Ride of the Valkyries (戦女神の騎行 Sen megami no kikō) is episode 6 of the Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! anime.
Plot[]
As 3rd Recon watches as the east gate is burned to the ground, Rory seems to be in a very distressed state. She is clutching her body suggestively and appears to be in a state of euphoria; she is holding herself back from acting on her bodily instincts though. Her body is in this state because as an Apostle of Emroy all the souls of the dead flow through her to Emroy, which acts like an aphrodisiac. Back at the east gate, the eastern commander, Norma Co Igloo is killed in action, which boosts the morale of the bandits. It becomes clear that the bandits have no thread of sanity left in them as the declare that they are looking for a place to die after facing hell on Alnus Hill.
Finally, not able to hold back her bodily instincts, Rory runs toward the east gate despite no orders to reinforce the east gate; forcing Itami, Kuribayashi, and Tomita to follow her in their Type 73 light truck. Meanwhile, Princess Piña undergoes a mental freeze, as she is ambivalent about what to do now. The east gate has been broken into and the inexperienced civilians who are defending the secondary gate are easily defeated by the more experienced bandits.
At the same time the 4th combat unit is about 5 minutes out from the east of Italica and is commencing battle preparations.
Rory, who had run from the south gate, arrives as the bandits try to attack the secondary wall. She easily overpowers the bandit's strongest member and defends the secondary wall. As she prepares to deal with the bandits, a TOW missile hits the wall followed by an assault by the entire 4th combat unit. The CAS and airborne Calvary desecrates the bandits on the outside of the wall quickly leaving little survivors. On the inside of the east gate, Kuribayashi, Itami, and Tomita join in the fray, albeit Kuribayashi charged into the enemy without regard for her own safety. Kuribayashi and Rory sync their movements together to cover each other's backs as they tear through the bandits. Itami and Tomita are forced to cover the blind spots for the two belligerent petite girls, laying down covering fire whenever possible. After witnessing the defeat at Alnus hill and the anachronistic technology of the JSDF, the commander of the bandits loses the rest of his little sanity. As he dies to Rory's axe he repeatedly asks if this was the right direction for war.
By this time, the bandits on the outside of the wall have been cleared so Cobras start to clean up inside the walls. Giving Itami warning beforehand, the Cobra prepares to destroy the remaining bandits inside the wall as Itami and Tomita carry away flailing Kuribayashi and docile Rory. Using its 20 mm Gatling gun, the Cobra cut down the remaining bandits before flying away to deal with any other bandits. After taking care of the immediately dangerous bandits, the 4th combat unit starts to fast rope soldiers to help contain the situation and capture any POWs or help aid injured civilians.
Viewing the situation as a complete loss for the Empire, Princess Piña fears that the JSDF will conquer Italica and may take Piña as a slave. She is completely thrown off guard by the fact the negotiation terms of the treaty barely gave the JSDF anything that the Empire considers as a winner's portion. It only gave the JSDF tax exemptions and free passage.
Finally, after being up for more than 24 hours, 3rd Recon looks forward to being able to rest after traveling back to Alnus. But, their plans are thrown off by the fact the Rose-Order of Knights finally arrived on 3rd Recon's way out of Italica. The order doesn't know about the treaty yet, so they treat 3rd Recon as an enemy. Realizing that if 3rd Recon were to hurt the knights then it would violate the treaty; in an act of self-sacrifice Itami gets out of his vehicle buying enough time for the rest of the company to escape.
Anime-Manga Difference[]
- In the manga, two of Itami's men complained that Rory's sensual display aroused them. In the anime, everyone just stares at her in disbelief until Lelei explains what she is doing.
- In the manga, there were also AH-6 Little Bird scout helicopters. In the anime they were simply just removed.
- In the manga, Piña imagines the JSDF taking Myui and herself as slaves. In the anime, she only imagines herself.
Trivia and FYI[]
- The name of this episode is a reference to the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner. Which could be heard playing in the helicopters that were killing bandits in the Battle of Italica.
- The reference that General Hazama makes to Captain Killgore, is a direct reference to Apocalypse Now! which a movie about the Vietnam War.
- The scene where they play the Ride of the Valkyries and the sitting on the helmet line are taken straight out of Apocalypse Now!