For Ryu Soma, the nightmare of having to work with the creature that killed Maki, the woman he loved, intensifies as the FUNERAL base and his team members begin the work of recovering from the alien attack of the previous DVD. Frank, Ryu's nemesis, is a creature made up out of alien parts. He lies in a coma after the defense of the base - much of this DVD is about the events leading up to Frank's return to 'consciousness.'
When Ryu's sarg (a robot form) is attacked by an alien that looks just like it, a dawning realization comes that the origin of the giant machine-like creatures the pilots fly is not human. The efforts to revive Frank using recovered alien brains ends in a major crisis that confirms this suspicion. The FUNERAL pilots are flying cored aliens created created out of a desperate effort to find a weapon that can stop the aliens, but without a thought for the potential risk being created in turn.
Once again it is Hattie, an orphaned child who has adopted Frank as 'Mr. Elf,' who brings Frank back into focus. And triggers several flashbacks to Maki's death. Hattie's resemblance to Maki is an important plot device. As Ryu's relationship with Harriet begins to mirror his relationship with Maki, the pain that surfaces begins to eat away at Ryu's rigid personality.
The episodes continue to exploit the play of Ryu's character against increasingly dangerous alien incursions. All of the characters deepen in this series of episodes, as one would expect from the pivotal DVD of the series. The comparative confusion of the earlier episodes has resolved itself into the primary thematic movements, revealing a story that pits revenge against redemption, love and family against hard science. In any case, the winner is the viewer.
