This from a correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous, but has some interesting thoughts around chivalrous behaviour… the correspondent writes:
I’m wondering if it is the case that Ash is on a quest similar to the search for the Holy Grail in her virtual reality gamescape. I came across some discussions of honor and requirements for Knighthood the other day. Basically, a knight only proves his purity when he is presented with an opportunity for personal gain in exchange for pursuing his ultimate goal. It seems that Murphy abandoned the quest and betrayed his fellow “knights.” Even if Ash loved him, and it finally isn’t clear, she would have had to sacrifice her care for him to bring him to justice — at least in the honor systems of the Crusades, and so forth.
“The man who, fighting for a crown he fiercely desires, yet accepts without dispute the blow that ends his hopes, is in truth honorable – the more so when no soul but himself would have known the blow was true had he said otherwise. He who refuses to accept the blow until until he can no longer do so without open shame is no honorable man, howsoever gentle and courtly he may appear in other lists, where there is nothing to be won or lost save that reputation which men miscall honor.” Concerning Knighthood (page 18) David Friedman,Chronique: Journal of Chivalry
It seems that Ash cannot give up her quest for Avalon, even if she has to start over again in the game, which isn’t clear from the ending, but is suggested. Is there anything in common between the statue that she damages at the end, and the Holy Grail? Is the (possible) game conclusion at the end an indication that she is dead? Has she made the ultimate sacrifice for her quest, accepting the mortal blow? If any of this makes sense, it is fairly well disguised in the story. If it does make sense, then does her quest have any merit? Or is that like asking if life itself has any merit, or people’s religious beliefs, or their careers, and so forth? Also, does her VR situation in the Hungarian “Prague Spring” have any bearing? It would seem that she could be fighting on the “wrong side” since she rolls with the tanks and kills Hungarian militia as well as regular army. I think it’s pretty clear that these fire teams are basically out for themselves, and not aligned with any real faction except profit. Perhaps that is a stab at the Crusades. I do not see Oshii as a director sympathetic to western civilization, despite his obsession with its legends.