Aldnoah.Zero - Anime Spoilers & Speculation

[BPD Renegade]

Spoiler for long-ass quote:

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

It's funny, because I was just noticing on tvtropes that have that this show has "black and grey morality" because of the fact that the Terrans train their children to become soldiers, fill their heads with false hope, and have covered up the event 15 years ago.
However, like you said, I would really put this as just "black and white" as interestingly, despite the threat, while all high school children have to go through military training, they aren't drafted or anything and they do have choices once they graduate. As for "false hope" having everyone in a depression over how powerful the Martians are not good to a recovering economy that has just been hit by the largest global natural disaster in history. So, I can't fault them for that either. In fact, the Earth forces didn't really know the power that they truly faced anyway, since the knights never fought in the previous war. The cover up was probably for the same reason as the giving false hope.

As of right now, the Martians are by and large the bad guys, while the Terrans are completely the victims. One group decimating the other for greed and power.
The sides are sooo mismatched that I can't really ever see any room for grey area. No matter what the Terrans did or will do, couldn't compare with what the Martians have done. As the Martian population still has yet to reach a million, even if the Earth was to completely blow up Mars, that still wouldn't match the millions that the knights have killed and the homes they have destroyed.

Right now, the scales of justice are completely in the Earth's favor, but what will that mean for the show? How shall the Earth get justice for the incredible atrocities that have been committed against it?

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I'm thinking in terms of hypothetical statistical numbers. In terms of what Mars has done compared to what Earth could do to make themselves be in the more "grey" area. I'm saying that even if Earth was to become so evil that they completely wiped Mars off the space map and killed every Martian, it still wouldn't be as bad as what the Martians in the name of the Vers Empire have done.
Also, it doesn't matter if the Martians acted on their own or not. They are still officially under the power of the Emperor and thus the Empire itself. Their actions reflect that of the Empire. So what if they "rebelled" the order, even if the emperor is only a figure head, it is his job to give out consequences because of said "rebellion" against the order. He gave them their titles and their position and their "land". He can easily have stripped them of all that and named them rogues, he could have bared them from ever returning to Mars. However, he has done none of that, and so indirectly has condoned their actions for whatever they have done, and whatever they might do. As Emperor, he has allowed his knights to do what they please under the name of the Vers Empire, and so he is just as responsible.

In terms of how the other Martians feel about the war, I'm not so sure as you are they they all wanted peace either. All of them seem to have a feeling that Terrans are primitives and not equal to them (we can see that from the Princess' maid, who has not lived with the knights and is not a noble, and yet she says that as if it's a fact of life), also, no one really seemed to be in support of the Princess going for peace talks as Cruhteo mentions it in passing that he's tried his best to talk her out of it, as if its the most natural notion in the world.

And unfortunately, until we see otherwise, the knights and (sub-knights) are still the only real glimpse we see of Martian culture. And I have to assume that the princess' views are in the small minority. The only people so far that she's mentioned also wanting peace was Slaine and his father, who are both Terrans. So, as of right now, we are looking at a very black and white situation here.




Umm, since the princess' "magical transformation" turned out to only be technology, I have to think that everything else is technology and that the Aldnoah is a very powerful source of the alien tech. We'll have to see as the show continues.

I don't think Earth's going to be completely on the white side for long, though. Especially with shows like this, something had to have happened that began the animosity. I don't believe that the discovery of Aldnoah alone was enough to put the Vers citizens on their high horses. Maybe whatever it was won't justify their actions, but it might explain the reason for them.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by BPD Renegade

Spoiler for long-ass quote:

I don't think Earth's going to be completely on the white side for long, though. Especially with shows like this, something had to have happened that began the animosity. I don't believe that the discovery of Aldnoah alone was enough to put the Vers citizens on their high horses. Maybe whatever it was won't justify their actions, but it might explain the reason for them.

That is true, there usually is some grey area somewhere in there. However, as of right now, I just can't see the Earth as anything but the victims right now. Almost every Martian we've met other than the princess doesn't seem to care about the millions of Terrans who are dying out there. And even when they are announcing armistice, they still have to make insults to the Terrans, who are the ones dying in all of this. They just seem like jerks who found uber-powerful toys.

