Arknights Review - Maria Nearl
Welcome back fellas.
So, Maria Nearl is pretty good, in my opinion. Going into it, I kind of wasn't feeling it for some reason, but I'm happy to say my mind was quickly changed. Also, I was dead wrong (as someone pointed out), as this is not the same Nearl that was in the first few episodes of the Main Story, but rather her younger sister. On an unrelated note, I started watching the Arknights anime (It's... okay :|). And since there's currently no limited event besides the multiplayer one which I have no interest in, I have no reason not to get into talking about Side Story 6 - Maria Nearl
The story opens in Central Mazimierz after a car accident, where an unnamed knightly woman is helping repair a car for an old knight and an old craftsman, both of whom will continue to butt heads with each other throughout the story. Kind of gets annoying, but only kind of. The woman manages to fix the engine momentarily, and while the retirees offer to lend her a ride, she refuses as she has business elsewhere. Then the engine blows up, lmfao. Anywho, we then cut to later in the day, at the Roar Arena where they are hosting some kind of gladiatorial competition. Plastic Knight goes over the listing for today's events, and Greatmouth Mob announces the debut of a new independent knight with a rather famous surname: Maria Nearl.
The next scene opens up at a bar, with the craftsman Kowal and Maria working together to fix a jukebox. The bartender Marcin and the old knight V are also in attendance, as this seems to be a sort of hangout spot for this particular group. An unnamed lady, later known as Zofia, arrives on the scene and begins scolding Maria for her seemingly careless decision to participate in the Kazimierz Major, a popular gladiatorial competition/sport all across the country where knights now find their talents useful. Maria explains that she joined the Major since her family, the Nearls, would soon lose their noble status as they currently do not have Knight Primus, both because of Margaret Nearl's exile and her uncle's unwillingness to take up the mantle afterwards. Despite Zofia's protests, the rest of the gang vouch for Maria. Marcin does warn Maria that the games aren't going to be what she thinks they are. To sate Zofia's concern, Maria asks her to be her coach. Sometime later, in the Nearl estate, Maria bumps into her uncle Mlynar (Hey, it's that really good Nuker operator). He is very, extremely opposed to Maria's decision and doesn't seem to like Maria all that much either. Like, jeez dude. To be fair though, he's moreso opposed to the Major and what it stands for as a whole, and not just Maria's participation, and I can't blame him for that considering how this story goes. Anywho, in the midst of his scolding, he gets a call from a "Chief" and has to spare Maria for now. The scene then cuts to Maria and Zofia training day in and day out, while Zofia tries to force into Maria's head how intense and unforgiving the Major can be. Fortunately, Maria shows great promise and is progressing rather well in the short bit of time she has to train. Eventually, Maria's skills improve enough that she's able to disarm Zofia in a spar. Good ol' training montage, no notes. I particularly like the scene where Zofia tries for a moment to unsheathe her blade with his injured arm. It seems even she's a bit inspired by Maria's tenacity.
The next scene starts with the Roar Guard's Plastic Knight's early arrival to the Roar Arena. Apparently, the only reason he's here is because his sponsors demanded him to do so. He's encountered by some suit who demands that Plastic Knight wear a new suit of armor at the request of his sponsors, despite it not being built for competition use. Their goals go beyond simply winning the match, but rather building up influence for the Roar Guards company in the Chamber of Commerce. The scene cuts to Marcin's bar, as they sit impatiently to for Maria's fight to begin. Greatmouth Mob is announcing the contenders, and putting a heavy emphasis on the money being moved around as a result of the Major, since that seems to be the ultimate goal as of late (Hm, I wonder if that has anything to do with the moral of the story). It's also mentioned idly that Kowal doesn't work for Knights anymore. Plastic Knight and Zofia exchange barbs, and the match begins. Of course, Maria starts off as the underdog in the fight against the much more seasoned Plastic Knight. As they fight, a pair of unnamed warriors in the stand pay close attention to Maria. Plastic Knight urges Maria to surrender, which she vehemently refuses, and recalls warnings from Zofia during their training. Without any corporation infrastructure to rely on, she's at heavy disadvantage in scoping out opponents, and will have to think on the fly. Fortunately, she manages to take advantage of a weakness in Plastic Knight's experimental armor and knocks Plastic Knight out, earning her victory. The two unnamed warriors leave, not interested in the rest of today's matches. As Greatmouth narrates Maria's victory, the unnamed Suit relays a "Mr. Pavel's" thoughts on the unfolding events, to which Greatmouth is shocked to her such a name be thrown around like that. As far as I know, this 'Mr. Pavel' isn't brought up again in this story, so I hope he gets introduced to us later in the next part of this side story.
