Bethel Anime Club

Episode 2 Synopsis (“Traitor”):

Yabitsu burns. Everywhere people scream, and run, and die; dogs bark furiously, tied to their chains; and the Promethius itself screams in protest, about to collapse. To his delight, keel finds the broken bottom of a cart; putting Isla and the baby in it, he remembers Tean’s insignia and decides that it’s his only hope. As he runs for the pier, Blantyre sees Aoi off: he himself will stay behind to ensure that the nuclear reactor is shut down properly. In the falling ash, Keel reaches the pier and finds the insignia; but as he reaches for it, he remembers an argument from long ago: he and his brother, at perhaps 7 or 8 years old, in the space station we have seen several times. Keel was furious at Tean then, calling him a traitor and beating him up; it seems that whatever caused that anger is still an issue for them. But Keel must overcome his hatred in order to escape. He arrives at the pier at enormous velocity, with a crying baby and a nearly-dead girl in a cart, and gives rather a shock to the woman waiting for Tean. He shows her the insignia but she is very suspicious; however, the point becomes moot when the Promethius gives way to the strain and breaks in half. The front portion of the ship tears through the town as it rumbles down the hill, and with no time left to decide, the woman shoves Keel and his companions into a miniature submarine and casts off. As the vessel submerges, Keel looks back at the ruins of the city where he has spent his whole life and realizes that, for better or for worse, his life has changed irrevocably. Sorrowfully, he turns around—and then he sees it: the U.S.S. Ulysses, an enormous double-hulled nuclear submarine that glows a sombre blue in the darkness. This is his new home.

Isla collapses as soon as they set foot on the Ulysses, and a doctor is sent for. As he cares for her, the woman—whose name, we now discover, is Joze meets with Gould and tells him that she suspects Keel of being a New UN spy. Gould, however, is fairly certain that a professional spy wouldn’t bring a newborn baby with him. Meanwhile the doctor has determined that after a good deal of rest Isla will recover safely; the baby itself is as healthy as could be. Isla awakens, and speaks coherently for the first time in a long while. She holds the baby and then begins thanking Keel, repeatedly: it soon becomes clear that, thanks to the fever, she mistook Tean for him and now she views Keel as her savior. Before the embarrassed Keel can correct her, the baby starts crying and Joze shows up to take Keel to the captain. Isla asks for some sugar water, and Joze—who is definitely uncomfortable around babies—promises to bring her some.

Keel’s meeting with the mysterious Gould takes place in the ship’s galley. Gould’s first real appearance is overwhelming, to say the least: he’s a foot and a half taller than anyone else, has ten times more muscle, and of course has a scar that covers half of his head (in addition to a blind eye). But he has merely invited Keel over for some homemade (and very spicy) soup and a little chat.

Gould tells Keel that the Ulysses rescued Teen seven years ago, when they found him drowning in the ocean. Although for some reason Gould seems very concerned about Tean and Keel’s relationship, Keel reacts angrily at the mention of his brother’s name and Gould has to drop the subject.As Joze walks Keel back, she “casually” (actually, threateningly) mentions the fact that Tean has a brilliant mind and learned about every subject imaginable during his time on the Ulysses… including medicine. It seems that she overheard the conversation between Isla and Keel, and she has figured out that it was Tean who really saved the baby. When the desperate Keel grabs her arm, Joze slams him to the wall and chokes him, spitting out that although his face is just like Tean’s, the two are opposites on the inside.

Many feet above Gould’s submarine, Aoi has landed on a battleship belonging to Captain Satoyama, an old accomplice and commander of the New UN’s Pacific Fleet. Although Satoyama regretfully informs her that they have had no contact with Blantyre as of yet—he may have been killed at the Promethius‘ demise—they do know where Gould is: Hiroshima, in the vicinity of the Dhola Vira. “Gasp!” says a nearby crew member, “the Dhola Vira.” “Yes,” replies Satoyama. “The… Dhola… Vira!” He sends in three destroyers and a submarine—which in this new world, is a third of the Pacific fleet.

Yessss… the Dhola Vira! As Keel tries to tell Isla that he was not the one who saved her, the Ulysses‘ battle alarms go off and the ship goes onto full alert. As the episode ends, we see that they are approaching a massive vortex in the ocean, a huge swirling maelstrom that can only be described with the words… Dhola! Vira!

Can you tell what the next episode will be named?

“Today’s transmission… complete.”