(CR) I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss

[Anh_Minh]

WTH is the political situation of Elmir that they'd entrust the crown prince to the people who tried to murder him?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

WTH is the political situation of Elmir that they'd entrust the crown prince to the people who tried to murder him?

Were the public even aware of that? Let lone their dad/grandma?

[magnuskn]

The dowager queen is so obviously evil that I kinda think that has to be a red herring. ^^

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Were the public even aware of that? Let lone their dad/grandma?

The public, no. The emperor, he certainly ought to have been. Isn't that part of why he replaced Cedric with Claude?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

The public, no. The emperor, he certainly ought to have been. Isn't that part of why he replaced Cedric with Claude?

...I'm guessing their concern for Claude is tempted by their distaste for Aileen .

[stray]

Originally Posted by Tenzen12

Quite surprised Cedric has some decency in him, both because how he was written up to this point as and because villainess stories generally don't do that.

TFW you realize you're a simp. I guess the fact the entire family seems pretty shitty gives him a lot of room for redemption too.

Originally Posted by magnuskn

The dowager queen is so obviously evil that I kinda think that has to be a red herring. ^^

Lolibaba can't be trusted...

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Frontier

...I'm guessing their concern for Claude is tempted by their distaste for Aileen .

In that case, why did they let her become the fiancee of princes?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

In that case, why did they let her become the fiancee of princes?

That's actually a good question. Like they carried the engagement so long but turned on her so quickly .

[Tenzen12]

Maybe Lilia offered some insider info that is just that valuable?

[The Green One]

Or maybe the power greedy nobles consider Lilia much easier to manipulate.

[Frontier]

I thought Aileen was going to keep Claude's hair for herself, but giving it to his demon forces so they have something of their beloved Demon Lord is pretty nice of her. Of course, Aileen's after the real prize, and in true Villainess fashion she's ready to do anything and everything to make Claude hers! Him properly falling for again can even happen after that !

I love how Aileen is still risking her own head just to get her daily dose of Claude. She's making a brave face of the fact that her love for him is now completely one-sided, something that's never happened to her before, but deep down it hurts that he won't return her feelings (at least not yet). It's tough seeing Aileen like this when she's trying her best to remain strong .

Ah, hiding in the closet is a classic of forbidden romances !

Lilia using the old "brother-in-law" excuse to basically flirt with Claude in front of Cedric and in general. And Aileen is fuming that Claude was more willing to eat her treats than her excellent apple pie! C'mon Claude !

I honestly was not expecting to see Selena again. It seems like with her reputation and social status in tatters all she has left is either getting forced into marriage to an upstart noble family or becoming Cedric's mistress. She has nothing left and nothing else to rely on otherwise, especially when Lilia wants her dead now as a loose end. At least Aileen can respect her gumption to go big or go home, but Auguste's reaction is pretty telling. It seems like he genuinely cares about Selena and doesn't want to see her pimp herself out, and could he end up being her true salvation ?

Huh, so there was another love interest from the first game who didn't appear in the first arc? Looks like he's definitely in Lilia's pocket though .

I was wondering how Aileen would sneak into the inspection but it was the perfect spot for the return of Ailey! Whom Claude immediately recognizes as Aileen. Too bad she couldn't use the duck costume again .

Well, Aileen and Cedric snipe at each other like proper exes, but to Claude it just makes them seem closer than he feels he and Aileen are at this point, even if there's no real love there. And that sets up a series of events that makes an already tense and stressful situation worse .

Lilia said an attack from below wasn't supposed to happen, but what was she actually expecting to happen ?

That cyclops just wanted to save his Demon Lord and fulfill his wishes...even if he misconstrued Claude's desire for distance from Aileen (for her sake) as wanting her completely out of his life. But Claude got to show off his command of his demons, so maybe that helped in it's own way ?

Oof. Aileen thinks Claude doesn't need or want her any more, even if she knows he probably wished her away for her own sake, but she's so overcome with emotion that she cries and slaps him...and then walks off like she wants nothing to do with him anymore. Obviously this won't stop Aileen and I'm sure she'll pick herself up and make Claude hers, but this seems like the toughest she's had it emotionally since the first episode .

