EPISODE CONTEXT

Sitting right at the season's midpoint, episode 7 serves as a deliberate exhale after earlier episodes revealed the Wolkenritter's motivations and ramped up the stakes. It prioritizes Fate's personal development and the protagonists' attempts to hold onto normalcy, functioning as essential connective tissue between the first half's world-building and the back half's inevitable escalation. The groundwork laid here — emotionally and narratively — feeds directly into the intensifying confrontations that will define the remaining six episodes.