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R2 DVD Reviews
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Thursday, 14 October 2010 00:00 |
 Van's beginning to find that the downside of his link to Escaflowne is affecting his will to fight - and a journey to the Mystic Valley, once the home of the powerful Atlanteans, doesn't do anything to help him. But with the Empire constantly on their trail, does he really have any choice..?
The set starts off with Folken is simply on the gang's trail, and not directly harassing them. Instead, the focus of the initial episodes is on the past, in the shape of the past connections that Hitomi unwittingly has with Gaea and some of the people there thanks to the visit of her grandmother many moons ago, where it seems she met up with Allen's missing father; and on Van, and his growing unwillingness to fight. The price he's having to pay to control Escaflowne is becoming ever greater, ever more dangerous, and he's just about reached the point where he doesn't want to pay it anymore.
For Allen, there are also spectres from the past to deal with, in the form of how he's handled his father's disappearance. He's always seen it as a betrayal, an abandonment, but through the flashback scenes here you get to see that there's possibly more to it than that.
The key to unravelling all this lies in the Mystic Valley, where Hitomi, Van and Allen are all spirited away to deal with their separate issues in some very interesting scenes. There's a feeling now that the people around Hitomi and Van are being drawn together by forces greater by them, and that destiny is one of them. Destiny never seems to be a good thing to have working on you, though, and certainly in Van's case it looks at though he's going to have a hard time escaping his, no matter how hard he may try.
The main event begins with the second disc in the set, though, as Van, Hitomi and Allen are transported before the Emperor and given the full run-down of what he's been trying to achieve. The Emperor is far from being a normal human - originally from Earth, and transported to Gaea upon his mortal death, he's been obsessed with cheating fate ever since - with his ultimate aim being to create a world where war and death can be averted by the careful manipulation of destiny. There are also a few hints dropped that the Emperor is (or was) someone very famous, in Earthly terms, but I'll leave it to you to pick out the hints and work out that little puzzle.
Having explained himself, the remaining episodes turn to Dornkirk trying to get his way - having identified Hitomi as key to his plans, and her presence around Van as the biggest threat to them, it's time to put his theories to work in splitting them apart and making sure they stay that way. This is where things get a little... strange. Gaea is a magical place, that's accepted, but luck and destiny are presented for the rest of the series as being things subject to technology, things that can be manipulated with the right sort of machine, and that's something that I had a hard time accepting. Winning battles through good luck works fine in Red Dwarf, where no-one expects you to take the idea seriously, but Escaflowne does expect to be taken seriously, and doesn't help itself by messing with such abstract concepts.
Likewise, Folken's eventual switch in sides also leaves many questions. It seems to be the deaths of Eriya and Nariya that tip the scales, but if those two deaths are unforgiveable, then what about the hundreds or thousands that have been killed in Fanelia and Asturia as a result of Folken's actions? And what's the difference, on the grand scheme of things, between Dornkirk using the Destiny Engine to bring peace as he sees fit, or by Folken doing it as he sees fit? There seems to be a lot of hypocrisy going on here, so I was with Van as far as being sceptical about Folken's motives goes - he may have switched sides, but initially there's no sign that he's changed his goals one iota, and that has to be a worry.
That said, there's plenty else going on in these episodes that isn't quite so troublesome. The story of Eirya and Nariya's demise is touching on several levels, covering their blind loyalty to Folken and Hitomi's knack of making an impact on people and helping them see that there are other ways of looking at things. But there's also a pointed demonstration of what can happen when you play with fate - mess with nature, be it destiny, luck, or something else, and nature has a habit of coming back to bite you. In this case it's just unnaturally bad luck following unnaturally good - a little foretaste of what will eventually happen when Dornkirk follows through on his plan to mess with destiny on a global scale.
The final disc in the set - and the series - is the old story of "disc of two parts" again. The first episode on takes us - and Hitomi - back to Earth for a while, and it's almost as though she never left, with memories of Gaea being almost dreamlike. On the surface, she's gald to be home, but under the surface she's missing Gaea - and Van in particular. Not that she's about to admit to that. The different setting results in a different feel to the episode, a more laid-back atmosphere - especially after the pace of recent events - and it's a nice break from the action before the final two episodes kick in to close out the series. Although Hitomi's eagerness to go back to Gaea with Van doesn't sit well with one of the final scenes of the series...
Back on Gaea, there are more revelations about what the Empire has been prepared to do in the name of progress, with the latest example being Dilandau. We already knew he was a few sticks short of a bundle, but the explanations behind why that was likely the case are fascinating and surprising - and bring more than a few problems for Allen to deal with. I'm all for plot twists when they can be well explained, and this one works well on a number of levels.
The main event, though, is Dornkirk's attempt to bring peace to Gaea, through the use of his Fate Alteration Engine - a move that quickly goes a bit Pete Tong, if you catch my drift. It's all very well creating a device that can grant any wish, but unless you know what people will wish for - secretly, in the depths of their minds where no-one else can see or hold them responsible - you may just be creating more problems for yourself. And so it is for Dornkirk - age-old differences and thirsts for power lead to exactly the opposite effect that he'd expected to achieve. And guess who gets to sort it out.
It's a lesson on a planetary scale in the price of meddling with things that you don't really understand, and that the best of intentions may often lead to the worst of results. As moral lessons go, it's delivered without being heavy-handed or preachy, but it's also very effective at getting its point across. The role Hitomi plays in sorting the situation out is maybe a bit much to believe, but then her persuasive skills have been plugged all series so it's not much of a surprise.
It is thoroughly enjoyable, though. Yes, it's a little mushy at the end and Hitomi's final decision over Van really doesn't make much sense - something that's been debated on the internets ad nauseum, so I'll not go over it again here - but overall there's very little about Escaflowne that isn't worth seeing. Go get.
For full episode summaries and screenshots, check our reviews of the individual releases:
» Volume 5: Paradise and Pain
» Volume 6: Fate and Fortune
» Volume 7: Light and Shadow
» Volume 8: Forever and Ever
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