Trigun Stampede – Episode 3Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to Trigun Stampede, and see how Vash and his companions are faring. It certainly hasn’t been an easy road for them; although Vash possesses tremendous destructive power, he is loath to use his abilities to harm others, even if those others have every intention of harming him. This has made for a difficult trek across this sand-blasted planet, as every mercenary and their mother is intent on capturing him, to which he can generally just offer a lopsided “can’t we just be friends?”
Descending from the heavens alongside his twin and shadow, Vash is clearly being framed as a messianic figure, a savior whose infinite charity might counterbalance the selfishness and violence of mankind. But in a cruel world, there is often little choice but to be cruel ourselves; though Vash possesses the strength to stand by his pacifist philosophy, he cannot single-handedly save this world, cannot transform it into a place where the necessities of life are so plentiful as to facilitate such effortless charity among the rest of us. Of course, this is all assigning him a thematic significance I’m sure he’d find lofty and embarrassing; as a person in his own right, he seems mostly concerned with not becoming the “weapon” that others see him as, a tool whose only purpose is destruction. The contrast of these two perspectives, alongside the inherent thrills and charm of this lushly appointed production, have made for a thoroughly satisfying meal so far. Let’s get back to it!
Episode 3
We open with a news report from the “Seven Cities,” speaking of a sand storm ravaging the central plane. So it appears there actually are some larger settlements on this planet, we’ve just been hanging out in the backwaters
The camera pans up over presumably Knives trudging through the sand, headed towards another run-down installation
Then we jump back to the cliffhanger we left Vash on, with Gofsef having been swarmed and presumably destroyed by “lost technology” shaped like metal-and-crystal spiders
Roberto states that these bombs must be the work of “E.G. Bomber”
Quite a loaded shot as another of the townsfolk races away to sacrifice himself, shouting “please, save the town.” His blood splatters beneath Vash’s eye, forming a tear for him to wipe away. An easy visual metaphor for how Vash feels the suffering of all
E.G. Bomber’s real name is Ethan Gilbert Hamilton
“At any rate, don’t lose heart.” Vash also continues to embody faith in dark times, promising he will defeat this foe and disable the bombs. I feel like more people would be engaged with the New Testament if Jesus spent his time fighting supervillains like this
Our villain soon reveals himself, complete with a big metal suit and a declaration that he is now “E.G. the Mine.” Dude, if you don’t stick with one title, you’re never gonna build any name recognition
He’s played by Wataru Takagi, one of the great nasally voices of anime
His metal wheel-suit immediately facilitates some energetic action cuts, as the camera swings around to follow his rampage through the settlement. Quite impressed by the dust effects here – they feel voluminous without feeling “chunky,” maintaining the fluidity and morphing, rapidly dispersing quality of traditionally animated smoke
And out in the sands, the cloaked figure continues its march towards town
Getting a closer look at these plants that power their town, it’s clear they’re designed as the bottom half of a woman’s body that blooms into a sort of yarn-ball of threads. Another charged image, implying these plants are like mothers to humanity
“You don’t get it, do you? I’m not killing to steal – I’m stealing to kill!” Can human charity coexist alongside those who are proudly set against it, not for reasons of necessity, but simply because they enjoy causing suffering? It’s a question our own world has failed to meaningfully answer; cruelty is not always a reflection of inner pain, and cannot always be resolved via kindness and understanding
With that declared, Vash’s whole affectation changes. He has infinite patience for those who are hurting, but for this man who only wishes to cause pain, he immediately declares “enough”
It’s actually Meryl who comes up with a counter-strategy, latching onto E.G. alongside Roberto in order to ensure that if he activates the bombs, he’ll die as well. Excellent scrappy character acting as the two cling to their enemy, with Meryl making plenty of characteristically feral expressions
Nebraska wants revenge on E.G. for killing his son, but Vash steps in to block him. Is it right to hold sacred the life of this man, who himself desires nothing but to hurt others? In his unqualified protection of all human life, Vash actually seems to demonstrate how he is not quite human himself, unburdened by the natural sense of hurt and desire for revenge that such cruelty can inspire. Can a man who does not hurt like us honestly embody our best instincts, or act as a meaningful exemplar to the rest of us?
