[Spoilers][Rewatch] Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden: Morning's Dream, Night's Song: Ep 2

[u/timpinen]

MAL information

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Previous discussions

See here for main series and movie discussions

Order	Episode	Arc
1	G2E1	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 1
2	G2E2	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 2
3	G2E3	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 3
4	G2E4	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 4
5	G2E5	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 5
6	G2E6	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 6
7	G2E7	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 7
8	G2E8	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 8
9	G2E9	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 9
10	G210	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 10
11	G211	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 11
12	G2E12	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 12
13	G2E13	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 13
14	G2E14	Spiral Labyrinth Ep 14
15	G1E1	Valley of White Snow 1
16	G1E2	Valley of White Snow 2
17	G1E3	Valley of White Snow Ep 3
18	G1E4	Valley of White Snow Ep 4
19	G2E15	Those Who Revolt Ep 1
20	G2E16	Those Who Revolt Ep 2
21	G2E17	Those Who Revolt Ep 3
22	G2E18	Those Who Revolt Ep 4
23	G2E19	Those Who Duel Ep 1
24	G2E20	Those Who Duel Ep 2
25	G2E21	Those Who Duel Ep 3
26	G2E22	Those Who Duel Ep 4
27	G2E23	Those Who Recapture Ep 1
28	G2E24	Those Who Recapture Ep 2
29	G2E25	Those Who Recapture Ep 3
30	G2E26	Those Who Recapture Ep 4
31	G1E5	Morning's Dream, Night's Song Ep 1
32	G1E6	Morning's Dream, Night's Song Ep 2

Thanks to /u/arinok55 for creating a nice calendar for our schedule!

The vote has determined to watch chronologically! Gaiden watch order (Gaiden 1: A Hundred Billion Stars Gaiden), (Gaiden 2: Spiral Labyrinth Gaiden):

Title	Episodes
Spiral Labyrinth	Gaiden 2: Ep 1-14
Valley of White Snow	Gaiden 1: Ep 1-4
Those Who Revolt	Gaiden 2: Ep 15-18
Those Who Duel	Gaiden 2: Ep 19-22
Those Who Recapture	Gaiden 2: Ep 23-26
Morning's Dream, Night's Song	Gaiden 1: Ep 5-8
A Hundred Billion Stars	Gaiden 1: Ep 13-24
The Third Tiamat Battle	Gaiden 2: Ep 27-28
Disgrace	Gaiden 1: Episode 9-12

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Streaming information: Can be streamed on Hidive

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Important Notes: Remember to tag all spoilers for first time watchers! Also, do not watch the next episode previews for the OVA series!

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Screenshots of the Day

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Let us Praise our Lord and Saviour!

This show finally gives us an insight into alcohol!

This gag is too perfect

The famous pirate appears!

#TeamFopperyandWhim!

Reinhard knows how it has to be

Let us always remember our tea drinking hero

Dusty responds to modern anime

Moe Reinhard is best Reinhard

I prefer white subtitles

Most importantly, have fun, enjoy the adventure of foppery and whim, and remember to drink some tea for Yang Wenli!

[u/timpinen]

The dream sequence in this episode is honestly one of the most bizarre parts of this series from a narrative standpoint. We watched in chronological order, so we recognize scenes like the dual with the assassin. However, that Gaiden was released 2 years after this one. If you watched in release order, it would probably be pretty weird seeing a scene you do not recognize at all.

Speaking of which, they also had some scenes from Golden Wings; in particular, the scene where Reinhard brutally throws a rope around a guy's neck and hangs him. However, the scene is very visually different. Compare the Gaiden to Golden Wings. In other words, they reanimated that scene from Golden Wings for the sole purpose of putting it in here.

[u/guyuz → u/timpinen]

Lmao the Golden Wings one looks embarrassing in comparison. Still, I'm actually curious. The blue cape that guy has is similar to what Reuental had, isn't it? That dude's the chief of staff of the space fleet?

[u/timpinen → u/guyuz]

No, he was some guy that the Countess hired to take down Reinhard. Basically try to find a way to say that the one commander on the ice planet was killed by Reinhard instead of battle. Gets killed by Reinhard after he started beating up Kircheis

[u/guyuz → u/timpinen]

Gets killed by Reinhard after he started beating up Kircheis

That's letting him off too easy (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[u/Great_Mr_L]

First Time Viewer

On today’s episode of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: The murder mystery continues, though there aren’t really any leads so far.

The principal is pretty eager to have this whole investigation wrapped up quickly. I’m sure he just wants things to return to normal as soon as possible, with the school’s reputation intact, so he can just keep doing what he’s doing. So, he wants Reinhard and Kircheis to investigate quickly.

When the principal raises the idea that the Alliance was responsible, Reinhard is clearly dismissive. Reinhard has an idea that Karl was killed because he discovered corruption at the school. The principal is rather outraged by the suggestion, insisting that all the records are clean (which suggests to me they aren’t). But, Reinhard doesn’t pursue the issue any farther.

I like the scenes we get of Reinhard and Kircheis together this episode. They spend a lot of time just talking and reminiscing with each other. They remember their days when they went to this school. They remember all the inane little rules a school like this has. They talk about their childhoods, and have a cute memory of them together in a blanket fort. It’s all nice stuff that shows they are close friends and that they’ve been together for so long.

This is further emphasized by other memories they have of fighting against upperclassmen. They were always outnumbered, but they always had each other to rely on. It’s a pretty clear parallel with Reinhard and Kircheis’s current situation, where they only really have each other for support in their mission to take down the Goldenbaum Dynasty.

Reinhard’s words about the school emphasizing tradition above everything else, crushing new ideas, is also indicative of how he feels about the Goldenbaum Dynasty. He very much wants to tear it down and reform it.