Maria and Zofia return to the bar to celebrate their victory, although Maria insists she only won due to Plastic Knight's selling out and relying on experimental, flawed armor. Zofia is already absolutely plastered, and she's eventually brought aside to sleep it off. Marcin reminisces of Majors past, specifically of the three time champion Black Knight, although she seems to be more of a blemish than a fond memory. The conversation eventually leads to the "Fissure" Knight that forcefully retired Zofia in her about against him. Due to Zofia's refusal to accept sponsors unfortunately led to her defeat. Speaking of which, a corporate employee arrives at the bar to offer a sponsorship from the Sloma Corporation. as well as MARTHE, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce. Zofia wakes up from his drunken stupor and recognizes the employee as the manager fo a now defunct organization. The employee explains the offer will allow her to grow her fame beyond mere fights. However, Maria refuses the offer, as well as the other offers presented by the Chamber of Commerce. The employee is unnervingly put off by Maria's decision, and begs Maria to reconsider before leaving. Maria's next match is in three days, but she's not sure who her opponent is. The scene cuts to the unnamed Suit, talking about a particularly cruel knight known as 'Brassrust' Ingra, who seemed to have been bailed out of some manner of consequences due to his ties with megacorps. The next match will be between them. Once again, Maria is on the backfoot, and much more severely against the vicious Ingra. She's already been beaten bloody, but refuses to back down. Fortunately, Ingra himself is also on his last legs, and the match ends in a draw as both of them succumb to their injuries and exhaustion. Maria notices the sword Zofia is carrying, which she explains she'll use to kill Ingra if he does anything to her (Can't tell if she's exaggerating or not). After a bit of protest, Zofia allows Maria to see it. The scene cuts to the bar, where Kowal and V are preparing to head to Maria's estate. When they leave, a new customer arrives: Platinum. Props to the storywriters for not giving Maria a clean record, honestly. I do think having her lose outright may not be as effective as her simply thugging it out to the end, and winning would just be too perfect for an up and coming newbie.
The next scene opens up with a conversation between the unnamed Suit, now introduced as Spokesman Czarny, and Greatmouth. He's a bit of a bigshot and has his hands in a variety of different organizations. Czarny explains that Greatmouth is being poached from his position at the Roar Guards, and will now be working directly under Czarny himself. We then cut to Maria and Zofia's training. Maria's recovered well and is back in action, Marcin is still hard at work rejecting all of the offers from the big evil corpos (wake the fuck up samurai). Anywho, in order to make the Major cut, they need to make more points. Zofia then suggests Maria join the free for all competition, where Greatmouth is now commentating due to his new higher position in the fighting scene. The rules for this match have been altered slightly, much to the suspicion of Maria's 'entourage' at the bar. Before the match starts, Maria is approached by one of the warriors from the stands in her previous fights, and assures that Ingra was rehospitalized after his fight against her friend 'Ashley'... and then the match begins. When the scene continues, half of the contestants have already bowed out, and Maria is deep in combat with the Galazka Knight (No, I will not be using accents for names), when said Knight is knocked aside by the now called 'Flametail' Knight. Maria and Flametail spar for a little bit, but the Galazka Knight is about to rouse himself and disarm Flametail. Unfortunately for him, Flametail uses Arts to truly incapacitate him this time, despite not having any normal means to cast it. Turns out, Flametail is infected, and she begins to lament to Maria the difficulty and double standards of Infected Knights (Apparently the Blood Knight was Infected, and they weren't kicked out). She chastises Maria a bit for her naivety around the Major and attempts to take her leave, but not before Maria snags a point from her. They remain engrossed in combat until the end of the match, where Maria lands 3rd place, and Flametail lands 1st. The scene cuts to Czarny in talks with Platinum of the Armorless Union, who seems to be sending her in the direction of a certain Infected Knight that made a stir in the free for all. The scene then cuts to Zofia preparing a meal for Maria for her well earned placement in the free for all, where a familiar employee offers up some important information to Zofia. The story is unfolding very well. Each time our heroes take a step forward, the antagonists try to trip them up, like there's a script to follow for these Majors and they aren't following it. Good tension builder.
