{"id":134681,"date":"2024-06-22T15:50:44","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T14:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrongeverytime.com\/?p=40186"},"modified":"2024-06-22T15:50:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T14:50:44","slug":"the-big-o-episode-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/22\/the-big-o-episode-20\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big O \u2013 Episode 20"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we\u2019re returning once more to the city of Paradigm, as Roger Smith attempts to divine what fragments of his past identity he can use to construct his future self. As external invaders continue to pierce the veil of Paradigm\u2019s manufactured reality, Roger himself is coming to doubt the role he has been assigned, knowing full well that his control of the megadeus is not an expression of agency, but a fulfillment of his \u201cfather\u201d Rosewater\u2019s wishes. So then, as Roger himself recently asked, \u201cwho is my real enemy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, that\u2019s a complicated question. The easy answer would be \u201cRosewater,\u201d as he\u2019s clearly the one currently pulling the strings behind Paradigm\u2019s current age of amnesia. But Rosewater himself appears to be channeling his energies towards fighting some external threat, the survivors of a world gone mad attempting to puncture the bubble of Paradigm\u2019s security. Mankind\u2019s hubris will always lead us towards forbidden knowledge, whether it\u2019s the technology that wrecked the world or the sins that were buried forty years ago. Like many men, Roger is a hammer in search of a nail; he play-acts an agent of truth and justice as a \u201cnegotiator,\u201d but the secrets he uncovers may prove themselves more dangerous than any of the foes he\u2019s dispatched. Let\u2019s see where his fraught path takes him as we return to The Big O!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Episode 20<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This one\u2019s directed by series regular Tetsuya Watanabe, who\u2019s also contributed heavily to a variety of Gundams and other Tomino projects, alongside a broad array of productions ranging from Love Live to Evangelion<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStripes\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, we find ourselves outside Paradigm\u2019s city limits, panning across the sands that time has made of the external world. In fact, the specter of time\u2019s passage is invoked even more directly as we pass a crumbled clocktower. Just as the limits of Paradigm\u2019s assumptions are ever-more persistently chafing at Roger\u2019s mind, so is the physical reality of the outside world imposing more and more on these later episodes<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A pair of tire tracks lead off to a vehicle in the distance, and a figure emerges<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, images of destruction and human knowledge lost – books burn in beautifully rendered flames as megadeus fly above, caught in silhouette to emphasize their similarity to aerial bombers, calling to mind the horrifying air raids of the second world war<\/span><\/p>\n

The recurrent images of Roger\u2019s manufactured childhood flash before his eyes, his would-be father, that offered tomato, as perfectly tended as Roger himself, the anonymity of his numbered identity. Even if he were to ignore his growing consciousness while awake, his dreams give him no relief<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Good use of saturated lighting as he wakes, emphasizing the blinding effect of sunlight after troubled dreams<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon Rosewater\u2019s \u201cMetropolis\u201d sits beside him. A fitting reference point for The Big O, with its visions of workers chained to unbreakable cycles, and androids that call to question what truly makes humanity unique<\/span><\/p>\n

And so, provoked by his insistent memories, Roger returns to the farm. He passes Rosewater and Alan Gabriel as they\u2019re leaving, Rosewater bearing bluebells in his lapel<\/span><\/p>\n

I love Big O\u2019s \u201cshrouded mysteries\u201d song – its tone falls somewhere between chiming church bells and a music box, naturally conjuring a tone of nostalgia and mythic import<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think it\u2019s boring to wait all this time for the harvest?\u201d \u201cNo I don\u2019t. Not if it\u2019s the most important thing to you.\u201d His exchange with Gordon works on multiple levels, gesturing towards both the \u201charvest\u201d of children like Roger, and also potentially the unveiling of the pre-amnesia truth<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you so obsessed with something intangible?\u201d To Gordon, who enthusiastically reprogrammed and reshaped the destinies of these children, seeing Roger put so much stock in a lost past must seem like the errant pursuit of a false god. Memories can be reshaped, pasts altered – what worth is there in seeking solidity in something so fluid?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe foundations of who we believe ourselves to be are being shaken by these memories that show up in fragments.\u201d Now <\/span>this<\/span><\/i> is likely a more compelling argument to Gordon: not that the true past is inherently more valuable, but that its fragmentary existence within Roger\u2019s mind is poisoning him, fracturing his current identity<\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon raises his own bluebell in response. His words are cryptic: he says both \u201cthe Big O chose you,\u201d and also \u201cdon\u2019t you remember the contract you made with me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel notes the bluebell when they meet at Roger\u2019s usual hangout. It\u2019s been fun seeing her more directly integrate into Roger\u2019s investigations, unable to resist the allure of actually discovering her own truth<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Her low-cut dress reveals two scars on her back, placed as if someone actually cut off her angel wings. Another way she\u2019s growing closer to Roger, allowing herself to reveal more of her own secrets<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel states that Alex Rosewater is also seeking this city\u2019s memories, and is uncertain of \u201cwhat they are composed of.\u201d She also idly states that Paradigm \u201cmay have the world\u2019s only memories buried beneath it,\u201d a potential explanation for why so many outside forces have been attempting to invade Paradigm<\/span><\/p>\n

