる。[2]
Summary
At dusk, the Knight Order had barricaded the area around the Midgar Academy for Dark Knights where they were forced to stay outside and wait for further instructions from superiors because they are unable to do anything without their magic, while Alexia had casually sat back in the carriage and just watched her older sister who is still arguing with the Knight Order Commander regarding jurisdiction due to objections from the palace, whilst the knights are struggling to formulate a counteroffensive plan amid the magic blocking field that was difficult to dispel from the outside because all the specialists were held captive inside the Academy.
Judging that the terrorists had managed to anticipated every alternative route by cutting off access to the outside so thoroughly, the knights start to consider there might be another spy inside the school, as they thought that Zenon Griffey was likely not working alone. At that time, the Shadow Garden squadron led by Gamma are instructed to move after received the latest orders from Shadow which was conveyed by Nu who had sent a code using a mirror to prepare to start a mission to rescue the hostage students who were still being detained by the Cult of Diablos in the auditorium.
When night falls, Sherry finally managed to completes her modification of the artifact where she could control the Eye of Avarice and stop the magic's absorption effect by using the control unit to deactivate the Eye, which impresses Cid when Sherry is ready to help her father as she headed into the hidden tunnels through the Assistant Principal's office to negate the artifact. But before entering, Sherry thought back on the night incident where she saw her mother being murdered when she was a child, and how Lutheran comforted Sherry at her mother's funeral where he offered to adopt Sherry, to which she accepted. Feeling that her adoptive father gave her love and affection when Lutheran raised Sherry like his own family, to the point that he even supported the research her mother left behind, she is determined to repay him because her father always be stating how capable Sherry was as a great researcher like her mother. Knowing that it is her turn to save her father, Sherry thanks Cid for everything he did for her as she enters the tunnel alone to complete her objective, leaving Cid behind when he turn his sight towards the auditorium.
While the "Gaunt Knight" wonders why is Rex taking so long as his coughing getting worse, when a Cult subordinate informs him that Rex and several guards are still unaccounted for. Rose Oriana tells all the students to remain silent even though they think of a way out of captivity because in their current condition where their magic is still sealed, they cannot block bullets, let alone swords. Moreover, Rose felt that the dense magic energy emanating from the Gaunt Knight is being in a whole other league, which made Rose think that all the students would not be able to defeat him even if their magic returned.
The situation immediately turns worse when some of the terrorist start shooting at the students for fun with Rose trying to stop the students from doing anything as they won't stand a chance without their magic, despite being constantly urged to take action. Unable to do anything even though they didn't want to remain silent, the students feel humiliation because they couldn't fight the terrorists as they witnessed the terrorists' actions to kill all the hostages, when the Gaunt Knight make wicked smile behind his helmet.
Sherry activates the artifact
Once Sherry reaches the auditorium unimpeded and witnessed the atrocities committed by the terrorists, she saw the Gaunt knight holding the Eye of Avarice. After confirming the Eye, she activated the control unit and threw it as the artifact suddenly ignited in a bright flash, which disrupted the Eye of Avarice's activation mechanism and instantly disable the magic blocking field. With the magic blocking field nullified, Rose quickly seizes the initiative from an opening to attack one of the terrorists, declaring that their magic has returned and leading the students to start fighting back. As their magic return, a cry of rebellion reverberates for battle where all the Dark Knight students rose up to counterattack the terrorists and secure an escape route to get the Science students out of the auditorium safely.
Since the students begin to retaliate, the Cult are in disarray until ordered back to attack by the Gaunt Knight, who then pick up the control unit, observed by Nu. Knowing that the magic that had just returned had not yet fully recovered even after being freed from hostage, Rose saw the Gaunt Knight who had already holding the Eye of Avarice's control unit and moved to strike at him before her magic had run out completely. But several attackers block her, so she resolves herself to cut down every terrorist in front of her to honor Cid's gallant valor. However, she is saved by a precision cut of an enemy attacker, reminding her of a distant memory of a young figure, Amidst her reminiscence, Rose are being surrounded by terrorists in an attempt to kill her because she was too weak to continue fighting.
Shadow launches an attack on the terrorists
On that very moment, Shadow suddenly plunged through the roof and lands right in front of Rose, saving her from being killed as he praises her beautiful swordsmanship. It was at the time of his arrival when all the real members of Shadow Garden show their appearance while eliminating the Cult members in the upper balcony seating area. Upon announcing the name Shadow Garden which was then followed in unison by all the members stating the organization's statement in front of the Academy students, Shadow gave the signal for Nu along with a squadron of Shadow Garden members to finish off the rest of the Cult, aiding the students' resistance. Despite the Gaunt Knight ordered his subordinates to attack, the Cult troops was easily wiped out by Shadow Garden's forces.
