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Fear is freedom Subjugation is liberation Short hair Satsuki is obsession

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What do you think about Satsuki entrusting Ryuuko with Bakuzan at the end of the Raid trip? She didn't know Ryuuko was just going to hand it back to her right then and there, and she needed Bakuzan to enact vengeance upon Ragyou during the Great Sports and Culture Festival. Do you see it as Satsuki finally acknowledging Ryuuko as an equal (and not at the moment when she confessed her shortcomings on the Naked Sol) and entrusting Ryuuko in coming to her aid later? (1/2)

That is, she gives Ryuuko her sword, creating an unspoken honorable bond between them. From what she knows, only life fibers can kill life fibers, and Bakuzan is currently the only life fiber weapon she has besides Junketsu, which showed a very limited range of transformative use as a lance. Did she expect Ryuuko to hand back Bakuzan and fight beside her as equals once she backstabbed Ragyou? Or for Ryuuko to attack Ragyou and Satsuki backstabs her (Ragyou) while she was distracted? (2/2)

Satsuki: As long as there is breath left in me, Satsuki Kiryuin has a chance at victory!

The way I see it, Satsuki is a character who has devoted her entire life to stopping Ragyo—and this shows. Satsuki’s plans have none of the impulsive, spur-of-the-moment, let’s-see-how-reckless-we-can-be qualities that her sister’s do, because unlike Ryuko, Satsuki is immensely thoughtful and methodical, and she takes care to consider every possibility.

And it is good to be well-prepared, of course, but Satsuki takes her strategizing to such an extreme that it makes her cold. While Ryuko is ultimately able to fight Satsuki to a draw at the end of the Raid Trip because she puts her complete and utter faith in Senketsu—even without having a clue about what he intends to do!—prior to the reveal that Ryuko is her sister, I struggle to see Satsuki make a similar choice. There is nothing sensible about wholeheartedly trusting someone as Ryuko does, and up until Satsuki’s change of heart later in the series, her priority is to behave in ways that make sense to reach her objective—even if making sense can be harsh, detached, distancing, and, as she puts it herself, even if it makes her a villain.

So, when it comes to relying on and believing in others, Satsuki is highly lacking—in fact, it’s her greatest flaw, and what she herself acknowledges as her greatest flaw in her confession on the Naked Sol in episode 22. While she certainly expects people to help her in her goals, Satsuki is careful to never particularly count on it at first, because to count on somebody else would be to trust them… and that’s dangerous. Unknown. Illogical. Reckless.

Satsuki: If you [Ryuko] won’t like my way, I will fight you afterward.

And while Satsuki’s hesitance to trust can be seen in how she treats her Elite Four (and particularly Uzu, who blinds himself due to her horrible manipulation), this quality is probably most obvious and overt in her behavior towards Ryuko. Not only is it her poor treatment of Ryuko that pushes Satsuki to reconsider her actions, but Satsuki also blatantly never counts on Ryuko to fight for her cause, which she even notes directly: if Ryuko doesn’t want to help, Satsuki’ll just fight her, too. Satsuki may urge Ryuko to be on her side because she acknowledges that Ryuko’s aid would be useful, but she never, ever lets herself especially rely on Ryuko as an ally—well, before her big realization, anyway!

Satsuki: I shall leave Bakuzan in your [Ryuko’s] care. To mark today’s battle.

Ryuko (tossing Bakuzan back to Satsuki): Kiryuin.

Satsuki: What?

So, when Satsuki entrusts Ryuko with Bakuzan at the end of the Raid Trip (episode 15), I would argue that Satsuki is absolutely not holding out on the hope that Ryuko would use the sword to help her out later. She’d like Ryuko to lend a hand, but she’s not going to count on it.

Satsuki’s inability to trust Ryuko at this point is only furthered by her shocked reaction when Ryuko tosses Bakuzan back to her. The return is something Satsuki absolutely did not expect from Ryuko, because doing so is a sign of trust—exactly what Satsuki can’t do. The English dub especially pushes this idea, with Ryuko justifying her action by saying, “You seriously think I don’t trust you?”

