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* CallBack: Oliver says that the monsters Darius killed were each stronger than [[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E04Colosseum the garuda]], and is awed by Darius making it look effortless.
to:
* CallBack: CallBack:
** Nanao reminds Oliver that she's still waiting for the SmoochOfVictory he owes her from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]".
** Oliver says that the monsters Darius killed were each stronger than [[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E04Colosseum the garuda]], and is awed by Darius making it look effortless.
** Nanao reminds Oliver that she's still waiting for the SmoochOfVictory he owes her from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]".
** Oliver says that the monsters Darius killed were each stronger than [[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E04Colosseum the garuda]], and is awed by Darius making it look effortless.
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* ToThePain: Oliver menacingly tells Grenville that, AsYouKnow, the pain curse can only inflict pain the caster has experienced--and unfortunately for him, Oliver has the memory of every one of the one hundred twenty-eight tortures that Grenville and his co-conspirators inflicted on his mother. He starts from the first of these and works his way down.
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'''First Aired:''' 11 August 2023
to:
'''First Aired:''' 11 August 2023
2023\\
'''Adapts:''' Volume 1, Chapter 4 and Epilogue
'''Adapts:''' Volume 1, Chapter 4 and Epilogue
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* BeamOWar: Oliver and Nanao cast '''Flamma''' together to intercept a more powerful '''Fortis Flamma''' from Miligan. This one ends in a draw with both spells dissipating harmlessly.
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** Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade.
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** Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade. [[MeaningfulName Her given name actually means "seven".]]
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* PlotTriggeringDeath: The entire MythArc of the series is revealed to have been caused by the murder of Oliver's mother, Chloe Halford, by seven members of Kimberly's faculty.
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* ThisCannotBe: Darius is utterly shocked when Oliver disarms him: not just by the fact that a first-year beat him or because he did it with a spellblade, but because he did it with ''that'' spellblade in particular.
-->'''Darius:''' That spellblade was lost! Lost with her life!
-->'''Darius:''' That spellblade was lost! Lost with her life!
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better trope
Deleted line(s) 46 (click to see context) :
* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: a ravine cut through red rocks and dirt, rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
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** The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: a ravine cut through red rocks and dirt, rather than crumbling stone ruins. This foreshadows the later explanation that there are deeper levels of the labyrinth: referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such. ([[AdaptationDeviation This is original to the anime]]: the epilogue of volume 1 doesn't describe the architecture surrounding the dead student's laboratory.)
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* CallBack: Oliver says that the monsters Darius killed were each stronger than [[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E04Colosseum the garuda]], and is awed by Darius making it look effortless.
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* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: a ravine cut through red rocks and dirt rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
to:
* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: a ravine cut through red rocks and dirt dirt, rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
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* InformedAbility: Grenville grumbles to Oliver that he's better with the sword than Luther Garland, the actual Sword Arts instructor. He's admittedly shown one-shotting monsters that Oliver says were each stronger than the garuda, but we don't get to see much of his swordwork because Oliver kills him too fast, and given how much stronger Miligan was than Oliver and Nanao, it's a given that a Kimberly professor would make Oliver look like an amateur.
to:
* InformedAbility: Grenville grumbles to Oliver that he's better with the sword than Luther Garland, the actual Sword Arts instructor. He's admittedly shown one-shotting monsters that Oliver says were each stronger than the garuda, but we don't get to see much of his swordwork because Oliver kills him too fast, and given how much stronger Miligan was than Oliver and Nanao, it's a given Nanao put together, one should probably assume by default that a Kimberly professor would make Oliver look like an amateur.
* SlashedThroat: The first potential future Oliver sees when he uses Angustavia is one where Darius cuts his neck almost to the spine.
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* WhamEpisode: It starts out pretty normal, segueing from the last episode with Nanao and Oliver fighting Miligan. It's already exciting enough when Nanao invents the eponymous Seventh Spellblade to defeat her. Then (corresponding to the epilogue of volume 1) Oliver gets invited to come alone with Darius Grenville who wants his assistance after his good performance in class, and it becomes ''very dark'' '''''very fast.''''' Oliver's real reason for enrolling in the school, the explanation for Oliver's secret collaborators, and ultimately the underlying MythArc of the entire show and the full truth of his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, [[TheReveal are all finally revealed]]. Following the CruelAndUnusualDeath of his mother, Oliver's true goal has actually been [[GottaKillEmAll to slaughter all her murderers]]... with Grenville as the first on his hit list. The teacher ends up getting violently and bloodily mutilated, tortured and finally killed by Oliver, and the episode reaches its end with our [[AntiHero somewhat morally ambiguous]] protagonist reiterating his vow to enact bloody revenge on an EnemiesList that includes basically half the faculty staff.
to:
* WhamEpisode: It starts out pretty normal, segueing from the last episode with Nanao and Oliver fighting Miligan. It's already exciting enough when Nanao invents the eponymous Seventh Spellblade to defeat her. Then (corresponding to the epilogue of volume 1) Oliver gets invited to come alone with Darius Grenville who wants his assistance after his good performance in class, and it becomes ''very dark'' '''''very dark '''very fast.''''' Oliver's real reason for enrolling in the school, the explanation for Oliver's secret collaborators, and ultimately the underlying MythArc of the entire show and the full truth of his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, [[TheReveal are all finally revealed]]. Following revealed]]: following the CruelAndUnusualDeath of his mother, Oliver's true goal has actually been [[GottaKillEmAll to slaughter all her murderers]]... with Grenville as the first on his hit list. The teacher ends up getting violently and bloodily mutilated, tortured and finally killed by Oliver, and the episode reaches its end with our [[AntiHero somewhat morally ambiguous]] protagonist reiterating his vow to enact bloody revenge on an EnemiesList that includes basically over half the faculty staff.faculty.
