D.Gray-man Hallow

Episode 11

Since the cliffhanger ending of the first episode and his ominous disappearance in episode two, one of D.Gray-man Hallow's big questions has always been: Whatever happened to Cross Marian?

Now we finally (seem to) know. With memory-altering powers as part of Apocryphos's terrifying skill set, I suppose there is still some room left to hope for Cross being only temporarily deceased.

Telling the good guys apart from the bad had turned into a challenge before the Cardinal's introduction. With him in the mix, it's become almost impossible to unveil anyone's true agenda or tell who's in cahoots with whom to what end. No one at the Order ever had any idea what made Cross tick or what side he was on, so the claim that he really just used Allen to help The Fourteenth doesn't have to be the fabrication of a mad man - except that Apocryphos is not a man, but an independent, completely sentient type of Innocence. While Lenalee and Allen's Innocence have shown signs of sentience by protecting their hosts on their own, and while Timothy can converse with Tsukikami, no Innocence has ever walked around interacting with people of its own accord without needing an Accommodator.

If clearly-a-baddie Apocryphos is pure Innocence and the protector of the Heart (the one shard of Innocence connected to all the other pieces and a decisive factor in the war), Lenalee and Kanda's hatred for their power and the organisation forcing them to wield it is justified beyond their own suffering caused by this “gift.” But despite everything that happened at the Order, I still assumed the Heart to be a force of good if found and used by the right people. Now that we've seen what pure Innocence can look like, this assumption stands corrected. With Apocryphos attacking him, it also seems less likely for Allen to be the Heart simply by right of being the protagonist, something I find quite refreshing (not that this lineup has to remain the status quo for a prolonged period of time).

But Allen isn't the one to take home the crown of awesome this week, no matter how good Ayumu Murase's performance is. That honor goes to Tyki, coming to Allen's rescue in a badass cape with poorly animated CG butterflies, and Road, taking the bullet for Allen. Mostly though, it goes to Link, who finally makes a decision on his own before getting punished (possibly killed) for thinking for himself right away.

And so, Allen becomes a fugitive branded as a traitor, with Lenalee as the only one of the main four left alive who remains at the Order to fight as an Exorcist. I would have enjoyed her Batman moment more with a less revealing outfit, but it's still nice to see her doing more than looking depressed, especially after she showed such powerful resolve in the first series and was the one whose power upgrades occurred to help her friends through some of the most crucial fights.

With two full episodes and only one manga chapter left before the scene many fans suspect to be the closing point for this adaptation – a point we will most definitely reach in the penultimate episode – it's time to speculate where Hallow will leave things. As it will be impossible to resolve all the hanging plot threads, I'm now simply hoping the series might skip a few pages to end on a slightly more hopeful note by resolving at least one of the most pressing questions.

So where do you think Hallow will leave us to go read the manga? Please remember to use spoiler tags!

Rating: B-

D.Gray-man Hallow is currently streaming on Funimation.