Recap: Kamen Rider Gotchard, Episode 40 – Evil Descends! The Thrice-Greatest Dark Kings

Atropos looks longingly at her Gigist cube. But she and Clotho are shocked when not only Gigist pops up, but two other Meikoku Kings do as well. They are Germain and Gaelijah and immediately mock Gigist for his defeat, saying they pretty much expected this to happen and how he is not fit for the throne.

Germain says Gigist wanting to understand the human heart was always a waste of time since humans do not wish to be understood. Germain believes humans want to be dominated by them and ushered down the correct path alongside the Chemies.

Gigist introduces the Meikoku King Trinity to Atropos and Clotho. Germain and Gaelijah recognize the sisters as the dolls made by the not-so-good doll Gurion. Shocked that Gurion was also a doll, Atropos begs the kings to return him to them. But Germain says he already ate him and was delicious. Gigist knew that was the case.

An angry Clotho tries to charge at Germain, but he warns her that she is punching up and he merely taps her head and she burns in flames.

Germain says he loves man and wants to make humans happy by getting rid of the biggest pest which he believes is Papa Kudo aka Kamen Rider Wind.

Meanwhile, Houtarou is happily teaching Hopper1 and Nijigon his favorite song. But Sabimaru wonders what they do now that they’ve Gotcha’d all the Chemies and destroyed Gigist. Houtarou says they must achieve a peaceful world with the Chemies.

About that, Minato-sensei comes in with a message from the Union bosses. While they commend the gang on catching all the Chemies, they order them to return all of the Chemies to HQ.

Before they even think about that though, the gang recognizes they have to tie up some loose ends with the sisters.

Speaking of, on the other side of town, Rinne meets with Atropos who had called for her. Atropos informs Rinne that her father is in danger, especially with Gigist still being alive and now more dangerous. Atropos is telling her this because she has a favor to ask.

Meanwhile, Clotho finds Papa Kudo and slaps her armor on, now with long hair. She attacks Papa Kudo, but it turns out to be another double. She pulls back a nearby curtain to reveal the real Papa Kudo. He says he thought he had more time.

Papa Kudo henshins and they battle, but he is weak and cannot take anymore. The King Trinity arrive just as Rinne and others coming running in.

Rinne, Houtarou and Supana henshin and battle the kings. Houtarou even goes rainbow, but the kings are just too powerful. Minato is shocked when the kings manifest a golem made out of inorganic matter as this requires a high level of alchemy.

Germain scoffs and asks where he thinks alchemy came from in the first place.

After forcing Rinne and Supana to dehenshin, Germain says he loves man so much, he wants to turn them into Malgams. And he needs Chemies to do that. Malgams are the evolutionary end goal of humans and Chemies. And he believes the Kamen Rider crew are going against nature’s will by fighting it.

The kings force rainbow Houtarou to dehenshin, but the gang is able to retreat safely.

Gaelijah is very nonchalant and leaves this to the other two. Germain straddles Gigist and reminds him of his failure, so it will be Germain who takes the lead on this one. Germain swats Clotho around before he leaves as well.

Back at the Academy, Papa Kudo thanks them for saving his life. He confirms that this is his real body. He is the real Papa Kudo and he had created doubles in order to give himself time to recover from the Sisters’ initial attack back then.

Rinne is happy to see him, but asks if he’s okay now. Papa Kudo wishes he was, but he’s not even sure he can summon another double. What he is sure of is that inside Nijigon is a fragment of the Philosopher’s Stone, the source of the kings’ dark power. The egg Chemy was created to restore the stone from its fragments, but it was never used. That’s how it ended up in Papa Kudo’s hands and that’s why he entrusted it to Houtarou at the beginning of the season.

Papa Kudo reminds Houtarou to keep Nijigon safe and he is confident Houtarou can bring about a peaceful human-Chemy world.

Supana says he cannot sign on to this plan. An ideal world would not need Kamen Riders, so where would that leave the Chemies. He says it won’t be easy for society to just accept them. The only thing Chemies can do is fight.

Houtarou tries to talk to Supana, but he says their primary concern now is to take care of the kings. Papa Kudo says he needs rest, but will continue to find ways to defeat them. He asks Rinne not to do anything reckless.

