The episode moves to the present day where Hong-jo asks to break up with Sin-yu. She asks if he knows that the bloody red hand from his nightmares is hers. Sin-yu asks Hong-jo to overlook their past lives and think about their present time together. Hong-jo asks Sin-yu for some space and time to think things through. Final redemption … Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman. Photograph: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television

The ending of this episode has me so interested to see what happens next and I can’t wait for episode 14 to drop. The show is now on its last legs and now that both male leads have finally gotten together with their respective partners, it is only time for the ball to drop. The trip is going to be the last good memory between Eun-gyeol, Eun-yu and the rest of the group from 1995.The insides of the Magi supercomputers are covered in many post-it notes left behind by their creator, Dr. Naoko Akagi. Pausing and zooming in reveals that many of them contain hidden Easter Egg messages, things like "Ikari, you are an idiot--Naoko", etc. So let me lead by admitting that I have no idea what's going on with the length of this show at this point. All prior research I'd done into Reign of the Seven Spellblades's run the past few weeks indicated that it was a single- cour affair that would cap off at thirteen episodes, but that's not the case now. Technically, that's for the best. My prior misgivings with the show's choices that brought it to this episode are thus mitigated by the fact that it doesn't have to rush to resolve everything in this entry. So with those pacing problems put aside, surely Seven Spellblades can instead focus on taking a solid next step in this story, right? Which brings me to the reason I can’t give it more than three stars even though I had a lot of fun with it. Frankly the ending hurts it for me. Not because of where each character ends up at the conclusion (all fitting) but because the very nature of the structure makes aspects feel unfinished. There are questions brought up about characters pasts that we can interpret in different ways, but because of the structure being only episode thirteen, we are given no clear answers. For some this will likely add to the allure, for me I found it unsatisfying (particularly in regard to the characters of Matt and Kevin in which they allude to some things pre-show which I would have like to see much more of).

As for making sense of things, the season finale attempted to connect the dots with most of the past "cases of the week." Ritsuko tells Misato and the Eva pilots that the test they are carrying out with the simulation bodies will ultimately help them develop "a new autopilot system".

They talk only a little, she admiring his plea bargaining, him joking about getting his sentence commuted to only a few decades for good behaviour. There is quiet and a distinct sense of contentment on Jimmy’s face. Then Kim leaves and it’s more difficult to read her thoughts as she waits to be taken out of the compound. Jimmy is there in the yard watching, and he catches her attention, giving her a Saul salute, two smoking finger guns. It’s kind of pathetic but self-effacing too. She gives him no response, but it’s not clear he needed one. Summing up Episode Thirteen was my first book by Craig DiLouie, and maybe it’s because I’m a fan of epistolary novels or the fact that I have a strong penchant for found footage horror movies, but I loved it! Jimmy punching the cell door after he gets thrown in jail recalls the scene in Breaking Bad in which Walt smashes a bathroom paper-towel dispenser after finding out he’s in remission. Things didn’t go as planned for either of them, though Walt is obviously the more curious case. That night, Sin-yu calls Hong-jo outside her house to give her some food his mother made for them. Hong-jo refuses to take the food and asks Sin-yu to end things for good. She tries to return the bracelet Sin-yu had gifted her. Sin-yu tells Hong-jo that it does not matter to him if he dies but Hong-jo is unwilling to watch him suffer.