But what’s interesting about this scene is how, well, nonsensically Satsuki behaves. Here I’ve been yapping about how sensible Satsuki is, but there’s really nothing sensible about leaving your weapon with your enemy—and definitely not when, as you pointed out, that weapon is pretty crucial to your goals!

While I wouldn’t say that Satsuki sees Ryuko as an equal yet (as Satsuki still doesn’t trust her), I would say that the act of giving up Bakuzan is a sign of honor and respect. Satsuki may be manipulative, deceitful, and tyrannical at this point in the story, but she won’t play dirty—even if it makes things a whole heck of a lot harder on herself. No matter what, Satsuki will be true to her word, and more than that, she’ll treat her “enemies” humanely.

And while I don’t think Satsuki giving Ryuko Bakuzan totally destroys her plans—remember, she has some Bakuzan toenails, so she clearly considered that she’d lose her sword along the way, and as pictured at the top of this post, she’ll do whatever it takes to stop Ragyo as long as she still lives—this moment at the end of the Raid Trip is a good one for her character because it emphasizes that Satsuki is not her mother. 

Though Satsuki utilizes similar methods as Ragyo to get what she wants, Ragyo would never display the kind of respect and honor that Satsuki does here. All Ragyo cares about is her own goal, and while Satsuki may even think she’s the same, she’s not. Satsuki has humanity, she cares about human life, and as she shows later, she’s willing to change—and willing to embrace the nonsensical that she would once only dare show shades of.

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I’ve talked to quite a few people who were disappointed that Satsuki didn’t help Ryuko deliver the final blow to Ragyo during the last episode — but I’m glad she didn’t, and it honestly wouldn’t have made any sense for her to do so (not only on a purely logical level, but also in terms of the kind of story klk tries to tell).

As much as the initial plot is centered around that fact that Ryuko wants to avenge her father — Kill la Kill is not about revenge. Yes, our two main characters are strongly driven by a bitter need for vengeance (and without it there would have been no story), but the most important aspect of this drive that they had was the fact that they abandoned it.

Mako at one point remarks that Ryuko wasn’t really after spilling blood, and that she was only pursuing her father’s murderer so adamantly because it was her way of grieving. She had never really known her father, felt abandoned her entire life, and then was left more alone than ever after his death. She had hoped she could get to really know him one day, and to compensate for that possibility when it was taken from her, she decided to channel her emotions by giving herself a fixed goal centered around vengeance. 

After her blowout during her first encounter with Nui, she tells Senketsu that she knew he had been crying when she lost control. If she had really been set on doling out rage filled vengeance, then don’t you think that Senketsu would have become angry rather than sad during their berserk transformation? He cried because he could feel her grief — her grief at having been left alone and abandoned, and feeling as though she had squandered the time during which she could have gotten to know her only family (to her knowledge) before it was too late.

Now let’s think about Satsuki. When she’s monologuing during episode 18, and retelling Soichiro’s story, she points out that the moment Ragyo discarded her surmised dead daughter’s body was the precise moment at which he decided to turn against her. As far is we know, this was the first of her mother’s actions that marked her as a horrible person in her mind.

From then on, it only piled up. We can all imagine the extent of the physical and psychological torture Satsuki had to endure during her eighteen years of life with Ragyo. But the truth remains that the “death” of her sister was the very basis of her hatred. She even brings it up right before she slices Ragyo’s head off: “You will pay for taking the lives of my father, Soichiro Kiryuin, and my baby sister who was never given a name.”

Like Ryuko, her need for vengeance stems from a deep grief over the fact that her family was taken from her — she too feels robbed of something precious, and even though Ragyo was probably more present in Satsuki’s life than Isshin was in Ryuko’s (probably a little bit too present, actually), being around that woman must have made her feel just about as good as being alone and abandoned.

Just think about all the emotional turmoil Satsuki must have gone through during the month she was captured following her failed rebellion. The little sister she had probably spent an immeasurable amount of time grieving over — imagining what life could and should have been like had she not been taken from her — was the girl she had remorselessly beaten and used without second thought. She was so focused on channeling her hatred for her mother that she failed to realize that something infinitely more important and attention worthy had been lying right under her nose all along.