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* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: red rocks and dirt rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
to:
* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: a ravine cut through red rocks and dirt rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: Three of the instructors on Oliver's EnemiesList are ones we haven't met yet.
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* {{Foreshadowing}}: {{Foreshadowing}}:
** The portal through which the monsters emerged is our first glimpse at the [[LovecraftLite quasi-Lovecraftian cosmology]] underlying the series, but it isn't explained directly by either Oliver or Grenville.
** Three of the instructors on Oliver's EnemiesList are ones we haven't met yet.
** The portal through which the monsters emerged is our first glimpse at the [[LovecraftLite quasi-Lovecraftian cosmology]] underlying the series, but it isn't explained directly by either Oliver or Grenville.
** Three of the instructors on Oliver's EnemiesList are ones we haven't met yet.
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rm spoilers for later volumes
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** The Fourth Spellblade, "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss", which explores [[MultipleChoiceFuture possible futures]] to find one where the wielder succeeds in striking down their opponent. Previously learned by Chloe Halford, her son Oliver is [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique able to use it in extremis]] by drawing on his mother's GhostMemory from her soul contained within him. He uses it to win a SingleStrokeBattle with Darius Grenville, and as a FinishingMove against Enrico Forghieri.]] Though in volume 10, we learn that [[spoiler:Oliver]] in fact uses a slight variation on this Spellblade: [[spoiler:unlike his mother's original version, he doesn't pick the most desirable outcome, but rather the one that causes him to ''live to suffer the most''--a consequence of his past TraumaCongaLine causing a subconscious conviction that he's destined to never be happy again]].
to:
** The Fourth Spellblade, "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss", which explores [[MultipleChoiceFuture possible futures]] to find one where the wielder succeeds in striking down their opponent. Previously learned by Chloe Halford, her son Oliver is [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique able to use it in extremis]] by drawing on his mother's GhostMemory from her soul contained within him. He uses it to win a SingleStrokeBattle with Darius Grenville, and as a FinishingMove against Enrico Forghieri.]] Though in volume 10, we learn that [[spoiler:Oliver]] in fact uses a slight variation on this Spellblade: [[spoiler:unlike his mother's original version, he doesn't pick the most desirable outcome, but rather the one that causes him to ''live to suffer the most''--a consequence of his past TraumaCongaLine causing a subconscious conviction that he's destined to never be happy again]].Grenville.
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Alphabetizing example(s)
* IAmNotLeftHanded: Miligan reveals she's been holding back her real ace in the hole, simply because she's been enjoying fighting Oliver and Nanao too much.
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* IAmNotLeftHanded: Miligan reveals she's been holding back her real ace in the hole, simply because she's been enjoying fighting Oliver and Nanao too much.
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Added example(s), Alphabetizing example(s)
Changed line(s) 57,58 (click to see context) from:
* KansasCityShuffle: Oliver mistakenly thought that Miligan's HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle was meant to conceal her basilisk eye. In fact, it's misdirection from her ''real'' ace in the hole: a ''second'' basilisk eye [[HandBlast implanted in the palm of her left hand]].
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
to:
* KansasCityShuffle: {{Irony}}: Richard's warning in "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]" about Grenville's tendency to steal the research of students he works with turns out to be unnecessary in hindsight, because Oliver mistakenly thought that Miligan's HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle was meant planning to conceal her basilisk eye. In fact, it's misdirection from her ''real'' ace in the hole: a ''second'' basilisk eye [[HandBlast implanted in the palm of her left hand]].
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.murder him all along.
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
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* KansasCityShuffle: Oliver mistakenly thought that Miligan's HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle was meant to conceal her basilisk eye. In fact, it's misdirection from her ''real'' ace in the hole: a ''second'' basilisk eye [[HandBlast implanted in the palm of her left hand]].
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
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* EmptyEyes: Oliver's eyes go completely blank when Grenville begs him to end it, the
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* EmptyEyes: Oliver's eyes go completely blank when Grenville begs him to end it, the it.
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* ArcWords: Nanao's words]] from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]": ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love."'' Oliver's SeriesGoal is revealed to run directly counter to that philosophy, and he muses that he will test its limits.
to:
* ArcWords: Oliver recalls Nanao's words]] words from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]": ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love."'' Oliver's SeriesGoal is revealed to run directly counter to that philosophy, and he muses that he will test its limits.
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* GrievousBottleyHarm: One of the tricks Oliver tries is to blast a tableful of Miligan's glassware with '''[[HavingABlast Fragor]]''', showing her with shards.
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* GrievousBottleyHarm: One of the tricks Oliver tries is to blast a tableful of Miligan's glassware with '''[[HavingABlast Fragor]]''', showing showering her with shards.
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* AdaptationDeviation: Godfrey and Carlos didn't appear in the novel's version of the opening scene: it cut off with Nanao asking Oliver for a SmoochOfVictory again.
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* SmoochOfVictory: Katie gives both Oliver and Nanao kisses on the cheek as thanks for rescuing her from Miligan.
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* SmoochOfVictory: SmoochOfVictory:
** Nanao asks Oliver for a kiss on the cheek for winning again.
--->'''Oliver:''' You're unbelievable.