[Irenesharda]

I'll put this here as well for the sake of speculation.

Here's a picture for a little bit of conversation:

Images

Destroyed Argyre

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Is it just me, or does this thing look like it has teeth? Am I looking at it too hard?

Are we in for another Urobutcher style twist regarding these mechs?

[orion]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I'll put this here as well for the sake of speculation.

Here's a picture for a little bit of conversation:

Images

Destroyed Argyre

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Is it just me, or does this thing look like it has teeth? Am I looking at it too hard?

Are we in for another Urobutcher style twist regarding these mechs?

Nah, that looks like teeth to me. EVA did it before this one.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by orion

Nah, that looks like teeth to me. EVA did it before this one.

It's just that I remember there being a really early clue like this in Gargantia with the space squid. And this isn't a silly mecha series like Captain Earth where they have teeth because its "cool". So, I'm just wondering if there is more to the Martian kataphrackts then we think.

Oh, and I'm never actually watched EVA (shocking, I know ), so I don't really get that reference.

[Wandering Soul]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I'll put this here as well for the sake of speculation.

Here's a picture for a little bit of conversation:

Images

Destroyed Argyre

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Is it just me, or does this thing look like it has teeth? Am I looking at it too hard?

Are we in for another Urobutcher style twist regarding these mechs?

It's not just you those definitely look like teeth. This may be connected to how they repair their mechs by putting it into that special water. We still don't know the true nature if Aldnoah so we could be in for a twist.

[gunner56]

Though this should probably be in a different thread, but I guess this counts as a speculation:

I do not know if this was noticed by anybody else or somewhere in this topic, but those two children watching the shooting stars near the end of EP1, could they be Inaho and Yuki, since the two are siblings and it was stated this happened in 2005, nine years before the series? I just wanted to say this.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by gunner56

Though this should probably be in a different thread, but I guess this counts as a speculation:

I do not know if this was noticed by anybody else or somewhere in this topic, but those two children watching the shooting stars near the end of EP1, could they be Inaho and Yuki, since the two are siblings and it was stated this happened in 2005, nine years before the series? I just wanted to say this.

No, all the events in episode one other than the flashbacks, happened in present day. The little boy and girl at the end are just random children that were watching the "shooting stars" that are actually the falling landing castles of the Orbital Knights.

I think what has you confused was the timestamp of 2005 CDT. That wasn't a year, it was a time, global time. In this case, 20:05 CDT, which is really just 8:05 pm Central Daylight Time. So, everything in New Orleans was happening in 2014, at around 8pm.

[BPD Renegade]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

I'll put this here as well for the sake of speculation.

Here's a picture for a little bit of conversation:

Images

Destroyed Argyre

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Is it just me, or does this thing look like it has teeth? Am I looking at it too hard?

Are we in for another Urobutcher style twist regarding these mechs?

Not just you. It looks like some sort of sick, distorted skull. I'm getting creeped out looking at this thing too long...

[gunner56]

Yaaa~, how embarrassing. I merely went to the scene, saw the number "2005," saw two siblings, then subtracted nine years. Now that I re-watched it, I perfectly understood how weird I may have sounded. Thanks for clarifying.

[Thess]

Spoiler for title of episode 6:

Next episode is called: Island of Memory/Recollection/Remembrance. I guess they'll finally hit Port and get into some important area hit by Heavens Fall?

If this was a Sunrise show, it'll be about Inaho and Rayet who got lost in their tiny boat, but I doubt they'll do that angle.

