#mileena slayers

-Lina is rather humble when the demon talks about how she defeated Hellmaster. Anime Lina would have been more of a braggart. But in the novels Lina really doesn’t want the type of attention it would attract and she also uses humility to lure the demons into underestimating her. While the demon is grandstanding Lina is chanting and she comments about how she uses his stupidity against him.

-Lina is in full form this chapter. While we don’t see powerful spells she is very street smart. I absolutely love the scene where she storms the castle and fools the inhabitants into believing that she is working with them against the intruders…when she is the intruder! I absolutely hate that we will likely never see this scene animated. I can visualize it all so perfectly, along with Gourry watching Lina work her spell lovingly and admiringly.

-It’s worth looking at Luke and Mileena’s responses to Jade’s request that someone heal their former enemy, General Allus, after Allus helps them by ordering the guards to leave them. Luke is distrustful and scolds Jade for being too soft and seems to believe (falsely) that Allus is leading them to a false sense of security.

The group does have good reasons to trust Allus by this point because he did divert the guards away from them. People who have a healthy sense of who to trust can look at evidence like this and make a calculated risk to trust, but Luke is not able to. Further, he also does not want to heal Allus’ wounds and leave him in pain.

While Luke could be thinking in pure pragmatic terms with not wanting to heal an enemy once they have him cornered, it also contributes to the lack of evidence as to whether Luke (or any of the people who house Shabranigdu) has a sense of empathy. So far nothing Luke has done has indicated that he has this important trait. It is also possible though never proven that Luke could feed on Allus’s pain.

Luke’s statements indicate a lack of trust and wanting to keep control of the situation and stay on top. People who don’t have empathy and difficulty with trusting do tend to be motivated more by staying on top and accumulating power and top dog status than relationships that are genuine and reciprocal. Such people also tend to deride people who show empathy like Jade as being “soft” and even deserving of being betrayed for their kindness. But the other things that a difficulty with trust indicates to me is that the person exhibiting that difficulty is someone who himself is not trustworthy. Luke could be projecting his own tendencies to use other’s trust against them onto Allus.

Meanwhile, Mileena silently heals Allus. When she does this Luke is caught off guard and awkwardly says that there are times it’s not bad to trust others.

This does indicate that Mileena has the ability to trust and emphasize that Luke does not. But this also shows that rather than having an internal sense of what is right or wrong, Luke is taking his cues from Mileena, who he is trying to impress and whose motivation would likely vanish the moment she returned his affection (going by typical patterns of people who do things similar to Luke). That poor woman is living with a giant red flag.

The fascinating question with Luke of course is whether or not he was raised in an abusive environment that leads some children to develop the traits that he exhibits or if he developed this way because of Shabranigdu.

-Magic Sucker Sword. I laughed.

-Gourry is full of awesome in this chapter. Speaking of empathy, Gourry shows it in spades with Jade when he steps up to fight his father for him, and this is one point where I would love to see the novels from his point of view. Gourry speaks to Jade like someone who has been through something similar and tries to be the person he needed at that time for Jade. It’s a great Gourry moment, the type that sadly never made it to the anime.

-Further, Lina speaks highly of Gourry’s skill, at one time noting that his maneuvers are inhuman and that anyone else would have difficulty executing them the way he does. I would so love to know if HK has any explanation for Gourry’s skills that he’s kept secret for 30 years or if he just made him a major badass without explanation to keep us fans speculating.

-“When you’re feeling shy it’s time to act domineering.” And thus we have the explanation for Mephy and Naga. I will say that people who are on one extreme of the spectrum can gravitate towards the other before learning how to navigate the middle. If they ever find out how.

-What’s with Gourry asking Lina if she has to go potty? Unless he is so observant he notices her facial expressions when she’s gotta go and when she thought about Dynast it gave her an “oh shit!” moment that he misread? I mean I think realizing they would have to face Dynast would cause most people to shit their pants, so…

-Gourry doesn’t even need to state he’ll follow Lina, it’s just assumed, but he says it anyway.

-Demons are the ultimate put your mind to it beings. That said, Gourry really isn’t interested in the complicated details but the practical bottom line.

-Milgazia panics!

-And we learn that Lina asks questions to distract herself from her terror

-Dynast sees Sherra as a tool and shows that demons feed off each other’s emotions as well, draws a parallel to how he and Greater Beast named their minions which implies that Greater Beast also sees Xellos as a tool. I find it fascinating to think of how demons structure their relationships and it does seem very pragmatic ownership with no affection from the top down and overwhelming loyalty from the bottom up.

-It is interesting that Lina has empathy for Sherra, even as she clarifies it’s not pity for Sherra but anger over what a jerk Dynast is. I wonder if having a name so similar to her sister’s is aggravating to her and she feels for Sherra as a result. And I also think it says a lot about how much Lina cares. Even when she knows that the person in question would kill her without a thought.

-Dynast called Mileena pathetic. This is unforgivable.

-Lina describes Gourry as “defiance born out of sheer foolishness.” They both use his idiocy as a cover for his effectiveness. And there is a nice throwback to her fight to win speech.

-Lina’s comment about buying Gourry’s meals indicates they still have their finances separate.

-And a lovely Gourrina moment at the end!

-Luke is an ass. And another instance of either his lack of empathy or general hard time relating to people who are closer to the civilian end of the spectrum with Maias.

-Mephy is also a bit of an ass.

-And the whole group accepts that Lina is responsible for Gourry. Everyone knows they go together.

-And Luke sure wishes he were as cozy with Mileena as Gourry is with Lina.