Using the battle to cover their escape, Rose orders the students to evacuate by carrying the injured out of the auditorium, although she is wary of Shadow's presence due to his unexpected arrival together with Shadow Garden to engaging the terrorists. As Shadow clashes against the Cult's troops, he realizes that the Gaunt Knight have escaped through a hidden door. Meanwhile, Sherry didn't see her father among the hostages amid the skirmish until she heard the sound of high-pressure gas, causing a large fire to break out in the auditorium after the gaslights explode from gas flooding which forced Rose have to create a way out in order to get out all the students who were still inside.
Gamma, who have been observing the battle from the auditorium roof, is surprise by the Cult leader's daring actions for destroying their own territory just to cover his tracks, from which turned into a huge disaster as the fires have spread throughout the Academy. It turns out that the fire that occurred during the chaos was caused by the Gaunt Knight, who realized he was losing control of the situation by activating the pressurized gas system for the school's power to set the Academy ablaze which caused the rest of the school burst into flames.
Thereafter, Iris Midgar and the knights were finally able to enter the academy grounds to triage the situation because they were shocked when they saw the burning academy after the magic barrier field disappears and found the corpses of terrorists everywhere. With the knights trying to put out the fire that was still raging, Iris saw all the hostage students outside the auditorium. Iris meets Rose who is tending to several injured students and asks her about the cause of the fire after their magic returned, in order to learn what really happened inside the Academy.
When Rose reports to her that a mysterious organization calling themselves Shadow Garden appeared and wiped out terrorists, Iris is shocked to the point where the princess tried to ask if the Student Council President was sure about the name they actually said from what she heard. Although Rose confirms this, she also notes that the terrorist group went by the same name, leaving the both princesses confused and curious about what these two secret organizations really are. Watching the blazing Academy from above, Nu informs Gamma that they retrieved the necessary articles during the chaos, with only one piece of business left to address. In the tunnel, Sherry was worried because she's unable to find her father in the auditorium and still looking for him despite being trapped in the Academy with the flames continuing to get bigger from the bursting gas pipe.
At that time, the Gaunt Knight was rummaging around a school office by taking some books from the shelves and lighting a match to burn the books that were lying on the floor. After setting the room on fire, the Cult leader intends to sneak away from the Academy until he heard the voice of a young boy who apparently turned out to be Cid Kagenou who is sitting near the window reading a book and then asked the man why he was dressed in such a costume, where Cid called the "Gaunt Knight" by the name Assistant Principal Lutheran Barnett, compelling the man have to remove his helmet, thus revealing that the unmasked Cult leader is indeed Lutheran.
Curious as to how Cid deduced his identity as a silently shocked Lutheran wanted to know how the young boy was able to notice his disguise, the student stated it was obvious from the moment he saw him, with Lutheran guessing whether from the way he walked, or his stance to where Lutheran praised Cid on his perception by having good eyes. To uncover the Assistant Principal's true intentions, Cid asks for his own reference by wondering about Lutheran's motives for doing all this since he doesn't seem like that type of person, as Lutheran explains a time in his life that he once reached the top of the swordfighting world, which happened before Cid was born. Just as Cid remembers when he heard that Lutheran won the Bushin Festival, Lutheran, who was taking off his disguise outfit and thrown into the flames to be burned, reveals that the real peak is much higher than that by telling Cid that he wouldn't understand even if he told him.
However, Lutheran fell sick as soon as he made to the top which momentarily made the glory he had fought so hard to attain just disappear in an instant, and since then he began searching for a way to cure his disease when he found potential in a certain artifact. Asked by Cid whether the story would be quite long while he was still reading the book, Lutheran answered only a little when he told about a talented researcher named Lukreia who was Sherry's mother where she was an unfortunate woman who was despised by the academic world for being too intelligent. Lutheran tells Cid that he's the one who funded Lukreia's research, to which Lukreia focuses on her work in researching artifacts with her unrivaled knowledge until they both get along with each other in their beautiful relationship as working partners.
Lutheran reveals himself as the murderer of Sherry's mother.
