Baccano! Episode 11

"Chane Laforet Remains Silent in the Face of Two Mysterious People" is the eleventh episode of the 2007 Baccano! anime.

Recap Scenes
Chané Laforet dueling Ladd Russo on the roof of the Flying Pussyfoot (E10); Czeslaw Meyer regenerating and vowing to kill the immortal (E10); Isaac Dian expressing disappointment over the bottles' contents, he and Miria Harvent running around the back room in their quest to rob the Martillo Family, Firo Prochainezo, Maiza Avaro, and Lia Lin-Shan discovering them as Ennis watches in secret (E10).

Synopsis
In 1930, Firo Prochainezo's promotion party is in full swing at The Alveare, with the Martillo Family executives, the Gandor brothers, and Isaac & Miria in attendance. Firo and Maiza Avaro, however, have moved to the back alley behind the Alveare to chat and drink in private.

Firo remarks to Maiza, "It's funny, how people meet" - clearly thinking of their chance second meeting with Isaac and Miria - and Maiza muses that all meetings may be miracles in their own way. The mention of miracles reminds Firo of Maiza's unnaturally fast healed knife wound, and he inquires about it. Maiza is unwilling to answer, and Firo backs down easily enough.

Moments later, Firo spots Ennis run down a perpendicular alley, and he puts down his drink with a hasty apology to Maiza and chases after her. Maiza calls after him, but ends up smiling fondly and returning to the Alveare.

Ennis immediately goes on the offensive when FIro reaches her, but is taken aback when he holds out and offers her missing cufflink.

Title card.

In 1931, three Lemures investigate the legless corpse of a Lemur in one of the Flying Pussyfoot 's frieght holds and report their findings to Goose Perkins via their transmitter. Goose and the Lemures assume that Ladd Russo was behind the murder, and, considering its mutilated condition, assume that he would be an even match for Chané Laforet. Goose relays orders to kill both her and Ladd Russo as soon as they are able. The blond Lemur takes off his headset and informs his two comrades that "Code Beta" is in effect, prompting one of them to ask if they really are going to kill their own ally. The blond replies that Goose wants them to kill her while she is fighting the White Suit.

Ladd drops down from the ceiling and slashes one of the Lemures' throats with Chané's knife, killing him. He smoothly points the knife at the blond's throat and orders him to drop his gun, which he does. He tells the mustached Lemur by the door to do the same, and the Lemur complies, running away as soon as the gun leaves his hand. Ladd lets him escape, and proceeds to interrogate the blond for information on Chané.

Elsewhere, Czes enters a bloody third class car and sits on the booth closest to the door. He continues to ponder his next move regarding the immortal, briefly considering and then discarding the option of escape since he wants to see who the immortal is at the very least. It is only then that he notices a blood-drenched Claire Stanfield looking down at him, having not heard him enter. Czes, not recognizing him as the Young Conductor asks him who he is twice. When he receives no response, he introduces himself as 'Benjamin' (Thomas in the sub).

Claire tells Czes that there is no reason for him to lie, addressing him by his real name. Czes trembles, and asks Claire how he knew his name - again Claire does not reply, only intensifies his expression, and Czes realizes that he must be the Rail Tracer. Claire confirms Czes' guess and sits down in the booth next to him, revealing that he knows Czes is no child, and that he wants to kill the other passengers. He tells Czes that he won't kill the other passengers because he will die instead, and seizes Czes' neck with his hand.

Over in first class, Goose exits the room where he is holding Natalie Beriam and Mary Beriam captive, and enters the compartment where his ally Spike is currently interrogating Nick and Nice Holystone (both sitting on the floor with their wrists bound behind their backs). Nick insists to a deeply skeptical Spike that he is not lying and that there really is some sort of red monster crawling around on the train.

Some time later, Rachel is crawling under one of the cars when she sees glass shatter from one of the windows up ahead. It is followed by the Rail Tracer and Czes, whose right arm the Rail Tracer holds against the tracks until it is destroyed up to Czes' shoulder. Czes' blood splatters across Rachel's horrified face.