Vash can only offer the defeated “there’s no point in revenge.” And then our wanderer arrives, already pounding away at the town’s piano
With none of his usual confidence, Vash’s voice cracks as he urges the townsfolk to flee
Instead, E.G. immediately runs up to worship Knives, declaring “you grace us with your presence” before being dispatched. A moment that speaks to how fiction tends to dance around the implications of a character like E.G., who embodies how some people will always set themselves against a kinder, more equitable society. An infinite capacity for forgiveness only works up to a certain point, and that point is precisely where stories tend to let “fate” make the hard call, by sending such irredeemable characters off a cliff or whatnot. The story thus allows the protagonist to maintain their spirit of infinite charity while essentially executing anyone who challenges the limits of that philosophy
“Have you ever desired to converse with a god, Vash?” In contrast with Vash, Knives embraces his mythic status without question, naturally assuming he is a god of the people. It is this sort of hubris that terrifies Vash; a certainty of sovereignty that allows any cruelty, because what can rightfully be denied to a god? This is why Vash can’t answer the question raised by a character like E.G. – because answering that question would immediately imply an assumption of personal righteousness, and that is the road to self-justified cruelty and oppression. The most direct route to tyranny is an implicit assumption of righteousness; the second we believe we cannot do wrong, the floodgates of cruelty are flung open
I like how the lighting reflects their self-images, rather than their actual identities: Knives is bathed in sunlight, Vash is a gun in the dark
“Why are you here? Is it the plant?” “I’m taking it back. It belongs to me. Or rather, it belongs to us.” Vash wants to share the gift of life with humanity, but Knives thinks only in terms of ownership
Knives accuses Vash of vanity, seeing in his daring defense of the humans only “a cure for loneliness.” He cannot imagine giving freely, without thought of repayment
Ooh, lovely smoke effects as Knives touches Vash’s gun, spawning cracks like splintering ice down its barrel
They’re effectively amping up Knive’s presence through classic horror movie staples; cutting the sound so you can only hear his footsteps, obscuring his face, slowing down the pacing to build up suspense. All this succeeds in making him feel implacable, inevitable, and unknowable, a force of nature rather than just one more enemy
Our only unobscured, still-partial shot of his body sees his cloak molt into endless knives before Nebraska is struck
Out at the town’s edge, a massive metal golem arrives, flanked by a black-suited man and a young boy who looks suspiciously like our lead brothers once did
Rosa’s companions are slaughtered in turn by Knives’ cruel blade appendages
“Whose side are you on?” Knives asks his brother, naturally implying that there will always be a divide between humans and the brothers. Gods cannot live among mankind
“In the past, God rained fire from the sky, destroying the city of depraved fools. To fix the world once and for all, I’m moving ahead.” Knives again affirming he sees himself as a new god, sent to pronounce judgment upon humanity
“To bring everything back to even.” A goal that definitely requires further explanation. What does Knives actually desire?
The town ultimately lies in ruins, and Rosa asks Vash to leave, saying “if you hadn’t come here, none of this would have happened.” Perhaps gods and humans cannot coexist after all
“After all they said to you, how can you smile like that?” “I don’t deserve to cry.” He understands the privilege and responsibility of his power; though he wishes to carry their burdens, he cannot
And Done
Whoof, what a brutal episode! Our formal reintroduction of Knives was even more horrific than I could have imagined, with basically every side character we’ve come to know being sacrificed as fuel to underline just how monstrous Vash’s brother truly is. But there was no outright malice in his behavior; to Knives, it is clear that humans are simply not important enough to be worthy of hatred, just ants to be stepped on or brushed aside in pursuit of his great work. Just as Vash has positioned himself as a self-sacrificing savior of humanity, so has Knives styled himself as an Old Testament-style deity, explicitly referencing Sodom and Gomorrah in explaining his actions. Even with the best of intentions, is it possible for a being like Vash to understand human frailty, and to truly live as one of us? Regardless, the journey continues, and the party trudges east.
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Trigun Stampede – Episode 3
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