The next scene opens up with a conversation between Czarny and the employee. Czarny's words almost sound like threats, maybe not pointed directly at the employee, but still. This little scene clearly depicts the corruption found within the innerworkings of the Major, and how much the status quo relies on its unperturbed activity. We cut to Marcin's bar, where business has been booming due to Maria's ventures, and Maria herself has been racking up good points. Zofia urges her to stop participating in fights, as the way things are going now, she'll still be able to maintain her title. However, Maria sees through this overabundance of caution and refuses to follow her suggestion. The Knights Association is paying a lot of attention to her, and things could get fatal in the coming matches. Unfortunately, Maria and Zofia are unable to settle this dispute, and so Zofia storms out the room. Though Marcin is still on Maria's side seemingly, she does urge Maria to be careful. Maria leaves the bar to prepare for the race, and bumps into Platinum, who has the smell of blood about her. The scene cuts to Plastic Knight and Czarny, who is breaking the bad news of his replacement in the major, which was not in the agreement they talked about prior. It also seems like Czarny is trying to convince Plastic Knight to take a fall in some upcoming matches so that a pair of knights can make the cut for the arena. We're briefly shown Maria taking second in the race before we cut to Marcin's bar, where Plastic Knight makes a visit. He makes it clear to Marcin that he will not be participating in the Major due to some pull by the Chamber of Commerce, and that some of the knights are beginning to protest the Knights Association, before making his leave. The scene then cuts to Flametail and Ashely momentarily, who are ambushed by an unknown assailant, before cutting to Maria once again being approached by Mlynar. Showing a little bit more concern for her wellbeing, he continues to scold her for her rash decision making and tries to hint at just how rigged the Major is nowadays, but the tipping point is when he begins to judge Margaret as well. Despite her efforts to the contrary, her involvement in the Major to tout her convictions and her distaste for modern competition only made things worse. However, Maria retorts that Mlynar too is now leashed to the same corporations he despises. Once again, Mlynar gets a call from a 'Director' and peels himself away from Maria once more. Man... Mlynar's a jerk. Shame he's such a good operator (I don't have him though, so he's just a jerk).
Some time has passed, and Maria still hasn't patched things up with Zofia. Maria hopes another victory will win Zofia over again, but V reiterates the true power behind the Major, it being more than just gladiatorial fights for the people's entertainment. Czarny decides to show himself to the bar for once, to offer once again some premium contracts and offers, which are all refused once more. He begins his shpeal about glory, how the knights of old who stood guard, and how glory itself are no longer needed in this day and age. The scene cuts to Flametail and Ashley running from their would-be assassins for a moment, before cutting back to the bar, where Czarny announces Maria's next opponent as 'Left Hand' Tytus Topola, a name that Marcin is deeply concerned over. He attempts one last time to Maria into corporatizing. Maria refuses, however her motives are currently losing their steam. Czarny is called away before Maria has enough time to get her thoughts together, and Flametail and Ashley barge in looking for safehaven. Maria and co. step in to scare off their attackers. The scene cuts to a conversation between Czarny and that same employee, talking about the old Platinum's fate and replacement, one he handpicked despite his betrayal of the Armorless Union. He asks the employee why he abandoned his previous business, and reiterates that anything is possible in Kazimierz. The scene cuts back to the bar, some time later, after Maria left and Zofia arrives. Marcin wastes no time to explain to Zofia the situation Maria's in, and despite her concerns and fears, Marcin tries to get her back on Maria's side. Zofia decides to tune into the fight. Meanwhile, at the arena, Greatmouth may have accidentally slipped some information he shouldn't know about Maria, and Tytus makes his disdain known for Maria before their match begins, and he's already toying with her. The little hints spread throughout the story are fantastic to pick up on from a second read through, and just goes to show yet again how deep the corruption and behind-the-scenes string pulling there is in these long since fallen competitions.
