Back to Chapter 2 though, it’s a solid chapter on the whole, and especially nice in terms of the kind of smaller, charming character moments (this chapters contains the famous Mio “Wotah!” scene) that Xenoblade 2 handled so well – without it negatively affecting the pace of the story, like such scenes sometimes did in that game. The eventual confrontation with Ethel and Colony 4 is good, but it really takes off once Ethel and her forces are defeated, without the party actually killing them (Noah from early on made a point about sparing soldiers controlled by Moebius). With his pawns beaten, Consul K arrives on the scene, and shows that not only can he control Colony 4’s Flame Clock to make all the soldiers view the Ouroboros gang as beastly enemies, he can also steal their very life force and use it to power himself up.
Our heroes fight valiantly against the Moebius, but against an opponent boasting effectively infinite stamina and regeneration, it seems hopeless. And what’s possibly even worse, every time K draws power from Colony 4’s Flame Clock, Ethel and all her soldiers come closer to dying. Faced with a situation that couldn’t be more desperate, Noah resolves to do the unthinkable – destroy the Flame Clock! He doesn’t know what will happen when he does this, and acknowledges that it could wipe out all of Colony 4, but given how the Moebius seems intent on draining them of all their remaining life force anyway, they have nothing left to lose. It’s nonetheless a heavy burden Noah has taken upon himself, but he won’t have to carry it alone – Mio vows that she will stand by his side and support him.
What follows is another absolute showstopper of an action scene – and here we also hear the song Carrying The Weight of Life for the very first time. This is Xenoblade 3’s Engage the Enemy, its Counterattack, and it’s just as incredible of a song as those two. But remember, Engage the Enemy first played during what became one of the most tragic, harrowing moments in all of Xenoblade 1 – and for a while we seem to be heading towards a similar outcome in 3; our heroes are pushed to their absolute limits, and this is the battle where both Lanz/Sena AND Eunie/Taion manage to unlock their Ouroboros transformations for the first time, resulting in formidable power boosts – but it just isn’t enough. Even when the Noah/Mio Ouroboros is finally able to force an opening and get a clean shot at the accursed Flame Clock, a fully powered strike with the Ouroboros’s giant sword just bounces harmlessly off the clock. “The Flame Clock...is life itself!” the Moebius taunts, “I very much doubt it's going to break THAT easily”. It all seems hopeless…
Until Noah remembers – he has another sword, one that somehow might be even more deadly than the Ouroboros blade! Again managing to break through the defenses of a now-complacent Moebius, the Noah/Mio Ouroboros leaps into the air, heading right for the Flame Clock – but this time Noah cancels the interlink just before the strike, him and Mio again emerging, as Noah finally unsheathes Lucky Seven and, to the amazement and horror of Consul K, this time slices clean through the supposedly unbreakable Flame Clock like a hot knife through butter. Far from being killed, Colony 4 is liberated by this act, and Consul K is suddenly deprived of his Infinite Lives cheat. The Moebius is now quickly slain, and once his helmet is removed, the party sees the face of a middle-aged man with wrinkled skin, confirming that the Consuls live way past the 10 Terms that regular soldiers have to make do with.
With Ethel and her colony no longer having their perception warped by the Flame Clock and the Consul, the Ouroboros are rightly hailed as the saviors of Colony 4, and have gained a valuable new ally. However, most of Aionios is still Enemy Territory – possibly even the Queens. And to confirm this, Chapter 2 ends with both the Queen of Keves AND the Queen of Agnus declaring that the Ouroboros are to be eliminated at all costs, as thousands of Xenoblade 1 and Xenoblade 2 fans are increasingly concerned about what will actually happen on that fateful day, when our new heroes are forced to confront the heroes of the past.