Charged imagery as the two continue their chat in a diner. Roger and Angel\u2019s faces are presented as reflections on the windowpane, with the ruins of the outer city visible outside – a tidy visual metaphor for the process they\u2019re discussing, of reconstructing their identities through what they can observe in the mirror, all in the context of the inexplicable ruins surrounding them<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lovely shots of the city streets as Dorothy listens to a song in the distance, a humming that rises to an anthemic orchestral hymn. The Big O\u2019s relationship with religion has always been interesting; the actual specifics of Christian doctrine were largely lost in the collapse, but the resultant amnesia ultimately made people all the more amenable to a rekindled faith, a source of certainty in a world without grounding, even if they\u2019re only recreating fragments of their prior religion. An irony that echoes Gordon\u2019s words – we apparently do not need to fret the specifics of something as intangible as faith<\/span><\/p>\n

I feel like Dastun\u2019s forehead bulge gets bulgier every day. He should really get that checked out<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The diner that Roger and Angel visited exists at the far edge of civilization, with collapsed skyscrapers just across the road. The contrast makes me appreciate how good Los Angeles is as a venue for noir stories – a gaudy trinket on the edge of the wasteland, a metal monument to mankind\u2019s hubris, to the sanctuaries we can only tentatively sculpt out of the wilderness<\/span><\/p>\n

For once, Angel actually seems earnest in her desire to join with Roger. But she can see what even he can\u2019t – that he is too attached to Dorothy to truly love her. Lovely shot of her concealing her tears, her dismay only visible through the clear tightening of her lip<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The chanting choir calls Angel away. That was it, that was their potential moment of connection, but Roger\u2019s refusal instead draws her back to the past<\/span><\/p>\n

This new megadeus seems uniquely high-tech, actually floating across the city in pieces before fully assembling itself. Some excellent cuts here, as well as those always-welcome shots of the megadeus as seen from adjacent windows, further emphasizing its impressive scale and the fragility of this environment<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosewater clarifies that this new multi-headed robot is composed of parts from all three of the robots that \u201cthe Union sent me,\u201d the group he\u2019s entangled with from outside the domes<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A lovely articulation of Dorothy\u2019s simultaneous grace and weight, as she lightly presses a toe on a fragment of rubble that nonetheless crumbles at her touch<\/span><\/p>\n

The red balloon hangs from the church\u2019s frontispiece, the symbol of Angel\u2019s lost past beckoning her to the choir<\/span><\/p>\n

She indeed knows the choir\u2019s leader, who is from her own homeland, and addresses her as \u201cAgent 340\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel knows this woman as Vera, or \u201cAgent 12\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Vera further reveals that she represents the Union loyally, and that this current assault is a warning to Alex Rosewater<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHave you come to enjoy your life here? Yes, you have always had a desire to live your life here, haven\u2019t you?\u201d Vera\u2019s words speak to the presumed disparity of life outside the domes, which are alone in carrying on their mirage of twentieth century splendor<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Dorothy arrives in a haze, and is attacked by Alan Gabriel<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alan is apparently also Agent 271. So that explains basically everything about him – he\u2019s an agent of the Union assigned to Rosewater as an ambassador, the embodiment of their tentative alliance<\/span><\/p>\n

Angel\u2019s loyalty to Roger is proven in her defense of Dorothy, the rival that she knows is so precious to him<\/span><\/p>\n

