With Sofia now broken out of prison, her story of Wilk sparks memories in Asirpa. Essentially, Wilk was like a wolf. Essentially he worked to get everyone together but understood what it means to be dead weight. He can be sweet but ruthless when he needs to. As the wolf pack is always moving and can’t be held back.
Though Wilk’s plan, which he planted in Asirpa is to have a federation in both Hokkaido and Karafuto, which is rather insane because it would mean war with both Japan and Russia. Though Asirpa’s mother gave Wilk the Ainu name Horkew’Oshkoni. It means to catch up with the wolves, which is more fitting for when Wilk was a kid. This is the big thing Asirpa forgot that her father wanted to remember, but what does it mean?
It is rather scary how perceptive Ogata is, and he truly is the biggest snake in the series. It never made sense how the alliance of him and Kiroranke came to be because Ogata shares none of the Ainu goals that Kiroranke has. No surprise that he outed him. Though how he tries to manipulate Asirpa is scary good because it always worked. Though one answer, Asirpa knew not to trust him.
The memories of Ogata’s half-brother have taken us to where Asirpa is threatening Ogata with her bow. Sugimoto has made sure to not let Asirpa kill and remain pure. It’s crazy that Ogata wants to push her to kill him. Even crazier than when he tried to push his brother to kill. Sugimoto startled both of them, causing her to fire accidentally, but you’ve got to respect the dedication of Sugimoto for keeping Ogata alive. Ogata is probably the most rotten character in this series and the one character who doesn’t have a purpose you can sympathize with. Though Sugimoto keeps him alive for Asirpa’s sake. Though the reunion of Sugimoto and Asirpa is beautifully executed.
Meanwhile, through this storm we got the showdown between Kiroranke and Tanigaki. No doubt he is full of hatred. For him, stabbing Kiroranke with the same knife that Kiroranke stabbed Inkarmat with was some good justice, but it didn’t kill him. How crafty Kiroranke is is quite scary. In fact, if it wasn’t for Hajime Koito might have been dead. Koito was able to hold off Kiroranke, which really shows how good he is in 1-on-1 combat.
Though the most impressive thing is that Tanigaki held back from killing when Asirpa asked. Tanigaki is very levelheaded and remembers his debt to Asirpa’s grandmother, plus it is clear that Kiroranke will die soon anyway. Kiroranke was genuinely happy where it is one step to the gold. He truly did this for the Ainu, even if there are decisions he made that he regrets now. Still, the decision is up to Asirpa what she wants to do.