Synopsis[]
Need we warns ye that there be:
This article contains spoilers.
If you are sensitive to spoilers, proceed with caution. |
Arg!
Prologue[]
The episode opens with a replay of Rika removing the box from the locker from the previous episode. When Satoko points her gun at Rika, the camera pans past a stunned Mion who gasps, "wait!"[1] Keiichi who insists that this is not funny, to focus briefly on Rika getting uncensored shot in her head. The pan continues to pass the horrified Rena as Satoko laments that this would be her undoing. It passes Satoko placing the gun under her chin and pulling the trigger. The three left stand in horror as blood pools under the heads of Rika and Satoko. Rena holds her head with her hands and screams, "No!"
The scene fades to black, In the darkness, Satoko's right hand rises up and snaps its fingers.
First Half[]
Rika awakes with a start. She is outside and dressed in her school bathing suit. In front of her, in the river, Keiichi, Rena, and Mion frolic. She sits, breathing rapidly, on a large blanket behind the various boxes of picnic. She grabs her head. The scene shifts up to show the rays of the Sun streaming between the branches of the trees, then focuses on the boxes filled with various foods, as Rika is heard sobbing.
Satoko's face appears as she ducks down to greet Rika. Rika reacts with fear, but Satoko genially asks her if she had another nightmare as she reaches out to touch her. Rika slaps her hand away. Satoko asks her what is wrong; in her Adult Voice, Rika quickly denies that they were "nightmares."
She insists that they were real, and Satoko sighs and looks slightly away. After a pause, when Rika continues that Satoko "was," there is the sound of a knife striking flesh. The scene shifts to the food ready to be eaten. The camera pans up to reveal that Satoko has plunged a fork into Rika's throat. Rika cannot speak, and she falls backwards. "I was what?" Satoko asks as she pulls the fork out of Rika's throat. In an Adult Voice, Satoko insists that it was not her fault as she repeatedly stabs Rika, and the camera pans up to the trees.
The scene fades to black then resolves to all of the food splashed with blood. Satoko is heard panting. The scene shifts to her, covered in Rika's blood, standing. Behind her, in the river, the rest of the Gang do not seem to notice what happened. In her Adult Voice, Satoko insists that it was Rika's fault, then she drives the fork completely through the side of her neck.[2] She falls dead; the rest of the Gang continue frolicking behind her. After a fade to black, her left arm appears and snaps its fingers.
A pan has oil in it. The scene pulls back to show Satoko, standing on her step, tending to it whilst to her left, standing on her own step, Rika cuts meat. After a few cuts Rika looks up, utters a note of surprise, only to have said pan impact her face.
Rika lies holding her face on the kitchen floor as she repeatedly demands, "Why?!" Satoko sits against the cabinet to her left still holding the frying pan and staring at Rika malevolently. Satoko stands, and in her Adult Voice, sarcastically asks if Rika wants to know why. She strikes Rika again and explains that it is all because Rika dreamed of going to St. Lucia. She strikes her again as she insists that it is all Rika's fault for her dream. After a cut to black, her right hand appears to snap.
Rika walks on a road. She stops for a moment and expresses surprise. Satoko's voice calls to her, then the scene pulls back to reveal that Satoko is to her right, and Satoko promptly hits Rika in her chest with her heavy leather school bag with sufficient force to sent Rika into a rice paddy. Satoko tosses her bag after her, then rants that Rika hates Hinamizawa because it is a "hick town." She sarcastically notes that Rika wants to experience "high society" as she wades into the rice paddy and kicks Rika. She sits on Rika's chest and starts to punch her in her face as she demands to know why Rika hates Hinamizawa. "Keiichi-san is here!" she insists with a punch, then reminds her, with punches to her face, that Rena, Mion, and Shion are here as well. She adds that she is here. She insists that Rika did not want for anything and was happy. She rhetorically asks Rika if she is correct as she continues to pummel her, the scene fades to black, and her right hand snaps her fingers.
Her conversation with Rika continues as she sits on Rika's chest as she lays on her futon in their home. She punches as she mocks that Rika instead chose to "work hard" to chase her dream. As she flattens Rika's face, she demands to know what is so good about St. Lucia. Rika tries to respond with "Satoko," but Satoko insists that her classmates know she is "from the boonies," and the place is both stupid and boring. She grabs Rika by her throat and pulls her up. She demands to know why Rika likes the place. . . .