[Arya]

I was wondering, as I said in the current episode thread, Count Tannenbaum demonstrated how smart he is outsmarting Slaine (and basically making Slaine unwillingly the cause of the war resume, without his report probably the emperor could have waited a bit more, but yeah, he used him).
He recovered the Nilokeras from the sea. And I remember that someone said as Slaine has been featured with the Nilokeras, like he will pilot it sooner or later.
Add to this that Slaine's secret has been discovered, now he has no place to go.
If Tannenbaum is really that smart the best way to use Slaine (try to use him) would be to implant a tracing system into the Nilokeras, accepting his demand, or persuading Crutheo to, and letting him go to the battle front with the Nilokeras.
In this way the moment Slaine will defect to join the princess he could easily track them down. I mean, I bet it's not a secret on Mars that Slaine adores the princess so it would be the best action to maximize the outcome, instead of "just" killing a spy. Justifying, plot wise, why they will let him live.
That could also lead to some misunderstandings between him and the princess the moment they will get attacked by the VERS. Well, the princess probably not, she trusts him, and accordingly so Inaho. But what about Rayet? I don't think she would let this little detail just go.

On a different topic, I noted how as much as Slaine is the foil of Inaho, also the princess first meetings respected this set up, both of them went in the exact opposite way, at the extremes. She "kissed" Slaine and grounded Inaho. So, both are meetings with physical contact, but at the exact opposite extremes of the range. As much as her position on the chessboard, the queen in the former case and less than a pawn in the latter.
As much as her position in their regard. The princess is now in the place of Slaine, who watched her without having any power, now the princess is watching Inaho having herself no power (for now) and being hated for being a Martian. I can suppose as the princess protected Slaine (given his status) in a similar way as Inaho is protecting her now. I like the way they are trying to portray the princess duality so far. I'm looking forward for the moment it will clash against itself.

[Hollownerox]

Originally Posted by Thess

Spoiler for title of episode 6:

Next episode is called: Island of Memory/Recollection/Remembrance. I guess they'll finally hit Port and get into some important area hit by Heavens Fall?

If this was a Sunrise show, it'll be about Inaho and Rayet who got lost in their tiny boat, but I doubt they'll do that angle.

I would actually love to see that kind of development, just so they can mess with shippers and have them say "Yeah, no that'll never happen" at the end of it. Sunrise and their clichés are what makes their shows more of a comedy nowadays than anything else.

Here's hoping there's some actual characterization for Earth's forces (Martian would be nice too) since we've had next to none so far. The most interesting character so far has been Marito, and that's only because he has PTSD and we've been denied seeing the actual trauma.

[jpwong]

Originally Posted by Hollownerox

I would actually love to see that kind of development, just so they can mess with shippers and have them say "Yeah, no that'll never happen" at the end of it. Sunrise and their clichés are what makes their shows more of a comedy nowadays than anything else.

Here's hoping there's some actual characterization for Earth's forces (Martian would be nice too) since we've had next to none so far. The most interesting character so far has been Marito, and that's only because he has PTSD and we've been denied seeing the actual trauma.

Oh, I'm pretty sure he'll end up stranded somewhere with one of the girls at some point in this series, probably so that we can get a full blown expose on his past, I just can't see them getting lost from the carrier when they're only like 200m away from it.

Marito would be nice to see next since we keep getting flashbacks of that one scene. Slaine will probably have the most interesting story after that. Inaho brings up the rear because beyond how genius he looks on the battlefield, they haven't really given us anything in the show for him yet. Mars guys I suppose they'll probably get around to doing something with the re-occuring guys who aren't slated to be killed after a few episodes, but I'm not sure what they can do with them at this point except give us more insight about their exact stance on the whole thing and the politics they're managing in regards to the princess' assassination.

[Thess]

Originally Posted by Arya

On a different topic, I noted how as much as Slaine is the foil of Inaho, also the princess first meetings respected this set up, both of them went in the exact opposite way, at the extremes. She "kissed" Slaine and grounded Inaho. So, both are meetings with physical contact, but at the exact opposite extremes of the range. As much as her position on the chessboard, the queen in the former case and less than a pawn in the latter.

Don't you mean that Inaho's meeting with Eddelrittuo and Asseylum was portrayed as more of a coincidence. Meanwhile Slaine's meeting with Asseylum was overblown in fateful-mysticism? I wonder why so many forget she wasn't alone when she met Inaho.

