CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT

The Princess Cures now have got six Keys out of twelve:

Above, the first Dress-Up Keys:

Star (Orihime), Wildflower (Thumbelina), Ocean (Little Mermaid)

Below, Elegant Dress-Up Keys:

Moon (Kaguya), Rose (Sleeping Beauty), Ice (Snow Queen)

The seventh item is a Crystal Rod, a Hope Kingdom royal heirloom

which needs the Elegant Keys.

Close was shocked by his liege lady's appearance.

Kirara, impulsive as always, tried to go straight for the kill, but the

Dyspear that appeared in front of the Cures turned out to be an illusion.

Then, the Cures were sucked into a dimension beyond a Door of Despair,

a place where Dysdarks' powers increase even more,

where the heroines landed separated from each other,

to finally reunite and fight a suicidally empowered Close in a combat to the death.

Which is no easy pie, since the new Close has got 

longer hair, wings with flying power included, super strength, super speed,

the ability to turn into a red-eyed crow monster,

and even more tricks up his purple sleeves...

So now it's time to use these brand new Keys in Close quarters combat against

a One-Wing Angel form empowered by Lady Dyspear:

You see, Her Ladyship is merciful enough to give him a last chance, all or nothing, to

get rid of the Princess Cures for once and for all...

Close in on them or Dyspear will kill you for having failed her for the umpteenth time!

In the meantime, Prince Kanata has found the Crystal Rods,

secret heirlooms of the Hope Kingdom's royal household,

without which the Elegant Keys are useless.

Soon, thanks to Yui, Rods, Keys, and Cures are reunited.

And the keys finally react to Kirara's dream of becoming a top model,

Minami's dream of becoming an entrepreneuse to help others,

and Haruka's dream of becoming a Grand Princess.

And to the conviction of all three.

Even Lady Dyspear herself, from her throne, 

saw the brightly coloured light caused by the reaction.

Thus...

When the Elegant Keys are placed in the Crystal Rods,

the Princess Cures have unlocked three new modes...

...and a joint attack, Trinity Lumière.

(It's so nice to see a joint attack, as evidence that all three share the spotlight!)

And thus... (drum roll)

Close is officially deceased. Finito. Stone dead. Never to return.

As far from us as, for instance, Oberyn Martell.

He was overwhelmed by the Trinity Lumière light before being dissolved into it,

his last word being the name of his liege lady: "Dyspear!"

The Cures themselves felt regret at having killed him,

while Her Ladyship was obviously not amused.

Anyway, this calls for a Dies irae, since we'll miss his vacant expressions dreadfully...

For he fought until the bitter end, like a cornered rattler, and we have felt as tense during this

episode as during the Red Viper fight last springtime.

Neither then did we see death coming...

In fact, Close's death came as unexpectedly as Oberyn's, Ned Stark's, Renly's, and the Red Wedding put together.

What an unexpected way to Close such a character arc!

Close himself did not expect to be killed.
A minute of silence...

What's more... the evil name of Cure Scarlet (as the violinist girl in the opening) has just been leaked:

Twilight (for that is her name), otherwise known as "the lovechild of Galadriel

and Aerys II", will debut within a fortnight, at the end of the month

(I'm so impatient!)

Next week, while waiting for Twilight, it would be nice for a breather.

And that's what happens in "Kirara and the Media Star."

The eponymous media star, a lookalike of mine.

We will see Kirara on the war path of pastry, 

confronting an old rival of hers, the star in the episode title:

The stakes will be high. And by that, I mean REALLY high.

Kirara is in this for the doughnuts' sake, but nevertheless as passionate as ever.

And Shut has set his sight on her strawberry-blond rival...

(Anyway, we're gonna have a little more Shut before Twilight's debut <3 ... 

I wonder whether he will, sooner or later, share Close's fate...)