Episode 05 - Stars and Lightning
As Gadgets attack the train containing the new Relic, Nanoha, Rein and the four Forward members head to intercept in Riot Force Six's helicopter. Meanwhile, several of the new Type 2 flying Gadgets have been spotted in the sky. Fate, who had been heading back to base from the capital, takes to the air and goes to intercept them.
As they prepare for battle, Caro, accompanied as usual by her miniature dragon Friedrich, seems particularly on edge. She has a Flashback to the day she left her home on Alzus: unusually young and powerful for a dragon handler, her village banished her out of fear that her powers would unleash destruction. Nanoha takes a moment to reassure her, saying that Caro's magic is strong and gentle, and can protect her teammates. Nanoha then departs to join up with Fate so that the two of them can clear the airborne Gadgets from the sky.
Rein gives the Forwards their final instructions: attack from both ends of the train, take out the Gadgets, and try to reach the car with the Relic. They deploy by squad (Subaru with Teana, and Erio with Caro and Friedrich), transform using their new devices, and engage the Gadgets. The battle goes fairly well until Erio and Caro encounter one of the new Type 3 Gadgets, which has an especially powerful Anti-Magic Field.
Erio attacks the Gadget using his speed and his spear-form device, while Caro supports him with boosting and protection spells, but it proves too much to handle: the Gadget throws Erio off the train and sends him plummeting off the mountainside. Caro, momentarily frozen with shock, has another flashback, to when she first joined the TSAB. The evaluating officials had deemed her useless for combat because she couldn't control her powers, or keep her dragon in check. But one person believed in her: Fate, who took her in, showed her kindness, and trusts her...
Snapping back to the present, Caro dives off the cliff after Erio, realizing that this will take both of them out of range of the Gadget's AMF. She activates her Dragon Summoning power, unsealing Friedrich's true form: a fully grown Silver Dragon. Managing to maintain control, she and Erio fly on Friedrich back to the train, where together they make short work of the Gadget.
Meanwhile, Subaru and Teana have successfully retrieved the Relic, while Rein manages to bring the train to a stop. Having cleared all the Type 2 Gadgets from the sky, Fate and Nanoha rejoin them and they prepare to head back to base. As they do, someone is revealed to be watching them over a remote video feed — a male scientist and his female assistant in an ominous shadowy base. The scientist remarks that while losing the Relic is a shame, it was worth the loss to have a chance to study his opponents in action. He seems especially interested in certain particular characters...
Tropes
- A Day in the Limelight: Although it's still an ensemble story, this episode is heavily told from Caro's point of view, and fills in the important parts of her backstory.
- Flashback: There are several, showing various bits of Caro's past.
- Foreshadowing: Jail mentions Project "F" while watching Fate and Erio on the monitors. Viewers who have seen the first season (or the first movie) can probably guess what he's referring to, which translates to a big hint about Erio's origins. See also Freeze-Frame Bonus, below.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Jail is watching three large monitors which switch between showing various members of Riot Force Six, and it's clear from their focus which specific members he's particularly interested in. He expressly mentions Fate and Erio, whereupon the two left monitors stop switching and remain focused on those two. It's somewhat hard to see because it's mostly out of frame, but observant viewers will notice that the right-most monitor spends the whole time, from start to finish, locked on Subaru...
- Older Alter Ego: While he normally appears as a baby, Friedrich's true form is that of an adult dragon. The idea of an apparently small and harmless child concealing tremendous power, which is unleashed when they change into adult form, could be seen as yet more Foreshadowing in light of what happens much later with Vivio.
- Train Job: The mission involves stopping the Gadgets which are engaged in one of these.
- Traintop Battle: A large part of the fight against the Gadgets takes place on the roof of a high-speed train.
- Transformation Sequence: Fate, Nanoha, Subaru, Teana, Erio and Caro all have their full transformation sequences here. In the case of Fate and Nanoha, this will the only time this season that their full transformations are seen on-screen.
