That said, I
called it on Mikumo: She hears Freyja singing and Freyja pulls her onto their side again; and it's so beautiful how she's crying as she joins them in song, I believe her VA did a good job at conveying her emotions in this episode! She is, of course, rescued by Mirage.
Then, a Makina and Reina suggestive scene confirmation (?) it's ambiguous; however, Makina joins them in singing and holds onto Reina for a majority of the episode so... confirmed (?). Regardless, Bogue saves both and is like "this is a one-time thing" (it's not direct translation, it's in how he blushes
).
Roid is straight up an
ass (pardon my language) because of how he believes his goal is right and everyone is supposed to follow, and his exposition...
sigh ...you know, of all the times for a big complaint about Delta's writing, this is one. His exposition is all things we learned in
episode 19... so literally, if they'd saved said exposition for this episode (or prior episode), it'd feel less "you're an idiot, we're filling your head with obvious information"; I know it's an anime and all the other characters don't know it but in an episode which is pushing its limits already... it's kind of over the top.
On Keith...
Thess, your boy did as you anticipated!
And it's a cool scene, too! Is not as flashy as Brera but I'll live with it.
Heinz
finally assumes control of
his Aerial Knights and goes against Roid! It's a little late... but I'll live with it because he's a kid and he finally grasps how dire his situation is (not only for singing but his people in general).
No conclusive Arad/Kaname/Messar love triangle confession so I'll grasp it's been answered in the previous episode with their friendly salute... It's okay, she'll move on and singing is who she is, ultimately.
Tak, she's alive: Fish girl is alive! (Don't remember her name, LOL.) And Chuck goes home to her waiting for him. She's injured but is
alive!
As for our main triangle...
Confessions from
all three! Hayate and Freyja love each other; Mirage loves Hayate... all of this we knew last week (more than obvious); however, I like how Mirage is supportive of their love and also gains
her "golden wings" in this episode. So what if she's not a winner for the love triangle? Her biggest scene in this episode
shows how she's grown as a pilot: Rescuing Mikumo alongside Hayate and downright
kicking ass! I'm satisfied with how she pulls herself together for this final episode (even if it'll still be coming off as bad writing for her development in this second half). I also like mini Mirage in a plane learning to pilot for the first time (seriously, she's
cute!).
Everyone gained their wish on
no magical cure for the Windermere lifespan; however, doesn't bother
Hayate (who learns of her crystallization in the last minute and basically says "we'll always be together"). Their confessions are so beautiful but no kiss, however, I'll live with the Valkyrie into the sky scene at the end (because HayaFre gains the "fly through the sky" AruSherri did not in Frontier).
I love how their buildup has been for this series because everyone is
trolled by believing Mirage won; because it's ironically foreshadowed when Mirage first said HayaFre could be like her grandparents... I never believed a Macross could be so straightforward on foreshadowing a canon pairing... it's never happened in prior series' in the franchise
but I'm glad because for once a pairing I liked / shipped in a Macross series won! And it's breaking the normal Macross tradition of "older girl wins", which is something I hoped for since Frontier!