Kiroranke’s luck is finally running out here. The moment Ogata betrayed him, he was just biding his time. With that being said, much like with the majority of the cast in Golden Kamuy, Kiroranke isn’t black or white. The fact that the trip serves as something for Asirpa to remember something important is fantastic news to him. The mention that Wilk changed, but Sugimoto’s news that Wilk said he didn’t kill the Ainu, sparks hope. With Sugimoto & Asirpa reunited, things can get back to the right direction.
You have to hand it to Sugimoto for going to such extremes to keep Ogata alive. He has every reason to want Ogata dead, but he wants Asirpa to not bloody her hands. Plus that gives him the chance to kill him next. Though in an interesting surprise, Ogata knows Russian, which, like Tsurumi wasn’t something known beforehand.
The final conversation between Sugimoto & Asirpa is most interesting because we know that Wilk wanted Asirpa to lead the Ainu. Which in turn results in working with Hijikata who betrayed Sugimoto. One thing this season showed is how manipulative and how involved Tsurumi is with the search for the Ainu gold. Sugimoto mentions cooperating with Tsurumi, which comes from him not wanting Asirpa to bloody her hands. Asirpa at least, is clear about wanting to find the gold, and it seems Sugimoto wants Asirpa to actively avoid that path. Despite them being partners again, there is a clear lack of communication here.
This episode finished adapting the rest of chapter 189 as well as 190-192, minus the last bits of chapter 192. 196+ the pages before Koito’s flashback and the first few pages of chapter 200. All things considered, they did an impressive job with this finale by rearranging events to make the payoff worth it. It does make things tough when they continue with Season 4, retracing what was skipped. Still very impressive.