Chané stalks down a corridor of a car with a knife in either hand, sharp intensity in her eyes and movement. She exits and climbs onto the roof, turning when she hears Ladd call her name. Ladd, clinging off the roof and side of the train with his right hand, shouts that he has heard that the Lemures do not actually like her, nor she them. He adds that he has also heard that she is Huey Laforet's "prize possession," and that she possess a fanatical devotion to him. What is more, Huey is supposedly immortal. He raises the bloody corpse of the blond Lemur up past the roof with his left hand, saying that he learned all of this from his "friend." He manipulates the corpse like a puppet into agreeing with him, before dropping it with a laugh.

Ladd hauls himself up onto the roof, and, once standing, continues relaying what the Lemur told him - which includes that Chané and Huey apparently opposed the hijacking plan. He further antagonizes Chané by coming close and moving his fingers over her cheeks and into her hair, crooning that Huey might very well be using her. Chané's face twists with rage, and she slams the butt of her knife into his head; Ladd retaliates with a high kick to her face that sends her sprawling onto the roof with a bloody mouth.

Having gotten to his feet, Ladd announces that the first thing he will do once he is off the train is kill Huey. Chané gets to her feet and backs away as Ladd advances towards her, talking about his lack of interest in killing Chané, since unlike the Lemures she comes across as someone who is putting her life on the line. For Ladd, it would be much more interesting to kill Huey, a perceived God to the Lemures, than Chané. He lunges at her, causing her to tumble back onto the roof of the caboose, and with a few well-placed blows sends her rolling off the edge.

Ladd sighs at the fight's premature end, shoves his hands into his pockets, and sets off back the way he came. The shunk of metal piercing metal stops him in his tracks, and he turns to find Chané glaring at him from the roof's edge - she drove her knives into the side of the train and used them to climb back up. Ladd grins nastily, pleased that the fight can continue, and throws a punch at her as soon as she is back on the roof. Chané manages to nick Ladd's ear during the resumed fight, and Ladd emphasizes that he will kill Huey even if he is an immortal, cruelly and leisurely, while Chané watches. Chané prepares to attack, only for Ladd to startle and stare at something behind her - and for something gripping her knife, preventing it from moving. She looks back, and finds a blood-drenched man - Claire - staring down at her.

Maiza toys with his drink at an otherwise empty table in the Alveare speakeasy in 1930, a few full glasses of wine, Firo's drink, and a few plates scattered in front of him. The speakeasy is full of patrons for the dinner rush, and Seina and Lia Lin-Shan are busy attending to other customers. A man in black sitting at the closest table stands and takes the empty chair across from Maiza, remarking that it has been a long time since they last saw each other. He is Szilard Quates, and Maiza, aghast, shoots to his feet and cries out his name. Everyone nearby looks over, silent in the face of Maiza's urgency.

Szilard takes one of the wine glasses and toasts to the Advena Avis and their two hundred year awaited reunion, draining the wine in one sip. A group of Martillo executives led by Randy and Pezzo amble out of the back room and ask Maiza what is going on; Maiza tersely orders them to run away, asserting that Szilard is after him alone. With palpable anger, he reveals that Szilard killed thirteen of his friends - including his younger brother, Gretto. At this, Szilard stands and informs Maiza that he has killed five more since that time, making the count eighteen.

The clear outrage in Maiza's face is all Randy needs, and he land the other executives draw their handguns from their jackets and aim at Szilard in unison. Lia screams, and the Martillos open fire on Szilard as Seina and the patrons flee for the exits.

Outside, Firo jolts at the sound of gunfire and immediately takes off, only for Ennis to tackle him to the ground. He protests, desperate to go aid his friends, but Ennis warns him that he will die if he does. The sound of gunfire in turn reaches the partygoers in the underground meeting room. The gunfire stops.

Above their feet, an incredulous Randy asks Maiza how Szilard is still standing despite the countless bullet holes in his body. Maiza moves to grip him by the shoulders, pleading for him and the others to escape. Szilard, his smile vicious, crows that Maiza's warning comes too late; he produces a machine gun, and pulls the trigger.

Claire's sudden arrival on the caboose's rooftop in 1931 has brought Chané's and Ladd's fight to a confused standstill. Claire chastises Chané for having jammed her knife into the wall of the conductors' compartment, complaining that she nearly nicked his ear, and asks that she apologize. She raises her knife to her throat and shakes her head. Realizing that she cannot speak, Claire bows his head and apologizes for his rudeness.

