86 – Eighty Six | Episode 8 Review

---

Episode EIGHT Thoughts

You know what, Shin reminds me of Sasuke from Naruto. I do not know why, but that’s definitely the kind of vibe he gives off. But obviously, Shin is the ‘nicer’ version. Episode eight was very much a rollercoaster of emotions; you literally felt everything.

It was emotional from the start, and it kicks off with Lena begging her friend Annette for help, only to be shut down. That part, in particular, was a compelling scene because Annette explains to Lena how she is guilty of the treatment of the 86 because, unlike her father, who had committed suicide not being able to bring himself to hurt people, he called friends. Annette, who took over after her father, carried on with her father’s research and did things her father couldn’t bring himself to do. Something that really stuck with me was when she also accused Lina of being as guilty as her when Annette said, “You interfered and kept them alive, and now they’re being ordered to die!”. I thought to myself, “wow.”

Because in a way, that is true, if Lena didn’t feel sympathetic towards the 86 if she was like everyone else and didn’t care. The members of the Spearhead wouldn’t have been sent on a death mission, effectively being ordered to die. But since Lena was taught at a young age that the 86 were people of the republic forced to fight, she built a connection to the Spearhead and did everything in help power to help them continue living. At the same time, I do not think that Lena is guilty. Lena didn’t know that the Spearhead was an execution squad or that the Legion was using the dead to replenish their ranks. Like everyone else in the republic, she thought that the Legion would die out in two years due to their inability to replace their source.

I still don’t understand why Lena, although she knows all this information about the Legion and their relation to the 86, still has yet to tell High Command. Will they believe her? Probably not, but as I’ve mentioned, Lena could have at least asked for an investigation. I just do not see the reason why Lena is withholding potentially valuable information.

Something else that I found interesting about this episode was how at peace the Spearhead was with their faith, that many if not all of them will die on this mission. Even though they’re forced to fight a war for a country as vile as the Republic, you can definitely tell that they’re at peace. They want to die on their own terms. They want to die fighting. Even when Lena urges them to run away and to stop fighting, they refuse because they want to end on their terms. Episode eight overall has been an exciting experience because it offers two different points of view. You have Lena, who wants change, who doesn’t want to see people with who she’s developed a close relationship die. She wants justice for the 86. Throughout the first half of the episode, you see her struggle; you see her pleas but to no avail. Then you have the Spearhead, who are all happy and smiling, reminiscing on all the time they’ve spent together. Even though they knew that they most likely won’t be coming back together or alive. The scene of all of them leaving together on a beautiful day towards the sunset was bittersweet.

Like Lena, I’ve developed a connection with these characters, and I really don’t want to see them all die. Time will tell what will happen next. I hope that many of them do not have to die. The fact that I know many of them they will, but we don’t know each one, makes me anxious. Overall, this has been a rocker of an episode A+ from me.