Slayers Revolution 5

Episode 5 of Slayers Revolution, “Eternal: The Eternally Slumbering Forest”, starts off in a forest with Lina and friends still chasing Pocota. Eventually they lose sight of him, but Xellos surprisingly shows up with Pocota in his hands. Pocota is no dummy and is wary of Xellos, perhaps sensing what he truly is and the power he possesses. On the other hand, Lina and friends are pretty used to Xellos by now, not even muttering a word of frustration when Xellos replies that it’s a secret when asked what he was doing there.

Fog rolls in through the forest, and they soon discover a town nearby, which Pocota was hoping they wouldn’t. We learn that it’s the country of Taforashia, the birthplace of Pocota. Some time ago there was an outbreak of Durano’s disease, a fatal disease that spread throughout the population. In desperation, they put themselves into hibernation until a cure was found. It’s the Slayers version of cryonics, except they know they can be awoken. After being shown the frozen inhabitants and exiting the town, Xellos runs off when asked what he’s doing there (figuratively; he just teleported away).

Zelgadis finds the story odd, since a cure for Durano’s disease has been found recently, and wonders why the inhabitants are still hibernating. Pocota reveals the next problem: only the caster who put the populace into hibernation can awaken them, but Pocota has not been able to find the caster. To the surprise of everyone, except for Gourry who can’t remember him (he couldn’t remember who Xellos was, either), Pocota says that the caster’s name was Rezo. And if you’re a Slayers fan, you’d know he’s the Red Priest who summoned Shabranigdo into himself, only to be defeated by Lina with the Giga Slave. If you’re a newcomer to the Slayers franchise, the characters kindly gives a brief summary on who Rezo was.

When asked what he would do in the “hypothetical” case that Rezo was dead, Pocota dismisses the possibility, saying that the populace would be awoken automatically in case of the caster’s death as a safety measure. Lina and Zelgadis are scratching their heads, since they know that Rezo is dead. And I’m scratching my head, too. Could it be another clone Rezo who cast the hibernation spell? That doesn’t sound right, since that would have been before the real Rezo’s death. What’s sustaining the hibernation spell? Anyways, something explodes in the town soon after, which they go to investigate.

After the break, they run up to a building to find the magical locks blown apart. The building is the king’s residence, and Pocota demands to know who invaded. The invaders turn out to be Deucriss, who was apparently a previous servant of Pocota’s, and his associates Duchess Joconda and Ozelle. By the way, Lina and friends are surprised when it’s revealed that Pocota is the prince of Taforashia. And like Pocota, Deucriss seems to have been transformed somehow into his current form. Deucriss admits that he had stolen the magic tanks and sold them to Duchess Joconda.

Pocota gets angry and casts a magic blast too powerful to be used indoors. It hits directly on Deucriss and blows everyone else outside. Despite the power of the magic blast, Deucriss manages to stay completely intact, which was possible only because of the Zanafar armor he was wearing, even though it’s not yet complete. All of Pocota’s magic attacks are completely ineffective, so he resorts to using the replica Sword of Light. He’s not a very good swordsman, though, so he fails to land a hit on Deucriss and falls down. But the sword does seem to be effective against the armor, since cracks appear where the sword had apparently glanced off of.

It turns into a standoff between the two sides, with Lina thinking of a spell to break through the Zanafar armor (probably the Ragna Blade), but when Pocota starts an attack on Deucriss with the replica Sword of Light, something invisible grabs Pocota’s ears or arms (they looks like ears, but he definitely uses them like arms) and pulls him up in the air. It turns out that Xellos didn’t teleport away; he just made himself invisible. And Lina is shocked when he admits that he’s working with Deucriss and his associates. But even though Joconda orders Xellos to eliminate Pocota, Lina, and everyone else, Xellos refuses and suggests a retreat. And when she repeats her command, he sternly reminds her that he’s only working with her, not for her. Deucriss and his associates retreat.

Soon after at Duchess Joconda’s residence, Xellos gives Deucriss a sheet of paper, which is a page from the Claire Bible explaining how to complete the Zanafar armor. But as soon as Deucriss gets a good look at it, Xellos burns it up, saying that such things shouldn’t be left lying around. I wonder what Xellos’ agenda is this time? Probably some great mayhem by aiding sinister elements within Luvinagard and having Lina give the smackdown on them, but is this the main purpose or just a side benefit? The episode ends with Joconda ordering Ozelle to send an assassin to deal with Pocota, Lina, and the rest.

While there was humor in the earlier parts, this episode is a rather serious one which lays the groundwork for the main conflict in Slayers Revolution. Of course, the conflict with Deucriss and his associates may only be a prelude for some later conflict, and it probably will. Xellos probably has something greater in mind, though I have as of yet no clue at all of what it might be. At least I think I’ve got an inkling on what inspector Weiser is aiming for.