Red River ‒ Episode 13
True crime fans, this episode of Red River is for you. Zannanza's death is the earliest recorded case of a missing person – and although history assumes that he was killed, we don't actually know if that's the case. He was on his way to Egypt following the receipt of two letters from Queen Dakhamunzu (that's the Hittites' name for her; scholars tend to think she was Ankhesenamun) asking for a Hittite prince to be her husband. We know he never made it. And that's it.
I have to give this episode credit. The final scene of Zannanza disappearing into the desert sands is one of the manga's more striking images, and I didn't have a lot of faith that the anime would pull it off. But I think they did – the sparkle of the sands, Aslan's slow gait as he leaves the dead behind, and the gentle susurrations of Zannanza's erasure from history is genuinely better done than almost any other scene in this series so far. It drives home the tragedy of Nakia's selfish actions, because not only was a (mostly) good man lost, but his disappearance is likely to spark a war between Egypt and the Hittites. But in Nakia's mind, as long as Juda gets the throne, it's worth it.
Meeting Juda is another one of the more striking moments of the story. He's nothing like his psychotic mother, and he emphatically doesn't want to be king. He believes (almost fanatically) that Kail should sit on the throne, and he's devoting himself to scholarly pursuits in order to best support him. That makes Nakia even more unhinged and selfish, because she's not doing this for her son, she's doing it for herself. She's sowing chaos and starting wars for no real reason.
Juda's delightful, though. He's a bit like a boy Yuri, determined to go his own way. It's perhaps a little surprising that he already has a consort (Zannanza is said to be the only remaining prince without one), but thinking about who his mother is, he likely has one she picked out for him. And he is considered an adult, putting him likely somewhere around thirteen years old. If you're curious, no such youngest prince is recorded in history; Zannanza is usually listed as the youngest son. There were also at least two sisters who have been left out of the series entirely. We only have record of one of their names, Muwatti.
Juda is unlikely to thank his mother for her role in what history calls The Zannanza Incident. It truly is her most destructive move thus far, because it involves an enemy nation and not just Hattusa, which is especially egregious given that Kail just finished a war with the Mitanni. But her order to kill Yuri as well is interesting, because it means she's given up on using Yuri's blood for her spell. That suggests that she's taken using magic off the table, or at least as the primary means of getting what she wants, which could spell trouble for her. After all, magic, as we've seen with her colored waters, is much harder to trace than, for example, an arrow in a horse's flank. (Aslan is still the most heroic character in this series. I will die on this hill.)
This episode brings us new theme songs, and be warned if you're anime-only, the ending theme is chock full of spoilers. I do think these two themes are more interesting to look at, even if the melting images sort of give me a headache. Unfortunately the rest of the art and animation remains subpar. At least Yuri is shrieking less.
As Zannanza lies buried in the desert sands, let us hope that some enterprising isekai writer is thinking about a story where he's not dead, but sent to another world where he learns not to make creepy kidnapping jokes to women he's attracted to.
Rating:
Red River is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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