Julian, feeling much happier than he did before, slide down a banister and walks on his hands along a railing. I want this kid in the circus, he'll do a lot better there then in the streets… Julian slips, though, hitting his face and falling to the ground, which is where old healthful finds him, and asks if he's having fun. Julian, nervously, says he isn't, and is picked up by the big idiot. He slaps his hand Julian friendly-like across his shoulders, and asks if Julian has a wallet, which Julian tries to excuse himself for. But old healthful knows how Julian gave back a wallet (Adrian's or the woman's, I'm not sure, but probably the woman's.) so Julian tells him he's not going to steal anymore. Good for you, kid… :) Old healthful says no one told him he could just quit, though, and forces Julian back to the opera house. What neither realize is that Adrian was watching the entire thing, in the process learning Julian's name, and follows them.
Back at the opera house, however, old healthful's boss is telling José he can have the place as his headquarters, and José (In the most rational voice I've ever heard him use.) replies that he likes it. But old healthful comes crashing in, demanding to know what's happening. The Tecno repeats his little "This place belongs to José" line, which old healthful doesn't buy until his former boss agrees. José celebrates his new status as "King of the Underworld"…but the camera pans up to one of the box seats, to show Adrian eavesdropping on the entire scene. He says "José" the same way that he said "Julian" before, which could mean one of two things: he's surprised to see José there; or he just learned José's name, which is very possible because CyberSix never actually calls him by his name in the first episode. It could go either way, depending on if you want to think CyberSix knew about José before she escaped, or only found out about him when she revealed herself. Adrian focuses on Julian, and has a flashback: Little CyberSix and the other child from the picture running through a forest, with a cute music-box tune in the background, coming up to a cliff, where they fight the wind to look over the side and see the red-lily flower on a ledge just below the edge of the cliff…

Notice how the wind is continued in the curtains as the scene changes; nice link. We're now in Adrian/CyberSix's apartment, where CyberSix looks at her copy of the photograph and murmurs how much she misses the other child, who we learn was Cyber 29 (She doesn't call him "Cyber", but if all the people you knew growing up had the same first name, would you have bothered to call them by it either?). She tucks the picture into her suit (Ya, I know what you are all thinking, but where else would she put it? I doubt the tights have pockets…), looks in the mirror, and promises not to let Julian down the way she had 29. Also notice how she's dressed in this scene: she's got on her suit and gloves, but she's not wearing her cape or hat. This symbolizes how she's more vulnerable in her reminiscing about the past, by taking away a few layers of her "armour".

A link of CyberSix leaping across the sky, and we go back to the opera house, where she spies some Fixed Idea maids carrying food and dishes, before she jumps up and enters through a open door on the flat, lower level of the roof. Unfortunately, Data 7 had been resting in the tree beside the opera house, and sees her go in, so with fluid feline grace and a growl he starts to follow her. Commercials….:P
Inside, CyberSix watches Fixed Ideas piling weapons and explosives on the stage, then runs up the stairs to find Julian. Data 7, meanwhile, leaps in through the window, and passes on of the Fixed Idea maids, who stares at him a second, drops the dishes she's carrying, and runs screaming back through the door she just came through. There's some traditional anime-style animation here, like the lines when she slams the door shut, it contrasts with the rest of the animation but it works so well you can't imagine it any other way. Data 7 just looks at her, and continues on his way, and the maid tells an unimpressed José about the "huge cat." Some people think that the maids could be male Fixed Ideas in drag, which is possible, but the voice here suggests to me otherwise. Besides, I have trouble imagining the typical Fixed Ideas having such skinny legs…
On main floor in front of the stage, José and his flunkies are having a huge - and ill-mannered -feast as the pipsqueak announces he's going to use the opera house as his mutinous base. The Tecno, obviously, praises the idea (I can imagine what would happen if he didn't…) and the camera pans up to show Julian, looking down at the food he's equally obviously not getting a scrap of. He goes back to his room and looks outside at the moon, when he hears footsteps behind him again. Only this time it's CyberSix, who tells him he has to leave. Julian says he has no place to go, and when she pleads with him he asks how she knows his name. She replies she also knows what he did at the market (Again, I think this refers to the woman's wallet, because he had no prompting to return it.), which Julian smiles at for a second. But years of bad experience come to play as he scowls and demands to know what difference it makes. CyberSix promises to help him, and when Julian says "I hear a lot of promises," she says she keeps her promises.