Sticking his hands into his pockets, Claire strolls past Chané and Ladd - who in contrast are mutually filled with tension - and comes to a stop at the other end of the car. He encourages them to continue their fight, claiming that he will kill whomever survives. Ladd's inquiry into Claire's identity is blown off, and, irritated, he lobs Chané's throwing knife at Claire - only to stare when Claire catches it easily. Claire dodges Ladd's subsequent punch easily too, leaning at an impossible angle off the edge of the roof into a series of acrobatic flips and landing on his feet with a circus pose.

Chané charges past him towards Ladd, driving him back with several slashes of her knife. Behind her, Claire asks if Ladd was telling the truth about Chané's and Huey's opposition to the Lemures' plans. She nods. His subsequent decision to provide her support causes Ladd no small amount of upheaval, since he has figured out that Claire is almost certainly the person who has been killing both the White Suits and Chané's Lemures, but Claire's reason for helping her is simple: compared to Ladd, she is Good.

Ladd throws a punch at Claire, accusing him of being the sort of person who would save a child attacking him instead of killing them. Claire agrees that he would, and Ladd - no longer afraid of him - sneers that Claire is just a 'weakling' after all. This amuses Claire, who counters that only a strong person can possess the mercy and compassion required to spare someone like their hypothetical child. He identifies himself as one such strong person - one who will never be killed.

Ladd's bloodlust reaches a boiling point with this declaration, and he asks if Claire truly is the sort of person who thinks they cannot die. Claire confidently states that he is - after all, the world is his.

Firo struggles to free himself from Ennis' hold in 1930 at the sound of Szilard's machine gun, eventually managing to pin her against the wall and demand her name. He spots Szilard confronting Maiza through a bullet hole in the window shutter behind her, and demands to know just who Szilard is as well. Inside, Szilard calls Maiza a fool for refusing to share the elixir's knowledge back in 1711 - if he had, then Gretto and the other alchemists would still be alive.

Molsa Martillo frowns from his seat in the Martillos' basement at the commotion upstairs, wanting an explanation. Keith, Berga, and Luck Gandor rise as one, with Luck asking Molsa to let him and his brothers handle the situation, since it is possible that their conflicts with the Runorata Family or Dallas Genoard may be responsible for what has happened. He adds that Firo would never forgive him if he let something awful befall Molsa, and orders his subordinate to check out the situation upstairs.

Isaac and Miria hunch over their glasses and worry that Dallas and his friends have come back for revenge, making the situation their fault. With their real motivations at risk of being exposed, they have to figure out a way to deal with Dallas' crew.

Maiza dodges Szilard's right hand and asks him why he is obsessed with the elixir; Szilard answers that all he wants is knowledge, to know the secret of its creation. Maiza retorts that all Szilard seems to be after is the ability to kill more people, which Szilard denies on the basis that his motivations are 'more reasonable' by comparison.

Firo is stunned to learn from Ennis of the true nature of the elixir, and that Maiza and Szilard are both immortals, but he steels himself and takes off for the back alley where he and Maiza had been drinking earlier that evening. Ennis tackles him to the ground again, and Firo props himself up by his arms over her body to ask what her 'deal' is.

Szilard reveals to Maiza that he used the information in Gretto's memories to make an incomplete version of the elixir, one that prevents its imbiber from all forms of death except that from old age. Incomplete immortals cannot devour other immortals, meaning that they are one-sidedly vulnerable to complete immortals. He chuckles at Maiza's outrage, and at the sheer ease at which complete immortals can harvest the knowledge and skills of incompletes - a method which he calls "quick and painless" as he turns toward the the crate containing the bottles of elixir. Maiza rushes around the table separating them.

Ennis identifies herself to Firo as an artificial human created by Szilard, explaining that she can read his thoughts since she was derived from his cells. At Firo's plea for a simple explanation, she says that she is alive by Szilard's will, and thus can die by Szilard's will.

Maiza reaches Szilard as he is about to open the crate, but Szilard twists his arm behind his back and hisses that Maiza must have wasted the past two hundred years to be as weak as he is now. He twists further, and Maiza cries out as his arm is broken. Szilard tosses him to the side and comments that his own two centuries have been very fruitful, turning to open the crate. The bottles are missing, and he exhales sharply: "Those pathetic creatures have gotten into it after all." Maiza, on the floor, hoarsely asks him what he means.

