Eugeo and Kirito are about to face the first major obstacle of their climb to the Cathedral. They will soon discover that their mission could prove particularly difficult.
If you haven't read it yet, here you will find the review of licensing Ep 13.
Synopsis of Alicization Ep 14
After receiving his own mission, in Alicization Ep 14 Kirito ed EUGEO they find themselves inside the armory of the Church of Axiom, where they recover their previously seized weapons and, after discarding the idea of stealing an armor, assume that the large amount of equipment in that place is a way in which the to prevent anyone from opposing her, she discourages the possibility of building an army.
The clash with the Integral Knight
After a quick change of clothes the two begin their journey by crossing an old acquaintance: the Integration Knight who had previously put them to flight with his archer skills.
The man shows off his extraordinary skills by showing his power to surround himself with red-hot flames from which he can launch fiery bullets without needing arrows or a bow rope, determined to execute the order to capture the two escaped prisoners.
Kirito suggests a direct approach and, using his Sword Skills, takes care of targeting the knight to leave Eugeo the possibility of hitting the enemy.
The strategy proves effective mainly thanks to the hidden power of the Blue Rose, which recalls the frost to which the blade has been subjected for centuries, a perfect skill to fight the fire of the enemy who therefore loses the battle.
Defeated, the knight looks like Deusolbert Synthesis Seven, asking to be finished rather than suspended in time indefinitely by the pontiff for his failure.
Eugeo, recognizing man as the one who eight years earlier kidnapped Alice from Rulid, is driven by anger to finish the defeated enemy but Kirito discourages him from acting, letting Deusolbert tell his story.
The story of Deusolbert
Thus we discover that the Knights Integrators, in addition to having no memory of their past, they are not authorized to have any recollection of the creation of other Knights, because they are conditioned to think that they have no past as creatures of celestial origin. For this reason, Deusolbert has no memory of having brought Alice to the Cathedral, making Eugeo's anger towards him even more vacuous.
Before ending up frozen, the defeated knight gives a final warning to the two opponents: from the fiftieth floor onwards the other Integral Knights are waiting for the two boys, but their orders are to kill them on sight. Their rash approach, which proved effective in the last battle, will therefore not be sufficient to guarantee them a victory, despite the fact that the Aincrad Style is unorthodox and unpredictable for them.
On the way to the upper floors, therefore, Eugeo and Kirito discuss which tactic to adopt to face the impending dangers but, suddenly, they are approached by two young girls.
Considerations on
Alicization Ep 14
licensing Ep 14 marks thebeginning of a new narrative arc, and the anime makes it clear with the new opening theme, on the notes of "RESISTER".
Compensating for the long exposures of the first part, licensing Ep 14 loses little time to immerse the viewer in the first of the many battles that the protagonists will have to fight against the forces of Quinella.
The proposed battle is the type in which Sword Art Online excels: dramatic, high risk and with a capable enemy, the right kind of premise to create an exciting confrontation. This would obviously be insufficient if not for the quality of visual production and, above all, of theexcellent sound design: swords, flames, music and dubbing exponentially increase the atmosphere, and the choreography of the battle makes it all exciting without leaving the guidelines of the original material.
It is to be noted that Kirito does not deliver the coup de grace to the enemy: the boy merely acts as a diversion, leaving all the honors of the battle to Eugeo and his freezing power, key to the resolution of this battle, reinforcing his role as a simple guide and mentor in a journey that belongs more to Eugeo than to he.
The next part of the fight is calmer, and is limited to strengthen empathy for the Knights, who although fighting for Quinella are basically victims of it and vaguely introduce the dangers looming in the next episodes, without introducing new information to the viewer.
It is also interesting to note how the Aincrad Style took Deusolbert off guard, a sign that Quinella, perhaps, does not know every facet of the system and is therefore extraneous to most of the Sword Skills that the Seed allows to use.
Le little girls in priestly clothes introduced at the end of the episode will have their formal introduction in the next episode, but their state of threat or potential allies is left to speculation, pending Episode 15, entitled "The Knight of the Dazzling Sun".
