'Violet Evergarden' Episode 12

We now arrive at the final arc of the show. Dietfried has been ordered to protect the peace envoy that would end the tensions that would lead to a reignition of war. These events take place continuously from the events of the previous episode, where Violet is on her way back home. Meanwhile, Cattleya and Benedict are travelling with the peace envoy as a means of good faith, and the rebels are plotting their revenge for the outcome of the war.

The journey is split between a ship and a train, and on the ship Dietfried approaches Cattleya and asks about Claudia, remarking how weak willed he was to have quit the military as soon as the fighting stopped. However, what provokes the anger of both Cattleya and Benedict is when Dietfried refers to Violet as a weapon, and mocks the work that she has been doing, both with regards to herself, and those that had hired her.

Back home we see Claudia go about his day, and on the way home he stops to observe a father and a daughter embrace. This ignites strong emotions within him, and we can see what he yearns for with regards to himself for the first time in the show, the desire to have a family and a daughter of his own. Looking at Claudia with this perspective in mind, we now have to ask ourselves if the reason why he is so protective of Violet and the reason why he goes so far for her is because he views her as his own?

On the way back home, Violet notices that there are fires all along the train tracks. Looking into the train itself she sees Cattleya inside of it, thus prompting the pilot to land as fast as he could so that she could run to warn those inside the train. Cattleya is surprised to see her on the train, and as she is explaining the situation, she is approached by Dietfired. While he has contempt for her throughout his interaction with her, he is also portrayed as a practical man. Willing to put aside his personal feelings for the sake of the mission at hand, going so far as to take Violet to the side and have her give him all the information that she could.

Despite the strides that Violet had taken in her personal life, Dietfried only regards her as a weapon, and constantly calls her out on her behaviour when she is around him. For example, the moment following their interaction exchanging information, she requests to stay on board and to receive orders so that she would be able to help protect those that are on the train. He remarks on how she is no different from the time of the war, where all she wanted was orders, as she is requesting now.

During this time, the rebels had found out about the peace envoy, and had infiltrated the train. During the night, they had gone so far as to uncouple the carriages of the train that had Dietfried's main forces on them. As a result, the small group of rebels took control with little to no effort. There are only two fighters left of the train now. Dietfried and Violet, two people that now have to work together to ensure the safety of everyone that is onboard the train.

The events proceeded smoothly on the side of Dietfried, taking out the rebels that had taken control of the conductor. However, things on Violet’s side were not going as smoothly. While it is obvious that she is the superior fighter on the train, her unwillingness to take the lives of those she fights opens up her defences, which allows for the rebels to gain the upper hand and trap her.

Dietfried manages to reach her in time and save her. It is at this moment when his raw emotions finally come through and reveal themselves. Seeing her in such a vulnerable state, being bested by those that are clearly inferior, and her being so unwilling to kill is a contradiction to what he saw her as. Now that she is not willing to kill, his opinion of her is being challenged, and he erupts. Blaming her for the death of his brother, that she was not strong enough to save him, and so on and so forth. Finally being honest with the emotions that have been inside him all this time, and as such we are given the context to the antagonistic feelings that had always been under the surface every time they had interacted 'til this point.

Dietfried in his rage outright tells her that is she is not useful as a weapon, she has no value, and she should just die. For the first time we get to see Violet stand up to Dietfried where she admits that Gilbert had told her to live, and so she has no intention of dying, and will continue to live.