Meanwhile, however, Data 7 is climbing up the stairs, and reaches the top in time to see CyberSix look down at the greedy pigs below to make sure she and Julian can make their escape. She turns back to Julian, but Data 7 comes through the window above him, and leaps at her with a roar, pushing her over the balcony. She kicks him away in time to land on the second floor, but Data 7 lives up to a cat's reputation and also lands on his feet. Julian runs to the railing to see what's happening, which distracts CyberSix for a second, so she has to back flip over the railing of the second floor balcony to avoid the recovered and leaping panther. She lands with a - satisfying ;) - crash on the table below, scattering the plates and diners seconds before Data 7 leaps down after her, knocking over what's left in front of José's face. Julian runs down the stairs to help, but CyberSix and the cat are already fighting, leaping at each other, Data 7's claws flying and CyberSix just moving to avoid them and land a few kicks. See how her hat gets swiped, she doesn't waste energy ducking any more than she has to. But Data 7 recovers too quickly, and pushes off a wall fast enough to crash against her and threw her into the wall.
Julian tries to convince old healthful to stop it, but the and everyone else are just looking on in amazement. CyberSix, meanwhile, has been put on the defensive, and barely has time to leap away as Data 7 follows her, sending the chandelier crashing into what remains of the dinner party below in the process. José, enjoying the show, leaps up onto the table and encourages Data 7 to kill her (Brandishing a fish by the tail like a sword as he does so…This kid ain't working with a full deck, if you ask me…) and when Julian cries out that it's not fair, he simply replies, "I know, but it's fun!" This discussion in morals is interrupted, however, as the merry chase involves a leap off the table, exactly where José had been standing (Watch him jump, then bend over backwards to avoid CyberSix!) which is quickly followed by the much heavier Data 7, which marks the end of the table. All the flunkies with more than three brain cells (In other words, everyone but the Fixed Ideas.) take this as a sign that it's time to get out of there and promptly take their own unspoken advice. Good riddance…
The fight between CyberSix and Data 7 begins to resemble a high-speed pinball game as they are reduced to two black smears leaping and bouncing off the walls and each other, with José vainly orchestrating it with his fish-baton. Which gets thrown over the balcony, thank goodness, or else I would have been forced to shove it down his throat… Julian, having quite enough of this, runs to help. CyberSix has this habit of making friends with more loyalty than common sense…
Data 7 and CyberSix exchange their respective blows, and land on the stage, both panting with their effort. Nice making them look the same, a hint of what's to come… Julian manages to climb up to the rafters as the foes below circle each other, then starts untying ropes at random, causing catwalks and backgrounds to fall like missiles. Unfortunately, the most direct effect of this is that it raises a few years worth of dust, which obscure Data 7 long enough for him to pounce and surprise CyberSix, pushing her to the floor. She manages to hold his deadly teeth at bay, barely, as Julian looks down in horror. He then gets this brilliant idea of swinging down towards them on a hook like some pint-sized Tarzan, and follows thought with deed before self-preservation kicks in. I'd complain more, but I'm very much afraid I'd have done the same thing… He succeeds in knocking Data 7 off CyberSix, but being how the plan kinda ended there, is left swinging wildly until the rope hits a rafter and he's thrown off. In classic cartoon-style he tries to grab on to the tattered curtains to keep from falling, but falls…
CyberSix looks on in horror, as she sees in her mind's eye 29 falling the same way, and calling the dead Cyber's name she leaps up and grabs for him with her left hand (As I've pointed out elsewhere, left seems to represent weakness, I'm not sure if it applies here though, but it might…)… It looks like she misses, but 29/Julian stops and looks up at her… And the black background fades as reality returns, and we see that she has caught the light Julian had grabbed onto and pulled off. I like how she forgets for a second who it is she's saving, it gives her a chance to do what she wanted to do all those years ago. It also defines her relationship with Julian, with him as the replacement friend she had lost. Unfortunately, it never seems to grow past this, which is why I don't like it as much as everything else…
Before CyberSix can pull Julian up to the rafter she's landed on, however, Data 7 jumps up after them, and advances on the helpless pair. José orders him to finish her, which he leaps to comply. He claws at her, ripping her suit at the arm and chest. CyberSix tries to shield herself, but drops the light and Julian as she does so, and has to lean precariously forwards to catch him again. As she does so, the picture - which was ripped out by Data 7 - floats to land in front of the panther, who looks at it in confusion, then at CyberSix, and at the now-revealed tattoo on her arm. The tattoo, by the way, on her right arm, again not sure if they're using the right/strong symbolism here but it's possible. You have to assume that she has tattoos on both arms, however, because everywhere else it's shown on her left arm… His eyes widen as the implications batter away at the block in him memory… He sees 29's arm pick the red flower from the cliff, with the music-box tune in the background, and everything spins around as it's given to the other child on the cliff… The one from his other flashbacks… Who leans forwards so the face is no longer in shadow as the music changes to a heartbeat-like percussion, and it's CyberSix as a child… Flashing between the memory CyberSix and the aged photo Von Richter had shown him as the heartbeat quickens… Data 7 narrows his eyes, and CyberSix shakes in fright and exhaustion as she still tries to hold Julian up, and Data 7 roars. Again, I love the flash back sequence, there's no way I can describe it in words that can do it justice.