** Katie gives both Oliver and Nanao kisses on the cheek as thanks for rescuing her from Miligan.
** Nanao asks Oliver for a kiss on the cheek for winning again.
--->'''Oliver:''' You're unbelievable.
** Katie gives both Oliver and Nanao kisses on the cheek as thanks for rescuing her from Miligan.
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'''First Aired:''' 11 August 2023
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gorrammit
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->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote]]\\
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->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', ]]''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote]]\\
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->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote\\
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->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote\\''araizu''[[/labelnote]]\\
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[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_60_2048x1152.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:And then--a single spell came into being.]]
->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote\\
'''Director:''' Kōzō Kaihō\\
'''Writer:''' Shinsuke Ōnishi\\
PreviouslyOn ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'', Vera Miligan revealed herself to be the BitchInSheepsClothing behind most of the past five episodes. Oliver and Nanao charge in to rescue Katie, but Oliver's spellwork and Nanao's swordplay, enough to overcome any previous opponent, is matched blow-for-blow by the MadScientist. But something strange is happening with Nanao: caught in a pitfall trap set by Miligan with [[SimplifiedSpellcasting spatial magic]], Oliver is sure she's a goner, but Nanao slashes clean through the fireball and deflects an ensuing RazorWind spell into a vat [[ParryingBullets with just her sword]]. Miligan is mystified, and Oliver realizes Nanao herself probably doesn't know how she's doing it: [[AutopilotArtistry she's acting on pure instinct]].
[[UnspokenPlanGuarantee Oliver hatches a plan]], sending Nanao jumping off a table he enchanted earlier in the fight to catch Miligan in a pincer. Which is when he realizes he's made a critical mistake in his assessment of [[KansasCityShuffle Miligan's fighting style]]: Miligan doesn't have ''one'' basilisk eye, she has ''two'', and the second is [[HandBlast in her off-hand]]! Nanao's finished!
Or is she?
->''"Too slow. I won't reach her like this. The curse inflicted by that eye surely travels at the speed of light. So I must first [[AbsurdlySharpBlade slice through the space that surrounds it, and the time that flows around it]]! And then [[BeyondTheImpossible my blade shall become faster than light itself]]!"''
A dumbfounded Miligan can only watch as her left hand, impossibly, simply [[LiteralDisarming falls off the end of her wrist]] before she can curse Nanao. The samurai girl from Yamatsu has created [[TitleDrop the eponymous Seventh Spellblade]].
Alvin Godfrey and Carlos Whitrow, alerted by an anonymous tip, arrive too late to deal with Miligan, but in time to heal their wounds and carry Katie and Miligan to the surface. To everyone's surprise, [[SilkHidingSteel Katie laughs off her near-vivisection]], saying she's going to go give Miligan the slap of her life and then figure out how to deal with her and the rest of the school going forward. Oliver is so relieved that [[BreakTheCutie the Cutie wasn't Broken]] that [[ManlyTears he bursts into tears]].
After the commercial break, the gang is back together. They're in the midst of teasing Katie for picking another fight with Professor Aldiss, when Professor Grenville appears and tells Oliver to come see him tonight. Oliver follows Grenville deep into the labyrinth, where, in the midst of cleaning up the mess left behind by an upperclassmen who was recently [[MagicMisfire "consumed by the spell"]], Oliver reveals he's deduced that Grenville was secretly backing Miligan, but can't figure out his motive. Grenville explains that he thought her research into "intellectualization" of demihumans could be repurposed towards his own life's goal of cleansing the human race of stupidity, and suggests that Oliver, as a JackOfAllTrades but MasterOfNone, would [[WeCanRuleTogether make an excellent research assistant for him]]. Oliver is flattered by the offer, but has one further question for him:
->''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion "In the year 1525 of the Great Calendar, on the eighth night of the fourth month, where were you, and what were you doing?"]]''
[[WhamLine Oliver isn't here to assist Grenville at all. He's here to kill him.]] The two mages draw their athames--and [[SlashedThroat Oliver immediately receives a lethal blow to his throat]].
Or not. In fact, Oliver is merely [[MultipleChoiceFuture previewing this potential future]]. He knows full well he doesn't stand a chance against a teacher in a straight fight, but the future isn't set in stone: somewhere, some''when'', there is a potential future where by a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he lands the first blow, and he marks this potential future with his blade and forces it to come to pass. For he, too, wields a spellblade: "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss." Like Nanao before him, he takes Grenville's hand off, before electrocuting him with a lightning spell.
[[BloodFromEveryOrifice With blood suddenly streaming from his face]], he then explains to the shocked Grenville that [[GhostMemory he remembers every one of the tortures Grenville helped inflict on his mother that night]], and [[ToThePain Grenville is about to experience each one for himself in turn]], unless and until Grenville finds the words that might make him forgive him for existing at all. '''[[AgonyBeam "DOLOR!"]]'''
Wracked with pain, Grenville first threatens him, then tries bribes. Each is met with two words: "''Non''. '''DOLOR!'''" After a brief FlashbackEcho of the blonde woman from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E01Ceremony Ceremony]]" fleeing through a forest, Grenville is an immobile heap of flesh as Oliver taunts him for only making it up to 57 out of 128 tortures. Grenville is still unresponsive, and Oliver [[SuddenlyShouting screams at him to say something]]--and gets a whimper: "Please, end it."
