the karaoke contest subplot of Kirika and Shirabe trying to win Chris's pendant by singing a ZweiWing song is so quintessentially Symphogear that i can't even be mad about it. it's absurd and it's completely committed to the bit and the contrast with Ver mercilessly killing children who stumbled upon the base makes the tonal whiplash feel intentional rather than careless. Maria breaking down completely at the sight of those deaths is the most human she's felt so far and it starts separating her clearly from Ver's actual agenda. the revelation that Hibiki and Maria's Gungnirs share the same resonance pattern is a big lore drop handled efficiently. and Maria's memories of her sister Serena add devastating context to everything she's fighting for.