The light Julian's holding on to, however, starts to come apart, then suddenly breaks, and Julian is falling again. CyberSix cries out, but can't move in time…which is all right, because Data 7 leaps down and catches him by the shirt. The light crashes to the stage, and CyberSix lands behind the two, but then Data 7 carefully puts down the quivering boy, who after realizing he's on solid ground backs away slowly from the big cat, and then breaks into a run and hides behind CyberSix. The picture floats down to the ground in front of Data 7, who casually swipes at it and sends it flying towards CyberSix. She snatches it out of the air, looks at it, and sees the single tear he put in it above 29's eye…Just like the scar about Data 7's eye. In a sudden leap of logic - which I still find a tiny bit hard to swallow, unless you assume some sort of low level telepathy, which is again very possible, and in fact from the comics - CyberSix realizes Data 7 is in fact Cyber 29, who nods in agreement. Great shot of CyberSix going watery eyed.
José, however, does not appreciate the family reunion, and is leaping up and down on the balcony, screaming at Data 7 to kill her. Data 7 growls angrily at him, who can't believe the cat is disobeying him, until Data 7 lets out the loudest roar ever. This sends José shaking in his shoes, until he controls himself long enough to order the three Fixed Ideas behind him to fire, who then lift up guns that I doubt a normal human could have used and let them fly. Watch this scene, it's animated briefly but perfectly, with José getting shadowed and his clothes rippling in the wake of the missiles…You need to play it several times to really appreciate it, though.
CyberSix scoops up Julian and carries him out of the line of fire, but the Fixed Ideas totally destroy the opera house trying to hit the leaping target, blasting holes and setting the curtains on fire. As the roof starts to come down on him, José is knocked over by Data 7 who stands a second growling over him as the Fixed Ideas aim their guns at the close, stationary target. Of course, José would also be killed from the blast, so he orders the three idiots not to shot, and the poor confused things go up to attention. Data 7 then leaps away, and José, no longer in danger, immediately contradicts himself and orders them to kill CyberSix and Data 7. The slow minded Fixed Ideas, however, need a few minutes to sort out all the orders. While they're busy with that, the flaming curtains fall on the stockpiled weapons. What happens when all those explosives get on fire is something even a Fixed Idea understands, however, and they run off without orders, throwing their weapons away, which land on the escaping José, who just throws them off. You wonder just how strong he is, after that…Stronger than he looks, at least. He leaps on to his favourite form of transportation - a Fixed Idea's back - and the foursome run out of the opera house like Von Richter's anger was behind them. Data 7 and CyberSix - who is still carrying Julian - also get out of the building just before it explodes from within, the flying debris hardly stopping the fleeing bad guys.

On a building a safe distance away, CyberSix hugs Data 7, marvelling again that her brother is alive, and we finally see all of his repressed memories: He was handing CyberSix the flower, but just before her hand closed around it the ledge he was standing on broke away, and he fell backwards to the ground far below, CyberSix still reaching for him and crying out in fear, the last point of light he sees in a darkening world. Then, blackness. A flat-lined brain monitor, which suddenly pulsates and beeps with life, and then becomes a constant wave on the screen of a machine. The camera moves to show Von Richter stroking a covered object, saying, "You are one of my finest creations; now, you have been re-born in the body of a panther, and I will call you Data 7." Data 7 wakes up, and throws back the cover, looking out with proud, yellow eyes. Back in the new dawn, Julian thanks CyberSix and Data 7 for helping him. This is the cheesiest line in the episode, which is saying a lot considering some of Lucas's gems… CyberSix reminds him that a promise is a promise, as Data 7 looks out happily over the city with his new friend and new-found memories and sister.

I've got some mixed feelings on this episode, but overall good ones. On one hand, it's kind of corny, particularly whenever CyberSix is talking to Julian. There's less action than in other episodes, which I don't mind but does draw it out a bit. The human flunkies are kind of flat, but don't show up enough to take too much away, I guess. And, of course, not enough of Lucas, which is a bad mark in my book. ;) But the worst part of it, for me, is that it's the beginning of the cliché big sister-little brother relationship between CyberSix and Julian that's nothing more than an extension of her past friendship with 29, and therefore is my absolute least-favourite in the series. On the other hand, however, it introduces Data 7 and Julian fantastically; I couldn't have asked for anything better if I tried. What little action scenes there are have been superbly done, and could be considered the best in the series. Everything in flash-back was simply perfect in my opinion, although I understand others not liking it. Most of all, I love the character development in CyberSix and Data 7; they probably go through more growth in this episode than any other. Julian also shows some growth; it's not this episode's fault that it happens to be the only one where he does. In the end, since it's tells the bulk of the history of the series, it has to be one of my favourites, and like the first episode it can't be missed without losing a lot in the rest of the series.