But just as Roger is about to win the fight, the Big O freezes!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And Done<\/b><\/p>\n

Alright, now that was a goddamn informative episode! With Angel now willing to both reveal her secrets and fight for Roger in spite of them, we were afforded a great number of insights into her purpose here, alongside the Union\u2019s larger plans for Paradigm. And in the bitter spite of Vera\u2019s words, it seemed clear that there is no alternate paradise hidden beyond the wastes – Paradigm is all there is, the carefully cultivated garden of Alex Rosewater\u2019s father, now serving as an intellectual prison for both his son and all who reside on the streets beneath him. The more we learn about the world beyond Paradigm, the more alluring and cohesive this whole construction feels. Given the alternative, was Gordon wrong to construct this false paradise, even at the cost of human memory? But no matter the reasons, humanity will always chafe at restrictions, always seek the unknown, ending up cast from the garden for the very qualities that make us unique.<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we\u2019re returning once more to the city of Paradigm, as Roger Smith attempts to divine what fragments of his past identity he can use to construct his future self. As \u2026 Continue reading \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[61,122,127,129,124,128,125,132,131,133,126,130,123,66,94,88,97,56,64,65,60,112,40,75,95,104,33,120,105,101,98,115,30,29,41,86,70,69,68,72,71,26,118,108,87,46,55,48,52,54,51,50,83,62,58,57,109,35,59,63,85,79,82,96,80,27,81,114,44,42,43,45,38,39,110,117,100,111,116,73,89,90,92,91,93,84,78,37,102,34,36,77,67,74,99,113,119,28,121,32,47,49,53,103,31,76],"class_list":["post-134681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anime","tag-airpods","tag-anime","tag-anime-characters","tag-anime-cosplay","tag-anime-edits","tag-anime-merchandise","tag-anime-movies","tag-anime-news","tag-anime-recommendations","tag-anime-reviews","tag-anime-series","tag-anime-streaming","tag-animes","tag-app-store","tag-app-store-samsung","tag-appgallery","tag-appgallery-oneplus","tag-apple","tag-apple-music","tag-apple-tv","tag-apple-watch","tag-bbc-sport","tag-best-mobile-games","tag-bixby","tag-bixby-xiaomi","tag-champions-league","tag-cyberpunk","tag-cyberpunk-2077","tag-fantasy-football","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-formula-1","tag-fortnite","tag-free-fire","tag-free-mobile-games","tag-freebuds-pro","tag-galaxy-a52","tag-galaxy-note-20","tag-galaxy-s21","tag-galaxy-watch-4","tag-galaxy-z-fold-3","tag-game","tag-games","tag-golf","tag-harmonyos","tag-how-to-backup-iphone","tag-how-to-factory-reset-iphone","tag-how-to-reset-iphone","tag-how-to-restore-iphone","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone-5","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone-6","tag-huawei","tag-ios","tag-ipad","tag-iphone","tag-live-soccer","tag-lol","tag-macbook","tag-macos","tag-mate-40-pro","tag-mi-11-lite","tag-mi-home-security-camera-basic-1080p","tag-mi-home-security-camera-basic-1080p-huawei","tag-mi-smart-band-6","tag-minecraft","tag-miui","tag-mlb-scores","tag-mobile-game-design","tag-mobile-game-development","tag-mobile-game-marketing","tag-mobile-game-monetization","tag-mobile-games","tag-mobile-gaming","tag-nba-scores","tag-nba-standings","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-scores","tag-nhl-scores","tag-one-ui","tag-oneplus","tag-oneplus-9-pro","tag-oneplus-buds-pro","tag-oneplus-nord-ce-5g","tag-oxygenos","tag-p40-pro-plus","tag-poco-x3-pro","tag-pokemon","tag-premier-league","tag-pubg","tag-pubg-mobile","tag-redmi-note-10-pro","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-pay","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-steam","tag-steeam","tag-top-10-anime","tag-valorant","tag-when-do-the-iphone-7-come-out","tag-when-does-the-iphone-7-come-out","tag-when-is-the-iphone-7-coming-out","tag-world-cup","tag-xbox-series-x","tag-xiaomi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134681"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134906,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134681\/revisions\/134906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}