I swear, starting with our next show I’m just gonna be posting reaction gifs. I need a vacation.
Episode 7
2:32 – “Society.” Damnit, I should probably have been noting the episode titles, I’m sure they’re relevant too. Ah well
2:37 – This shot kind of made overt the fact that her house sits at a crossroads/intersection. There’s been a great deal of imagery related to that, mainly in the constant pedestrian crossing stuff (which has ended with both Lain and her sister sitting in the middle of the crossing) but also recently in Lain’s Wired representations, where she was lit up at the center of a white X crossing. This could be relevant to either the gateway of information flow she seems to represent (like the walk/don’t walk sign), or even thematically to the fact that her choices here will decide the future course of the Wired and physical world
3:03 – Apparently the reports of her room’s explosion were greatly exaggerated?
3:15 – “The me in the Wired is becoming less and less like me.” Alright, so that seems close enough to confirmation that separate personas have their own will within the Wired – or at least that Lain specifically has a representation with its own goals
6:46 – Are these various characters Knights, and the program they’re looking at their next target for cross-integration? Not enough info, but it seems more likely than them adding a new element seven episodes in
7:10 – “Lately you’ve been slipping again.” As in the last few days, or from some time ago?
8:20 – Very nice scene. From the perspective of “the real world isn’t real at all,” to her immediate, surprising fear at offending her one real-world friend, to the elation of maintaining that connection, capstoned by the physical contact the Wired can’t replicate. Maybe the real world isn’t so bad.
Arisu might have just set Lain’s assumption of divinity back quick some time
8:45 – Information Bureau announcement is complimented with scrolling red banners, making me think that’s the organization the red-eyed G-Men represent – and their goal would be represented by the red “don’t walk” sign, a cordoning of the information flow with the hope of preventing the merge
12:10 – FINALLY the G-Men actually talk to her. You’d think they’d have tried that before the Knights had already spent weeks on their crazy-ass integration projects…
12:17 – “We have no intention to harm you physically” – I appreciate the specificity of that line
13:34 – This guy’s desperation to join the Knights makes me think the Knights are all actually personas, and have no presence in the physical world anymore. Also I like how his VR ensemble has an umbrella sticking out of it
15:28 – Hah. “Can you fix my computer for me?” A very cute riff on the “We must test the potential hero to see if they are the one from prophecy” trope. Also, another sideways allusion to how the youth are the first to merge
17:47 – Okay, so it seems like there might just be the one additional Wired Lain (sneering, extroverted), and then there’s the differences between physical Lain’s own natural and assumed personas – timid and unsure, sunny and inquisitive.
19:42 – “Are your parents your real parents?” Yeeep. Here we are
It’s interesting that her sister at least was recently replaced, though. And I’m not sure who set up Lain’s little clockwork world
20:15 – Yep, and here’s the primary Wired persona jumping onboard
10:55 – “We believe this to be dangerous… you’re what’s dangerous.” So yep, they’re the faction trying to maintain borders, and Lain’s own tampering/affinity for the Wired is accelerating things. Check check check
21:06 – “Something interesting is happening. We should just watch from the sidelines.” – IT’S A GOOD THING THAT’S YOUR FUCKING SPECIALTY, G-MEN
And Done
Wow, the Knights didn’t accept VR dude? Who could have seen that coming?!?
But yeah, this episode made explicit a bunch of what I was assuming at this point, though it didn’t really answer my last couple questions – they still haven’t confirmed Lain’s origins (though the fabricated nature of her home life was something I was glad to have confirmed, and I’m fairly certain she’s the end result of the experiment from 15 years ago – a living bridge with one foot in each world) or if Deus is what both the Knights intentionally and Lain naturally are moving towards becoming (though this also seems extremely likely). I’m surprised the G-Men took such a laid-back stance here, though I guess they can’t really do anything to contain Lain of the Wired – if they imprison corporeal Lain, Wired Lain will just not check in at the terminal for a while.
It would appear that the housewife actually is one of the Knights, and that their new game has just been released. I guess we’ll have to wait until next… oh wait, we don’t have to wait for shit.