That evening, Rinne meets with Atropos who is impatient about Germain not being defeated yet. Atropos wants to avenge Papa Gurion and when he is able to revive, she might be able to change. Rinne says she can defeat Germain, but Atropos must promise not to hurt anyone ever again.

They pinky swear.

Next morning, Houtarou cannot find Nijigon when he wakes up. But he is horrified when he sees Mama Ichinose has roasted a whole chicken which Houtarou thinks is Nijigon. Hopper1 says of course it’s not.

Over at the playground, Lachesis is watching families having fun when Clotho arrives and confronts her about abandoning them. Clotho fights her sister, but Lachesis says she will never come back. Clotho says families should stick together, but Lachesis says they no longer see eye to eye. They both henshin and battle.

Nearby, Rinne meets Houtarou and they decide to look for Nijigon together. But Germain pops up and wonders if they’re looking for the same guy. Houtarou tries to hide that Nijigon is missing. So Germain decides to get rid of the two of them now instead. He summons the golem and tosses rocks at them.

Houtarou and Rinne henshin and battle the golem while Atropos watches and clutches her throbbing Gurion cube.

Back at the warehouse, Clotho forces Lachesis to dehenshin. Lachesis says families don’t force each other to stay. It is not right.

Before Clotho can strike down Lachesis, Supana arrives to protect her. He tells Lachesis not to get the wrong idea as he is just here to protect Kyoka-san’s research.

Clotho, however, is able to force Supana to dehenshin when she kicks him at a wall. A distraught Lachesis says she sees nothing but a soulless beast in the one she used to regard as her sister.

A new song plays as Houtarou and Rinne continue to battle the golem. But Germain steps in and helps the golem to get this over with, hurling explosions at Houtarou and Rinne.

Episode Thoughts

Definitely an Episode 40-type of episode! lol Really starting off this final stretch of the season.

We get “new” villains, but again, they don’t feel like Final Bosses or something. They feel like more pieces to help complete that final foe. The two newly arrived kings are good so far. Showy Germain and broody Gaelijah to match up with wounded ego Gigist. They’ve shown they are very dangerous and capable.

You want to see the heroes fighting hard instead of just having things handed to them via new toys. Like when Germain choke-slammed Houtarou and Rinne, I was like OMGWTF! Wowow! That was crazy!

So they really provide a good counter to our alchemy friends and present something big they have to overcome.

And there’s still lots of questions, but plenty of time to answer them. And we get a few of them here.

I feel like there’s probably a lot of lines here and in previous episodes that on the surface seem like throwaway lines. But end up really being important details or even just foreshadowing toward the full picture.

“Where do you think alchemy came from?” That’s probably a question that factors into the endgame. And will help explain why Chemies and dolls exist in the first place.

Also interesting is how we really have everyone with their own mind and principles. The sisters all have different philosophies. The three Meikoku Kings have different goals too it seems. Our alchemy friends also have different outlooks.

It’s not just a collective group with one brain. But different goals within the same shared ideals. I feel like that’s different from other seasons. And it allows for organic conflict to arise between the characters, even allies, rather than have forced, hollow, out of nowhere “twists” just to bring about drama in a bland story.

Elsewhere, Rinne trusting Atropos? I dunno about that lolol I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Atropos is their final foe. (Read: not Final Boss, but final foe! Hehe) So like not in an evil mastermind kind of way. But more like the final holdout before peace and love in the world of humans and Chemies. You know? Well, we’ll see I guess.

Supana saved Lachesis! The ship is sailing y’all! lololol I really did love the Lachesis-Clotho scenes thought. And that final scene where Lachesis is just helpless thinking about her sister possibly being a lost cause.

Anyway, while there’s a lot of different dynamics between characters, the core of the story is still Houtarou’s ultimate Gotcha and how the antagonists (even in their own different ways) go completely against that sincere wish of a peaceful human-Chemy world.

The story can go any which way, but when everything can still boil down to that basic conflict, it’ll be alright. And the season can easily refocus toward that if needed. Though it really hasn’t been needed very much, if at all. The show is able to balance its different parts well. And that’s why we’re already at Episode 40, yet can still be excited and look forward to what’s ahead. Unlike other seasons. lolol