Episode 07 - With a Broken Past and Present
Wrapping up a conversation with Lindy, Admiral Leti asks her about Fate. Lindy says she seems to be settling in and having fun with her new friends. At that very moment, in fact, Fate is having a serious discussion with Nanoha, Suzuka and Alisa about what kind of cellphone she should get. After she chooses a model, Lindy buys it for her.
The Liese twins show Yuuno to the Infinity Library, a repository of knowledge from every world supervised by the Bureau. Unfortunately, much of its information isn't properly catalogued, which makes it hard to find anything specific. Yuuno, being an archaeologist from a family of historians, says he's good at searching out what he needs.
At the TSAB condo, Amy comes in to find only Nanoha and Fate there. Fate tells her Lindy has gone to headquarters to supervise a test of the Arthra's upgrades. Amy says the ship is being fitted with the Arc-en-Ciel, an powerful and dangerous weapon system which she hopes they'll never have to use. Since Chrono is also away, Amy is temporarily in command of the Earth-based force. Amy is just reassuring the two girls that no emergencies are likely to occur when an alert sounds: Signum and Zafira have been sighted on a desert world, hunting magical beasts. As they have no other troops on hand, Fate and Arf volunteer to go; Nanoha stays behind in reserve.
Fate arrives just in time to save Signum from a giant sand beast, which earns her a scolding from Amy. Signum, of course, is not inclined to surrender, so she and Fate prepare to face off. Some distance away, meanwhile, Arf confronts Zafira. As this is happening, another alert goes off on Amy's screen — Vita has been spotted on another world. Amy dispatches Nanoha there at once.
In the meantime, at Bureau headquarters, Lindy is talking to Admiral Graham about their mission. Graham tells her that he's confident she won't make the same mistake he did the last time. Lindy says that what happened back then wasn't his fault, but Graham just looks troubled.
In the Infinity Library, Lieselotte is assisting Yuuno as he uses magic to search through multiple books. He asks her about the previous Book of Darkness incident, having heard she was involved. Lotte tells him that eleven years ago, Chrono's father Clyde was in charge of a convoy that was transporting the Book of Darkness. The Book was believed to have been sealed safely, but something went terribly wrong... and Clyde and his ship were lost.
Elsewhere, Chrono is discussing the same incident with Liesearia. One thing they learned from it is that the Arc-en-Ciel is the only weapon they have capable of sealing the Book of Darkness. However, using it results in massive collateral damage, and Chrono hopes they'll be able to resolve this situation without resorting to it. Aria muses that even if they defeat the Book or its master, it will only reincarnate itself again and the problem will repeat within a few years.
Over the desert, Fate and Signum have begun their battle, as have Arf and Zafira. Arf says that a familiar shouldn't blindly follow their master if they know what they're doing is wrong. Zafira retorts that the Wolkenritter are acting of their own volition, and their master knows nothing about it.
On the other alien world, Nanoha arrives and tries once again to reach out to Vita, without success. Since the Book of Darkness can't absorb mana from the same mage more than once, Vita decides that fighting her is a waste of time. Casting a spell to temporarily blind Nanoha, she retreats to what she believes is a safe distance, then prepares to perform a dimensional transfer. Nanoha has other ideas, and fires a long-range Divine Buster at the dismayed knight. However, the blast is blocked by the sudden appearance of a familiar-looking masked man, who shields Vita long enough for her to escape.
On the desert world, Signum and Fate are both reaching their limits, with neither able to gain the upper hand. As each of them starts to consider desperation moves, a hand suddenly pierces through Fate's chest. Appearing behind her, the masked man seizes Fate's linker core, and tells the shocked Signum to take its energy for the Book of Darkness.
Tropes
- Bland-Name Product: Fate looks through a catalogue of "CoComo" cellphones. Interestingly averted in one of the following shots, where Suzuka is reading an "Au" catalogue (although the logo is slightly different from its real-world counterpart).*
- Chekhov's Gun: Two at once: Signum considers using her Sturmfalken on Fate to break the stalemate, while Fate debates the use of her still-unseen Sonic Form. In the end, neither of them gets the chance.
- We also have a more literal example in the Arc-en-Ciel, a Chekhovs Wave-Motion Gun.
- Foreshadowing:
- Both Amy and Chrono separately mention the Arc-en-Ciel and say they hope it won't have to be used. Naturally, it will — although not quite in the way they're afraid of.
- The Liese twins apologetically tell Yuuno that they'll be in and out a lot because of their work. Much later, we will find out what that work entails...
- Great Big Library of Everything: The Infinity Library contains all the published information from every world managed by the Bureau. Lieselotte even describes it as containing "the memories of the universe". However, it's so huge that only a small fraction of it has ever been catalogued, so it's extremely difficult to actually find anything in it.
- Magic Skirt: Lieselotte blithely floats upside-down inside the zero-gravity Infinity Library, yet somehow manages to remain covered despite her barely-hip-length skirt. Averted by Liesearia, who is also floating but carefully holds her skirt down with one hand.
- Male Gaze: Quite a few instances, especially involving the Liese twins and their ultra-short skirts.
- My Greatest Failure: His comments and expression make it clear that Graham views the previous Book of Darkness incident as his. Aria and Lotte also seem haunted by the memory. This helps explain why all three are determined to seal it away forever, no matter the cost.
- Tempting Fate: When Fate asks Amy if she's worried about being temporarily left in command when everyone else is away, Amy starts to say it's unlikely any major crises will show up... and doesn't even get to finish saying it before the emergency alert sounds.
