Symphogear AXZ Episode 12: Ace in the Hole

Hibiki ended up in quite a predicament at the end of the previous episode of Symphogear AXZ. As a result, S.O.N.G. decides to call in a very specific person to help with that.

Genjuro specifically called for Miku

48 hours have passed after Hibiki got trapped in the chrysalis due to the divine power. Genjuro calls Miku over to help them rescue her, with Elfnein providing a plan that will use anti-LiNKER to lower Hibiki’s sync rate as the divine power is very similar to the energy that makes the Symphogears work. There is also other person willing to help out.

Saint-Germain offers to help out, but no more than that

Thanks to Saint-Germain’s help, Elfnein is able to restore the Symphogears back to full-working order after the previous fights. A call from Kamakura ends up interrupting them, and it is revealed that the UN intends to nuke the divine power – with no concern for what would happen to Hibiki.

Tsubasa and Miku intend to protect their friend no matter what

The military launch an assault on the chrysalis, and it seems to be having an effect when the chrysalis cracks. However, turns out that the divine power was just awakening.

Hibiki is inside this thing

It retaliates against the military, but the Symphogear users protect them. Tsubasa tells them to retreat, but they refuse to do so on the ground that they haven’t been given any orders like that. Saint-Germain soon makes them change their mind.
With the military gone, the plan to rescue Hibiki gets underway.

Miku is ultimately the one who rescues Hibiki

Hibiki returns to normal, and the divine power ends up scattered once more. Just as things look like they’ve settled down, a missile is launched from the Pacific Ocean, targeting the area where Hibiki and the others are.
The Symphogear users are powerless to stop it, as it is too close and detonating it will cause major damage to the city. However, Saint-Germain has a plan in mind.

Cagliostro and Prelati actually survived their earlier encounters with the Symphogear users

Due to not trusting Adam, Cagliostro faked her death earlier on and went into hiding. She saved Prelati shortly after that, and the two arrive to help Saint-Germain stop the missile. Whilst detonating the missile and containing the explosion with the power of the lapis philosphorum, the three sing ‘Shitō -Ewigkeit-‘, or ‘The Light of Death -Eternity-‘. We did hear this back in episode 1, but now here it is longer and has greater meaning.
The alchemists give up their very lives to save everyone.

Saint-Germain goes out with a smile

There isn’t much time to dwell on the sacrifices of Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati, as the scattered divine power needs to be gathered. Unfortunately, someone else has already taken care of that.

Adam managed to contain the divine power in his arm after all

Adam appears from out of nowhere, with the divine quite literally in his hand. He calls forth a torrent of water which he freezes to hold the Symphogear users in place. However, Hibiki is still free to move – Adam attempts to fend her off, but Tiki ends up grabbing and tripping him.

Hibiki destroys the arm that contains the divine power

With Tiki holding on to him, Adam can only yell uselessly as Hibiki does her thing. The episode ends with the arm exploding.

This was another amazing episode of Symphogear AXZ. Bringing Miku in to help save Hibiki was something that I’m sure many fans expected to see, and that’s exactly what we got. Admittedly some were pretty keen to see Miku with a Symphogear, but I am perfectly content to settle with what we got. It just goes to show, that not even divine power can compare to the power of yuri.

The song that Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati sung was amazing, even if it did result in their sacrifices – a ‘swan song’, if you will. Whilst the earlier fights against the Symphogear users were pretty spectacular, I do feel that this was a much better way for them to go.
Wouldn’t have minded see them stick around as recurring characters, though…

It was also fairly satisfying to see Adam squirm as Hibiki punched a massive hole through the plan he had spent so much time dedicated to. Hopefully he’ll be swiftly disposed of in the next episode.

The next episode is the last one, and if it follows convention, than the episode’s title will be ‘By shedding many tears, the reality you face is…’. That also happens to be the subtitle for AXZ.
Continuing to assume that convention will be followed, it is entirely possible that we shall see the Symphogear users activate X-Drive. I don’t know what will happen, but I’m fairly certain it will be a spectacular finale – Symphogear doesn’t hold back when it comes to those kinds of things.