Think about how guilty she must have felt. For a time I’m sure that she thought Ryuko might never be able to accept her or forgive her for the way she had treated her (and she probably wasn’t even ready to forgive herself because how was she any better than her mother if she was taking advantage of a person like this — of her little sister, no less?).

When she bows down to her Ryuko — that single moment right there marks the most humble, apologetic, and absolutely heartfelt of Satsuki’s gestures throughout the entire series. Ryuko tries to be uncompromising for as long as she can, but that act undoes her because she can’t actually hate her sister, not when she represents so wholly what it is that she had been after all this time. They both know what it feels like to be alone and to lose what feels most important in the world, and that’s in part what their reunion is about, and its what they can relate to and bond over in order to continue pursuing the same goal — “Help me to protect that beautiful world, Ryuko.”

The show was never about fulfilling petty desires for personal vengeance, it was always about being able to move past insignificant motives in order to really move forwards and realize what it is that’s most important in life. Both our heroines are pretty hateful and revenge seeking in the beginning. Ryuko is prone to fits of rage and falls quickly into fury when confronted with the object of her hatred. Satsuki has a much cooler sort of anger, which is arguably even more harmful, and can be very manipulative.

Their need for vengeance represents everything that is absolutely toxic in their lives — which is precisely why Ryuko doesn’t kill Nui, and it’s also why Satsuki isn’t the one to deliver the final blow to Ragyo.

The fact that they were able to find each other again changed them both for the better, and provided closure to a terrible chapter in both of their lives that they otherwise wouldn’t have seen the end of. Satsuki’s true victory, like Ryuko’s, doesn’t lie in the fact that she should have been able to kill the object of everything poison in her life — her true victory lies in having found her sister again.

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About Satsuki and emotionless...

Regarding the whole “Satsuki was like an emotionless robot in episode 19 and didn’t even care about the fact that Ryuko was her sister”-discussion that it somehow still ongoing…

Now first of all it’s not like Satsuki was emotionless because she wanted to be, but rather she had no choice but to conceal her anxiety, rage and sadness behind a thick wall because Satsuki pulling a Ryuko and going on an emotional rampage was exactly what Ragyo would have loved to see and Satsuki would go through hell to make sure that Ragyo did not get what she desired.

But even though she tried so hard to not show any emotions, the moment Ragyo mentioned Ryuko and how she was her daughter Satsuki was trembling at the thought of Ryuko being the sister she thought she had lost:

And you can see very clearly how badly she tries to hold those feelings back, to stay the rock she has to be in front of her mother. 

It was also only after Ragyo mentioned Ryuko that Satsuki finally opened her mouth to actually speak to her mother after staying quiet and trying to ignore Ragyo’s mocking the whole time:

The gaze in her eyes while thinking of her sister is also filled with much pain unlike in the rest of the scene where she is just trying her best to look as indifferent as possible.

Not even when her mother went all crazy while raping and spanking her did she let her facade slip away, simply because her mother was only teasing her alone, without involving Ryuko:

And I imagine the reason why Satsuki doesn’t visibly react to her Mother raping her is probably related to her “my sand became concrete and was transformed into a skyscraper” speech she gave to Nonon in kindergarten, implying that she built an unbreakable skyscraper in her mind to stand firm whenever her mother touched and dominated over her, being able to “look down on any adult [Ragyo] even as a child” while standing on top of it. Sadly this would indeed mean that Ragyo started this shit from when she was merely five years old. 

So don’t confuse willpower with emotionless, because Satsuki survived the hell of a month without being broken by Pedomom through her strong resolve alone and she did actually show emotions even though she tried so hard to hold them back. Ryuko might be the heroine and was definitive an interesting and also understandable protagonist, but regarding depth and character development she stayed far behind Satsuki - who in the end, even after all those horrible things her mother did to her, didn’t insist on killing Ragyo (and thus revenging her father) herself but willingly letting Ryuko do it, being the first one to give up on her uniform in order to power-up Ryuko, just being satisfied that her sister was finally by her side again. 