[[EmptyEyes Oliver's eyes go empty]], and he calmly [[OffWithHisHead severs Grenville's head]] with his athame. Oliver's adoptive siblings Gwyn and Shannon Sherwood appear then, along with Teresa Carste and dozens of masked upperclassmen, who kneel to Oliver as their lord as he names the seven faculty members responsible for the murder of his mother Chloe Halford, the blonde woman we keep seeing, and reveals their faces in his memory: Darius Grenville, Vanessa Aldiss, Frances Gilchrist, [[{{Foreshadowing}} Enrico Forghieri, Demitrio Aristides, Baldia Muwezicamili]], and last but not least, Headmistress Esmeralda herself, shown [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice running Halford through with her athame]] after pretending to lead her to safety.
[[CoolMask Masked like his comrades]], Oliver suddenly [[FlashbackEcho recalls Nanao's words]] from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]", ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love,"'' and muses that he's about to test the limits of that philosophy.
----
!!This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
* AdaptationalLateAppearance: In the original novels, Chloe Halford's death scene was the prologue chapter, but we're only now shown it in this episode.
* AdaptationalRomanceDowngrade: The flashback to Chloe's impalement by Esmeralda omits the prologue chapter's mention of [[HopelessSuitor Esmeralda's unrequited crush on her]].
* AllIsWellThatEndsWell: The conclusion of the A-plot: Katie's fine, Oliver and Nanao survived fighting a fourth-year, and since the troll is now the only one in the world that can speak Yelglish, the school won't euthanize it for attacking Katie. Katie says she's going to go give Miligan the slap of her life and then decide how to deal with her going forward, and Oliver is so happy [[ManlyTears he bursts into tears]].
* ArcWords: Nanao's words]] from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]": ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love."'' Oliver's SeriesGoal is revealed to run directly counter to that philosophy, and he muses that he will test its limits.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "In the year 1525 of the Great Calendar, on the eighth night of the fourth month, where were you, and what were you doing?" This completely changes the tenor of the scene.
* AutopilotArtistry: Oliver surmises that Nanao has no idea how she's ParryingBullets and then that she doesn't even realize she invented a spellblade: she's acting purely on instinct.
* BloodKnight: Miligan is clearly enjoying her battle with Oliver and Nanao.
* CameraAbuse: When Nanao enacts the Seventh Spellblade, her cut is depicted as shattering the camera lens when it lands.
* CoolMask: Oliver's comrades, excepting the Sherwoods and Teresa Carste, are all clad in black dominoes. Gwyn gives Oliver one of his own: the gilt red-and-black one that's been shown lying on the ground in the opening credits since the first episode.
* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: red rocks and dirt rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
* CuddleBug: As before, Shannon tries to embrace her baby brother, but Oliver tells her to stay back because he hates the idea of getting any of Grenville's blood on her.
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Oliver has blood streaming from his face after using his Spellblade, and muses to Gwyn that if he tried to use it three times in a row, the strain would probably kill him.
* EmptyEyes: Oliver's eyes go completely blank when Grenville begs him to end it, the
* EnemiesList: Oliver lists off seven Kimberly professors including Grenville as a kill list: Darius Grenville, Vanessa Aldiss, Frances Gilchrist, [[{{Foreshadowing}} Enrico Forghieri, Demitrio Aristides, Baldia Muwezicamili]], and last but not least, Headmistress Esmeralda.
* FlashbackEcho: Oliver has several: he first recalls his mother's murder from her point-of-view, then recalls Nanao's words from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]", ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love,"'' and muses that he's about to test the limits of that philosophy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle: "アライズ", the phonetic spelling of "Arise", with the definitional kanji "顕現 ''kengen''", meaning "manifestation".
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Three of the instructors on Oliver's EnemiesList are ones we haven't met yet.
* GhostMemory: Oliver is revealed to be carrying memories ''from'' his murdered mother, not just ''of'' her, and can use some of her combat techniques such as the Fourth Spellblade.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: One of the tricks Oliver tries is to blast a tableful of Miligan's glassware with '''[[HavingABlast Fragor]]''', showing her with shards.
* HandBlast: Miligan has a second basilisk eye concealed in the palm of her left hand, which can also transmit the paralyzing curse.
* InformedAbility: Grenville grumbles to Oliver that he's better with the sword than Luther Garland, the actual Sword Arts instructor. He's admittedly shown one-shotting monsters that Oliver says were each stronger than the garuda, but we don't get to see much of his swordwork because Oliver kills him too fast, and given how much stronger Miligan was than Oliver and Nanao, it's a given that a Kimberly professor would make Oliver look like an amateur.
* KansasCityShuffle: Oliver mistakenly thought that Miligan's HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle was meant to conceal her basilisk eye. In fact, it's misdirection from her ''real'' ace in the hole: a ''second'' basilisk eye [[HandBlast implanted in the palm of her left hand]].
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: Miligan reveals she's been holding back her real ace in the hole, simply because she's been enjoying fighting Oliver and Nanao too much.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Chloe is run through back-to-front in a surprise attack by Esmeralda.
* InTheBack: Chloe is run through back-to-front in a surprise attack by Esmeralda.
* ManlyTears: Oliver is so relieved that Katie is all right both physically and mentally that he bursts into tears on the spot, thankful that he was able to protect her.
* MissingMom: Oliver's mother was murdered by seven of Kimberly's teachers seven years ago.
