take me down to torture city | trigun: stargaze episode 7 reaction & commentary

This episode had me overfed. Domestic Midvalley, Vash torture, AND RAZLO.

Edit to add: I love that almost directly after Knives is telling Vash that humanity is hopeless, we cut to Leonoff and Midvalley, who are doing better after just 5 months of separation from him. The show itself is telling the viewer that Knives is dead wrong.

I’m wondering Jesica’s relationship to Brad in this adaptation. Obviously going to be different because he’s older. I’m actually and hear me out, think in this adaptation is grandchild of Brad’s. Wild conspiracy theory I know; but she’s got Brad’s eyes.

The scene in episode 2? I think. Where the woman was doing calculations on the ground with chalk there was four people in that room. The woman doing the calculations, Brad, Luida and Jessica. Now look at the woman doing the calculations, looks like Luida but got Brad’s eyes old enough to be their kid and have a kid Jessica’s age. Jesica got the same eyes, her father could have been black and still that dark skinned being mixed race. It would make sense that she was there if Brad is watching her while her mother does the calculations. Also would make sense why he takes her on a trip out with him into the desert or why he’s helping her cook an omelette. Even making a new coat for Vash. Or why Brad would frantically put her into an escape pod and tell her to find Vash, get her out to safety knowing he’d look out for her should the worst happen.

I could be totally wrong but that’s my theory.

I'm tired of benefitting my doubts, boss

I know that '98 is pretty much its own thing, but I do like thinking that Vash still got up to similar parallels during the off-screen in Stampede/Stargaze. The people he met, the lives he changed, the good he saw and the bad… Though most of the bad we saw Vash experience in '98 came from Legato and the Gung-ho Guns and not until after Episode 12

Seeing how happy Midvalley was teaching the kids something he loved, after he was going through so much doubt and fear as one of Knives' underlings… I couldn't stop going AWWW
So much off his shoulders, being able to put aside that troubled past

!00% with you on the Legato moment – such "YES!" from him finally getting it… And then a 180 when Wolfwood backs down. I'd have at least liked a at minimum Wolfwood informing Vash that "This is gonna come back to bite us you know that right?" because yes, Legato is definitely too dangerous to let live.
(I had to edit this post so many times because I don't know if you want any of the latter half of '98 spoiled even in text)

We gotta get a full episode set when Vash and Knives discover Tesla and what happens. We gotta!