TRIGUN STAMPEDEhas definitely come into its own with the sixth episode of the series visiting the past of the recently-introduced Nicholas D. Wolfwood, or rather, “The Punisher”. This episode is a visual treat, with an interestingly animated flashback scene giving context to an origin story that once again brings religion into the mix as the mysterious in-universe cult introduced in Rollo’s backstory explored inTRIGUN STAMPEDEepisode 5.
Vash and Wolfwood board a Sand Steamer known as the Humpback, leaving Meryl and De Niro behind. Aboard the vessel, Wolfwood’spast finally catches up to him.
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Bon Voyage
The episode begins with a flashback to Wolfwood killing off a member of the mysterious cult introduced during Vash’s revisit to the Windmill Village. The fleeing cultist fires several rounds that would surely be fatal for any normal person; however, Wolfwood’s penchant for high-speed regeneration puts the cultist in the unfortunate position ofhaving to beg for mercyfrom someone he literally just killed. After the opening credits,TRIGUN STAMPEDEepisode 6 presents the radio as an expository device once again, revealing the continued elusiveness of the criminal group stealing plants from various settlements. The July government continues its search, with Vash The Stampede remaining a major suspect in the case. When the group arrive at the huge Sand Steamer dubbed “Humpback”, only Vash and Wolfwood board the passenger and cargo vessel. This irritates Meryl, who reminds De Niro that it is their job to continue keeping an eye on Vash. De Niro relents under Meryl’s iron will, and the two follow the Sand Steamer on its trans-continental voyage in their cruiser, as usual.
An announcer’s voice blares on the ship’s intercom, welcoming its various guests aboard the Humpback, and boasting about its various positive qualities as it sets to bound across the Great Sand Ocean. A visual montage is shown of guests arriving aboard the ship, unpacking their belongings; and security officers filing aboard. During this sequence, a man wearing a suit marked with the same symbol as that of thereligious cult introduced at the Windmill Villageis shown making his way aboard with two heavy suitcases. His face is not seen for the entirety of this sequence, and his black gloves are minimally decorated with the Christian cross in white. The scene cuts to Vash and Wolfwood engrossed in a disagreement, with the latter’s cross-shaped luggage in full view – in response to the unseen man’s black gloves.
Quincy
As Nicholas berates Vash for only getting as far as he has because of other people dying as sacrifices in his place. The wind picks up some linen being moved by a worker aboard the vessel; creating the perfect cover for the mysterious cultist to reveal a pair of cross-shaped submachine guns similar to Wolfwood’s giant cross-shaped gun, dubbed “The Punisher”. Nicholas tells Vash to run away, but Vash manages to get up close, engaging in close combat with the assailant in a brief but dazzling dance of combat before the man is knocked down, revealing his cybernetically enhanced face – and the fact that Nicholas knows who he is: Livio.
Orphan
After the title card, the style for the following scene follows a format similar to silent movies, with each piece of dialogue being presented on a black screen after each cut. Ambient noise and contemplative music are the only sound in the flashbacks, and the animation style is incredibly beautiful in this part ofTRIGUN STAMPEDEepisode 6, briefly abandoning the 3D look of the show for a 2D, cartoonish but heavily detailed art style as Nicholas’s childhood alongside his little brother, Livio, is slowly revealed. The dreamlike style and colours used in the depiction of the sad but peaceful scenes of Wolfwood’s childhood in an orphanage are interrupted by phrases of gunfire from Livio, who remains silent as he continues attacking. It’s clear thatLivio and Wolfwood were incredibly close, with Livio relying heavily on his elder brother after his introduction to the orphanage. Despite Wolfwood’s protests, Livio continues his ambush as Vash scrambles away.
Another flashback to the past, and it is revealed that Dr. Conrad Williams enlisted Nicholas to be an experimental subject his followers dubbed a “Child of Blessing”. He would go on to subject Nicholas to a plethora of agonizing procedures much like Rollo experienced, which also ended up aging him up significantly. The visual sequence depicting Nicholas’s gruelling experiments takes on a nauseating, psychedelic quality as Nicholas’s mind begins to break under the strain of his accelerating cellular growth. Within the space of a few months, the young Nicholas D. Wolfwood achieveshis current “adult” appearance. One night, Nicholas attempts to escape from the facility, sustaining several gunshot wounds which promptly heal, revealing that he’s a successful test subject. He manages to skip past the guards and doctor to reach for the window behind him; however, a telekinetic force sadistically breaks and contorts Nicholas’s body into various shapes before he’s imprisoned once more.
Hostages of Michael
As one would expect, the orphanage where Nicholas lived for a while was a source of test subjects for Dr. Williams' highly experimental drug. Children who were thought to have a high chance of compatibility with the substance were ranked and taken away from the orphanage. Nicholas was seen as a monster for his S+ Class level compatibility with the drug, and subsequently inducted into the “Eye of Michael”. This sixth episode ofTRIGUN STAMPEDEsees the introduction of popular character Legato Bluesummers, who informs Nicholas that he will be the embodiment ofthe divine punishment of Millions Knives, eliminating the unwanted to maintain the smooth completion of Knives' plans. Legato presents Livio as a hostage, explaining that he agreed to become a test subject in the event that Nicholas refuses. Back to the present, Vash is adamant that they can save Livio, and keeps trying to get the security detail to escape the scene. In between gunfire and flashbacks, De Niro and Meryl are shown in pursuit of the Sand Steamer, but they’re soon lapped by a huge swarm of members of the Bad Lads Gang.
Elsewhere, Legato and Zazie The Beast are approaching the Steamer talking about the events taking place aboard the vessel. Legato intends to have Livio die in his conflict with Vash, which would force them to harvest more test subjects from the orphanage. Nicholas is desperate to prevent tragedy from taking place; however, Legato has already set his plan into motion, using his telekinetic powers to ruin the vessel’s internal navigation, which takes it off its original course and sends it veering towards Hopeland Orphanage – where all of Nicholas' siblings remain unaware of their impending doom. This creates anextremely twisted version of the Trolley Problem, in which Wolfwood is forced to prevent the deaths of either Livio and Vash, or all his siblings back at the orphanage. The episode ends with Zazie The Beast chuckling in delight at the depths of human cruelty on display, and Legato wonders what choice Wolfwood will make.TRIGUN STAMPEDEepisode 6 is by far the series' best for its action, visuals and particularly moving exposition of the past of one of the Trigun franchise’s most beloved characters.
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