. . . and the scene continues with both dressed in their older Hinamizawa Branch School uniforms and Rika painfully slamming against the display of study guides in the Okinomiya bookstore. Satoko follows up her question by striking Rika in the head with a study guide repeatedly as she reminds her that she said that she hated studying but worked hard to make her dream come true. Rika tries to cover her face as Satoko continues that Rika wanted her to go with her. With her voice cracking, but still slapping Rika with the book, Satoko continues that Rika said that she would stick by her and never leave her alone.
The book falls to the floor, creating a spatter of blood and an avatar for an episode. Rika pants as she holds her face. The music remains ominous. Satoko stares at her. Satoko dramatically pulls back her fist as she declares that Rika is a liar. She punches. . . .
. . . and her fist hits Rika's ceremonial hoe. On the stage, Rika retorts in her Adult Voice, "I'm the liar?" A Random Guy in a Hat in the audience looks up and asks the obvious question as to what is happening. Another calls out to "Hōjō-san" to declare this blasphemy. In the audience, Rena cowers and asks what is happening. Keiichi helpfully asks if this is not part of the dance; Shion confirms that it is not.
In her Adult Voice, Rika demands to know what makes her a liar as she attacks Satoko with her hoe. She continues that nothing Satoko has said makes any sense. Satoko evades the hoe and picks up the large ceremonial drum and hurls it at Rika. Rika evades this, and the drum takes out the flute player. Another swing of the hoe knocks down one of the torches which sets fire to the wooden stage. The quickly spreads over the various helpful comments from the audience that suggest there is a fire and perhaps someone should endeavor to extinguish it.
Shion calls to her sister, and the two rush the stage with Rena and Keiichi following. On the stage, Satoko rises as Rika approaches demanding to know what is so wrong about her desire to experience something new. She picks up Satoko by her collar and suggests that she does not want to go since she hates studying. As she draws back her right fist, the Gang arrive and Keiichi calls to her. Ignoring him, Rika continues her scold that if Satoko worked a little harder, it would not be a problem. . . .
. . . her fist sends Satoko to the floor of the main entrance of St. Lucia. Various Surrounding Chans gasp. Satoko rises, wiping her mouth, as she calmly reminds Rika that she tried to ride a unicycle and walk on stilts, but Rika could never do it. Rika sheepishly turns her head away as she acknowledges this and demands what Satoko means by it, only to receive a front kick from her. Satoko raises her foot as she replies that it is the same. Rika, on the floor, cowers as Satoko starts to stomp on her. Satoko punctuates each by insisting that no matter how hard she will study, she will never do well. She insists that she hates studying. . . .
. . . and the scene becomes her stomping on Rika in the Hinamizawa classroom as she continues to rant "I hate it!"[3] Covering her head, Rika promises in her Adult Voice that she will make Satoko stay up later to study harder. She grabs Satoko's foot to stop her as she insists that going to St. Lucia with her, then throws her to the floor, then raises a chair as she completes her sentence: "has always been my dream!" With the strike, blood sprays on the side of a desk. She raises the chair again and pauses. With her head bowed, and blood dripping from it on the ground, Satoko responds that she knows. She stands and continues that that was why she went along with it, and then she rushes Rika. She pushes her up to the open window, and the chair falls outside. Satoko continues that Rika abandoned her. She gradually pushes Rika and herself out the window. . . .
. . . and the two land and roll on muddy ground in the rain. They roll down the hill in the forest. When they hit the bottom, they both lay catching their breath. In her Adult Voice, Rika insists that she must have reached out to Satoko many times while she was there. Grabbing a branch, Satoko slowly rises and concedes that Rika did, "at first." She raises it over her head then brings down the sharp end, but Rika catches it. Satoko continues that Rika then became far more interested in the "other girls." Rika guesses that it was because Satoko did not like them and turned down their invitations. Satoko retorts that she did that to give Rika the space to spend time with other people. With a dramatic kick, Rika sends Satoko flying as she demands if she ever asked Satoko to do that and for her to stop blaming others. . . .