[Frontier]

Claude is still wrestling with thoughts of Aileen when none other than his loyal advisers finally appear before him! And having Isaac and Belzebuth around acting like everything is back to normal seems to induce Claude acting more like himself again, especially when it comes to wanting to see Aileen. All it took was Belzebuth going extra in true Belzebuth fashion !

Aileen, meanwhile, is throwing herself into her work and acting like she's completely done with everything, Claude and her own life. She'd have left the castle too if not for the Demon Animal Dance Number. And we get yet another Demon Animal Dance Number to get her to go to the ball and see Claude again! These Demons ship these two so hard and knows they're meant to be together !

Aileen looks stunning in that new red and black dress...yet she's still a little bitter towards Claude so she also wears the duck mask to complete the ensemble. I was wondering if we'd ever see that again .

You know Claude is back to himself when he's carrying Aileen away from prying eyes so he can romance her and make her swoon once more, caressing her and whispering her name like nothing between them has changed. Even if Claude doesn't remember anything, he can't forget the deep love he feels for Aileen, a love he feels no shame declaring any more. And how can Aileen stay mad at that ?

Of course just when things seem like they're finally turning around...Elephas pounces on Aileen when she's dolling herself up. I knew his sudden appearance as an ally was too good to be true, and he's holding Almond hostage! What a complete piece of trash !

It's bad enough that they're trying to frame Aileen again and execute her off (Man, they really want her dead) but to frame her as cheating on Claude and having to make him believe that? And then she's kicking herself for not saying she loved Claude back before she has to act like a pure Villainess and claim to despite him while it utterly breaks her heart .

Almond, just...poor Almond. He breaks free from his imprisonment so he can save Aileen and Claude and let Claude know Aileen is lying, and he gets killed by Elephas for it. He deserved so much better. Claude and Aileen's reaction was bad enough but the look on Ribbons face when he realized Almond wasn't there just broke me .

Oh, so Isaac being Claude's right hand man isn't just for show, he even has the ability to order the Demons around in Claude's place! Neat .

Rachel really is a ride or die, posing as Aileen to ward off the cavalry as they try to escape from the kingdoms' forces. That look she shared with Isaac said so much without words .

So Lilia just thinks of Claude as a side-character to Aileen's story? Even though she's been doing all this for him? But even she's surprised she was never able to romance him like she did everybody else, not that it stops her from somehow having her own Holy Sword and seemingly inducing Claude into going on a rampage with Demon Incense (?) so he can play the Heroine role and be saved by Aileen. Yeesh .

Piece of trash Elephas jumps at Aileen through the air, but she's not about to let him have his way again as she uses her Holy Sword Maiden powers to launch them off their dragon mount and crash down to the ground in a ball of light. Aileen always goes big or go home !

[magnuskn]

Aileen has to be one of the most fearless and headstrong protagonists I've seen in a long while. Love the character.

[Alchemist007]

The villain girl (who I guess I can't call villainess for possible confusion) is pretty boring, I actually found the loli queen more interesting for all the 2 minutes she's been on screen.

Rip Almond.

[Strahan]

I seriously doubt Almond is actually dead. It's likely just a fakeout and they'll revive him in some manner after things are settled.

Speaking of dead, once this is solved Aileen really should just lure Lilia somewhere and slit her throat and be done with the headaches. It'd be amusing if they actually did that, such a stark tonal shift in a light show would be great lol. Also I hope the writers don't lean on another tired cliche; the yesterday's enemy is today's buddy trope. She said to Elephas something along the lines of "I guess I'll have to save you from her". If she actually forgives him and takes him on again as a part of their crew after this... ugh. Some things shouldn't be forgiven and forgotten.

[ryllharu]

Originally Posted by Strahan

She said to Elephas something along the lines of "I guess I'll have to save you from her". If she actually forgives him and takes him on again as a part of their crew after this... ugh. Some things shouldn't be forgiven and forgotten.

Isn't the woman that Elephas was referring to the Dowager Empress and not actually Lilia?

She was the one who ordered him to immediately execute Aileen. In fact, she's been far more ruthless towards Aileen than Lilia has (who just treats her as a player rival).

We still don't know her motivation, though Lilia is considerable favorite by her.

[Strahan]

Originally Posted by ryllharu

Isn't the woman that Elephas was referring to the Dowager Empress and not actually Lilia?

