We’ve entered the realm of Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object, and there appears to be no good conclusion that can come from Vanitas and Noé fighting each other. Domi will jump to her death if Vanitas manages to get through Noé and harm Misha’s life. Vanitas, on the other hand, isn’t concerned. Noé and Misha are unaware of the full tale, and Vanitas is determined to keep it that way—Noé and Domi’s lives are expendable in his eyes.
Noé is enraged by this, but it doesn’t take long for him to realize that Vanitas is deliberately taunting him to throw him off balance and compel him to utilize too much of his physical power. After all, if Vanitas isn’t alive, he won’t be able to extract Vanitas’ memories from his blood. Getting Vanitas killed is the last thing Noé wants to do, but he also can’t bear the thought of losing Domi. Generally speaking, things are not looking well… Thank you very much, OMisha!
Moreover, Vanitas’ younger brother informs Noé that Vanitas has mesmerized himself for a single purpose: to kill anyone who attempts to drain his blood from him. Because his genuine feelings of friendship or affection for anybody or anything have been momentarily removed from the equation, his enormous Chasseur abilities (not to mention the blasted Book of Vanitas) combine with his acute risk to make him very deadly.
Unfortunately, it also takes away his ability to act independently. This isn’t the Vanitas we’re used to doing and saying these things: he’s practically in Fail-Safe Mode, with his will and ego replaced by a tight set of directives that he must follow at all times. While he has done to himself what Misha has done to Domi, Inner Domi throws a monkey wrench into Misha’s plans by jumping without his permission, in the hopes that taking herself out of the equation will prevent Noé from being injured.
Aside from the physical injury, losing her would be the worst thing that could happen to Noé. Fortunately, Jeanne arrives and takes her from the air before she can complete her suicide attempt. She isn’t really clear about what is going on, but she has been ordered by Luca to keep Domi safe, and she intends to follow through on that order. Even though Misha can neutralize Noé’s primary weapon and Domi remains under his control, Jeanne’s intervention allows Noé to devote her full attention to Vanitas.
Vanitas may rattle on and on about how Noé knows nothing about him, and that may have been true when they first met, but Noé is convinced that he has spent enough time with Vanitas to have a good understanding of who he is. For example, he understands that Vanitas views solitude to be freedom, which is why he promises never to release Vanitas from her captors.
That seemed to have broken the hypnotic hold Vanitas had set on himself, but the episode ends suddenly without disclosing the outcome of their encounter with Vanitas. Even though I appreciate the necessity of saving things for the finale, it felt less like a cliffhanger and more like the program had simply…stopped. Having said that, the second half of the game should be interesting.
