1711. A ship making passage from Europe to the New World. On this ship, an alchemist summons a demon and changes the world, events that will cascade throughout the ages. Forward, we’re going to be dealing in heavy spoilers in this one.
1. Forgone Conclusions
We start on board the ship at night with a young man named Gretto and his lover, Sylvie. They talk of alchemy, devils and immortality. But as soon as Gretto mentions his older brother’s name do we realize what is going to happen: Maiza. This is Gretto Avaro, and it’ll be on this ship the immortals become… err… immortal. It isn’t long before we see Maiza as well as Szilard and Czeslaw. We are also being introduced to two other characters, the ever-smiling and perpetually happy Elmer, and Fermet, the soft-spoken caretaker of Czeslaw. Characters that are only starting their journeys.
But they’re not the only ones we’re introduced to.
2. Huey Laforet
”Troubled? No, sir. I am much too fascinated by all of it.”
We have heard Huey’s name before, being the enigmatic character behind the motivations of the Lemures attacking the Flying Pussyfoot. But this is the first time we get to meet the future Horrible Anime Dad, Huey Laforet. That above quote from him is actually a great descriptor of what we see of him. A young, detached observer. Someone who puts scientific discovery above everything, even ethics. Calm and smooth, but with an underlying arrogance. He only has a scant few scenes in this episode, but they are impactful as to his character and to the silent hand he’s had in the events during the 1930s.
3. A Devil Amongst Us
Up to this point, Baccano! has been a bit obtuse with conveying information and background. The nature of its anachronic storytelling making it hard to figure what is what at times. Here though, we have a major explanation of the immortals as Maiza conducts a ritual to summon a devil in order to learn the secrets of immortality. The funny thing is, and the devil is quite nonchalant about it, is that the ritual is unnecessary. Just by thinking of this devil summons it to them. This isn’t some kind of slavering beast, the devil has no form, appearing as a shadow and a voice, ending many of his thoughts with a verbal tic (“maa ii” in Japanese, “well, no matter” in English).
Continuing its nonchalance, the devil freely gives them the Grand Panacea that makes the crew of the Advenna Avis immortal. No faustian bargain at all. Just “here ya go”. The devil also explains the rules behind the immortality, such as being able to devour other immortals as well as imparting knowledge. On top of that, a condition of the elixir is that you cannot give false names when conversing with fellow immortals… which confused me a bit because it’s slightly different in the novels. There, they can’t use false names at all. In fact, it’s the setup for one immortal there to abuse the hell out of it.
But this wasn’t all the devil gave. If the immortals want to know how to prepare the elixir? Just ask Maiza.
4. Szilard Is the Traitor
I mean… yeah, obviously. He’s the villain in the 1930s. Of course he was going to be the traitor here. The thing about Szilard is that he isn’t the deepest character in the world. Come to think of it, a lot of the villains, with maybe the exception of Huey, aren’t. Still, when people aboard the ship begin disappearing, it’s pretty quick to realize what happens. Szilard has begun absorbing his fellow immortals, including Gretto (whom Maiza imparted half the elixir’s formula in case, ironically, something happened to the elder Avaro brother). Getting Szilard of the boat requires Elmer to get… a bit creative… something that the devil notes. As a reward, the devil will grant Elmer a wish, whatever he wants. We don’t find out here what it was, but it does offer an interesting thread going forward.
5. The Road to the Second Half of the Series
We conclude the episode with a scene in 1930s between Maiza and Ronnie, another Martillo Family associate, talking about the Runoratas and Gustavo causing trouble, but Maiza isn’t that concerned. It is only after Maiza leaves does Ronnie drop his New Yahk accent and comment on the looming presence of Szilard… and ends his sentence with the same verbal tic the devil uses. Yes, this (on top of the same voice actor) confirms that Ronnie is the same devil that gave Maiza immortality. I kind of wish Ronnie had a scene prior to this that he wasn’t just a background character, something that could set up this reveal a little more. But it’s not that big of a deal.
This, on top of some quick little snippets of other immortals in the 1930s, begin the setup for the second half of the series. The confrontation between Szilard and Maiza. Huey Laforet. Czeslaw. We’re beginning the speed up to the ending.
