Duel blades, how cool is this?

Here ends the first major arc of Sword Art Online. I have to say, in fairness to A-1, they handled this episode pretty well. Most of its faults can almost entirely be attributed to the pinagmulan material. It was certainly a flashy episode, with the final duel between Heathcliff and Kirito topping the rest of the series in terms of animation and style, and it had moments that some might consider touching or emotional. We even had the reveal of one of the few true twists in SAO – Heathcliff’s true identity. As most realised at the time, there was something fishy during his duel with Kirito,...