Saga of Tanya the Evil II
Episode 6
by Richard Eisenbeis,
How would you rate episode 6 of
Saga of Tanya the Evil II (TV 2) ?
Community score: 4.7
If nothing else, Saga of Tanya the Evil has done a fantastic job of making everyone in the cast seem human. Even Tanya, though she is called a monster, is only a product of her environment. As we saw way back at the start of the story, in a peaceful world, she ends up as a middle manager—a bit of an unempathetic asshole, sure, but neither malicious nor violent.
This inherent humanity is what allows us to empathize with the characters—especially those on the side of the (not-so-evil) Empire. No one in either the military or civilian government was ready for something like a World War—and now the damage is done. Those at the top now are either focused on their own self-interest or their emotional pain—which means that a whole bunch of people are going to die.
All this brings us to Zettour. He's a cunning strategist and a master politician. He's brought about some of the bloodiest moments of the war and some of its most peaceful resolutions. But unlike the others atop the chain of command, his eye has always been on the prize: the welfare of the Empire.
He is the very best that the Empire has to offer. He would make a fantastic king or chancellor, but now, he has been all but exiled—tasked with doing nothing but holding the line while far less talented minds get a lot of soldiers killed. Yet, even then, he can't sit still—can't help but try and pull one last victory out of his hat for the sake of ending the war even one day sooner.
This entire episode feels like Zettour's swansong—like he's destined to die before the credits roll. Cowards surround him, and he is thus forced to over-rely on Tanya—knowing that even her troops are unlikely to be able to pull off this operation. And so Zettour plays his final piece to even the odds: himself.
While he knows he's been basically abandoned by the High Command, the enemy does not know this. To them, he is a target of extreme strategic value. It is through him acting as a decoy that we see, unequivocally, what kind of man Zettour is.
In a real way, he's what Tanya could be if she had a goal greater than simple self-interest. His impending death feels like the death of any potential redemption for her. After all, without an example to show her a better path, how could she hope to change? And it feels like Tanya knows this somewhere deep down as well—like she is aware of her kinship with Zettour even if she can't explain why. She does everything she can to save him even as the body count among her men rises. And then, when it comes time to make the hard call between her life or Zettour's, he makes it for her: he chooses Tanya's.
Even as Tanya wins the aerial battle and proceeds to lay waste to the Russy troops, there is this frantic emotional panic and crushing weight. This was the end for him—the death of the last competent man with any real power in this war. Without him, there is no hope for Tanya, her men, or the Empire at large. Only senseless death remains—spurred on by a petty god and the hate born through the suffering of the human heart.
And then, somehow—unbelievably—Zettour survives. Tanya finds him on the battlefield. It is an unexpected moment of elation. Then you remember: Mary is coming—and this battered old man and exhausted child have nothing left to stop her with.
Rating:
Saga of Tanya the Evil II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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