. . . and Satoko lands hard on a table in the salon of St. Lucia, breaking it. In her Adult Voice, Rika concludes that since she did not help Satoko to study, Satoko failed out of the "good" class, and accusingly asks if this is all of her fault. Satoko rises, grabbing a table cloth, and responds that it clearly is. She tosses it towards Rika, then punches it to drive it and her fist into Rika's face. "Because I never fit in there!" Satoko continues. . . .
. . . "I only went there to make your dream come true!" At night and under a full Moon, Satoko stands on the roof of the Hinamizawa school holding Satoshi's bat. Some distance away, Rika has landed. Rika rises, holding Rena's axe, and insists in her Adult Voice that Satoko should know how to study on her own by the time she is in high school. Satoko asks how many times she has to tell Rika: "I hate studying!"
The moonlight glitters off of both weapons, and the scene dramatically transforms into a split screen to focus on both their faces. Rika rhetorically asks who cares. "I!" Satoko shouts, and both rush at one another. Their weapons clash as they pass. They rush again, and both complete Satoko's sentence: ". . . to be with you!" Their strikes both draw blood, and both fall. They climb up to the top of the roof, and Satoko prepares her swing as she finishes her thought "here, in Hinamizawa," whilst Rika raises Rena's axe and concludes, "at St. Lucia!"
They approach in a watercolor scene as both claim, "That was all I ever wanted.
Second Half[]
In her large floating area, Eua sits on an elegant European bed whilst Hanyū remains secured to her cross. Eua laughs heartily as she views Satoko and Rika fighting on the roof in a fragment. She declares that this is the best form of entertainment to dispel her boredom. For her part, Hanyū can only look with sadness and a hint of malevolence. Her irides gradually turn red. Without turning to look at her, Eua advises Hanyū to stop. The bands that hold her glow brighter as Hanyū struggles. She lets out a determined yell as it appears the bonds attract and absorb sparks and fragments. Eua watches languidly as there is a sound of glass grinding. She nonchalantly drives her staff into Hanyū's throat, which causes Hanyū to spit up blood. Resigned, she ceases struggling, and her restraints lessen their glow.
Eua sits on the edge of the bed with her hands folded and facing Hanyū. Her staff floats before her with its head pointed at Hanyū. She sarcastically asks her what she planned to do after releasing herself. She stands, retrieves her staff, and then asks how a worthless failure could defeat that from whence she came. She gently touches Hanyū's cheek with her right hand as she adds that she may possess much that Hanyū does not, but Hanyū possesses nothing that she lacks.
She gloats that Hanyū's defeat is certain, but Hanyū insists that their remains one method of achieving victory in the face of certain defeat. "Hō," Eua emits with interest, and ask her what that is. "A miracle!" Hanyū responds. She insists that so long as "certain" may be defeated by a miracle, "certain" cannot remain "certain" forever. Eua asks her to show her her miracle, and she promises that if she can, she will do as Hanyū wishes. She turns away from Hanyū towards the viewer. A floating fragment contains Rika wielding Rena's axe as she runs towards the viewer. Hanyū calls out her name. She then begs to have a miracle granted.
The scene shifts back to the roof of the school which has numerous bloody hand and footprints. Satoko, in her Adolescent Voice, is heard demanding Rika to cease being stubborn then rhetorically asking if she knows how much trouble her stubbornness has caused her. As a fresh stream of blood flows down the roof, Adult-Voiced Rika demands to know why Satoko is taking such a tone with her and sarcastically asks her what happened to her high-handed mannerisms. The scene resolves to show Satoko resting crouched and leaning on her bat. She slowly rises as she demands that Rika dispense with being a hypocrite: "What happened to that sweet façade of yours?" Some distance away, a similarly resting Rika rises and mockingly apologizes that this is her true self. With a view of the full Moon, Rika notes that Satoko is a "looper" as well and should understand. Satoko acknowledges that she does. Rika complains that she cannot believe Satoko has the same power as she readies her axe. Satoko admits that it is wonderful as she readies her bat.[4]
She rushes at Rika as she declares that she loves the power. Their weapons clash as Rika declares that Satoko is just as stubborn as she is. Satoko agrees, headbutts Rika off the roof, then follows up with a blow that crushes Rika's head and somehow pins her to the side of the building.