* NoSell: Oliver and Nanao are already considered contenders for the strongest students in their year, but Miligan, by dint of [[StrongerWithAge being three years older than them]], fends off the best they can throw at her with near-comical ease: when she crosses swords with Nanao, she beats off her attacks one-handed where in "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E02SwordArts Sword Arts]]" it was all Oliver could do just to keep Nanao at arm's length.
* OffWithHisHead: Oliver places his athame over the catatonic Grenville's neck and pushes the blade through it with an audible crunch.
* ParryingBullets: Nanao disrupts a fireball and deflects a RazorWind spell with only her katana, baffling Miligan. In "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]", Nanao discussed how she was taught to circulate her energy within her body when she learned the sword, and Oliver deduces that Nanao is so used to swinging her katana that it's just an extension of her body.
* PreviouslyOn: TheTeaser consists of a repeat of the last thirty seconds or so of "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]".
* RasputinianDeath: Grenville's death is not pretty: Oliver severs his hand with the Fourth Spellblade, electrocutes him with '''[[ShockAndAwe Tonitrus]]''' to immobilize him, then proceeds to cast an AgonyBeam on him 57 times before Grenville begs for death, whereupon Oliver decapitates him.
* RuleOfSeven:
** Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade.
** Seven Kimberly teachers conspired to torture and murder Oliver's mother, which took place seven years ago.
* ShadowArchetype: The episode draws a direct contrast between Oliver and Nanao, and not just in their usual BrainsAndBrawn BattleCouple combination. Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade and severs Miligan's hand with it out of a need to rescue Katie from her, but spares her life, as her sword style repudiates the idea of vengeance in favor of finding joy fighting a WorthyOpponent. Oliver severs Grenville's hand with the Fourth Spellblade, which he recreated from memories of his mother, and then proceeds to torture Grenville until the man begs to be {{Mercy Kill}}ed. [[DiscussedTrope Oliver himself notes the difference.]]
* SilkHidingSteel: Katie proves far more resilient under pressure than you'd expect: she literally laughs off her ordeal at Miligan's hand and says if she couldn't handle that, she doesn't belong at Kimberly, so she's going to go slap Miligan silly for being an asshat and then decide what to do with her next.
* SmoochOfVictory: Katie gives both Oliver and Nanao kisses on the cheek as thanks for rescuing her from Miligan.
* StudentsSecretSociety: Oliver's foster siblings are revealed to have been gathering dozens of like-minded Kimberly upperclassmen together to wage war against the faculty members responsible for Chloe Halford's murder.
* UnblockableAttack: We finally get our first look at a spellblade in action, as two are revealed this episode.
** The Fourth Spellblade, "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss", which explores [[MultipleChoiceFuture possible futures]] to find one where the wielder succeeds in striking down their opponent. Previously learned by Chloe Halford, her son Oliver is [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique able to use it in extremis]] by drawing on his mother's GhostMemory from her soul contained within him. He uses it to win a SingleStrokeBattle with Darius Grenville, and as a FinishingMove against Enrico Forghieri.]] Though in volume 10, we learn that [[spoiler:Oliver]] in fact uses a slight variation on this Spellblade: [[spoiler:unlike his mother's original version, he doesn't pick the most desirable outcome, but rather the one that causes him to ''live to suffer the most''--a consequence of his past TraumaCongaLine causing a subconscious conviction that he's destined to never be happy again]].
** The currently unnamed Seventh Spellblade, with which the wielder uses sheer force of will to simply cut everything between themselves and their target, [[AbsurdlySharpBlade even the space and time between them]]. Invented by Nanao in her and Oliver's fight with Vera Miligan, in order to defeat the basilisk eye on Miligan's left hand when she's out of range of a conventional strike. [[AchievementsInIgnorance Nanao herself doesn't know how she did it.]]
* VillainsWantMercy: Over 57 castings of '''[[AgonyBeam Dolor]]''', Darius Grenville goes from indignance that Oliver would attack a teacher, to trying to bribe him to stop, to limply begging him to just put an end to him already.
* WhamEpisode: It starts out pretty normal, segueing from the last episode with Nanao and Oliver fighting Miligan. It's already exciting enough when Nanao invents the eponymous Seventh Spellblade to defeat her. Then (corresponding to the epilogue of volume 1) Oliver gets invited to come alone with Darius Grenville who wants his assistance after his good performance in class, and it becomes ''very dark'' '''''very fast.''''' Oliver's real reason for enrolling in the school, the explanation for Oliver's secret collaborators, and ultimately the underlying MythArc of the entire show and the full truth of his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, [[TheReveal are all finally revealed]]. Following the CruelAndUnusualDeath of his mother, Oliver's true goal has actually been [[GottaKillEmAll to slaughter all her murderers]]... with Grenville as the first on his hit list. The teacher ends up getting violently and bloodily mutilated, tortured and finally killed by Oliver, and the episode reaches its end with our [[AntiHero somewhat morally ambiguous]] protagonist reiterating his vow to enact bloody revenge on an EnemiesList that includes basically half the faculty staff.
* WhamLine: Oliver to Darius Grenville: "On the eighth night of the fourth month of the year 1525, ''[[YouKilledMyFather where were you, and what were you doing?]]''" Finally we're introduced to Oliver's true purpose in attending Kimberly, and it's a doozy.
* YouKilledMyFather: Oliver reveals his SeriesGoal: he's plotting to kill six teachers and the headmistress to avenge their murder of his mother, Chloe Halford.
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[[caption-width-right:1000:And then--a single spell came into being.]]