Firo leans back as he kneels over Ennis, incensed by Szilard's selfishness. Ennis softly rationalizes that she is the closest thing Szilard has to a daughter, to which Firo objects that no true father would enslave their child under threat of death. Ennis stares, wide-eyed in the face of his sincere anger.

Szilard scoffs at Maiza 'playing dumb', and says that his Cure-All Elixir is the same Grand Panacea that he and Maiza drank over two centuries ago. After all those years, he had finally succeeded in making the elixir on his own.

Firo tells Ennis that a 'pretty girl' like her could not possibly be the daughter of someone like Szilard, and he stands and offers her a hand up. He accidentally pulls her into an embrace with the movement and blushes; behind him, a newly arrived Dallas and his plus twos jeer at the sugar-sweet scene. Firo turns, and with a start, recognizes them as the men he trounced earlier that day in defense of Barnes. Ennis asks Dallas what he is doing at the Alveare.

In 1931, Claire fatally strangles Czes one-handed with a grin on his face. He relaxes his grip, lets Czeslaw's corpse fall to the ground, and waits for Czes to regenerate. Czes reawakens and, smiling, asks if Claire is surprised at his immortality. Claire replies that he already knew Czes was immortal, a condition he finds 'interesting' in that it means he can do any number of horrible things to Czes - and Czes would not flinch. Czes goads him on, claiming that there is no pain which he (Czes) has not already he felt. He reveals that an immortal he trusted - seen in flashbacks as Fermet - inflicted horrific tortures upon him daily for years, including: thrusting red hot pokers into Czes' eyes; giving Czes into an acid bath, and burning him alive. After all that, Claire's "simple-minded violence" does not frighten him.

Claire callously dismisses Czeslaw's experiences as child's play, and rattles off several unusually gruesome tortures he has learned as an assassin - and notes that the tortures that he is especially versed in are those that prevent the victim's death. As he takes Czes' wrist, he points out that Czes seems unusually anxious despite his professed acclimation to pain - and he bites down on Czes' fingers, severing them with just his teeth.

Czes wails, his entire body shaking. Claire tells him that what he fears most is the unknown: that there is some level of pain out there that he has yet to experience. He holds up Czes' hand as the boy's fingers reattach themselves and, staring directly into Czes' fear-filled eyes, declares that he will impart unto Czes that unknown level of pain over and over until he forgets how to come back to life. With that, he crushes Czes' fingers, and Czes screams.

Who and another White Suit point their machine guns at the passengers in the dining car, demanding they relinquish all their money and bare their breasts. The door behind them bursts open, knocking the second White Suit to the ground. Who whirls around and is immediately punched in the face by Donny. Jacuzzi Splot peeks into the car and picks up Who's dropped machine gun, proceeding to aim it at the passengers and announce that the train is now under his control. If the passengers want to stay alive, they must follow his gang's instructions without question (Donny is dubious at this declaration). Jon Panel and Fang Lin-Shan emerge from their hiding place behind the bar at Jacuzzi's face, and they and Jacuzzi are mutually relieved to see each other safe.

1932. With Gustavo Bagetta temporarily disposed, Elean Duga and Tick Jefferson dare to peek out from the Coraggioso's billiards room and assess the situation unfolding between Eve Genoard and the Gandor brothers in the sitting room. Luck apologizes to Eve for having potentially frightened her, but Eve, hopelessly lost, is more in need of an explanation than an apology.

Their attention is drawn to a previously unseen or non-present Bartolo Runorata, who with no small amount of reverence says that this is the first time he has ever witnessed 'it' (regeneration) with his own two eyes, though he has heard the stories. Luck greets the Don politely, displaying no outward hostility despite the ongoing Gandor-Runorata feud. Bartolo glances down at his capo Gustavo passed out on the floor; Gustavo's bloody nose, coupled with the scattered cards and overturned chair, serve as strong evidence of recent conflict.

Bartolo offers Luck an apology for the Runoratas' "careless handling" of the situation, which Luck acknowledges; along with the fact that while it is a honor for them to be paid a visit by the Runorata Don personally, such a visit is unprecedented. Bartolo replies that the brothers' secret is serious enough to warrant a personal visit, and makes his reason for coming plain: he wants the Gandor brothers to join the Runorata syndicate.