Patiently waiting in his long search since building a fruitful good relationship with Lukreia, until one day when Lutheran eventually found the artifact that he had been searching for entire time. By the time Lukreia concluded on her analysis that the Eye of Avarice was too dangerous after studying its unsafe potential where she suggested handing over the artifact to the government for safekeeping, Lutheran shows his true colors when he admits that he brutally killed Lukreia in cold blood and even goes so far as to details the method of his kill, starting from slicing her extremities all the way inward until finally stabbing her heart and twisted his sword. While holding the artifact in his hands despite Sherry being at the scene where she witnessed her mother's murder before her eyes and not realizing Lutheran was there behind her, as he saw Sherry sitting there crying over Lukreia's bloodied corpse before later fleeing the room with the artifact. In fact, Lutheran further revealed that Sherry never knew and didn't even suspect anything as she continued Lukreia's research without knowing that he was her mother's killer, to the point where Lutheran called Sherry a sweet, stupid girl.
Having finished listening to Assistant Principal's explanation of the contents of his confession as a answer to the question, Cid, who somewhat understood, only had one thing that made him curious in the story when he asked whether Lutheran was really using Sherry for his selfish reasons. After Lutheran confirmed the student's question in which he tries to ask if it makes him angry, Cid is unsure, as he makes a very clear distinction between what's important or not to him. Cid explains that as people go through life, they collect more things that have value to them; such as friends, lovers and work. But on the other hand, Cid overlook a lot of things in his life as he threw everything away until all that is left was something he truly couldn't have. For this reason, Cid doesn't particularly care about what happens to anything other than the goal he has to achieve.
When Lutheran asks if Cid doesn't care for Lukreia and Sherry, Cid closes the book he was reading which extinguishes the burning pages and immediately suggests that it would be time for them to start before someone else will comes to interrupt if they continue any longer, to which Lutheran agrees with the student's remark as a sign of a very unfortunate farewell. In a tense confrontation, Cid and Lutheran faced each other, but in an unexpected twist, Lutheran fatally struck down Cid in an instant, causing him to fall through the window.
Ensuring to hide any traces of his involvement in the crime after eliminating the student as a key witness, Lutheran hurriedly decides to leave after saying goodbye to Cid until he heard a sound, making Lutheran stopped in his tracks until he is shocked to see that the source of the sound was actually turns out to be Shadow who suddenly appeared before him. Knowing the difference in strength, Lutheran, who had lived his life by the sword, immediately understood to realize that he did not have enough strength in his current abilities to fight against Shadow due to having a lot of experience in fighting strong fighters, including the fact that he was at a disadvantage due to his deteriorating condition.
Not wanting to waste time by deciding to fight Shadow because he can no longer escape, Lutheran is resorted to use the Eye of Avarice, which is being activated in combining the artifact main part with the control unit to show Shadow its true value. Then, a huge magical energy starts to overflow inside Lutheran, feeling reborn due to the changes as his skin pulls back in distortion. As his body had merged with the Eye of Avarice, Lutheran felt the extraordinary effects of the artifact where his strength finally returned and his illness was instantly cured until he told Shadow to feel the wild magical energy as the power is far beyond any human ability. Utilizing the artifact's full potential in his transformed state to test his newfound strength enhancement, Lutheran then starts attacking Shadow consecutively, but Shadow easily blocks his attacks without even moving from his spot.
Being able to fend off all attacks with ease, Lutheran admitted that Shadow is indeed a strong opponent which makes him decide not to hold back out of respect for his strength. Concentrating his immense magical energy, Lutheran said that Shadow had forced him seriously to fight on equal terms that which would be something to be proud of in the afterlife as he quickly lunges at Shadow with all his might. But despite giving a decisive attack, Shadow effortlessly parried his attacks and swiftly strikes Lutheran down with unenthusiasm.
Angered for being unable to injure Shadow despite his powers had been enhanced by being empowered with the Eye of Avarice, Lutheran still continues to attack him, which was ultimately repelled because he didn't expect Shadow's abilities to be this great. Despite acknowledging Shadow's strength, Lutheran taunted him that he will fail in every effort he will make as Lutheran has made arrangements to ensure Shadow would be blamed for the academy attack and everything that happens by preparing evidence, witness testimonies, everything. It is revealed that Lutheran's plan was to frame Shadow on the incident he orchestrated, whereupon Shadow and Shadow Garden would be deemed as rebels and hunted by the world with Lutheran stating defiantly that his fate was doomed no matter how powerful he was.
Much to Lutheran's shock, Shadow finds that hilarious, explaining that something so small won't end his organization, as he stated that they had never taken the path of righteousness or evil either, with Shadow replying that Shadow Garden only walk down their own path. Moreover, Shadow who remained undeterred tells a shocked Lutheran that he will even gladly accepts all the guilt for all crimes in the whole world, but states that such won't change anything and they will continue to do what they must. Elsewhere in the Academy's interior, Sherry tried to keep searching for Lutheran as she walks towards somewhere.