->'''Japanese Title:''' 顕現 [-[[ForeignLanguageTitle アライズ]]-][[labelnote:Trans.''Kengen'', Lit. "manifestation", pron. ''araizu''[[/labelnote\\
'''Director:''' Kōzō Kaihō\\
'''Writer:''' Shinsuke Ōnishi\\
PreviouslyOn ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'', Vera Miligan revealed herself to be the BitchInSheepsClothing behind most of the past five episodes. Oliver and Nanao charge in to rescue Katie, but Oliver's spellwork and Nanao's swordplay, enough to overcome any previous opponent, is matched blow-for-blow by the MadScientist. But something strange is happening with Nanao: caught in a pitfall trap set by Miligan with [[SimplifiedSpellcasting spatial magic]], Oliver is sure she's a goner, but Nanao slashes clean through the fireball and deflects an ensuing RazorWind spell into a vat [[ParryingBullets with just her sword]]. Miligan is mystified, and Oliver realizes Nanao herself probably doesn't know how she's doing it: [[AutopilotArtistry she's acting on pure instinct]].
[[UnspokenPlanGuarantee Oliver hatches a plan]], sending Nanao jumping off a table he enchanted earlier in the fight to catch Miligan in a pincer. Which is when he realizes he's made a critical mistake in his assessment of [[KansasCityShuffle Miligan's fighting style]]: Miligan doesn't have ''one'' basilisk eye, she has ''two'', and the second is [[HandBlast in her off-hand]]! Nanao's finished!
Or is she?
->''"Too slow. I won't reach her like this. The curse inflicted by that eye surely travels at the speed of light. So I must first [[AbsurdlySharpBlade slice through the space that surrounds it, and the time that flows around it]]! And then [[BeyondTheImpossible my blade shall become faster than light itself]]!"''
A dumbfounded Miligan can only watch as her left hand, impossibly, simply [[LiteralDisarming falls off the end of her wrist]] before she can curse Nanao. The samurai girl from Yamatsu has created [[TitleDrop the eponymous Seventh Spellblade]].
Alvin Godfrey and Carlos Whitrow, alerted by an anonymous tip, arrive too late to deal with Miligan, but in time to heal their wounds and carry Katie and Miligan to the surface. To everyone's surprise, [[SilkHidingSteel Katie laughs off her near-vivisection]], saying she's going to go give Miligan the slap of her life and then figure out how to deal with her and the rest of the school going forward. Oliver is so relieved that [[BreakTheCutie the Cutie wasn't Broken]] that [[ManlyTears he bursts into tears]].
After the commercial break, the gang is back together. They're in the midst of teasing Katie for picking another fight with Professor Aldiss, when Professor Grenville appears and tells Oliver to come see him tonight. Oliver follows Grenville deep into the labyrinth, where, in the midst of cleaning up the mess left behind by an upperclassmen who was recently [[MagicMisfire "consumed by the spell"]], Oliver reveals he's deduced that Grenville was secretly backing Miligan, but can't figure out his motive. Grenville explains that he thought her research into "intellectualization" of demihumans could be repurposed towards his own life's goal of cleansing the human race of stupidity, and suggests that Oliver, as a JackOfAllTrades but MasterOfNone, would [[WeCanRuleTogether make an excellent research assistant for him]]. Oliver is flattered by the offer, but has one further question for him:
->''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion "In the year 1525 of the Great Calendar, on the eighth night of the fourth month, where were you, and what were you doing?"]]''
[[WhamLine Oliver isn't here to assist Grenville at all. He's here to kill him.]] The two mages draw their athames--and [[SlashedThroat Oliver immediately receives a lethal blow to his throat]].
Or not. In fact, Oliver is merely [[MultipleChoiceFuture previewing this potential future]]. He knows full well he doesn't stand a chance against a teacher in a straight fight, but the future isn't set in stone: somewhere, some''when'', there is a potential future where by a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he lands the first blow, and he marks this potential future with his blade and forces it to come to pass. For he, too, wields a spellblade: "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss." Like Nanao before him, he takes Grenville's hand off, before electrocuting him with a lightning spell.
[[BloodFromEveryOrifice With blood suddenly streaming from his face]], he then explains to the shocked Grenville that [[GhostMemory he remembers every one of the tortures Grenville helped inflict on his mother that night]], and [[ToThePain Grenville is about to experience each one for himself in turn]], unless and until Grenville finds the words that might make him forgive him for existing at all. '''[[AgonyBeam "DOLOR!"]]'''
Wracked with pain, Grenville first threatens him, then tries bribes. Each is met with two words: "''Non''. '''DOLOR!'''" After a brief FlashbackEcho of the blonde woman from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E01Ceremony Ceremony]]" fleeing through a forest, Grenville is an immobile heap of flesh as Oliver taunts him for only making it up to 57 out of 128 tortures. Grenville is still unresponsive, and Oliver [[SuddenlyShouting screams at him to say something]]--and gets a whimper: "Please, end it."
[[EmptyEyes Oliver's eyes go empty]], and he calmly [[OffWithHisHead severs Grenville's head]] with his athame. Oliver's adoptive siblings Gwyn and Shannon Sherwood appear then, along with Teresa Carste and dozens of masked upperclassmen, who kneel to Oliver as their lord as he names the seven faculty members responsible for the murder of his mother Chloe Halford, the blonde woman we keep seeing, and reveals their faces in his memory: Darius Grenville, Vanessa Aldiss, Frances Gilchrist, [[{{Foreshadowing}} Enrico Forghieri, Demitrio Aristides, Baldia Muwezicamili]], and last but not least, Headmistress Esmeralda herself, shown [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice running Halford through with her athame]] after pretending to lead her to safety.
