I somehow caught episodes 11 through 13 of Ergo Proxy all in a flurry. Previous concerns that my original suspicions were correct gain ground steadily. I think the term “raison d’être” is used at least 30 times between these and the previous episode.

Vincent finds himself both physically and existentially adrift in his journey home. While literally lost in a fog bank, he gets tripped up in this metaphor. He comes across a bookstore where he has tea with an odd clerk and journeys down memory lane, at least to the degree he is capable of. Episode eleven presents an interesting application of philosophical thought to Vincent’s situation in life, his identity, and his relationship with his own existence in relation to the rest of reality. We discover that the writers are able to make a passable claim of having read some good books, which is heartening, though the misuse of Decartes’ “cogito ergo sum” here will remain unforgiven by this viewer.

We don’t learn a lot about Vincent that we shouldn’t have already figured out. This entire episode’s purpose appears to be ensuring that the audience appreciates Vincent’s crisis of self-identity. The diverging plotlines start coming together here at mid-series, as Lil and Iggy catch up with Vincent and Pino.

A lot of personal interaction goes on between Lil and Vincent in episode twelve, which includes some surprisingly-frank discussions of their intentions and Vincent’s revelation that he is himself a Proxy, and that he’s in love with Lil. Lil capitalizes on this a bit, as shown above, cynically keeping Vincent off his guard. Her internal struggle regarding the need to test out Daedalus’s new bullets and her desire to seek out the secret of the Proxies is interrupted by a mandatory super-heroic fight scene. It’s just as well, because Lil wasn’t really convinced that she was hanging out with a part-time monster in the first place.

Upon seeing the transformation firsthand, as well as a battle between Vincent and another Proxy, I’m sure she can lay that doubt to rest. It turns out the special bullets work. That’s enough to merit heading back to Romdeau, but unanswered questions remain, and Lil still has one bullet left, just in case.

Having killed a Proxy (Vincent’s opponent) and with Vincent wrapped around her finger, Lil discusses her options with her faithful autoriev, Iggy. He advocates heading back to Romdeau to report, along with the Proxy corpse as proof of the bullet’s success. She opts instead to send him back alone with the evidence, so she can press on with Vincent, figure out the mysterious nature of the Proxies, kill him, and use his boat to travel back. What a cold, cold woman.

In a manner that I can only describe as dramatically-ironic, episode 13 pays Lil back a bit for her conniving ways. Lil’s orders don’t sit well with Iggy, who turns back to capture Lil, kill Vincent, and fly back to Romdeau. An entourage-type autoriev just don’t really have a purpose without its master, you see, and Iggy had contracted the Cogito virus a few episodes ago. Note how I cleverly used the English word “purpose” instead of attempting a flashy use of the French raison d’être? It’s a talent I have.

Iggy with red eyes equals bad, just in case the change in tone and attitude didn’t tip you off. Without resorting to facial contortions (inappropriate for a robot character), this was the production studio’s method of choice for visually showing a switch between nice-Iggy and bad-Iggy.

With Lil safely locked-up in a coffin, Iggy takes her pistol (loaded with the special Proxy-killer bullet) and heads of to bust a cap in his ass. He gets caught up in the classic mad-robot blunder of giving speeches when he should be pulling triggers, and is defeated in a manner that should have been embarrassing.

The episode ends with Iggy saying his farewells to Lil before finally parting ways permanently. Lil, Vincent, and Pino journey onward as a trio now. Episode 13 showed a fair amount of range in her character that has been lacking through most of the series. She’s stone-cold, ruthless, and calculating most of the time, so seeing her emotions get the better of her was a welcome change.