She was the one who ordered him to immediately execute Aileen. In fact, she's been far more ruthless towards Aileen than Lilia has (who just treats her as a player rival).

We still don't know her motivation, though Lilia is considerable favorite by her.

(shrug) Possibly. She does seem pretty bloodthirsty for her. I'm just saying since Aileen said that whole "I'll just have to save you" line I really hope she doesn't stick to it after all he's done. Anime writers are annoyingly infatuated with heel-face turns that aren't earned.

[Frontier]

Aileen wakes up in a cell and in handcuffs...which for her is old hat at this point. Like just the look on her face like she's not surprised at all because she's so used to it. Although when you've got Holy Sword Maiden powers, nothing can hold you back !

I guess we're meant to sympathize with Elephas a little in that he was being controlled by the Dowager Empress for the sake of his family who were being held hostage at her whim, and then he became another Lilia simp (and Aileen is not about to hear yet another sappy story about someone falling in love with Lilia) which screwed him over. Aileen may never forgive him for what he did to Almond or her, but she can still use him if he begs hard enough. Although to his credit, ripping out his own eye so they can use it to save Claude is a pretty strong start to redeeming himself .

Oh, so the Dowager Empress doesn't just have anime genes. She was literally holding a bunch of sorcerers hostage just so she could continue to look young. Which set up an amazing payoff at the end when the old hag is forced to look like she really is in all her decrepit glory .

Selena is finally on the heroes' side, even if it's just to spite Lilia. Although it seems like she does have some affection for Auguste to that can sway her. Even Aileen ships it now !

I'm only mildly disappointed we didn't get to see Rachel hit someone over the head with that frying pan .

Well, now Aileen also has to head off a demon invasion by saving Claude, not that she needs even more motivation. But it was also nice to see Bezelbuth bond with Aileens' subordinates. Humans are stupid, but they're kind, caring, and loving through that stupidity at times .

It was always going to come down to Aileen vs Lilia, and Lilia now has a Holy Sword she gained through another romance route, and they're fairly evenly matched. Lilia even tries to pull a reverse of what happened between them in the first arc by absorbing her Holy Sword back from Aileen. But Aileen has true love and the power of her Demon Lord lover backing her up that lets her overcome Lilia .

But the real MVP was none other than...Almond! Who Elephas put in suspended animation and was freed by Cedric! And how dishes out a surprise special move to break the door down and deliver another defeat for Lilia! That's our Almond !

Jeez, even to the bitter end they're trying to execute Aileen. But no perfect moment for Claude to make his comeback and make it clear he's in charge now, and it's time for all the guilty parties to get their just desserts. Which includes Cedric who willingly exposes himself and Lilia, finally showing some proper backbone even if he still loves Lilia in spite of everything. And Lilia is left wondering how this is all happening as her life crumbles around her. Serves her right, now she really has to deal with the reality of living in this world .

All's well that ends well...Claude and Aileen are reunited, Elephas' family is free (and Claude restores his eye), the Emperor and the Dowager Empress are basically getting kicked out and exiled, and Cedric and Lilia are heading off to prison together. Bonus points for having the two of them attend Aileen and Cedric's wedding while still handcuffed .

But the best way to cap off the ending is Aileen and Claude finally wed, with their happy ending assured! I can't think of a better conclusion for the show than these two together, minus the fact that we never got a full kiss on the lips. But Aileen and Claude found love and happiness in each other, and that's all I could really ask for .

[stray]

That was a really fun series, though the pace felt a bit rushed in the final episode. Now to wait for Tsundere Lieselotte and the rest of the upcoming villainess adaptations.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by stray

That was a really fun series, though the pace felt a bit rushed in the final episode. Now to wait for Tsundere Lieselotte and the rest of the upcoming villainess adaptations.

Apparently it did rush stuff, like cutting out the part where

Spoiler for Novel spoilers:

a restored Claude confronts the emperor and empress dowager over what they did, and intimidates them into entering exile and abdicating the throne to him and Aileen in exchange for "tolerating" what they did. Claude also destroys the dowagers' magic clock and basically dangles a regular supply of youth medicine controlled by him in exchange for her compliance. It also reveals the emperor was nothing but a submissive mommy's boy who just did as the empress dowager told him.