[[CoolMask Masked like his comrades]], Oliver suddenly [[FlashbackEcho recalls Nanao's words]] from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]", ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love,"'' and muses that he's about to test the limits of that philosophy.
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!!This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
* AdaptationalLateAppearance: In the original novels, Chloe Halford's death scene was the prologue chapter, but we're only now shown it in this episode.
* AdaptationalRomanceDowngrade: The flashback to Chloe's impalement by Esmeralda omits the prologue chapter's mention of [[HopelessSuitor Esmeralda's unrequited crush on her]].
* AllIsWellThatEndsWell: The conclusion of the A-plot: Katie's fine, Oliver and Nanao survived fighting a fourth-year, and since the troll is now the only one in the world that can speak Yelglish, the school won't euthanize it for attacking Katie. Katie says she's going to go give Miligan the slap of her life and then decide how to deal with her going forward, and Oliver is so happy [[ManlyTears he bursts into tears]].
* ArcWords: Nanao's words]] from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]": ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love."'' Oliver's SeriesGoal is revealed to run directly counter to that philosophy, and he muses that he will test its limits.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "In the year 1525 of the Great Calendar, on the eighth night of the fourth month, where were you, and what were you doing?" This completely changes the tenor of the scene.
* AutopilotArtistry: Oliver surmises that Nanao has no idea how she's ParryingBullets and then that she doesn't even realize she invented a spellblade: she's acting purely on instinct.
* BloodKnight: Miligan is clearly enjoying her battle with Oliver and Nanao.
* CameraAbuse: When Nanao enacts the Seventh Spellblade, her cut is depicted as shattering the camera lens when it lands.
* CoolMask: Oliver's comrades, excepting the Sherwoods and Teresa Carste, are all clad in black dominoes. Gwyn gives Oliver one of his own: the gilt red-and-black one that's been shown lying on the ground in the opening credits since the first episode.
* CrypticBackgroundReference: The architecture in the area of the labyrinth where Grenville takes Oliver is notably different than we've previously seen: red rocks and dirt rather than crumbling stone ruins. Referencing the novels, this is likely the fifth layer, Firedrake Canyon, but it isn't identified as such.
* CuddleBug: As before, Shannon tries to embrace her baby brother, but Oliver tells her to stay back because he hates the idea of getting any of Grenville's blood on her.
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Oliver has blood streaming from his face after using his Spellblade, and muses to Gwyn that if he tried to use it three times in a row, the strain would probably kill him.
* EmptyEyes: Oliver's eyes go completely blank when Grenville begs him to end it, the
* EnemiesList: Oliver lists off seven Kimberly professors including Grenville as a kill list: Darius Grenville, Vanessa Aldiss, Frances Gilchrist, [[{{Foreshadowing}} Enrico Forghieri, Demitrio Aristides, Baldia Muwezicamili]], and last but not least, Headmistress Esmeralda.
* FlashbackEcho: Oliver has several: he first recalls his mother's murder from her point-of-view, then recalls Nanao's words from "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E03Soldier Soldier]]", ''"Enjoy not the sword of vengeance, but the sword of mutual love,"'' and muses that he's about to test the limits of that philosophy.
* ForeignLanguageTitle: "アライズ", the phonetic spelling of "Arise", with the definitional kanji "顕現 ''kengen''", meaning "manifestation".
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Three of the instructors on Oliver's EnemiesList are ones we haven't met yet.
* GhostMemory: Oliver is revealed to be carrying memories ''from'' his murdered mother, not just ''of'' her, and can use some of her combat techniques such as the Fourth Spellblade.
* GrievousBottleyHarm: One of the tricks Oliver tries is to blast a tableful of Miligan's glassware with '''[[HavingABlast Fragor]]''', showing her with shards.
* HandBlast: Miligan has a second basilisk eye concealed in the palm of her left hand, which can also transmit the paralyzing curse.
* InformedAbility: Grenville grumbles to Oliver that he's better with the sword than Luther Garland, the actual Sword Arts instructor. He's admittedly shown one-shotting monsters that Oliver says were each stronger than the garuda, but we don't get to see much of his swordwork because Oliver kills him too fast, and given how much stronger Miligan was than Oliver and Nanao, it's a given that a Kimberly professor would make Oliver look like an amateur.
* KansasCityShuffle: Oliver mistakenly thought that Miligan's HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle was meant to conceal her basilisk eye. In fact, it's misdirection from her ''real'' ace in the hole: a ''second'' basilisk eye [[HandBlast implanted in the palm of her left hand]].
* LiteralDisarming: Both Miligan and Grenville lose a hand to their respective opponents' Spellblades.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: Miligan reveals she's been holding back her real ace in the hole, simply because she's been enjoying fighting Oliver and Nanao too much.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Chloe is run through back-to-front in a surprise attack by Esmeralda.
* InTheBack: Chloe is run through back-to-front in a surprise attack by Esmeralda.
* ManlyTears: Oliver is so relieved that Katie is all right both physically and mentally that he bursts into tears on the spot, thankful that he was able to protect her.
* MissingMom: Oliver's mother was murdered by seven of Kimberly's teachers seven years ago.