Satoko releases her, and Rika falls onto a lower roof. She looks up and mutters that if Satoko is someone who lives in loops, as the scene shifts to her own view of Satoko and grows blurry then dark, then she knows what can kill her. . . .
. . . Satoko's head raises in surprise. She and Rika stand before the statue of Oyashiro-sama in the Saiguden. Rika has taken a vicious swipe at her neck with the fragment of the Onigari no Ryūō. Shocked, Satoko steps back, reaches for the right side of her own neck as she asks what Rika did. There is a burst of arterial blood. Satoko applies pressure as she begins to ask what it is. For her part, Rika calmly regards her right hand which holds a blue and glowing light that resolves into the fragment of the sword as she explains to Satoko that it holds the power to kill one living in loops. Satoko angrily laments that she should have been more careful.
As Rika becomes bathed in the bluish light – with hints of green – she starts to transform into a miko as her eyes blaze. She declares that the fragment was Hanyū's last gift, "One I never even wanted!" Satoko starts to run away holding her neck. Rika levitates and starts to pursue her. . . .
. . . only for Satoko's hand to draw out the rest of the sword from the dump, smack the flying Rika, and send her unceremoniously skipping across the piles of garbage, then into a refrigerator that continues skipping from her momentum. Each "skip" produces as small explosion akin to a shell landing. Satoko, without a wound on her neck, smirks and giggles slightly with satisfaction. Rika emerges with surprise, Satoko genially informs her that she does not need that little piece as she reveals the rest of Onigari no Ryūō which begins to blaze with green light. As Rika remarks that that explains where it went, Satoko chides her and starts her own transformation in to a miko form. Her eyes blazing again, Rika stands and vows that from this moment forward. Before she finishes the her sentence, she hold up her fragment which sends multicolored light that form spectacular waves of sound and power When They Cry Wiki will deem difficult to describe. The rainbow waves move the waters of the river under the bridge. With Rika bathed in blue light, and Satoko in green, Satoko finishes Rika's sentence: ". . . our real battle begins!"
The scene pulls away to reveal alternating waves of blue and green emanating from them as they scream and explosions begin.
The two fly through the multi-colored air as they engage. Satoko "compliments" Rika and claims that it reminds her of the time when she dropped basins on her. Rika retorts that if not for that trap, she would have won. Satoko's strike sends Rika downward with sufficient force to blow a large hole in the bridge below them. Satoko sarcastically laments that there are no traps today. She flies down to Rika to deliver an over-the-head downward blow, but Rika holds up her fragment as she repeats Club Rule 2. The fragment and sword class with streams of greenish, bluish, yellowish, and other light, sound, and sparkles. Satoko demands that Rika cease trying to beat her; Rika retorts that no matter how deep she sank into despair, she know fate can be changed. Her clothes appear to absorb yellowish light.[5]
An explosion sends Satoko sprawling. Both rise from the ground of the dump without the surrounding light and impressive special effects. Stuck into the ground, glowing green, is the sword. Rika marvels that it is whole. Both rush to take it, the scene becomes bathed in bright white light as it focuses on their hands reaching for its hilt, and Rika's takes it first. . . .
. . . as the two pass on the observation point at the Furude Shrine which overlooks Hinamizawa on a bright day. Satoko spin kicks the sword out of Rika's hand, which flies towards the viewer. . . .
. . . and sticks upright in the grounds before the Irie Clinic. They rush to reach it, with Satoko taking the lead, only for Rika to tackle her. . . .
. . . to find the sword inside one of the Sonozaki jail cells. Both girls struggle to reach through the bars and open the door. . . .
. . . a hand slips open a latch and both spill Keiichi's room. They turn to see it resting against a wall that contains his dinosaur poster, map of Japan, hand-drawn map to a place in Hinamizawa, and a Periodic Table of Elements. They rush for it. . . .
. . . and it slides down the stairs that lead to the Furude Shrine. The two tumble screaming after it. The scene pulls back into a time fragment. Eua giggles. The fragment floats in front of her as she sits up in her majestic bed and Hanyū can only rage on her cross. Eua taunts Hanyū. She notes that the two play with a concept no one with a looping life should: everlasting death. Yet, she continues, they wish to exact it upon the other despite the fact that neither truly wishes to kill the other or be killed. As a fragment shows the two fighting over the sword, Eua continues her lecture that they both want the other in their desired world. She compliments the entertainment value of such foolishness. As she laughs, Hanyū can only rage silently.
