Apparently, two brilliant Phi Brain children meeting up in the same place to try and solve an incredibly high-level puzzle is all you need to create a God’s Puzzle. So If you brought that old dog to challenge Freecell to the exact same puzzle he’s challenging Kaito to, it wouldn’t be a God’s Puzzle anymore because it’s not smart enough. The purpose of a God’s Puzzle seems to be raising the level of intelligence of the winner to godly proportions, making them the smartest human being in the world.
Whist is basically just being a sycophant and hanging around so he can kiss the ass of whoever struts out of that puzzle alive. It’s practical to want to follow someone with those kinds of “powers” but Whist sounds more like a fanatical cult member than a rational man picking the winning side. He’s a bit…crazy, basically. It’s funny how after weeks of wondering what sort of betrayal he would inflict on Freecell as he reveals his ultimate plan, I end up seeing him turned away with a simple glare. No really, Freecell just glowers at Whist and he sullenly leaves. He could come back, but if he was only interested in the end result, then I see no reason why he’d want to do any meddling in their match. Just like that, the most mysterious character is out of the game a minute after revealing his master plan.
Whist’s plan wasn’t a total wash though. Everything would have been fine if Freecell hadn’t snubbed him at the end. From the beginning, he was using Klondike for his money and manpower. It was Klondike who made this Himalayan facility, probably for in the intent of solving a God’s Puzzle himself, but Freecell beat him to it. They also used his limitless wealth to produce a Final Ring so they could then steal it and use it for their own evil deeds. Don’t ask me how Freecell stole Klondike’s Ring when he was wearing it and Melancholy couldn’t even take it off when she was trying (my guess is limb dismemberment!). The whole point of stealing it was so two Phi Brain children could compete, so you can imagine my surprise when Kaito just willed the Ring away like he was fighting off an urge to eat a chocolate cake or something else equally trivial. Mind-controlling device that completely controls the emotional states of its victims until they become certifiably insane? Kaito says “nope” and that thing just explodes in a discoball of light. It was like a series of total badass moments from Freecell slapping the thing on his arm with force, Kaito spazzing out, and then Kaito laughing in Freecell’s face as the Ring EXPLODES from his off-the-chart cool levels. He’s got sunglasses on his head, just who the hell did you think he was?
In all seriousness, Kaito does not need his Orpheus Ring. He can still see future visions (accurate ones too, seeing as he witnesses the exact same vision as Freecell) and solve puzzles like a boss, so he has no reason to wear one. He’s totally rejected the idea of wearing one. The beauty of not having bipolar disorder and trying to murder people constantly is lost on Freecell, who is consumed by his Ring so deeply that his own psychopathy is invisible to him. He can’t see it. Part of why I love this episode is because it highlights how utterly mixed up and confused Freecell is. While Rook was consistently possessive of Kaito, our deranged S2 villain is all over the place. He hates people, he loves people, he hates them, loves them, then thinks they’re his mother.
The Ring is telling Freecell he hates his mother and doesn’t care about Kaito or anything else for that matter. The real Freecell loves his mother, wants Kaito to keep his promise, and is extremely sensitive. The fact that Freecell is unaware of his duality, unlike Solitia, makes it a lot harder to cope with his moodswings. Solitia at least knew there was a reason for them and could try and rationalize her negative emotions as being fake. Freecell doesn’t have the benefit of being able to distinguish which emotions are caused by what, and therefore can’t make rational decisions about his true feelings.
Nonoha puts two and two together to realize this, and I love how she tries to talk sense into him over the course of the episode. Just as it looks like she’s having a therapeutic effect…things get freaky. In what looks frighteningly like an Oedipus complex gone wrong, Freecell calls Nonoha her mother and hugs her in the creepiest way imaginable. If I ever had even an inkling of a notion to ship this before, I definitely don’t now. It was pretty messed up…meaning that I loved it. It was another “cry for help” as Pinochle said. Freecell never gt the chance to solve the necklace puzzle with his mom or to show her his true feelings, and he’s trying to make up for his lost childhood by making Nonoha the surrogate mom. It’s a last, desperate attempt from a severely troubled man, but he thinks it will fix everything. Part of saving him might be solving the pendant in front of Nonoha and pretending that it’s Solitia watching.
So far gone is our poor Freecell that I really don’t know how Kaito is going to snap this guy out of his senses. Jikukawa offhandedly mentioned that they might be stuck there forever, which makes the fact that next’s week episode has the word “infinite” in it very unsettling. Then again, infinite Phi Brain episodes for all eternity does sound pretty ace. But I digress! Kaito and Freecell are going to have to fight to the death, and everyone is stuck watching from the outside without having any access to the puzzle. Elena may be taking her chopper to go watch too, but what good is that when the puzzle is sectioned off? There is going to be a lot to cover next week, and I can’t wait to see how Freecell is saved. It’s going to be a good finale.