Kiriko partnering with the Royal Tree Mizuki and the two ships merging into a more powerful combined vessel is the kind of escalation that delivers on setup the show has been doing for several episodes. the action this episode is the most impressive of the series so far and the dynamic between Seina and Kiriko gets some of its most emotionally resonant material. Lady Seto's machinations behind everything start becoming clearer and the realization of how thoroughly she has been engineering everything from the beginning is genuinely impressive plotting.