General Patton arrives at Den Helder to announce a way to continue with Operation Southwind. The port of Kiel is currently under Neuroi occupation, but if retaken can be used as a supply base to strike into the heart of Karlsland. On a reconnaissance mission, Barkhorn and Hartmann run into a fast, powerful Neuroi and Hartmann is shot down, causing Barkhorn to go into a deep depression. Yeager, Miyafuji, and Hattori are sent out to rescue Hartmann, but fail. Barkhorn spends the time working out and modifies her Striker Unit with Yeager's help to make it lighter and more streamlined without sacrificing power. Barkhorn destroys the Neuroi, but is distraught when she sees what appears to be Hartmann's corpse (actually a dummy that Hartmann set up to deceive the Neuroi). A second Neuroi appears as Hartmann signals to Barkhorn her location. Barkhorn fights the Neuroi by hand and destroys it with a revolver she had received from Yeager and hidden in her panties, then heads back to base with Hartmann.
Tropes in this episode:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: After two seasons and a movie mostly yelling at Hartmann, Barkhorn's true appreciation for her finally comes out in this episode.
- Chekhov's Gun: The chocolate bar proves to be instrumental in snapping Trude out of her Heroic BSoD just in time to mow down the second Neuroi.
- Faking the Dead: Hartmann builds a fake body to trick the Neuroi into thinking she's dead. Unfortunately, this also puts Barkhorn in a Heroic BSoD by accident until she remembered the chocolate bar she received from Barkhorn earlier.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Not quite naked, but Barkhorn shows her newly buffed-up body by taking off her uniform for her fight against the Neuroi.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Chris isn't the only most important person in Trude's life: Erica is also this, at least for oath-related reasons.
- Say My Name: "ERICAAAAAAAAAA!!"
- Took a Level in Badass: Barkhorn spends the entire day shedding her weight to fight the Neuroi on equal footing.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Barkhorn stores a revolver in her panties and a chocolate bar in her bra.
- The Worf Effect: Shirley's outclassed by a highly-maneuverable Neuroi just to show that the 501st's quest to liberate Berlin is going to be an uphill battle from here.