Inaho's meeting was played as extremely impersonal and speaking of the war situation in general. The way it was angled, the ost used was more of suspense built, for instance. It was a "let's move the plot along" vibe, even in when it happened (second episode, not even opening with it). As contrast, her meeting with Slaine was about their characters and their connection as highlight rather than move the plot along and the ost used was to portrayed a softer emotion. So in that sense, it is the opposite, not just the circumstances, but the atmosphere and the intention.

One meeting seems to be related to the plot of the story. Another is more about the characters in question, IMO.

[Death Usagi]

Slaine is definitely going to defect to go to his princess and be her knight.

But this is Urobutcher we are talking about, so I am sure there will be some massive harsh tragedy coming up soon.

Another thing I find weird is that Inaho is kind of emotionless and doesn't really react to the fact he has killed someone (Most protagonist who killed someone for the first time goes massive emotional over it like puking and such), that I think it might be because his parents are dead.

[Arya]

Originally Posted by Thess

Don't you mean that Inaho's meeting with Eddelrittuo and Asseylum was portrayed as more of a coincidence. Meanwhile Slaine's meeting with Asseylum was overblown in fateful-mysticism? I wonder why so many forget she wasn't alone when she met Inaho.

Inaho's meeting was played as extremely impersonal and speaking of the war situation in general. The way it was angled, the ost used was more of suspense built, for instance. It was a "let's move the plot along" vibe, even in when it happened (second episode, not even opening with it). As contrast, her meeting with Slaine was about their characters and their connection as highlight rather than move the plot along and the ost used was to portrayed a softer emotion. So in that sense, it is the opposite, not just the circumstances, but the atmosphere and the intention.

One meeting seems to be related to the plot of the story. Another is more about the characters in question, IMO.

Well, that's still fit with my reasoning, it fits even more. And it fits the characters that got involved with the princess. But even the position of the princess also hadn't been the same but at the exact opposite. She was a princess living like a sort of goddess when met with Slaine. She instead was a fugitive who just escaped from an attempted murder and lost in a sudden war in an unknown city of an unknown planet. Basically, as I said, she ended in the Slaine position having Inaho as her princess. But following this reversed pattern they met in the most impersonal way. I could go further hard guessing that the first encounter represents in a meta way Slaine and his character and the second instead represents Inaho. But they doesn't really tell much about the princess.
From what I can tell, you find the kiss moment something mystical and I can get that, somehow. From my point of view, considering Asseylum position and age I find much more influential for her, due to her circumstances, the second encounter. Let alone that in the first one she saved and in the second she got saved. But my point is not to convince you about that, but that there is a duality that the show is trying to portray. Duality that has been handling from the meta extremes, Slaine and Inaho, but that will clash at the center of it, center that is Asseylum. Add to this that they took the time to change even her aspect to underline it.

[Triple_R]

While I see Arya's duality point, I also think the anime has, thus far, done more to support Slaine-Asseylum than Inaho-Asseylum. I mean, that mouth-clearing kiss was really something else.

Originally Posted by Death Usagi

Another thing I find weird is that Inaho is kind of emotionless and doesn't really react to the fact he has killed someone (Most protagonist who killed someone for the first time goes massive emotional over it like puking and such), that I think it might be because his parents are dead.

I agree with you on Inaho's lack of emotion in general, but his lack of reaction over his kill(s) so far is understandable to me (I write kill(s) because Inaho probably thinks he killed two Martian Knights, when really he probably killed only one).

Given how the Martian Knights have been portrayed so far I can understand a "terran" not feeling very conflicted over killing one or more of them.

[Death Usagi]

And considering Slaine was the one who killed Trillram, I am sure this is going to get blown and considering Slaine was seen by Saazbaum as someone who is trying to get in their cause of war, I am pretty sure Slaine can't stay with Vers any further. He will definitely go to his princess :x

[Arya]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

While I see Arya's duality point, I also think the anime has, thus far, done more to support Slaine-Asseylum than Inaho-Asseylum. I mean, that mouth-clearing kiss was really something else.

Yep, I can't deny it The only mild objection I could raise is that it's due to the settings, Asseylum hasn't have any interaction with Slaine for a while now, due to their circumstances. So they had to go that far. From a storytelling point of view.