Next to the fragment another floats that shows the suspension bridge. In that fragment, it is raining, and Satoko grunts as she pleads for Rika to just give up. Rika grunts back that she will not. The two have their hands on the hilt of the sword. Conceding her stubbornness, Satoko asks if perhaps they should both die. Rika tells her not to be ridiculous, but then suggests that, if that is what Satoko wants, then they should kill everyone else as well. They should destroy the universe and start all over. This causes Satoko to relax in surprise. Her eyes no longer blaze. She then smiles tenderly, but they renew their struggle for the sword.
Rika wrestles it from her as Satoko falls onto the surface of the bridge. Rika raises it above her as she screams her name. Satoko look up at her. Rika's eyes continue to blaze. Resigned, Satoko in her Adolescent Voice tells Rika to end her and erase her from her world. She adds that Rika will make fancier friends at St. Lucia Academy. Rika stares at her. The scene pulls back to give a view of the bridge. Rika appears to stand in a pillar of blue flame. In her Adult Voice she muses that that does not sound bad. The scene reveals itself in the fragment in Eua's hands. She asks if she is going to kill Satoko. She stands up in her bed, holding up the fragment, as she muses that Rika cannot: "Whatever will she do?" She sits back down as she laughs that perhaps Rika will kill herself.
The scene pans to the quite angry Hanyū. She starts to glow yellow, her binds glow white, and she struggles with a shout, causing them to shatter. She flies at Eua who calmly and sarcastically asks without looking toward her, if her miracle is ready yet. The scene shifts to Hanyū's viewpoint. Eua is no longer on the bed, and her staff stands upright. As Hanyū flies, the head of the staff points towards her. Hanyū stops in midair with a startle with the tip of the staff's head right at the bridge of her nose. Behind her, Eua stands with her back to her. She advises that if it is ready, then she should use it quickly. If not, she should disappear as the music becomes ominous.
"Without a trace," Eua adds as the scene shifts to the end titles.
Post-End Titles[]
Adult-Voiced Rika announces the next episode.
Characters[]
In order of appearance
- Furude Rika
- Hōjō Satoko
- Maebara Keiichi
- Sonozaki Mion
- Ryūgū Rena
- Corkscrew Twin Tails-chan
- Long Braids-chan
- Unkempt Brunette-chan
- Eua
- Furude Hanyū
Referbacks and Forwards[]
- Get a Head: As suspected, at the end of the Cat Deceiving Chapter Part Four Satoko shot Rika.
- "Behold! The Sword of Power!
Excalibur! Onigari no Ryūō!": Hanyū revealed its existence, and Rika found only the fragment, in God-Entertaining Chapter Part One. - Satoko's Basin Trap: occurred in Deceived by Demons Part One.
Trivia[]
- Periodic Table of Elements: because When They Cry Wiki cares.
Cultural References[]
Memorable Moments[]
- Adult Voice Satoko: first time she has spoken with such a voice. The years have been unkind. . . .
- From The Continuity Department: the fragments that Rika and Satoko battle across are not chronological. Since Satoko does not appear to have control over when they return, this implies that she actually repeated the process to enter St. Lucia Academy with Rika a number of times. It would also imply that Rika did not fully remember what happened and only does at certain points in time.
- "A Bitch'll Cut a Bitch!": When Rika cuts at Satoko, she appears to intend to effectively kill her permanently. Arg! Spoilers There be! Arg! When Satoko swings at Rika, does she intend to kill her permanently?
Quotes[]
- "To think this would be my undoing. . . ." – Hōjō Satoko
- "A nightmare?! Those weren't nightmares!" – Furude Rika to Satoko
- "You want to know 'why', Rika?" – Satoko
- "What's so good about St. Lucia?!" – Satoko
- "What's so wrong about wanting to experience something new?!" – Rika
- "How could a worthless failure defeat that from when she came?" – Eua to Furude Hanyū
- "Do you know how much trouble your stubbornness has caused me?!" – Satoko
- "What's with this tone you're taking with me?" – Rika
- "How stubborn you are, Rika. In that case, why don't we both die?" – Satoko
- "Do it. Erase me from your world." – Satoko