And so it ends. Having long held the future of Simulacrum on their shoulders, the era of the Simoun Sybillae concludes in acrimony and hope, Neviril and Aaeru soaring off in pursuit of the Emerald Ri Majoon and whatever realms await the eternal maidens. No longer is Neviril seeking to undo the past, or Aaeru to prove her worthiness; they believe in themselves and each other utterly, and this final act is an expression of that belief. Simulacrum’s faith may well have been an arbitrary set of strictures draped over a fundamentally value-neutral phenomenon, but the course of Simoun has proven that faith has a power of its own, regardless of its genesis. Even as Neviril’s companions accept their transition beyond this stage, they are still inspired by her actions – and in that faith, a point of commonality is found between them and their new priestly order.

It has been a poignant and rewarding journey riding alongside Chor Tempest, and though I’m sad we’ve arrived at the end, I’m happy it’s ending with such conclusive, elegant finality. Simoun has always possessed a grace of execution that belies its absurd thematic complexity, and thus it seems appropriate that the story ends where it begins: Neviril and her pair in flight, seeking the infinite in the fulfillment of their love.

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to report we are at last returning to the skies of Simoun, and discovering the ultimate fate of all our brave pilots. Chor Tempest currently stands on the brink of dissolution, having surrendered their vehicles to foreign pilots and proceeded to the spring that will decide their fate. There, they find not Onashia, but their companion Yun – for having been inspired by Rea’s words, she has decided that saving Onashia is the purpose she has sought.

Yun might be one of the lucky ones. For all of its limiting strictures, the order of Simulacrum at least promised certainty, a knowledge of what you are and what you must do. But with their military superiority and religious authority crumbling at once, the people of Simulacrum are being forced to recognize their beliefs were ultimately arbitrary, the calcification of power and doctrine concealing the core truth of the simouns’ nature. And of course, none feel this shift more acutely than the sybillae, who have transitioned from living avatars of faith to redundant markers of a lost age.

It is entirely in keeping with Simoun’s thoughtful narrative approach that this be our final conflict – not the great battle for the fate of Simulacrum, but the painful necessity of moving on in its wake. With their past discredited and future uncertain, let’s bear witness to Chor Tempest’s final mission.

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be returning to the skies of Simoun, where Chor Tempest is currently on the verge of total abolition. In fact, it’s not just Chor Tempest, but the foundations of Simulacrum society that’s threatened by this new peace. At least during the war, Simulacrum could still cling to its identity as a chosen land, and the sole wielder of the Ri Majoon. But with the walls between these societies falling just as foreign engineering catches up with them, all of the things that defined Simulacrum as special are swiftly disintegrating.

Of course, as Onashia just revealed, the alternative promises its own form of disintegration. To maintain Simulacrum’s status as a pristine gem, and to fully embrace the power of the Ri Majoon, is to separate yourself from the natural cycles of life and death. Simulacrum’s overall society has been mirroring the nature of its sybillae: kept pristine through isolation, utterly preoccupied with the fear of “contamination,” and in many ways contained to a perpetual adolescence.

The parallels between simoun sibyllae, Simulacrum itself, and the Class S narratives this story is drawing on are abundantly clear, and at this point, the show’s proposed solution seems clear as well. To seek perfection is to seek non-existence; only through embracing the world will Simulacrum survive, just as how only through embracing their imperfect humanity will the sibyllae grow into adulthood. Perfection is beautiful, but it is also static; Simulacrum was a wonder, but it was built to fall. Let’s return to this mirage’s final days, as we explore one more episode of Simoun!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be reviving a long-dormant article series, as we continue our journey through the fascinating world of Simoun. I didn’t really intend for this gap between entries to get so enormous; I was up to date on articles for quite a while, and by the time a new article was funded, I was far enough removed from the show that it seemed hard to reconnect with. But having read my last few episodic posts to refresh myself, I feel more or less reattuned to the trials of Chor Tempest, and ready to see this journey through to the end.

When last we left off, Chor Tempest had struck a crucial victory, having won the battle for the capital so decisely that their enemies were forced to accept a peace treaty. But given the rapid advancements of their foes in the wake of acquiring their own Simouns, as well as the plain fact that Simulacrum’s continued existence serves as a foot on the neck of all poorer nations, I can’t imagine that peace will be a lasting one. Fortunately, outside of the members that are either dead or flung into the distant past, Chor Tempest has never been more unified. Let’s see how they weather the potential end of Simulacrum society!

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Let’s return to the tempestuous drama of Simoun! Last episode served as a crucial turn for the series, as a massive number of secrets were revealed all at once. Most crucially, Onashia revealed the true nature of the spring: it is a conduit between worlds, or rather, a channel for traveling through time within the same world. The Emerald Ri Majoon turned out to be the key to this process, leading into the further reveal that Dominura and Limone are technically “alive,” but have been sent to a far-distant point in the past. On top of that, we further learned that both Dominura and Aaeru’s grandfather were both members of Chor Dextra, the choir intended to master the Emerald Ri Majoon, and the reason Dominura feels personally responsible for the violence of the present timeline. That is a ridiculous bounty of information!

Given all these time travel-focused reveals, it was no surprise to see Neviril immediately ask if Amuria could still be alive. Having just recently mended her relationship with Aaeru, I’m really hoping Neviril doesn’t backslide into false hope and depression – her grieving process has been the primary narrative of this entire series, and I was happy to see her seemingly recovering at last. With that in mind, let’s dive into the next episode of Simoun!