The next scene begins with Zofia taking back her now refurbished sword thanks to Maria's efforts. She reminisces about the origin of her nickname 'Auntie', before setting out to join Maria at the arena. The scene cuts to the bar, where Kowal and V announce the safety of those young warriors, and their unfortunate stripping of their official knighthood status. Things aren't looking better for Maria either, and Marcin is certain she can't win this bout. Tytus continues to humiliate Maria on the field. He's been watching her the entire time, and he's furious at how little she compares to Margaret. Zofia arrives just in time to see Maria's seemingly futile struggle, as well as her undying defiance. This relentless beatdown continues for quite some time as Maria scrounges for any advantage, and her ability for battles of attrition wins out again as Tytus begins to run out of steam as well. One hefty blow almost knocks Maria out of the fight, but she remembers words from her grandfather and pulls herself together, and plans to use Tytus's arrogance against him, and the tide of battle begins to turn. The scene cuts to Czarny, seemingly disappointed by this turnaround. He notes Tytus is a powerful warrior, but his psychological warfare style of fighting cannot subdue Maria, and Czarny is certain he will lose. However, he isn't bothered by this at all. Eventually, Maria claims a close victory, and reiterates to herself and Tytus that all this effort is merely for herself. Tytus seems to find respect in her. Although even now, Maria is questioning her goals and motives, but plays up the crowd anyways as she struggles with this conundrum. The scene cuts to Marcin making a desperate plea to Mlynar, but he refuses outright, for even he couldn't stop whatever plans the Knights Association has for her anyway. Marcin leaves, unsuccessful. We then cut to Ashley and Flametail, who are struggling to figure out their next move now that they've been driven into such a corner. They do agree, however, to hold out a little longer for Maria's sake. It seems like they're part of some resistance movement, and have made some success in freeing Infected from slavery (It's kind of implied, at least)? Things continue to build in a satisfying fashion. Things are starting to get dire, but with Maria's victory against Tytus, they're not at their worst yet.
Czarny and the employee are trying to play damage control it seems, and scolds Tytus for going easy for the sake of personal motives. Frankly, he comes off as a bit hypocritical since he's telling people off for not being able to manage their interests, when he lost specifically because he was interested in humiliating Maria instead of ending the fight, and thus got humiliated in the process. Not sure if this was intentional or not though. Either way, Tytus's track record still earns him and the entirety of his company a spot in the Major. The scene cuts to Maria and Zofia discussing the struggles of the infected in the knight competitions, specifically their segregations and their vain efforts for proper recognition. Unfortunately, they have bigger fish to fry, and decide to take the infected's tenacity as fuel for their own determination instead. The scene cuts to Platinum (kind of a whiny bitch honestly) and Czarny in the Champion's hall, where they initially discuss the Black Knight, the three time consecutive champion ultimately poached by a particular Kjerag VIP (Wonder who that could be...). Interestingly, it seems that Margaret Nearl the Radiant Knight doesn't have a picture of her own, likely due to her exile. The conversation shifts to a pair of Lazurites and their unavailability at the time, which Platinum assures Czarny is necessary, and also, not his damn business (tell him, you whiny bitch). Anywho, Czarny instructs Platinum to have someone keep an eye on Mlynar, while she is instructed in helping execute their plan. The scene cuts to the Nearl estate, where Maria is being patched up. Zofia also calls Tytus a pervert? I feel like I'm missing something or this is a translation error, because he came off as more of a arrogant prick than a pervert. Anywho, she explains a bit more about Tytus's history with herself and Margaret, and after being asked about Margaret's reasons for joining the Majors, Zofia theorizes it may have simply been to rouse more honest and truly noble knights to the cause. Maria notices her blade is in need of maintenance, and Kowal and V discuss the weather... Some ominous foreshadowing of course.