-Mileena seems to be trying a new tactic with Luke’s romantic advances in this novel, which is to ignore him completely. Lina notes that when she shoots him down he’s despondent but when she “leaves him hanging” he acts neglected. And this implies that he is seeking attention. There’s the whole soggy potato chip concept in child development circles, which is that if you are starving a soggy potato chip will look good. Which translates to if you never receive positive attention from someone you will settle for negative attention. Being ignored is far worse than being yelled at, scolded, hit, etc. The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Used correctly and in the right circumstances it can be a good way to extinguish undesirable behaviors, and I think it says a lot that Mileena is embracing this approach.

-It is worth noting because of the questions over Gourry’s intelligence that he is the one who challenges the plan to go to the western tower when he notes that other places have their lights on. First, this means he can determine which way is west. Second, it means that he is smart enough to recognize when new information means changing the plan. Gourry also successfully breaks the ice with the palace soldiers. Mileena takes it from there with the plan to be arrested but to keep their weapons and gear so they can find Jade.

Still, both he and Lina almost seem to be colluding to spread the he’s an idiot narrative. And I tend to suspect they do it to give him a tactical advantage.

-Adding confusion to the timeline, General Allus says the fire in book 7 was a year ago. Granted, given the circumstances, General Allus might not have the best memory at the moment. Lina runs with the whole it happens a year ago thing.

-You go Milgazia! You help that captain find his power! Milgazia is awesome!

-I really wish we could see Mianzo animated. So creepy!

-OMG! I loved this chapter so much and had so much fun reading it! For the first time you see Lina team up with good guys who are much stronger than her and the conflicts that results, particularly in the dynamic with her relationship with Mephy. There is also a lot of good world building in this chapter, from information about dragons and elves, to how the first Incarnation War started, to Zanafa armor and chaos words.

-I’m not sure if this has been clarified before, but just in case, it does specify that Milgazia is the leader of the dragons at Dragon’s Peak. We can also deduce that he is at least 1000 years old, likely older, as he provides first hand testimony about the first Incarnation War.

-Also of note, dragon’s lose the need to eat as they get older and absorb ambient energy.

-Elves have good night vision apparently and can see well even on a moonless night.

-Mephy’s full name is given as Memphys Rhinesword. Her nickname is Mephy and she refuses to let Lina call her by her nickname in this chapter. And while not explicitly stated, I do have to wonder if the inferiority complex Lina has with her sister replays in her relationship with Mephy.

-Milgazia gives an overview of what he knows about the history of the Incarnation War, and it is good fanfic fodder as well as things to think about with Dynast and Gaav’s minions currently infiltrating Dils. You also get more of a feel for the Mazoku’s strategy of dividing humanity and diverting their attention from important matters. Finally, it looks like Aqualord Ragradia was specifically targeted.

-Specifies that Hellmaster’s priest had already been destroyed when the war broke out. Xellos then decimated the dragons and weakened the people fighting for the gods. Then Shabby was revived. Gaav fell, then Hellmaster’s general, and then the Aqualord sealed Shabby in ice as he died.

-Talks about the existence of dwarves but Milgazia says their numbers have dwindled and they are unlikely to be much help.

-Specifies that Lina slew Shabby the for the first time two years ago.

-Gourry casually drops the information that they took down Shabby together, causing much surprise with Milgazia, Memphys, Luke and Mileena. Luke is disbelieving and Mileena is all, “I don’t think he’s the type to lie though…” I just loved this scene to pieces.

-So, legit, when I was reading the part when Mephy was freaking out when she learned how Lina had taken down Shabby with a Giga Slave combined with Gorun Nova, “Always a Woman” just happened to be playing, and I could not think of a more perfect song for the moment.

-It’s worth noting that Milgazia is stunned speechless when he learns that Lina had taken down Shabby and how she’d done it, and despite the danger of her methods he still asks her and Gourry for help with the current situation. Perhaps Milgazia, being older than Mephy, is aware that desperate situations calls for desperate measures or perhaps he thinks that since she has been so successful he might as well take the risk. Whatever his reasons, it does say a lot that despite the danger of her methods he still asks her for help.

-Milgazia offers weapons developed by dragons and elves in exchange for their assistance.

-Luke is the one who grumbles about working for free. Mileena glares him into it.

-Lina knows she has to help, but doesn’t want to, which is really indicative of her attitude to trouble after the Hellmaster mess. “I gotta do it. But I don’t wanna…”

-We get some interesting thoughts from Milgazia about the differences between living creatures and demons. He suggests that “living creatures” are more adaptable than demons, as in living creatures grow and mature and develop while demons do not.

-Given how Lina is portrayed in the anime, there is something amusing about Lina being aghast at Mephy’s casual destruction of the inn.

-Gourry mentions he signed the inn logbook, along with Lina, Luke and Mileena (once again this is evidence that Gourry can write, granted, in some societies a person’s name was the only thing they could write). I guess Lina never noticed Luke and Mileena’s last names while perusing a logbook though.

-The first time the demons specifically seem to be looking for Lina.

-Milgazia says that it is unlikely for demons to be motivated by sentimental emotions like a desire for revenge after Gourry suggests they may want revenge for Lina killing Sherra, and Lina agrees.

-OMG! The teamwork between Lina and Gourry is like next level stuff! Him silently picking up on her cures to ask stupid questions to buy her time to chant!

-Lina says all the things that those of us conditioned to think of the other person’s point of view wish we could bring ourselves to say when dealing with difficult people.

-Mileena deserved better.

-And Gourry starts to have to take the lead a bit. What makes them such a great team really shines so far.