Notably, unlike the previous five episodes, this final installment opens with no colorful art or upbeat song.  Instead, the credits and title are simple white-on-black, with a downer background theme.  I like the tonal shift, demonstrating how serious matters have now become.

Following the battle, Ryoko sits atop some debris from Ryu-Oh as Ryo-Ohki approaches.  She teleports aboard, where Ayeka scolds her for not escaping sooner.  Ryoko, however, is focused on revenge for Tenchi’s demise.  The princess starts to argue with her, but the demon knocks her back and throws the bloody headband at her.  As the violet-tressed lady begins to realize the gravity of the situation, the cyan-maned fury removes her earring and embeds it in her right wrist, her costume changing to resemble the flashbacks of her battle with Yosho.  Dedicating herself to killing Kagato, Ryoko flies Ryo-Ohki into Soja to storm the vessel.

Ryoko’s use of her earring begs a question.  In the legend and flashbacks, Ryoko has three gems for power, the ones embedded in the sword hilt.  However, in the first episode, Ryoko already had a gem affixed to her right wrist, while all three gems are still in the master key’s pommel.  Hence, this gem from the first episode is not one of the three.  Here in the final episode, Ryoko has one gem on her left wrist, given by Tenchi in the second episode, but she now uses her earring on her right.  Where did Ryoko get the gem from the first episode, and where did she get the gem in her earring?  How do they connect to the original three gems?  Sadly, this episode does not have an answer to these questions.

I love the vengeance in Ryoko’s face and voice here.  She is hurt and enraged in a way not previously seen up to this point, and after her captivity aboard Soja, she is more than ready to act on her violent instincts.

Elsewhere, Sasami runs to the tree Funaho, recites an incantation, and vanishes into a doorway of light.  Aboard Soja, Ryoko leads the assault with Ayeka and Mihoshi in tow.  Each takes a different path, battling against the ship’s defenses.  In space, Tenchi’s torso is held by Azaka and Kamidake along with some of Ryu-Oh’s branches, presumably keeping him alive.  An older version of Sasami appears and transports Tenchi and the guardians away.  Back on Soja, Ryoko and Ayeka enter Kagato’s chamber, while Mihoshi’s cube transitions her into a reversed, upside-down world.  Facing Kagato, Ayeka is the first to strike but is thrown back, while Ryoko is caught and turned to stone.  The villain levitates Ayeka and enters her mind, looking for the secret of “Tsunami”, the same name from Sasami’s prophetic dream.

I do take pause.  Did Ryoko totally miss Azaka and Kamidake holding Tenchi’s torso?  While I have no doubt that she would still be horrified, all she found before was his bloodied headband.

I do enjoy seeing Ryoko and Ayeka fight side-by-side, but Kagato still seems way beyond them at this point.  The brief skirmish seems very one-sided.  While I think that Kagato should be a formidable opponent, one would think he should struggle to hold back two very powerful women.  He does have a remark about his chapel repelling all energy that attacks it, which seems ridiculously powerful.

With Mihoshi, she finds a redheaded girl trapped in a crystal, guarded by two stone snakes.  Fighting the snakes, the blond detective uses her cube and eventually frees the girl, the genius scientist Washu, who dispels the snakes.  Next, the genius pulls Ryoko’s astral form into the reverse world and cures the stone curse.  The two banter, Washu having the same mind-link to Ryoko as the demon has with Ryo-Ohki.  The scientist reveals that she created the Soja, Ryo-Ohki, and Ryoko herself, rather than what Kagato claims.  Indeed, Washu used her ovum for Ryoko, making her closer to Ryoko’s mother.

After her experiences with Kagato, Ryoko is understandably not pleased with someone else in her head, reading her thoughts and throwing them back at her.  Also, having been under Kagato’s control for so long, she seems to have also forgotten that she too was “born” 2000 years before the present.  While Washu is Ryoko’s mother, their relationship is strained and very loose, despite the genius wanting to be called “mama”.

I rather enjoyed Mihoshi getting a little action of her own, but Washu seems to nullify the threat completely upon her release.  Indeed, while I do enjoy Washu’s presence and confidence, essentially an opposite to Kagato, she too seems to have massive control and power, rectifying most every conflict with a literal wave of her hand.

Outside, Kagato impersonates Yosho in Ayeka’s mind, attempting to get at Tsunami’s connection to the Jurai royal family.  Ayeka, however, breaks through the illusion, though Kagato thinks it is Tsunami’s doing.  Ryoko then engages her former captor in combat.

I have one main issue with Ryoko’s battle with Kagato.  Previously, Kagato had used Ryoko’s gem to control her, but now, he actually physically fights her.  Why can he not control her again here, where she has not only the gem on her left wrist, but also the earring gem on her right?  Arguably, Ryoko might be stronger mentally, having her rage over Tenchi’s death rendering her uncontrollable.  Perhaps Washu’s cure for Ryoko’s

stone curse also prevents Kagato from dominating her again.