* NoSell: Oliver and Nanao are already considered contenders for the strongest students in their year, but Miligan, by dint of [[StrongerWithAge being three years older than them]], fends off the best they can throw at her with near-comical ease: when she crosses swords with Nanao, she beats off her attacks one-handed where in "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E02SwordArts Sword Arts]]" it was all Oliver could do just to keep Nanao at arm's length.
* OffWithHisHead: Oliver places his athame over the catatonic Grenville's neck and pushes the blade through it with an audible crunch.
* ParryingBullets: Nanao disrupts a fireball and deflects a RazorWind spell with only her katana, baffling Miligan. In "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]", Nanao discussed how she was taught to circulate her energy within her body when she learned the sword, and Oliver deduces that Nanao is so used to swinging her katana that it's just an extension of her body.
* PreviouslyOn: TheTeaser consists of a repeat of the last thirty seconds or so of "[[Recap/ReignOfTheSevenSpellbladesS1E05Glare Glare]]".
* RasputinianDeath: Grenville's death is not pretty: Oliver severs his hand with the Fourth Spellblade, electrocutes him with '''[[ShockAndAwe Tonitrus]]''' to immobilize him, then proceeds to cast an AgonyBeam on him 57 times before Grenville begs for death, whereupon Oliver decapitates him.
* RuleOfSeven:
** Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade.
** Seven Kimberly teachers conspired to torture and murder Oliver's mother, which took place seven years ago.
* ShadowArchetype: The episode draws a direct contrast between Oliver and Nanao, and not just in their usual BrainsAndBrawn BattleCouple combination. Nanao invents the Seventh Spellblade and severs Miligan's hand with it out of a need to rescue Katie from her, but spares her life, as her sword style repudiates the idea of vengeance in favor of finding joy fighting a WorthyOpponent. Oliver severs Grenville's hand with the Fourth Spellblade, which he recreated from memories of his mother, and then proceeds to torture Grenville until the man begs to be {{Mercy Kill}}ed. [[DiscussedTrope Oliver himself notes the difference.]]
* SilkHidingSteel: Katie proves far more resilient under pressure than you'd expect: she literally laughs off her ordeal at Miligan's hand and says if she couldn't handle that, she doesn't belong at Kimberly, so she's going to go slap Miligan silly for being an asshat and then decide what to do with her next.
* SmoochOfVictory: Katie gives both Oliver and Nanao kisses on the cheek as thanks for rescuing her from Miligan.
* StudentsSecretSociety: Oliver's foster siblings are revealed to have been gathering dozens of like-minded Kimberly upperclassmen together to wage war against the faculty members responsible for Chloe Halford's murder.
* UnblockableAttack: We finally get our first look at a spellblade in action, as two are revealed this episode.
** The Fourth Spellblade, "Angustavia, the thread that crosses the abyss", which explores [[MultipleChoiceFuture possible futures]] to find one where the wielder succeeds in striking down their opponent. Previously learned by Chloe Halford, her son Oliver is [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique able to use it in extremis]] by drawing on his mother's GhostMemory from her soul contained within him. He uses it to win a SingleStrokeBattle with Darius Grenville, and as a FinishingMove against Enrico Forghieri.]] Though in volume 10, we learn that [[spoiler:Oliver]] in fact uses a slight variation on this Spellblade: [[spoiler:unlike his mother's original version, he doesn't pick the most desirable outcome, but rather the one that causes him to ''live to suffer the most''--a consequence of his past TraumaCongaLine causing a subconscious conviction that he's destined to never be happy again]].
** The currently unnamed Seventh Spellblade, with which the wielder uses sheer force of will to simply cut everything between themselves and their target, [[AbsurdlySharpBlade even the space and time between them]]. Invented by Nanao in her and Oliver's fight with Vera Miligan, in order to defeat the basilisk eye on Miligan's left hand when she's out of range of a conventional strike. [[AchievementsInIgnorance Nanao herself doesn't know how she did it.]]
* VillainsWantMercy: Over 57 castings of '''[[AgonyBeam Dolor]]''', Darius Grenville goes from indignance that Oliver would attack a teacher, to trying to bribe him to stop, to limply begging him to just put an end to him already.
* WhamEpisode: It starts out pretty normal, segueing from the last episode with Nanao and Oliver fighting Miligan. It's already exciting enough when Nanao invents the eponymous Seventh Spellblade to defeat her. Then (corresponding to the epilogue of volume 1) Oliver gets invited to come alone with Darius Grenville who wants his assistance after his good performance in class, and it becomes ''very dark'' '''''very fast.''''' Oliver's real reason for enrolling in the school, the explanation for Oliver's secret collaborators, and ultimately the underlying MythArc of the entire show and the full truth of his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, [[TheReveal are all finally revealed]]. Following the CruelAndUnusualDeath of his mother, Oliver's true goal has actually been [[GottaKillEmAll to slaughter all her murderers]]... with Grenville as the first on his hit list. The teacher ends up getting violently and bloodily mutilated, tortured and finally killed by Oliver, and the episode reaches its end with our [[AntiHero somewhat morally ambiguous]] protagonist reiterating his vow to enact bloody revenge on an EnemiesList that includes basically half the faculty staff.
* WhamLine: Oliver to Darius Grenville: "On the eighth night of the fourth month of the year 1525, ''[[YouKilledMyFather where were you, and what were you doing?]]''" Finally we're introduced to Oliver's true purpose in attending Kimberly, and it's a doozy.
* YouKilledMyFather: Oliver reveals his SeriesGoal: he's plotting to kill six teachers and the headmistress to avenge their murder of his mother, Chloe Halford.
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