Episode 21 - Decisive Battle
Chrono's battle fleet is heading for Mid-Childa at top speed. He and Admiral Lindy confer with Yuuno, who has been digging up research on the Saint's Cradle. If it reaches orbit, it will be effectively invincible: able to draw magical power from the moons, it could bombard the surface, launch interdimensional attacks, even take on the full might of the Dimensional Navy. Their only chance is to stop it before that happens... and the only way to do that is to gain control over its pilot, the Saint King — Vivio — or else destroy the engine from inside the ship.
Meanwhile, the Cradle is launching hundreds of Gadgets as it climbs further into the sky. As the TSAB Air Forces try to stop them from descending to attack the surface, one of their assault squads discovers a way into the ship. Nanoha and Vita head inside while Hayate continues to lead the battle on the outside.
The Forwards arrive at the abandoned district outside the capital. Otto, Deed, Wendi and Nove, together with Ginga, are leading an army of Gadgets towards Ground Forces HQ. Lutecia appears with them, so Erio and Caro go after her while Subaru and Teana take on the combat cyborgs. The latter are quickly separated: Subaru faces off against Ginga, while Teana ends up inside a derelict building with Wendi, Nove and Deed. Otto uses a force field to trap Teana inside the building with the three Numbers.
At Scaglietti's base, Fate and Schach make their way inside while Verossa takes another entrance. They soon discover Scaglietti's People Jars, and are about to investigate further when more of the Numbers appear. Sein attacks Schach, who blasts a hole through the floor and sends them both tumbling onto a lower level. At the same time, Fate is confronted by Tre and Sette.
Inside the Saint's Cradle, Nanoha and Vita find that the entire ship is blanketed by a massive AMF, seriously weakening their magic. They decide to split up: Vita will make her way to the engine room to try and cripple the ship, while Nanoha heads for the Throne Room where Vivio is being held.
In the sky above the capital, Signum and Rein intercept Zest and Agito as they head towards Ground Forces HQ. They demand to know Zest's intentions; he replies that he wants to see his old friend Regius, but declines to explain further. Both knights enter Unison mode and start to fight.
On the ground, Caro and Erio are fighting with Lutecia and Garyuu. Caro pleads with Lutecia to tell them why she's working with Scaglietti, but the summoner doesn't answer. Garyuu, as always, says nothing.
Meanwhile, Teana tries desperately to take on Nove, Wendi, and Deed by herself. This time, they aren't fooled by her illusions, and Tea is injured when she tries to attack them. She retreats as the Numbers taunt her for being weak. For a moment, she wonders if they might be right, but ultimately resolves not to give up.
Not far away, Subaru attempts to get through to Ginga, but the latter simply moves into attack position, saying nothing. Subaru decides to try and incapacitate her, but wonders if she can really defeat her older sister — someone she's never beaten even once.
Back on the Cradle, Vita is making her way towards the engine room when she is ambushed by a previously-unseen type of Gadget, which stabs her through the chest from behind. Shocked, Vita realizes that she's seen pieces of a Gadget like this before... scattered around the battlefield where Nanoha almost lost her life. Enraged, she goes on the attack as more of them appear to block her path.
The Cradle will reach orbit in 2 hours and 16 minutes...
Tropes
- Badass Boast: Vita makes her most famous one:"Vita the Iron Hammer Knight, and the Steel Count Graf Eisen. There's nothing in this world we can't destroy."
- Berserk Button: When Vita recognizes the Type 4 Gadgets as what almost killed Nanoha, she attacks them in a rage, screaming that she'll destroy them all.
- The Bus Came Back: Arf briefly appears in this episode, assisting Yuuno in the Infinity Library. This is her first speaking appearance this season outside of the Sound Stages. Lindy also makes another rare appearance.
- Call-Back: Just like in the first episode, Teana suffers an injured ankle during battle, and starts to think her situation is hopeless. It's a measure of her Character Development that she pulls herself together, even without Subaru to give her a pep talknote , and refuses to give up.
- Continuity Nod: Chrono, Lindy, and Arf all have a rather dour expression when Yuuno mentions how the Cradle was rumored to have come from Al Hazard, given all the pain it caused Fate back in the first season.
- Exact Time to Failure: Starting here, each episode ends with a white-on-black caption indicating exactly how much time is left before the Saint's Cradle reaches orbit (and Scaglietti wins).
- Hellish Pupils: Vita briefly gets these when she attacks the Type 4 Gadget that stabbed her.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Vita, in a particularly shocking moment. Subverted in that it only somewhat slows her down.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Yuuno acquires these when he's describing the Cradle's abilities.
