When no combat in an anime feels as good as it's combat episodes, you know it's good. The directors and storyboarding of this episode is also especially good, they set things up so everything feels smooth and there's a build up for what comes next. You know how the first few batches will be judge by Seirei, and you know what will come after, doest really mean they show it chronologically,I think this is just a smart way of manipulating the audience feelings