The next scene opens up with Zofia explaining the next event: A 2v2 team battle against the Snowheel Knightclub. Marcin explains that the two buffoons are currently visiting someone's grave (hopefully elaborated upon in the next part of this story). Marcin assures Maria that she's free to use Kowal's workshop, but he himself will never touch the anvil again. Zofia suggests Maria accept the help of the Fartooth Knight. The scene shifts to Czarny and that employee (Give him a god damn NAME) having a discussion. Honestly, this little cutaway confuses me a bit. I don't really understand the point of it. Czarny is ultimately left disgraced by his failures and the employee takes up his mantle, and it seems like this is simply Czarny preparing him for that... but it never seemed to me that this was the plan all along. If anyone could shed some light on this cutaway, please do (comes from MN-8 Before). The scene cuts to the Zofia estate, where she expresses the pride she has for Maria's progress, then to Czarny for some more ominous foreshadowing, and then to the bar. Marcin is preparing to head out and leave the buffoons to serve themselves when he receives terrible news from the newspaper. Maria is already heading into the arena when he catches up with Zofia to share the news: Fartooth Knight is injured and cannot fight. Despite this, Maria chooses to remain in the competition. Unfortunately, things get even worse as Maria's opponents make their presence known, and leave the audience in silence. Kowal and V put two and two together, and move to assist Maria before she's killed. Platinum prepares the arena perimeter to stop anyone from interfering. The battle begins, and Maria is shown no mercy. Marcin holds Zofia back from intervening, Kowal and V do battle with Platinum to get into the arena, but before the killing blow arrives... MARGARET NEARL COMES FROM THE TOP ROPES WITH A STEEL CHAIR. The scene continues with a monologue of the days of knights past, and what seems to be the Nearl's rise to fame in a war against Ursus. Pretty much everyone is recoiling from the surprise return of the Radiant Knight, even Platinum, for it seems the aforementioned Lazurites were in some way involved with her. A pair of newcomers make their appearance, Shining and Nightingale. Platinum lets them pass and makes her leave. The unnamed employee passes information onto Czarny from the Chamber of Commerce, and Czarny instructs him to remain in the room no matter what before he leaves to take care of business. Maria stands to assist Margaret and taking on the two "knights", and in a moment, both surrender to their collective might. Czarny instructs Greatmouth to acknowledge Margaret's return and victory alongside Maria, and Maria's entourage prepare to make their escape. Margaret instructs the arriving Shining to heal the two "knights", and then raises her hand triumphantly. The scene cuts to Czarny and Platinum, aware of his fate, and instructs her to off the Plastic Knight.
Platinum has a conversation with who I assume is specifically the Armorless Union. They order her to monitor the Radiant Knight, and to keep hands off of her Sarkaz followers. The scene cuts to the unnamed employee after receiving a phone call. They effectively force Czarny's position onto him (name is Malkiewicz. I think it was mentioned before and I'm just blind and/or stupid) and is dismissed from his position at Sloma. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce now, and is given three tasks to oversee: Keep the Majors going, guide public opinion on the Radiant Knight, and ensure the Armorless Union's work is carried out. Platinum arrives, and instructs Malkiewicz to keep an eye out for hte Pinus Sylvestris Knightclub, ferment opponents of the Armorless Union. Ashley and Flametail reflect on Maria's would-be execution and the events following. This scene is a little confusing to me as well. Flametail specifically note that once "those two" finish their jobs, they'll get to "the main point". I feel like this is supposed to raise questions, but it's just done in a sloppy way. Anywho, they reiterate their goal of exposing the Armorless Union befor ethe scene cuts to the Nearl estate. Maria vows that wherever Margaret goes, she will follow. Mlynar then barges into the scene, scolding (he does that a lot...) Margaret for returning despite how much was sacrificed for her fate to be so merciful. Both of them dig their proverbial trenches into their beliefs, Mlynar hopeless about Kazimierz returning to less corrupt times, and Margaret refusing to give up on such a hope. They draw blades and prepare to fight. Finally, the scene ends with a conversation between one Senomy (hey, that's Gravel) and an unnamed fellow. She's relaying a message to this figure from an old man, angry at the competition knights and the audacity to try and kill a young woman for trying to oppose the status quo (I think). Through their conversation, the corruption of the country is illuminated upon once more, powerful organizations in it only for the merchants that pay them off. Oh yeah, and she states that Rhodes Island has arrived.
All in all, this was a really solid addition to the story in my opinion. I was a bit taken aback at the cliff hanger of an ending, but I've come to understand that this is a story with multiple parts. Shame I have to get through so much more content before I can even get to part two, because damn this is interesting. But at the very least, I can look forward to what I assume is the conclusion to the first major story arc in the main story. Up next is Episode 8: Maria Nearl. See y'all on the flip side.