Luck declines firmly, unwilling to become a Runorata guinea pig. Unsurprised, Bartolo demands that the Gandors compromise and hand over Dallas Genoard with the guarantee that if they comply, the Runoratas will cease hostilities against the Gandors. Again, Luck declines. When Bartolo requests Dallas' whereabouts, Luck and his brothers look over to Eve as one. She is stiff with nerves, anxious to learn of her brother's fate.

1930
Click "Expand" for differences regarding the 1930 timeline.

The anime condenses the events of November 1930 into one day and one night from two days and one night, changing the sequence of events significantly. In the novels, Dallas' massacre and theft at Coraggioso takes place during the Martillos' party, not before, and the crate Dallas steals actually contains regular liquor - the immortality elixir is already at the Alveare. Isaac and Miria, who visited the Martillos first instead of the Gandors in the novels, leave the party early and then steal the crate from Dallas.

Szilard does not arrive at the Alveare until the day after the party, not during it as he does in the anime. The anime never explicitly explains why Szilard knew to find Maiza there (the viewer must infer it), but in the novels, Ennis watches Isaac and Miria visit the honey shop on the second day (they decided to give their stolen liquor to the Martillos as a thank you gift). It's then that she spots Maiza and Firo speaking with them, and leaves to report Maiza's whereabouts to Szilard (and to drive him to the Alveare).

After Isaac and Miria leave the Alveare, they come across Inspector Edward Noah outside the Coraggioso. He thinks Isaac really is a priest, and details how several Gandors were killed during the night. Isaac and Miria assume that he means Dallas' group, and that they must have accidentally killed the three men with their pepper bombs. Worried that the Martillos will be blamed as the culprits since they now possess the crate Isaac and Miria stole from Dallas, they head back to warn the Martillos of the danger. The Gandor brothers, having learned of their men's deaths upon returning to the Coraggioso after the party, also head off to the Martillos to discuss the situation.

Along the way, Isaac and Miria overhear Dallas' crew talking nearby. Miria recognizes them as the ones Ennis 'took to jail' (they never realize that Dallas' crew are the 'Gandors' they stole the crate from), and they mistakenly conclude that the men busted out of jail and are after Ennis for revenge. This is the real reason they resolve to go after Dallas' group.

Szilard arrives at the Alveare around midday, as Maiza, Firo, and other Martillo executives are having a light lunch. Molsa, Kanshichirou Yaguruma, and Ronny Schiatto are away, unlike in the anime. The Martillos are furious to see Seina's prone body on the ground, and Firo is present to learn of Maiza's deceased brother and friends. Randy and Pezzo fire the first bullets at Szilard in revenge for Seina, and then the other Martillos shoot. When Szilard opens his black case, Firo is the first to realize it contains a gun and rushes forward, trying to kick the case away. Szilard kicks him back to Maiza, and Maiza orders Firo to run.

Firo reluctantly obeys, and Szilard opens fire on him as he runs for the back door. Maiza dives in front of the torrent of bullets to protect Firo, blocking all of them from hitting him. Enraged, the Martillos ignore Maiza's dying pleas for them to run and hurl stools at Szilard, achieving nothing. Randy slashes at Szilard with a knife, forcing him to back away, only for Szilard to open fire. All of the Martillos are shot dead except for Randy - who'd hid just in time - and he takes one look at Pezzo's corpse and prepares to attack Szilard with a knife. He is not prepared for Szilard to use Seina's corpse as a human shield, and is shot dead.

Firo escapes the back door and is immediately attacked by Ennis (who'd been ordered to guard the door should Maiza try to escape through it). His and Maiza's respective conversations with Ennis and Szilard are truncated in the anime, but otherwise unchanged.

Firo also does not return Ennis' cufflink in the novels because she never loses it in the first place.

1931
Click "Expand" for differences regarding the 1931 timeline.

The mustached Lemur who runs away from Ladd is actually supposed to be a character named Upham, whose character design is radically different from his anime replacement. The discrepancy is not without reasonable cause, since Upham is not given a character design in the second and third light novels (nor does he have a name). Upham's line regarding killing Chané is also given to the other brunet Lemur in the anime.

