This episode represented to the first real rest-stop in what has been a lightning chain of events stringing the past week of in-series time together. Which means it was a nice chance to more thoroughly examine some characters, and spread hints as to how exactly the finale will play out.

First up, there’s obviously been a change in Akane. From the way she walked to how titanium-hard her face was to how terse she was with her first several lines this episode, it was clear that Kogami’s choice to escape cut her pretty deep. Even so, those same terse lines showed she was still focused on the task of capturing Makishima. This led to what I though was a great scene of her privately venting about how she doesn’t trust her own Psycho-Pass anymore (though she framed this more as a fault of her personality, rather than that of the system). It’s interesting to watch her continue working for a system she has less and less belief in.

I’m surprised Nitrogen isn’t liquefying on that

Ginoza, on the other hand, clearly no longer believes in the system’s infallibility (refusing the ominous-sounding “intensive therapy”), which is not much of a surprise considering the experience abuse of its power recently forced on him. Given his relatively weak mental constitution, this means he’s expressing his frustration as a man clearly out of his depth in the most primitive ways; shouting at his dad and punching walls. His decision to stay on the case is more surprising, but not unexpected given he probably feels some sense of responsibility for this whole mess. Even though he was was essentially goaded into his attempt to slide Kogami under the radar.

In many ways, Ginoza is the most viewer-accessible character

Lastly, Kogami is definitely getting better at thinking like a criminal. Picking what appears to be the correct evil scheme from the message board (a clever bit of world-building this late in the game) isn’t a trivial feat. Also, while still denying he and Makishima are alike, he fills in Makishima’s past by superimposing his own. He’s definitely in deeper in the metaphorical darkness than he thinks he is at this point.

This episode brought up the riots had put the system on thin ice, and I realized it was odd that the reactions of the general populace to all this business had been given almost no attention in the aftermath. Wouldn’t citizens have pretty strong opinions here? More dangerously, wouldn’t the countries Japan isolates itself from monitor events inside the country? If I were one of them, I would be at least considering making a move right now. The second one would make less sense as a climax, and would be somewhat out of left field, but I feel like these are relevant questions that the show has failed to address by focusing on the cops’ personal narratives.

The zinger at the end, that the brains of the Sibyl System had made the call to take Akane into confidence, was a bit of a shocker, but pretty impressive, when you think about it. Normally, the establishment villains in any given series end up doing themselves in by a combination of overconfidence and slow wit in the clutch. This decision demonstrates Sibyl has neither flaw. I could legitimately see the system making it out unscathed from the Makishima/Kogami situation.

3 Predictions Regarding the Final 3 Episodes:

1. What the Sibyl System tells Akane will be technically true, but deliberately incomplete.

2. Akane or Ginoza, not Kogami, will end up killing Makishima. The foreshadowing in this direction is really strong.

3. The resolution of the story will run past the five days of in-series time it will take to restore the Sibyl System.