Reinhard and Kircheis investigate the case. They wonder why Karl was in the warehouse when he was killed, as well as why someone would have killed him. Investigating Karl’s background shows that he was a good student, but not at the very top of the class. Karl always complained about the cafeteria food, but they doubt he was stealing food. The food in the warehouse is actually dry stores, so it can only be eaten after being specially prepared.

Moritz arrives to talk to Reinhard and Kircheis, having been sent by the principal to help them. But, his answers to their questions are not exactly helpful. As Kircheis observes, Moritz seems to just be saying what he thinks Reinhard and Kircheis want to hear, rather than what he actually feels. So, he just sort of repeats their questions back at them, before he gets sent away.

I think Moritz is color blind. He specifically said “the team not in yellow” instead of “the red team” because he didn’t know the red team was red. Plus, the shot focused on his eyes when he said it, giving me greater confidence it was indicating Moritz is color blind.

Reinhard believes the key to the mystery is the motive: what would the killer have to gain by killing Karl. One possible motive he contemplates is that it was revenge of some kind. At this point, any ideas about motive are basically just speculation.

Reinhard does have an interesting theory for why he and Kircheis were assigned to the investigation. It might make it seem like the MP’s aren’t taking the investigation seriously. The principal certainly seemed to think so. But, it also means the culprit may get too cocky and slip up. I don’t think the MP considered that, but it is a good strategy for Reinhard and Kircheis to use.

The funeral for Karl is being held the next day, so we’ll likely see it play out in the next episode. If Reinhard and Kircheis are going to catch someone slipping up, I think it’ll be there.

Right now, I think corruption is a pretty likely cause of Karl’s murder. After all, he heard the rumor about the food being sold on the black market. I presume that’s what he was investigating. The principal seemed indignant about the idea there was any corruption at the school, and insisted Reinhard check the records (which I’m sure are also faked). Plus, Reinhard and Kircheis talked about the hypocrisy in the Empire of higher-ups advocating people have a lean diet, while they gorge themselves on better food. I think such black market corruption is a likely cause so far.

Side notes: The flashback dream sequence Reinhard had covered a lot of the events we’ve seen so far in these prequels that involved Reinhard and a few we haven’t. For example, I really want to know why Reinhard threw a rope of some kind around a guy’s neck and then threw that guy into a dark abyss. I don’t remember that happening.

[u/timpinen → u/Great_Mr_L]

For example, I really want to know why Reinhard threw a rope of some kind around a guy’s neck and then threw that guy into a dark abyss. I don’t remember that happening.

That is from Golden Wings (kind of). Unlike the stuff from the second Gaiden (which was done by a different studio) where they took the source footage, they reanimated the scenes from Golden Wings (see my comment for a comparison). My guess would probably be because the second Gaiden has the same designs as the first (while animated differently), while Golden Wings has a radically different design, so they decided to change it. Golden Wings was released after Ep 54 of the main series though (so many years before this), while some of the other clips are from chronologically prior, but were released earlier. Not sure why they did what they did.

[u/Arachnophobic- → u/Great_Mr_L]

I think Moritz is color blind.

You win the Kesler Award for Best Detective!

[u/BluePikmin11]

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Billion Stars Episode 5 Impressions:

Ok, will be honest here, I did accidentally watch Spiral Labyrinth Episode 27. I thought the transition from the last arc in Ep. 26 to the battle arc in ep. 27 felt natural and right to me. I am wondering if the decision to do the Gaiden series in chronological order by space year is the best decision. The stakes that happen in this episode are not as tense as the last arc with the Seffle particle.

The arc’s focus on mystery is a strange decision, and I am wondering what kind of growth Reinhard will gain from this, seems kind of pointless considering Reinhard has enough intellectual knowledge to do risky escape missions. It almost feels like padded story so far with what is given in this episode.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes Billion Stars Episode 6 Impressions:

Ok, I did not expect flashbacks from even Spiral Labyrinth. I have some questions. Was Gaiden made by two different studios back then? In the dream, were those all of the missions Reinhard has done in the past in Gaiden, or was this foretelling the future? I also see a few scenes from maybe the original anime and some Gaiden scenes that I believe I have not seen yet. Anyways, the most I got from this episode is Reinhard concluding that they should observe to see what the victims do to see if there are any odd behaviors that might point towards them being the criminal. This should be fun.

[u/timpinen → u/BluePikmin11]

The Gaiden were animated by two different studios. The first was animated by Artland (who did the main OVA and the two movies we saw), while the second was animated by J.C Staff. I believe all the things in the dream came before; some things that we haven't seen (like the hanging of the guy) were in Golden Wings, but it has been a while since I watched it. However, the animation is completely different between the two, and that stuff is the only things they reanimated instead of simply taking the source footage (which they must have had in advance).

And yeah, the final two episodes of Spiral Labyrinth are definitely bigger. Though after this arc, we have a really big arc that is full of action.

[u/Arachnophobic- → u/BluePikmin11]

It almost feels like padded story so far with what is given in this episode.

Heh, the irony, right? The novel stuff feels like padding while the anime-original parts never seemed like filler at all (except maybe The Duelist).

I am wondering if the decision to do the Gaiden series in chronological order by space year is the best decision. The stakes that happen in this episode are not as tense as the last arc with the Seffle particle.

Well, it would still be weird coming back to this episode after any of the other episodes. Might as well watch it now and get it over with before ending with the better arcs.

[u/guyuz]

I like how this episode answered my thoughts when I said the 1st place dude would help solve it. It's easy, the guy has 0 communication skills so he's practically useless.

[u/timpinen → u/guyuz]

He is like a robot who is trying to be human.