In the previous episode, Claire witnessed Czeslaw regenerate in the freight hold whereas he does not in the novels. Instead, he believes Czes to be dead until he spots Czes walking into a third class compartment (third class does not have compartments in the anime) and follows him inside.

After Czes learns that Claire is the Rail Tracer, he rolls his sleeve up to grab a scalpel he keeps strapped to his arm and tries to attack Claire. Claire effortless grabs the offending arm, and with his other hand tears a chunk of flesh out of Czeslaw's throat. Confident that Czes is dead, Claire is about to leave - and then Czes regenerates, intriguing him. Czes introduces himself as an immortal, and prepares to ask Claire the same question he asked Ladd, but Claire refuses before he can even ask the question and buries the scalpel into the skin between Czes' eyes. The rest of the scene corresponds with the anime.

Claire grabs both of Chané's knives, not just one. The rooftop scene is, overall, faithfully adapted.

As soon as the the two White Suits take one step into the car, Donny drives his fists into their heads and knocks them out. (The White Suit on the right is not Who in the novels). The anime leaves out how Donny and Jacuzzi had several minutes earlier captured a Lemur - coincidentally Upham, mid-fleeing Ladd - and interrogated him on the Lemures' plans before tying him up and leaving him in the freight hold.

1932
Click "Expand" for differences regarding the 1932 timeline.

The 1932 timeline continues to be completely divergent from the fourth light novel. No confrontation ever takes place at the Coraggioso, and though there is a confrontation involving Gustavo, Luck, and Eve at The Daily Days,, the circumstances are drastically different. Eve already knows that the Gandors have drowned her brother by the showdown in the Daily Days, since Elean told her the truth as opposed to his anime-counterpart, though she does not know where exactly. She is prepared to shoot Gustavo in revenge for her father and brother, only for Luck to take the bullet and engage Gustavo in a viciously brutal fight.

Bartolo does not appear in the Daily Days' confrontation, and his motivations in general differ greatly from his anime-counterpart. The Runoratas are not searching for Dallas in the fourth novel, but a stolen case of drugs. Unlike his anime-counterpart, novel-Bartolo has no interest in becoming an immortal (an anime plot-point that is irrelevant in the fourth novel, but later novels confirm Bartolo's lack of interest). He is involved in the Daily Days showdown to the extent that he and Keith arranged a deal that would 'take care' of his troublesome capo Gustavo.

Trivia

 * A curious incident is taking place right under Chané's and Ladd's feet during their rooftop confrontation. Upham, the Lemur who'd fled Ladd only to be interrogated and bound by Jacuzzi and Donny, had been recently freed from his ropes by Elmer C. Albatross in the freight hold. The two of them are investigating the conductors' compartment when they are confronted by Fermet, who stabs Upham and would have killed him had it not been for Elmer taking the blow in Upham's stead. Their conversation culminating in Elmer pushing Fermet off the balcony, and Upham rescuing Elmer from Fermet's attempts to drag him down.
 * Claire arrives moments later and warns Elmer and Upham that passengers are not allowed in the conductors' compartment. He notices Upham's wound and is about to comment on it when Chané's knife nearly nicks his ear through the wall, prompting him to climb up to the roof and investigate.
 * The reason Claire returned to the conductors' compartment in the aforementioned missing scene - and the reason why he frequently appears near the conductors' compartment - is because in-between killings he is regularly returning to the compartment to perform the scheduled light checks. A missed light check implies something is wrong, and Claire under no circumstances wants the train's engineers to stop the train since he needs to be in New York as fast as possible.
 * Since this is never seen or even mentioned in the anime, the viewer is left to wonder why the train never stops or why the engineers seem to not notice the constant gunfire (they are hard of hearing, but the viewer would have no way of knowing such a detail). Claire's actions as the Rail Tracer and as the Conductor are much more detailed in the novels as a whole.

Unanswered Questions

 * What does Claire mean when he says that the world is his?
 * Who drank the now missing elixir?
 * How will Isaac and Miria try to salvage the situation?
 * What does Jacuzzi's hijacking plan entail, and what will Goose do with Nick and Nice Holystone?
 * Why is Rachel stowing away?
 * How and when does Rachel injure her leg, as seen in the Daily Days?


 * What did the Gandors do to Dallas? Where is he?