10 Second Anime - Violet Evergarden - Episode 8

Violet discovers what Gilbert's family and friends have been hiding from her.

Hmm.

No title this week, which means Violet still has no words for what she found at Gilbert's estate. Claudia confirmed to Violet what Mrs. Evergarden let slip, that Gilbert had been declared missing in action. Gilbert's brother confirmed that a grave for Gilbert had been provided at their family home. We're left with a cliffhanger for how Violet takes this news. Does she accept everyone else's resignation that Gilbert is lost? Or, does she cling to the hope from the fact that Gilbert's body was never found.

Let me indulge in some wild-eyed ultimate happy ending speculation. When I saw this scene when Gilbert got shot, I immediately thought he was shot through the eye. But then I remembered that he was still talking to Violet in some stairwell before a final explosion reduced everything to rubble. Looking again, I see that the bullet hit Gilbert's helmet, which then smashed his eye socket. Here's the speculation - his eye was indeed ruined by the helmet's brim, and he's been an unidentified amnesiac somewhere in the former enemy's territory. Violet uses her connections to the royal family from the love letter affair, finds Gilbert, and uses the gem in her brooch to find him and perhaps get turned into a false eye. How about that for a sliver of hope?

Otherwise, this episode was a great way to weave all the flashbacks we've seen throughout the season into a coherent narrative. All the little bits were checked off so Claudia would be there to pick Violet up from the hospital and have her join his firm. The important bits were contrasting the animal Violet used to be with Dietfried's reaction to Violet in the presence. How could she show such sadness on the face of a weapon? She's finally become a person Gilbert hoped she could become.

Heh.

Even with her mechanical arms, Violet hasn't lost her touch.

Cattleya is furious with Claudia. He still hasn't learned how a woman's heart works, she exclaims. Is she complaining about Violet or bringing up an old argument?

Oh. Violet is heading straight to the Bougainvillea estate.

Gah. His grave is right there. Violet is devastated.

Ultra Violet.

It looks like all these flashback scenes were fully animated before we were shown them during the course of the season.

Violet was a biter. She bites! I guess she still nibbles a little bit, like on the ear of her stuffed dog and on the brooch.

I still don't get this slaveholder mentality of this country during the war. How can you just be "given" a child soldier? And why does the military brass expect Gilbert to drag her around like a cannon? I don't see this kind of attitude anywhere else in this story except Violet's wartime flashbacks.

Wow. Gilbert taught her to speak, read, and write. How did she learn to fight?

Oh. Violet is smooth. She learns the word "beautiful" for the first time and flashes her game at Gilbert. She didn't know the word for what Gilbert's green eyes were, but now she does - "beautiful." Gilbert should swoon. He kind of did.

Yup. That's a death flag. Talking about the last battle of the war. What Claudia is going to do when the war is over. He made good on his promise to employ Violet, at least.

So, what is Violet going to do next? I honestly don't know how she'll react.