This is at least my opinion on this matter. Don’t start a war ok?^^“

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Satsuki catching Ryuko was one of the most beautiful moments of the series, and each of the keyframes is filled with emotions! 

Taken from the KlK Key Art Collection Vol 3.

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Wonderful keyframes of Kill la Kill’s grand finale! 

Taken from the KlK Key Art Collection Vol 3.

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Don’t mess with Satsuki Kiryuin! 

One of my favorite scenes, animated by Kengo Saito. Key frames taken from his book Saito Kengo Vol 1. 

Open the images in a new tab to view them in full size.

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Key Frames from the scene where Satsuki donned Junketsu for the first time, taken from the KlK Key Art Collection Vol 2.

I never really realized just how much pain she suffered there… though pain is probably an understatement, she is in agony here, the only time in the entire series as far as I can remember. 

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Satsuki Key Frames, taken from KlK Key Art Collection Vol 2. 

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Key Frames of Ryuko’s childhood, taken from KlK Key Art Collection Vol 2. 

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that one time ryuko gave satsuki a pep talk on willpower is actually such an important moment bc even though it’s what satsuki lives by, what allows her to survive, it’s not something she can let herself vocalize openly – not if she wants to play the bad guy and fulfill her true ambitions without losing to ragyo in the process. contradiction is truth! but then this girls pops out of nowhere, all emotion and no self-restraint, and she does what everyone around satsuki is too afraid to do, she stands up against her and openly promises to personally bury all the fucked up credences satsuki pretends to live by, she shouts and screams and defies in ways that satsuki can’t afford to, no matter how much she might want to, because that’s how she’s been forced to operate her entire life. ryuko says she wants to demolish everything that’s been hurting satsuki and ppl wonder why satsuki has a soft spot for her, fucking covers her up w/ a blanket that one time, saves her life from nui twice, freaks out when ragyo lays a hand on her, all before she even knows they’re related

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Update: I found the rest of the lyrics (3 translation sources, I’m spoiled!) and I’m utterly convinced now that this song was written with Satsuki in mind since this is the OP for the 2nd half of the season and that’s when the story shifted to her as a deuteragonist. Fun fact: Meg rock wrote the lyrics for both OPs and was present for episode recordings; she even cried because she was so touched while attending one voice recording session.

As for the lyrics below, I’ve included all 3 as each translator interpreted the lyrics slightly differently but none of them stray from the clear references to the story.

Verse 1: Biting my finger, I’ve always been searching, For the secret to this shining world… … but the answer’s always been in my tea cup, Simply reflected there: At a temperature that seems hot enough to burn, Too sweet, too bitter, So let’s each drink down our own preferred flavor. // All the while with numb fingers, I searched For the answer to a brilliant world But it reflected back at me From my teacup the entire time The burning temperature Is too sweet and also bitter So let’s drink up all of our own flavours // I have always been searching, with these cold, numb fingers The answer to this sparkling world has always been reflected within this teacup The temperature seems to be scalding as well as being too sweet and bitter The only flavours I’ll drink up dry are those of our own

This is an obvious reference to Soroi’s tea brewed for Satsuki (originally too bitter, but sweet now) and subsequently the Shitennou and the rest of the cast. It’s served piping hot (too scalding hot for Sanageyama) and everyone who drinks it all bring their own different (flavor) goals to the table.

Bridge: I just want to protect this dear world That’s my one and only crazy desire But my tiniest strand of hope is for you to be by my side right now // I have nothing but the reckless feeling, That I want to protect this wonderful world… But the fact that you’re beside me is my shining ray of hope! // Although I just want to protect this lovely world of ours that’s only merely an absurd thought however, there’s a gleam of hope, and that’s having you now by my side

Interpreting this is pretty interesting.

It’s utterly reckless and absurd to think that a normal human would have a chance of defeating an alien with insane powers but Satsuki proves everyone wrong. The death of her little sister (Ryuuko) and the thought of a better life they could have had (the crazy desire), is the 'hope’ that Satsuki’s been holding onto throughout the abuse. That is the source of her willpower to overpower all obstacles, which would not have been possible, for anyone who isn’t Kiryuuin Satsuki.

