Drifters – Act 10: Baba Yetu

Previously on Drifters, “Serious Bomber”

I have to admit, I tuned in this week with all the enthusiasm of a kid heading for a spanking, but in a shocker, we finally get an info-heavy episode that wasn’t just sets of characters standing around having bloated conversations. Well, don’t get me wrong, it’s still there, yet limited, with humor (oh snap!) and actual plot movement that keeps the train moving. The Dwarves get back on their feet in time for Count Saint Germi to arrive while Black King speaks softly and carries a big stick.

Now I Gotta Cut Ya

Around half of Baba Yetu was devoted to the black lord and his Ends, letting Black King put on a show with the Ends making the most with their time. As Doug the Adventurer saw, Bronze Dragon is on the scene, however, he’s there to reclaim the lesser dragons and deal with Black King’s disrespect. A matter that is solved when the king causes the dragon’s cells to grow uncontrollably until agreeing to join. He had offered Bronze the chance to join as an equal, but Bronze is a line stepper and paid the price. In the king’s eyes, all are equal and live under the same basic human laws. Although by those rules, Bronze Dragon is later killed and used for meat for not toeing the line. If you’re not with Black King, you’re against him. The power shown taking down a dragon the power level and size of Bronze even causes the silent Hijikata to speak on it.

Meanwhile, Joan of Arc wakes from her healed split skull so she can get the news about Gilles de Rais from Anastasia. Joan is a hothead and Anastasia is cold about it because of course they have to act like their powers but scratch it, we need to talk about how they all but confirmed my theory.

Old Savior, New Tricks

We’ve already talked about the hand holes and healing powers, but get those tin foil hats on because we have a rabbit hole to go down. First off, with Bronze, his speech about all being equal falls squarely in line with J-man’s teachings. No man is higher than the other. Once again, the Black King does some healing, but he also multiplies their grains for the starving Kobolds, not unlike multiplying fish. His power is solely about the creation of life, able to work on any organic material, he is often mistaken for a god as Hijikata does. In reply, Black King doesn’t just deny it, he refers to there being one God.

He’s Jesus, albeit a dark and twisted one. The whole killing bit is a new addition and those aren’t his only new methods. With Rasputin running point, they are creating a writing system and unified religion using the monsters’ different cultures with chunks of Earth’s as spackle. More races will join, causing a greater need to unify them all, not only to fight, but also to learn how to farm, communicate, and live a civilized existence. All is going according to plan except for the Drifters and his mysterious illness. After performing a miracle, some shards of crystals drop from under his robe. He could have told the one guard who saw to keep quiet to not cause panic, but then again, there’s the small possibility it was out of embarrassment of his magical mud butt.

Dwarves Gotta Dwarf

At Gadolka the dwarves have conveniently eaten themselves back to health and are their normal rowdy selves, a feat that has almost depleted the town’s food reserves. Not missing a beat, Nobunaga is already in their ear about his muskets. Without knowing what it’s for, the dwarves break it down visually like the pros they are. A key moment is when they do ask why, which leaves Nobunaga fumbling for an answer and Toyohisa putting them up on game instead:  besides the firepower and range, it evens the playing field with massively shorter training than bows and arrows. Unknown to the others, Nobunaga stuttered because he understands the full truth:  guns can make anyone a soldier, a fact he can’t tell any of them. Nobu can’t have them going soft on him coming out of the gates, especially since the dwarves can produce the guns better than in his Japan. Starved and lazy dwarves managed to create over half of Orte’s armory from there, but now they are healthy with a purpose.

They Smile In Your Face…

While bonding with the dwarves over their similar fighting philosophy, Toyohisa is interrupted by Count Saint Germi’s cronies, Allister and Fulame. Back at the elf village, “Cherry Boy” Mills, the Orte accountant that was spared, had already filled the three of them in on what has been going on and what the Drifters already have, leading to these two being sent to test Toyo.

An easy test since Allister melts at the sight of Hannibal and Fulame for Yoichi while the count waits with Nobunaga. As it turns out, Germi is also a Drifter and has no shame in working with Hitler on Orte or turning his back on it. His people were unified with a strong centralized government but it needs to fall “in the right way,” in one fatal swoop while it’s still in power. That all sounds nice, but Nobunaga quickly recognizes the kind of monster he is dealing with (apparently one willing to commit suicide by gunpowder tea kettle) and rightfully keeps his guard up. Meanwhile, at the end of Easy’s hallway, Kurou finds a wounded samurai who looks a lot like the last general Toyohisa killed on Earth.