“As Issac and his army of night creatures descend on Carmilla's castle, Hector rushes to finish his preparations before the bloody reunion begins.”

Just a reminder: this is a mature series, so swearing, and brutal fights ahead. Plus, gallons of blood, literally.

Did you order an assault on a castle? Because that was what this episode is: Issac assaulting Camilla's castle. Something ends in this episode, and it had to be in an amazing fight. This is a “Castlevania” series, taking on a powerful vampire is nothing small. Get the popcorn ready and kick back for a good ride. Also, minimal spoilers. This is a good episode to go in blind.

Almost immediately we see the power of Night Creatures. It's been rare to see Vampires fight anything, but to see them being decimated... When it was Humans on Vampires, unless the humans were ready for it (as a Speaker, the Alucard, or a Belmont), it did not go well. The rank and file vampires getting sliced or torn apart, finally showed what Night Creatures had the power to do. Vampires were the top of the world, but Night Creatures seem to surpass even them. At least en mass. It seemed like it look an exceptional Night Creature to otherwise to match an older Vampire. At least, from what we see with Camilla

During the assault, we get to see Camilla take up her sword: a red and gold guard-less single edged blade. A thing of deadly beauty, a perfect reflection of Camilla herself. The first fight for her in this entire series was in this episode, and it was utterly one-sided. Camilla started against a four-armed blade-wielding opponent. She was nothing but brutal in dispatching it. With the earlier precedent of the Night Creatures being close to vampire's power, we know she's actually working for her wins when the scene returned to her later. The bodies had been piling up, and even better, the blood from them was beginning to pool.

Hector's planning and preparations were revealed here. What he was doing when we first saw him this season comes to fruition. More importantly, it was not quite what you'd expect. To quote Hector, “I'm a wizard, remember? Not to be trusted.” But for all that, he ultimately shows surprising loyalty to Lenore. This part of the episode did one thing beautifully: eyes. Watch carefully how things play out and observe the effects. It was all told through eyes for someone.

This all culminates in an amazing fight sequence. These was some beautiful posing work and then the score does exactly what it should: take stunning animation to a level beyond. I will say pay attention throughout. The next 5 minutes are this fight. Just let it wash over you: bathe in it. Watch the reflections; the reactions of everyone within the fight. Camilla gets the titular line during this time. It was amazing chills when she said it.

This was an episode I'm leery of spoilers just for the build to here. What happened had a lot tied up in for the story. While the main content of the episode was the fight, major story lines saw a change within their players. Antagonists showed their change of heart and others beginning to genuinely grow. For that one, it really was a question of what they will do next. Something terrible does yet linger with the future. Really think of the implications and changes in the relationship we've seen grow between a Devil Forgemaster and Vampire. That has changed immensely by the end of this episode. Additionally, we know that Dracula will be coming back. It is just a question of when.

This was also the first episode to not show anything of Trevor and Sypha. A brief glimpse of Saint Germain was all it really strays from the fight.

More than anything, this episode had its big moments. But, there was a lot more said in the smaller ones. Be careful because it is usually in the smaller moments that the biggest changes can happen.

Final Tally for this episode:

Blood-Red Swords: 1

Brutal Defeats: 1

Epic Explosions: 1

Touching Scenes: 3

Cheeky “Historical” References in this review: 1