The Ronin

[manche]

This episode does not belong to my favourite episodes, but despite this is quite a good episode.

For me the most boring parts of this episode are conversations between Sinbad and Tetsu. I quite like the character of Tetsu and some thoughts which were mentioned there were interesting but i would prefer to reduce them a little and give more time for the second line with the crew.

This storyline was very nice, i like how all of them were described in this storyline. How Maeve is able to use her charm and beauty when it is necessary for achieving her aims, how Doubar was afraid of her (as i mentioned several times, i like this bond between them) and he was there for her when she was in a trouble, Rongar's thinking and finding of the solution of this situation (it was quite funny how he tried to explain to Firouz his idea and nobody understood him at first), he really has a piece of a inventor inside his soul, as Firouz mentioned in an episode. The final defeat of Kattah was their worthiness for this time, not Sinbad. They really worked there as a greatly coordinated team. The scene by the fire was great, especially how they were leaving one after another. And the attempt of Firouz about the conversation with Dermott was priceless.

I like the character of Khalel as well, he had some typical aspects of politicians, but he was a good man and i really like his final speech towards Kattah and how Sinbad congratuled him on his ability to talk about nonsense so beautifully.

The plot or the main villian were not so interesting for me but on the other hand there were a few nice moments and a good interaction among the members of the crew which i really like. Some funny scenes were there as well.

[Doubar]

And again, I can only agree with you. The ep itself was good, but it's not among my favourites. And that's exactly for the reasons you mentioned.

While Tetsu certainly was an interesting character, his scenes with Sinbad were a bit too slow-paced and their conversations not that intriguing. Of course though, they did help a lot in showing that Tetsu was an honourable man and in that regard I don't really know how else one could have handled the situation. Still, I as well enjoyed the crews' scenes more.

I love how the bond between them was shown and that moment when Maeve goes to find out about Katar's secret and one after the other follows her until Firouz is all alone - that was awesome.
Plus, yeah, inventor Rongar - that was great!

Also Khalel was indeed a funny char. Not your average goodie because a bit of a coward and trickster but in the end he just wanted the best for his people and that's what counts.

[manche]

Definitely, i agree that Tetsu is an interesting character with a mysterious background. It could be interesting to know more about his past. And these scenes really helped to feel sympathy for his character.

Yes, the bond among the rest of the crew was simply brilliant. How Doubar cared about Maeve, really as about a small sister. And Rongar and his soul of the inventor. Maybe a small influence from the side of his best friend (but i am not sure if we call them similarly so early, one of first episodes where their frienship already started). But in later episodes i have not doubts about the usage of this nickname. As you know, this bond among the whole crew is one of the reasons why i like the first season so much.

And I think, when we take into the account which situation Khalel faced that we can easily understand his certain cowardice. And that he was a little manipulative, he was a politician in the end, quite typical feature of their characters. But i would dare to call him a good man.

[tzigone]

I'm curious as to if anyone here remembers their impressions of the episode after the first viewing? Particularly if you watched it when it was initially broadcast (or initially broadcast in your country). Does anyone remember the promo? Did it hype the bracelet? Because, while the episode is alright, I can see it being a major letdown if you were expecting something arc-based (as much as was common the time-period) or significant or dramatic. This is just routine villain-of-the-week with no real standout moments to me. Alas, I cannot remember what I thought of it when it originally aired.


Doubar had a better sense of Sinbad's old friend than he did. I also like how he gave Sinbad a weapon and threatened Kalel. But about that fortune: what happened to the one the Caliph promised? And they're broke again later after this fortune (or at least, don't have money with them). I'm starting to think Sinbad might not be great at money management.

I also liked Dermott provoking the others to go back up while she made her play.

"I lied" - nice delivery.

Tetsu really irritated me with his "Don't worry about me/my dreams" bit - he's killing innocent people (who are only trying to defend their homes) and will kill this one and yet he thinks his victims' thoughts will be all about him and how he deals with guilt - talk about self-centered.


Maeve is really, really, bad actress here. Admittedly, she's just trying to get the guy's attention (figuring on being invited in based on looks; and he said later he knew she was a warrior) and doesn't need him to believe her, but she should stick to magic and stay off the stage.

Nice that Rongar came up with a plan, but did he have to carry that toy around for the entire ep to do it?