This episode is the turning point, the crew has been winning, and they've been getting cocky. Now they're forced to retreat. Jura is down. Gascogne is being forced to be the bad guy. And Hibiki and Barnette are learning a hard lesson about when to fight and when to fall back. Gascogne's backstory is hinted at here she's lost people before. She knows what it's like to carry that weight and she's willing to take the blame, the anger, and the hatred if it means keeping the crew alive.