Just when Satsuki’s lost to Ragyo and imprisoned after Ep 18, she finds out who Ryuuko truly is to her (the gleam of hope) and they finally have a real chance to save the world from the life fibres. Even though they know the truth now, what’s happened in the first half of the season has driven a wedge between them. Satsuki has no idea what’s going to happen between herself and Ryuuko even though it makes sense for them to co-operate. Satsuki finally has to set down her pride and apologize, asking Ryuuko to stay and fight together with her. She holds on to the tiniest strand of hope for Ryuuko to be by her side right now.

Their relationship is ambiguous. Are they enemies? Friends? Siblings? They know what it is supposed to be, but their feelings aren’t so simple. Satsuki has been putting on so many guises and taking on false roles to fuel her ambition; her true self is masked. Go back to the top of the original post, and the story falls into place again by the end.

kill la kill - OP02 - ambiguous by GARNiDELiA

the second op is my favorite visually for its pairing of lyrics and characters. i wish i could post more caps for every single line but imma just post my favorite caps and analyze the rest through text.

“It all begins when we sever the threads of fate.”

trigger’s finally free to go all out with the hints to the plot since it’s the 2nd half of the season and the drama is ramping up. this is so obvious that it shouldn’t bear pointing out but i still have to, because I adore the links the show makes with life fibers being the red threads of fate, combined with the clothes/godrobes and giant scissors and the show’s main theme of lost and found family with ryuuko and satsuki always meant to meet again.

“I was trying to be someone I’m not, in a cramped world with no breathing room.”

This line describes Satsuki so much, since our girl has been hiding her revenge scheme against her abusive alien mother since the age of 5 and any sign of a slip-up means the world will end. Her sheer force of will is the only thing that lets her keep up with actual aliens. Ryuuko’s also doing the same. She falls back onto a delinquent persona, rebelling against the world in her single-minded goal to take revenge after her father’s murdered. In a sense, she’s freeing herself from the shackles of society and she doesn’t fit in school/Hounnoji Academy, but it’s also a big change from the ‘normal’ middle school girl she was before.

“As I walked down my runway, I thought I’d concealed it behind the smile that masked my face, but it doesn’t work on you. You always see through my facade.”

with Ryuuko and Satsuki literally walking down opposite runways… before fighting. Throughout the show, they’ve been constantly surprising each other and subverting each other’s expectations. Ryuuko appears out of nowhere, continually powering up and surpassing Satsuki’s initial assessment, Satsuki coming out with Junketsu, Satsuki giving and Ryuuko returning Bakuzan. I’d argue that Ryuuko has always understood Satsuki’s sense of honor/fair play despite her disdain for Satsuki’s outward arrogance.

“Nobody’s unravelled me like this before. I don’t know what to do. Nobody else can pull these outfits off. A somewhat ambiguous fever threatens to burn our hearts away.”

By the halfway point, they’re not enemies anymore. They’re fighting on the same side, but they aren’t friends either. They’re the only two who could actually understand each other and are on par with using the godrobes. And by the time of the big reveal, Satsuki’s been so manipulative and Ryuuko is struggling with her own identity, but they’re still trying to figure out how to navigate their relationship. (There’s also a flash of Ragyo/Nui/Rei during the ‘unravelling’ line and Satsuki is the only person shown right before and after that frame…)

“It all begins once we rein in the threads of fate. A new day will dawn for us.”

My heart loves this neat little finish that calls back to the start of the song. By reining in the threads of fate at the end, when it begins with severing the threads, this just describes Ryuuko and Satsuki’s relationship perfectly, doesn’t it? Lost at birth, growing up separately, only to return to each other at the end and to fight together for the common goal of defeating Ragyo and saving earth in order to live their real lives unfettered by clothing. (Also, it literally shows both of them being bound in their respective colors of red and blue. They’re really just beating us over the head with these symbolism at this point.)

“We must be one in spirit.”

It’s also great in that it’s not just about the very last pic already foreshadowing the ryuuko/satsuki relationship reveal for the second half of the season (just think about watching this OP when it hadn’t been revealed yet, they’re not angrily looking at each other, they’re looking angrily towards the screen! dangit trigger), but the animation for this line also showed off all the different groups of the show; the Shitennou, Nudist Beach, Ragyo and Rei, and Mankanshoku family.

