King Racules' Secret
- Original Airdate: December 24, 2023
Written by: Minato Takano
Directed by: Kazuyuki Chatani
Summary
In a turn of events no one saw coming, Racules betrays Dadged and reveals he's gonna use his new power to defeat him. With the same goal in mind, the two brothers take up arms against the emperor.
Just what is the king's secret, and will Gira lose his brother as soon as he got him back?
Tropes
- Back to Base Form: Despite having the Ohger CrownLance with him, neither Racules nor Gira use it to transform into their King forms and instead just fight Dagded in just their base forms with Racules only using the lance when untransformed to give Gira the opening he needs to finish Dagded off.
- Bait-and-Switch: The previews and synopsis hint that this would be Racules' final episode not unlike some other episodes where a longstanding Sentai villain turns to the side of good, though the other Kingohgers come by at the nick of time to heal him.
- Batman Gambit: In his narration, Racules reveals that he was planning for Dagded's defeat for 17 years. Despite the few hiccups, namely thanks to Gira and Kamejim, his plan manages to go off without a hitch.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Dagded states that he is always watching Racules to ensure he does his job to amuse him.
- Call-Back:
- Suzume helped faked Racules' death with the anesthetic introduced back in #8.
- The message Suzume receives from her wedding ring is delivered via its activation through a small object, much like the research data Vedalia contained inside a piece of candy in the Secret Of King Racules finale.
- Clip Show: Most of the episode is Racules recounting past events from the series from his point of view.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Dagded blows up once Gira lands the Finishing Move, but uniquely the first explosion returns to him only for a second bigger explosion to occur with the implication that Dagded used the last of his powers to try and blow up the two brothers for killing him.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: After having been an unstoppable force of nature since he first appeared, Dagded is finally handed a complete and utter defeat by Gira and Racules.
- Framing Device: Kaguragi contacts the other monarchs to explain why he and Racules are scheming again, setting up Racules' narration of his conflicts with the King-Ohgers that bridge the gaps between Episodes #20 and #34.
- Go Out with a Smile: Subverted. After Racules makes this notion and falls onto Gira's arms, the rest of the team eventually steps in for medical care, stating that a recovery is possible.
- In the Back: Racules stabs Dagded in the back with the Ohger CrownLance to allow Gira to land the Finishing Move against Dagded.
- Internal Reveal: The monarchs learn from Kaguragi how Racules came back from the dead and about his 17-year plan to turn on Dagded and empower Gira.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Invoked. Racules didn't expect Gira to oppose him but he integrated it into his long-term plan to empower the boy; playing the villain so the latter could seize the throne and fight Dagded.
- Match Cut: Suzume hugging an unconscious Racules is then matched with her cradling his casket.
- Meaningful Echo: The episode's title takes from the title of the Secret of King Racules special, which introduced a look into Racules' mind and an explanation for why he made King-Ohger ZERO. The episode itself is told through Racules' POV and explains just why King-Ohger ZERO exists to begin with.
- My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Gira invokes his full name of "Gira Husty" before defeating Dagded with Racules' OhgerCalibur ZERO.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Downplayed. Racules commissioned King-Ohger ZERO to be created as a separate entity from the other Shugods so it couldn't be controlled by Dagded. Gira defeating it in #18 wasn't a part of his plans, but it didn't have much impact on his long-term goals.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Dagded revealing his existence to Racules and forcing him to continue the cycle of violence only motivates the young king to start his plan of permanently ending the king of the universe's rule.
- Out of Focus: With the episode focusing on Racules' secrets, the other kings don't get much focus outside of a few select scenes.
- Perspective Flip: Racules recounts his major confrontations with the heroes from his point-of-view, putting the King-Ohgers' victories in a new tragic context.
- The Promise: After Dagded's defeat, Racules aims the OhgerCrownLance at Gira and has him swear to save everyone. Gira naturally does so.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: Gira's speech against Dagded makes it clear that he respects his brother again after being disillusioned by his behavior since the beginning of the series:"And though he bore dishonor... Was caked with blood... And descended into cruelty and wickedness... He is a king who did these things to save his people!"
- The Reveal:
- Racules and Gira's father was killed during the Fury of the Gods at the hands of Dagded.
- The true reasons behind Racules' tyranny: he learned of the Galactinsects' existence during the Fury of the Gods incident and Gira being Dagded's creation, arranging Gira to be sent away and creating his tyrant persona to win over Dagded when the chance presented itself. Ultimately, he wanted to empower Gira with all of the tools he needed to fully defeat Dagded since he felt that he was too "cowardly" to do so.
- Rule of Symbolism: Gira has never used his full name out of disgust for his brother's actions. The fact he says it before he lands the final blow is the first sign that he forgives him.
- Secret-Keeper: Suzume was the only one who knew of Racules' plans as he hid a message for her that could only be read by her wedding ring, asking if she was willing to walk the path of hell with him. She accepted and became his ally, starting by helping fake his death after his second duel with Gira.
- So Proud of You: If Racules' narration and the fact that he's smiling at Gira after they defeat Dagded is any indication, the elder Husty is indeed very proud of his younger brother for not only becoming the warrior destined to defeat Dagded, but for exceeding his expectations as well.
- Spanner in the Works: Racules states his plans never accounted for Gira opposing him, and he notes his brother kept messing with his plans inadvertently. However, this works in his favour after he sees how much Gira can be this for himself, and his plans ultimately changed to building up Gira to be a huge one against Dagded.
- Suppressed Rage: Racules is fuming with rage when meeting with Dagded for the first time during the Fury of the Gods yet manages to keep it under control long enough to start his plan on killing the king of the Galacticinsects.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Double subverted. Racules seems to throw his sword at Dagded as a final act of defiance, only for Dagded to throw it aside... right into Gira's waiting hands where he proceeds to ambush the Galactinsect king.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Dagded is forced into a real fight in which he's actually in real danger, and it soon becomes clear that for all his immense power, he has no actual combat skill. He just keeps spamming big power attacks over and over and clearly doesn't know how to block or dodge effectively.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee:
- Kaguragi contacts the other monarchs, having already expected them to have disarmed their cushion-bombs.
- Racules kept his plan of ending Dagded's rule entirely to himself for years with only Suzume becoming his Secret-Keeper after their wedding.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Racules is forced to change many of his plans on the fly after Gira inadvertently ends up complicating or tossing them aside.
- You Have Failed Me: Dagded killed Racules and Gira's father for failing to bring him enough entertainment while forcing Racules to continue the job.