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Let’s return once more to the troubled skies of Simoun! The show’s previous episode was one long, somber dirge, as all of Chor Tempest struggled with Mamiina’s death in their own ways. With the actual, senseless consequences of war made so inescapably clear, Tempest seemed on the verge of dissolution. The team’s theoretical rocks, Aaeru and Para, both blamed themselves, while Neviril sank into the familiar grief she’s been struggling with all season, and Floe decided to leave altogether.

What ultimately saved them was not their own ability to rise out of tragedy, but instead the uniting influence of a common enemy. The military’s callous discarding of Mamiina’s remains brought the team together in rage, before Onashia’s gift of Mamiina’s braid reminded them that ultimately, the only support structure they can now rely on is each other. Once protected by their religious status, military importance, and inherent class advantages, the sybilla have discovered that as Simulacrum society disintegrates, none of their old guards can now be trusted. The only people still at their side are their fellow sybilla; the squadmates they once bickered with, but now realize are their only true friends. Let’s see how Neviril’s team hold together through one more episode of Simoun!

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It is with great expectations and more than a little fear that we return for the twentieth episode of Simoun. On the one hand, this show is brilliant. It started off by introducing an imposingly broad main cast, but has successfully humanized every single member of Chor Tempest, and built them into something very much like a family. At the same time, the show has consistently emphasized how all of Chor Tempest’s feelings are reflective of far larger conflicts within their society, with various characters’ loyalty to or emotional reliance on their patriotism, religious faith, or whatever else that moves them directly feeding back into their personal conflicts.

Simoun is one of those stories that demonstrates how thematically driven fiction can engage with complex, universally relevant subjects in a way that a direct essay or argument never could. By framing its thoughts on war, duty, and religion in the context of characters we’ve come to know so well, it demonstrates the true human complexity of these situations, and the paralyzing reality of discovering your country or faith was only a walled garden, and not the world itself.

On the other hand, Simoun has been really friggin’ mean! A few episodes ago we lost Limone and Dominura, who probably both fell within my top five characters in the show. Just last episode, we lost Mamiina, who was easily my favorite remaining character in the show. At the rate we’re hemorrhaging favorites, I expect the show’s final episode to focus on a heated argument between Bridge Adviser C and Overwhelmed Soldier E, with every actual named character having heroically sacrificed themselves. I’m impressed and annoyed at the same time, but either way, it’s time to move. Let’s see what tragedies await in Simoun’s latest episode!

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Alright everybody, let’s get back into another episode of the rich and beautiful Simoun! Episode eighteen saw the Holy Empire suffer a tremendous breakdown in its traditional structure, as the decision by Onashia to hold a ceremonial funeral for the foreigner Angulas served as the last straw for a great deal of Simulacrum’s military. Having seen their own sacred traditions trampled on, as well as having learned that Onashia’s loyalty isn’t even necessarily tied to their own country, has essentially broken the power that custom and ceremony had over them. Where once they deferred to the religious branch and its priestesses, they have now lost their faith and respect in these institutions, and without faith or tradition, it turns out the people holding all the guns ultimately also hold most of the power.

Of course, the crisis of faith that is now splintering Simulcrum’s government has been playing out on a more personal level all through this series. Characters like Aaeru, Neviril, and even Floe have consistently grappled with what it means to be a symbol, a soldier, and an individual human being at the same time, with various members of our team all settling on their own relationship with faith, and reasons to fight. And outside of the specific priestess-versus-soldier conflict, characters like Para have struggled mightily with the fear of leaving a comfortable assigned role, and embracing their own messy personal desires. The way these larger societal assumptions and structures shape these characters’ lives and even identities has been illustrated thoughtfully from the start, and I’m eager to see how they all cope as those structures begin tumbling down. Let’s get to it!

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Folks, it is absolutely time to watch some more of the graceful, mysterious, and altogether captivating Simoun. It’s been a little while since we last checked in on this story, but we left on a thunderous series of worldbuilding reveals. Entering forbidden religious ruins with enemies in pursuit, the sybullae discovered that the spring which forms the cornerstone of their religion actually has multiple entry points across the world, seeming to exist in multiple places at the same time. Additionally, more simoun craft were discovered within this ruin, one of which contained a familiar face – Angulas, the young priestess who once sacrificed herself to tear the holy empire down.

Angulas’ presence here could well indicate that the various religions all of this world’s political bodies worship all stem from one communal root, one which doesn’t pick favorites in distributing its holy favor. Angulas died in a moment of selfless religious ecstasy, a description that could just as easily be applied to priestesses inscribing their Ri Majoons in the skies. Given that, what is the purpose of all their struggling, and what goal does Onashia actually seek? And at the same time, does Angulas’ presence here mean Dominura and Limone might be similarly cocooned, waiting for their friends to retrieve them?

Whatever the answers may be, I’m thrilled to explore this thematically rich property once more, and spend some time with its very sympathetic cast. Let’s see what lies in store!

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Simoun! It has been far too long since we explored this fascinating show, particularly since the last episode ended on the cruelest possible cliffhanger. Having at last successfully performed the Emerald Ri Maajon, it seemed very much like Simoun was going to spirit both of my favorite characters up into the sky. I’m not cool with that! Dominura is both the dramatic irritant and iron core that this team desperately needs, and Limoun is both adorable and one of the only genuine friends a good half of this cast still have. Their team is far weaker without them, even discounting the fact that they’re two of the most impressive pilots in Chor Tempest – and ultimately, that may well be the point. What will the team do if they both lose their center and discover the Ri Maajons are a form of self-destruction all at once?

Man, it feels nice just to type out this show’s wacky terminology again. It’s good to be back, Simoun. Let’s see what episode seventeen has in store!

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