In this episode, Anya is ready to get a dog as a reward for getting a Stella, and the Forger’s family is planning just that. However, the timing of the arrival of Westalis’ Prime Minster Brantz arrives in Ostania and the terrorist plan changes the course of events. It focuses not only on Anya getting the dog she wants but also on trying to stop the assassination plan for the prime minister.
At the dog shop that sells war dogs, Anya does not see the dogs she wants, while Loid receives a new order from the Westalis agent. He then makes an excuse to use the bathroom and tells them to wait for him at the dog adoption center. Yor tells him that they could wait and go together. Anya interrupts and pretty much tells her something that is hilarious and that convinces Yor to get ahead without him.
Anya and Yor go to the dog adoption center. Meanwhile, Loid is with his Westalis agents trying to catch the terrorists, who turn out to be students from Berlint University. The leader of the group wants to start a war between the two countries and to take over Ostania’s dominion. It is shown in his monologue in one scene. What it does not show or tell is how these students are motivated by the assassination tactics. It is assumed that there is some indoctrination going on around Ostania.
Sylvia Sherwood tells one of the students, Kris, who has been detained, that their leader, Keith Kepler, is caught, but that is not the case. Loid creates a make-believe scene for Kris to believe that the leader is caught and what kind of a person he really is. He disguises himself as someone again, as the act of disguising was already repeated in Episode 9 and in Episode 1. In this case, he disguises his face as Kepler.
The episode also had a repeat of Anya accidentally being caught in a situation where she is held hostage, as shown in Episode 1. Anya walks into the building where Kepler and his followers are hiding, along with the dogs they stole in the beginning. She finds the dogs in a room. One of them is the white dog that she is looking for, which is a hint that this may be the dog she will get later on. There is a bond between her and the dog as he has the ability to see what is coming before anything happens. In the episode, he gave her a vision of her family and saved the young boy from being killed or injured by the falling sign earlier.
Anya tries to release the dog as quickly as possible when she hears the plan that Kepler and his men are talking about, but she is caught. Kepler wants to kill her. The white dog hears that, bites the leash off, and runs out of the room. He then stands in front of Anya with his angry look as a way of telling them to back off. At this point, it is assumed that the dog is strong and would fight to defend Anya, but the writer seems to give the audience another perspective. When one of Kepler’s men picks up a pipe, the dog trembles and walks back behind her. Anya is shocked as well as the audience.
Despite the dog and Anya’s disadvantages of escaping from the building, the dog’s ability comes in handy. It directs the dog what to do next in order for them to escape. When the phone rings, which the dog passes the vision of the phone ringing before it happens, the men are distracted. The dog quickly drags Anya out of the building as fast as possible and runs to the police station. Again, it is assumed that the dog saves Anya instead of Loid or Yor. The dog has a good direction of where to go until the dog shows signs of the failed government experiment at the end of the episode. He is going around and around the block and ends up in Kepler’s hands.
Kepler and his men now think he has the upper hand. There is no one around to rescue them. The situation seems like they are going to be captured and held hostage for a bargain instead, but the scene takes another turn in this episode. Yor comes out of nowhere and saves them. She must have followed Anya when she saw Anya sitting atop the white dog trotting through the street. Anya looks happy as she smiles and feels comfortable in her arms.
Episode 13 definitely has a lot of unexpected moments and assumptions about the outcomes. It is also enjoyable to watch with some sense of humor involved. The sad thing is the history of how those dogs who failed the experiment ended up, and how Kepler used them as a weapon. The ending shows that there will be a part 2 of this episode since it never shows that the case has been solved. Kepler had already told his men to move to another hideout after Westalis agents found out about their other hideout.
Rating: 8.7/10