I know this entire show was made by Trigger to showcase their animation abilities and this OP animation pulled that off in spades (fighting atop a literal mountain of goons, the blood splattering to form the title card, they’re showing off tbh) but it’s just so good in terms of tying together all their characters/story.

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kill la kill - OP02 - ambiguous by GARNiDELiA

the second op is my favorite visually for its pairing of lyrics and characters. i wish i could post more caps for every single line but imma just post my favorite caps and analyze the rest through text.

“It all begins when we sever the threads of fate.”

trigger’s finally free to go all out with the hints to the plot since it’s the 2nd half of the season and the drama is ramping up. this is so obvious that it shouldn’t bear pointing out but i still have to, because I adore the links the show makes with life fibers being the red threads of fate, combined with the clothes/godrobes and giant scissors and the show’s main theme of lost and found family with ryuuko and satsuki always meant to meet again.

“I was trying to be someone I’m not, in a cramped world with no breathing room.”

This line describes Satsuki so much, since our girl has been hiding her revenge scheme against her abusive alien mother since the age of 5 and any sign of a slip-up means the world will end. Her sheer force of will is the only thing that lets her keep up with actual aliens. Ryuuko’s also doing the same. She falls back onto a delinquent persona, rebelling against the world in her single-minded goal to take revenge after her father’s murdered. In a sense, she’s freeing herself from the shackles of society and she doesn’t fit in school/Hounnoji Academy, but it’s also a big change from the ‘normal’ middle school girl she was before.

“As I walked down my runway, I thought I’d concealed it behind the smile that masked my face, but it doesn’t work on you. You always see through my facade.”

with Ryuuko and Satsuki literally walking down opposite runways... before fighting. Throughout the show, they’ve been constantly surprising each other and subverting each other’s expectations. Ryuuko appears out of nowhere, continually powering up and surpassing Satsuki’s initial assessment, Satsuki coming out with Junketsu, Satsuki giving and Ryuuko returning Bakuzan. I’d argue that Ryuuko has always understood Satsuki’s sense of honor/fair play despite her disdain for Satsuki’s outward arrogance.

“Nobody’s unravelled me like this before. I don’t know what to do. Nobody else can pull these outfits off. A somewhat ambiguous fever threatens to burn our hearts away.”

By the halfway point, they’re not enemies anymore. They’re fighting on the same side, but they aren’t friends either. They’re the only two who could actually understand each other and are on par with using the godrobes. And by the time of the big reveal, Satsuki’s been so manipulative and Ryuuko is struggling with her own identity, but they’re still trying to figure out how to navigate their relationship. (There’s also a flash of Ragyo/Nui/Rei during the ‘unravelling’ line and Satsuki is the only person shown right before and after that frame...)

“It all begins once we rein in the threads of fate. A new day will dawn for us.”

My heart loves this neat little finish that calls back to the start of the song. By reining in the threads of fate at the end, when it begins with severing the threads, this just describes Ryuuko and Satsuki’s relationship perfectly, doesn’t it? Lost at birth, growing up separately, only to return to each other at the end and to fight together for the common goal of defeating Ragyo and saving earth in order to live their real lives unfettered by clothing. (Also, it literally shows both of them being bound in their respective colors of red and blue. They’re really just beating us over the head with these symbolism at this point.)

“We must be one in spirit.”

It’s also great in that it’s not just about the very last pic already foreshadowing the ryuuko/satsuki relationship reveal for the second half of the season (just think about watching this OP when it hadn’t been revealed yet, they’re not angrily looking at each other, they’re looking angrily towards the screen! dangit trigger), but the animation for this line also showed off all the different groups of the show; the Shitennou, Nudist Beach, Ragyo and Rei, and Mankanshoku family.

I know this entire show was made by Trigger to showcase their animation abilities and this OP animation pulled that off in spades (fighting atop a literal mountain of goons, the blood splattering to form the title card, they’re showing off tbh) but it’s just so good in terms of tying together all their characters/story.