Elsewhere, Tenchi awakes, surrounded by three Light Hawk Wings, his damaged body wrapped in some apparatus.  His blue-haired benefactor identifies herself as Tsunami, the mind of Sasami’s ship, and she informs him on the current situation.  Naturally, Tenchi volunteers to go, even if he must go alone.

Again, I love that Tenchi is choosing his path, rather than being forced or bumbling into his decisions.

With some help from Ayeka, Ryoko duels with Kagato while Washu and Mihoshi cheer her on from the reversed world.  Ryoko demonstrates a new power, fusing into a stone column to form a giant golem of herself to crush Kagato, but he is able to break free and destroy the golem.  Washu deduces that Ryoko is holding back as not to harm Ayeka.  Thus, Washu uses Mihoshi’s cube to remove Ayeka from the battle, giving Ryoko fewer restrictions.

I have trouble with Kagato keeping Ryoko on the back foot, even after she is free of his control and on her home turf.  The excuse that Ayeka is present seems like a convenience, and stating that she would be burned up by Ryoko’s power diminishes the princess’s prowess against her rival.  It seems far easier to explain that Ryoko’s lack of power is due to the missing gems, or the earring gem on her right wrist.

Kagato contacts Washu, and the two banter, revealing that Kagato was Washu’s assistant from when she was a professor at the Royal Space Academy.  This explains some of the discrepancies regarding the two, as Kagato likely did have a hand some of Washu’s work as her assistant.  Moreover, the Soja has gems like Ryoko’s, though far less compact.

And, those gems are Kagato’s next move.  Using Soja’s gems, he drains Ryoko’s gems into the fortress and prepares to attack Earth, unless Ayeka cooperates.  As Ayeka screams for her siblings, the Soja fires on Earth, but the blast is blocked by 10 Light Hawk Wings.  Batteries fire on Soja as another ship decloaks, identified by Ayeka as Tsunami, the royal family’s most powerful vessel.  Ryoko also refers to it as the “ship of the beginning”.

At this point, I have to interject.  The episode has been throwing exposition at the audience rapidly up to this point:  Tsunami, Sasami’s connection to her, Washu, the genius’s connection to Kagato, the nature of the gems.  In contrast to the previous five episodes, this final entry seems rushed to get so much material covered.  I do wonder if all of this information was necessary, rather than serving up a raw battle between the heroes and the villain.  Even if it was necessary, might it be better spread throughout the series, rather than jumbled at the end?

However, Kagato is not done.  He grabs Ryoko to kill her, as eliminating her consciousness will allow Soja to access all the power of her gems.

Then, his arm snaps in half, taking him aback as he regenerates.  There stands Tenchi in Juraian garb, saving Ryoko and confronting Kagato once again.  While Azaka and Kamidake guard Ryoko, Tenchi duels with Kagato as the mad scientist pontificates about the master key being merely a tool for extracting power from a Juraian ship, thereby useless on its own.

Finally knocking Tenchi away, Kagato accesses not only the gems in Ryoko’s wrists, but those in Tenchi’s pommel.  Outside, Tsunami’s wings vanish as she is drawn toward Soja.  Exactly why Kagato can now disable Tsunami’s defensive systems is unclear, considering she blocked his attack on Earth and bombarded him not long before.

Again, I marvel at the fact that almost no one has done any lasting damage to Kagato.  In all honesty, despite the cool visuals, Kagato has basically curb-stomped Ayeka, Ryoko, and now Tenchi.

At last, Tenchi accepts the words of his grandfather and Tsunami, to believe in his own power.  He stands and throws the sword away, challenging Kagato one last time.  Ryoko pleads for Kagato to spare Tenchi, but he declares Tenchi will not be alone in death, that both Ryoko and Ayeka will follow him soon enough.  With a blast, Tenchi is surrounded in light.

And then, he emerges with the three Light Hawk Wings that surrounded him while healing on Tsunami.  Converting the wings into armor and a sword, he proceeds to defeat Kagato, cutting him in half to vaporize.

I admit that there is a definite satisfaction in Tenchi cleaving Kagato after all the torment he has brought.  However, how did Tenchi gain this power?  Why was he able to access it here?  Katsuhito did mention a hidden power in the previous episode, and Tenchi did seem to be wrapped in these three wings while convalescing on Tsunami, but there aren’t any other indications that Tenchi could transform matter on a whim.  Even the wings of Tsunami and Ryu-Oh, and arguably Funaho, didn’t exhibit such power.

Sadly, Tenchi also cut the ship itself in half, so everyone quickly evacuates and resume residence at the Masaki estate.

This episode has a good bit of action, but it does dump a lot of exposition in these final minutes.  The connection between Tsunami and Sasami is not explored or expounded upon in this series.  The extra gems’ origin is not explained, and Washu gets very little development in her limited screen time.  Also, unlike the fluid duel from the fifth episode, the battle of this final episode is continually interrupted by the cheerleading and commentary by Washu and Mihoshi.

That said, the action is very engrossing and the characters engaging.  As such, some of its continuity flubs can be forgiven.