Recap: The princess finally finds her key to travel through time. By the time she arrives, the two tree have already started clashing. No longer under the protection of the tree, will Mahiro and Yoshino be safe in this duel of gods?

Oh, also, that up there? Called it.

The introduction of a mage of Chaos totally changes the playing field. The chicken and the egg type logic that went about the past few episodes just got a whole lot more complicated. If the mage of Chaos killed Aika, then it was outside of the will of the Tree of Genesis. However, if the Tree of Genesis could anticipate this line of thought, couldn’t it have masked the true killer to make it seem like it was uninvolved? The questions simply continue to whirl around.

As predicted, the prison of time is broken, and Hakaze is teleported into the future. I do have to wonder about what happens to the wires keeping Hakaze’s skeleton taut. Do they simply disappear since they would violate the logic of existing in the same space as Hakaze’s body? After typical shounen stammering and blushing by Yoshino cause OH NO NAKED GURL (I love how Mahiro didn’t give a shit btw.), Hakaze’s arrival finally seems to break Samon’s spirit, and he bows to her power.

I still think the Tree of Genesis is the one to truly be pulling the strings. It was able to send Hakaze a friggin’ missile in tact just because it knew she wasn’t going fast enough. It doesn’t help the malevolent air about it when it finally reveals itself. While it is somewhat difficult to make a plant look evil or otherworldly without giving it zoological features. Instead, simply the tone of the atmosphere surrounding it and the corroding bark covering the Tree of Genesis was what truly questions its own benevolence. It was a cool fight to see the Exodus go all Krillan on the Genesis like that, and the picture of the Genesis ripping apart the Exodus was chilling to say the least.

Above all, the biggest surprise comes near the end. With their job done, it does seem as if the Genesis simply ceases to protect the two. Swiftly and abruptly, the boys are taken out by a maelstrom of earth and nature as the trees commence an eons old battle. Thankfully, with main character status and two high class magicians, our heroes are quickly rescued. Their brutal takedown only brings up further questions against the motives of the Genesis for the boys to reconsider once they regain consciousness.