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Digital Downloads
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 06 July 2008 16:00 |
 If the Summer of Anu is the period for comparatively safe ascents of the Tower, then the end of the Summer can only be a bad thing. Jil and his allies are about to find this out - and he's also about to find out that his lack of real motivation for climbing the Tower may be about to become a handicap...
Jil and his party have now reached the level of the Tower known as the Shrine of Diamond, meaning that the top floor and their ultimate goal, the Shrine of Sky, is now within striking distance - although Jil's been seeing the apparation of a young woman, warning him to be careful, and given the conditions within the Tower at this point it's good advice. Neeba's party, the Uruk Army led by Kelb, and Pazuz have also managed to reach this far - and as they get closer to their goal, the different goals and motivations of the different party members soon leads to conflict...
No more pussy-footing about as the filler finally comes to an end, with this episode finally letting the real aim of the quest take centre-stage - Jil and the gang may have not quite reached Druaga's domain, but they're close and the terrain proves it. The main thing explored by this episode is motivation - why the Climbers are seeking to defeat Druaga, what they hope to gain from the power that defeating him will give them, and whether those motivations will be enough to see them through to the end. They're not just being looked at for the abstract benefit of us viewers, either - it seems they'll play a key role in the story, as both Kaaya and Neeba seem concerned that Jil may not be in this for the right reasons, while the ghostly women - one apparently linked to Neeba, one linked to Jil - are also taking an interest in them.
It's not all philosophical, mind you, as there are some good action scenes during the second half of the episode to spice things up a bit, and the awakening of the Tower as the Summer of Anu draws to a sudden close is a major event in itself. As well as marking the arrival of a whole new horde of creatures for our adventurers to deal with, it also marks a point of no return - those who have reached the Shrine of Sky will now have to face Druaga, although that's a confrontation that'll have to wait for the next episode.
Which as ever, can't come quickly enough. With the two ghostly women now revealed to be playing a key role rather than just offering advice, and with the final confrontation with Druaga now certain to happen, there's plenty to look forward to from the final two episodes and not many clues towards whether we'll be getting an upbeat or downbeat ending (although with a sequel series already confirmed for next yet, I'd bet on the latter). Roll on the next installment.
Watch this episode
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