Halfway through this season ofTrigun, and the plot sure isn't messing around. We're accelerating towards Knives' endgame already. Oh yeah, Knives is awake now and he's ready to bring on the apocalypse. Readers ofTrigunMaximum know where this goes next, and it should blow the relatively subdued climax ofTrigun's 1998 anime out of the water.

That version never really got to explore Knives' plans for humanity, and the plants, choosing (wisely, considering the limited material it had to adapt) to focus mainly on the ideological conflict between the pacifist Vash and the nihilist Knives. That fit that adaptation's identity as primarily a Western that just happened to have sci-fi aspects, whereas from the outset,Trigun Stampede andStargaze have focused on spectacular sci-fi extravaganza and really pushed the Western aspect to the side. Even the gun battles owe more to hyper-stylized modern action flicks than anything starring Clint Eastwood orJohn Wayne.

This episode focuses on two main face-offs: between a still-recovering Nicholas D. Wolfwood and the hulking monstrosity Gray the Ninelives; and Vash the Stampede versus Legato Bluesummers the Edgy K-Pop Idol. Look, I can't take Legato's modern floppy-haired and pretty boy looks at all seriously, ok? He's still menacing and powerful, but he's not as intense or terrifying as his manga original. Regardless, he's still a poor match for Vash, what with his broken telekinesis paralyzing Vash and almost forcing his Angel Arm to activate again. At least, that's what I think was happening? Either that of Vash started togrow a freaky new black wing. Maybe even both. It's only with Elendira the Crimsonnail pumping them both full of enormous nails in irritation due to Legato's loss of composure that the battle ends without tragedy. Moody teenybopper vibes aside, Legato's essentially the same character as he's always been, willing to push things too far, especially when it comes to Vash.

I also can't help wondering if Wolfwood would be more successful in suppressing Gray without swirling his big crucifix-shaped Punisher gun all over the place to achieve the perfect pose before shooting the thing Every. Single. Time. Yes, it looks very cool, but efficient technique it is not. Obviously, when it looks like Wolfwood has succeeded in knocking Gray out, he really hasn't. There's no way that big lug's going down so easily.

So with Vash captured by Knives' minions, of course Wolfwood has to follow. Even if he refuses to admit even to Milly or Meryl his true motives, they know that he wouldn't have tirelessly searched for Vash if they weren't good friends. Not that Wolfwood could ever bring himself to say anything remotely positive about his “Needlenoggin” buddy, but he's always been tsundere like that. I kind of love that Milly's ridiculous earlier throwaway comment “oh, and we found a motorbike” leads to the insane scene of Wolfwood screaming across a flying saucer's curved metal surface in a sci-fi Harley Davidson in pursuit of his incapacitated BFF. Even if Legato and Elendira seem confused by his presence on the Ark after completing his “contract”, we know why he's there. To keep Vash from getting into even more ridiculous trouble. Though with Knives awake and crashing the entire world's satellite communication network, not even Wolfwood will be able to contain the insanity that's likely to follow.

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Trigun Stargaze is currently streaming onCrunchyroll.