Episode 23 - Stars Strike
Nanoha continues to destroy all Gadgets in her path as she charges towards the Throne Room. In an inner hallway, Dieci lies in wait for her, cannon primed and ready. Monitoring Nanoha's approach, she briefly thinks that this is Vivio's mother, but she shakes off a moment of hesitation in time to open fire as Nanoha enters the passage. Nanoha instantly responds by firing Excelion Buster back at her; the two blasts collide. They appear evently matched until Nanoha activates her Blaster Mode to boost her magic, overpowering Dieci's cannon and blasting her aside. She places Dieci in magical bindings, seals her cannon, and tells her an assault squad will be along to arrest her shortly.
A few minutes later, Nanoha bursts into the Throne Room to find Quattro standing guard over Vivio. This Quattro quickly turns out to be a holographic projection, however — she's controlling things from elsewhere in the Cradle. Nanoha tries to approach Vivio, but a high-powered magical field generated by Vivio herself stops her. Over a monitor, Quattro smugly explains that the Belkan Royal Family had a unique skill called the "Saint's Armor" which, when combined with a Relic implanted inside them, made them unstoppable warriors. Now, she says, Vivio is ready to wield that power herself.
Magic explodes out of Vivio and she rises above the throne, hypnotised. Quattro tells her to destroy the "scary demon" in front of her by releasing the powers inside her. Vivio screams and transforms into an adult form with a black Barrier Jacket. Nanoha tries to reach out to her, but Vivio doesn't recognize her, saying that Nanoha has taken her mother away. On the monitor, a smirking Quattro tells them to "kill each other, like a good mother and daughter".
Down on the surface, Gadgets are attacking the city defenses under Otto's direction. Genya Nakajima, on command at the scene, informs Shario and Griffith that their defenses are holding for now, but the Ground Forces won't be able to send reinforcements anywhere else.
Meanwhile, Teana is holed up inside the empty building where she is trapped with Nove, Wendi and Deed. She's managing to distract the Numbers with her illusions, but they eventually discover her position. Tea thinks to herself that she'll never be as powerful as Nanoha and the others, but she can make a last stand using her wits and skill. The three cyborgs surround her and move into attack position, and Tea recognizes the same formation they used the first time they attacked her. She realizes that it's a choreographed pattern to allow them to coordinate their strikes — so if she can anticipate their movements, she may have a chance...
Elsewhere, Subaru is remembering... As a small child, she is being comforted by her mother after falling and hurting herself. Quint tells Subaru that as her daughter and Ginga's sister, she's really a strong girl. Then the scene changes to Subaru and Ginga undergoing an examination as Quint and Mariel observe. Mari says they've confirmed that both girls are genetically identical to Quint — her genetic material must have been stolen years ago and used to clone them. Quint suddenly notices both girls watching her uncertainly; she smiles at them and they smile back. The scene cuts again to Subaru watching Ginga training. Ginga says Subaru should train too, but Subaru says she's afraid of hurting someone without meaning to. Ginga sits down next to Subaru and says that maybe she doesn't have to be strong, because her parents and her big sister are always there for her.
Subaru opens her eyes to see present-day Ginga, brainwashed and fighting her. She tries to defend herself, but Ginga attacks ruthlessly and ends up knocking her out. However, Mach Caliber temporarily takes control of Subaru's magic and devices, and manages to block Ginga's follow-up attacks until Subaru regains consciousness. Mach Caliber tells Subaru they can still fight together, and not to give up. Subaru recalls telling Nanoha about her dream — to save people in distress — and she thinks that her power isn't there to hurt people, but to protect them. She activates her Gear Excelion boost mode and faces off against Ginga once again.
Not far away, Otto is watching the battlefield and notices several Gadgets being taken out by sniper shots from a helicopter. Before she can investigate, she is surprised by Shamal and Zafira, who trap her and place her in magical binds. All the magical barriers put in place by Otto, including the one trapping Teana, disappear.
Nove, Wendi and Deed realize what's happened, and immediately launch their attack on Teana. But Tea, deducing their attack pattern, manages to block each of their strikes and takes down Wendi and Deed with her guided bullets, knocking them unconscious. Then she points her gun at a shocked Nove and orders to her stand down.
With Subaru no longer holding back, she and Ginga launch their final attacks on each other. Each of them manages to break through the other's shields; but with Ginga relying only on cybernetic abilities, Subaru's magical blasts make the difference, and she knocks Ginga out.
Pursued by Signum and Rein, Zest finally reaches Ground Forces HQ. Outside, Agito intercepts Signum and Rein to block them from entering; rather than fight her again, they ask her to explain what's really going on. Inside, Zest blasts his way into Regius's office, where the General is waiting along with Auris and another staff member. He tosses a couple of photographs onto Regius's desk; they show him, looking younger, as a TSAB mage with several other officers. Zest asks if it was because of Regius's orders that he and his men were killed eight years ago...
Tropes
- Armor-Piercing Question: The episode ends with Zest asking Regius a pair of them."Was it by your orders that my men and I were killed eight years ago? The justice we spoke of... where is it now?"
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Injured, cornered, and down to her last few bullets, Teana realizes that Nove, Wendi and Deed are coordinating their attacks using a pre-choreographed pattern. In the split second before their strikes land, she manages to deduce the pattern and counter it.
- First, while Wendi primes her energy cannon, she fires a pair of shots at the charging Deed and Nove, forcing them to dodge.
- In the split second that gains her, she turns her back to Deed and fires another shot into the barrel of Wendi's cannon, preventing her from firing and creating an impromptu smoke screen that delays Nove some more.
- Then, as Deed is about to strike her from behind, she shifts Cross Mirage into dagger mode, reaches back and blindly blocks Deed's Twin Blade attack.
- A second later, the first two shots she fired, still under her control, boomerang back and simultaneously nail both Deed and Wendi, knocking them both out.
- Finally, as the smoke clears, she points her gun at the stunned Nove's face and tells her she's under arrest.
- Call-Back: Vivio had previously tried to stylize her hair into a sidetail like the one that Nanoha has in chapter 10 the companion manga, but it was too heavy and Fate said that she could try again once she was older. As shown in the page image, she actually does so once she gains her Older Alter Ego.
- Character Development: It's significant that Dieci mentally refers to Vivio as "that small girl". Compare that to the other Numbers, and even Dieci herself back in episode 12, who refer to her as "the Vessel of the Saint", or just "that material".
- Chekhov's Gun: As soon as Vivio transforms and is about to attack, the first thing Nanoha does is cast something called "W.A.S. Full Driving". We aren't told what this spell does, and it has no obvious effect. It's her Wide Area Search spell, and it will pay off spectacularly two episodes from now.
- Exact Time to Failure: Averted — unlike the episodes before and after, this one does not end with the Cradle's ETA in orbit.
- Four Lines, All Waiting: As the title indicates, this episode follows the Stars team members (Subaru, Teana, and Nanoha) in their various battles. The exception is the vice-captains: Signum has a couple of short scenes whereas Vita only has a cameo. The other Lightning members don't even appear, except as brief images on Quattro's monitors.
- Older Alter Ego: Vivio transforms into an adult form note to fight Nanoha once Quattro's brainwashing takes over and her full Saint's Armor power activates.