Shadow easily defeats Lutheran
Seeing that Shadow is not afraid to antagonize the entire world, Lutheran tells him by claiming that his unfazed statement is defined as hubris, to which he directs his attacks at Shadow. However, Shadow then disarms Lutheran and proceeds stabbing his limbs, recalling precisely the exact moment when Lutheran killed Lukreia. Just after he tells Lutheran about the final method of killing Sherry's mother that made the former Knights of Rounds soon become aware the meaning of his words, Shadow pierced him the same way in the chest and then twisted his sword to destroy his heart, which at the same time as the Eye of Avarice shattered, releasing all the magical energy that made all the strength in his body dissipates. Already dying right at the end of the fight, Lutheran in his final moments finally realizes Shadow's true identity is actually Cid Kagenou as his consciousness begins to fade, whereupon he gives a vague mysterious laugh before he dies.
Subsequently after killing Lutheran, Shadow walked away while passing Sherry who had just arrived and stood stiff in shock when she saw her father lying dead on the ground, making Sherry start crying hysterically as she approached Lutheran's lifeless body. Seeing her crying for Lutheran, Shadow believes that it would be better for Sherry doesn't know the truth about the true nature of her foster father who had committed many misdeeds during his lifetime of mercilessly killed her mother and had deceived her by falling for lies in his manipulations to fulfill his own self-interested goals, flying off into the night under a blaze of red flames followed by the sound of Sherry's broken psychological mental cries.
The next day in the office at Mitsugoshi, Alpha meets with Gamma after telling her the situation while looking at Shadow's wanted poster, which says that Shadow is labeled as an enemy to the kingdom and is wanted for the charges of mass murder, kidnapping, arson, and robbery. Despite thinking about the Cult's efforts in their good work to make Shadow an evildoer which by leading the Midgar Kingdom to discredit Shadow Garden as a terrorist organization, Gamma tells Alpha that Shadow stated he would gladly accept the guilt for all crimes in the world, but that won't change anything as Alpha then notes on his steadfastness determination, followed by the members of Shadow Garden Numbers spoke in unison without any hesitation to declaring their master's statement that they would do what they had to do.
Amazed by his wise words, Alpha had thought they stood for righteousness, but Shadow doesn't seem to see it that way, to the point where every members in Shadow Garden must do their part to live up to his resolve despite their organization's image has been tarnished and even being considered as 'criminals' by the public in eyes of the world. It turns out among the most items that have been collected by Shadow Garden are Sherry's research equipment tool and the remains of the Eye of Avarice artifact that have been managed to recovered. Vowing upon their full dedication in admiration over Shadow's unwavering courageous resolve towards the Shadow Garden organization's obligation to continue the mission, Alpha burns away the wanted poster and orders Gamma to assemble those available of the Seven Shadows.
In the morning after the incident, Cid walked around to see the post-current Academy's state which had been completely half destroyed with the serious extensive damage to the building due to a fire caused by terrorists which made the authorities close the school and give all students an early summer break. Then at that moment, Cid ran into Sherry again on his way out of the school area where she wanted to talk to him privately. Outside the Academy, Sherry wants to thank Cid for his help the other day with Cid replying that he didn't do enough to help and asks Sherry not to think about it.
During their conversation, Sherry tells Cid that she decided to go study abroad in Laugus, an academic city on the leading edge of science as Cid congratulates her in response to how amazing it is that Sherry's abilities have been recognized, explaining the real reason why Sherry brought a suitcase. Having already made up her mind, Sherry explains that there is something she need to do and that she cannot do it with the knowledge she has now, only to reveal that Sherry has no reason to stay anymore as she mournfully looks back at the half-charred Academy to which Cid wishes her the best.
Feel saddened by having to part with the only friend she's ever known, Sherry truly wished she had gotten to know Cid better and wanted to talk to him more, with Cid telling her that maybe they can do that next time. Shortly just after bids a sullen farewell, Cid asked Sherry who was about to board the carriage about what it is she need to do. After a moment of silence while looking up at the sky, Sherry suppressed her pain from within as she gave an uneasy smile and told Cid that it is a secret. As they both parted to walk on their own separated ways, Sherry uttered an unknown oath of promise as Cid continued walking and then stopped to look up high into the sky, apparently having heard all the feelings of Sherry's ambiguous intentions.
Characters
- Iris Midgar
- Alexia Midgar
- Gamma
- Nu
- Rose Oriana
- Lutheran Barnett (Death)
- Sherry Barnett
- Cid Kagenou
- Lukreia (debut; flashback)
- Rex (mentioned)
- Alpha
Promotional Videos
