SAO S3 Ep 22 Alice Synopsis and Review *SPOILERS*
Sword Art Online
S3 E22
Alice
Synopsis and Review
Disclaimer: I am pretty new to anime. I just started my anime addiction in February. I am not well versed in terminology. I have the Light Novels but I have not started them. This is very much a noob review. I will say the wrong things. Once I start the LN's I hope to go back through the series and compare. You can skip the synopsis if you want and go straight to the review at the end.
The date is Saturday, August 1, 2026. The scene opens with Rinko speaking to an audience. We see Kirito and Asuna still laying in the STL's. At the press conference there are cameras flashing and media there. Rinko introduces Alice to the small crowd as the world's first true artificial general intelligence.
Anima by ReOna plays. I am currently learning this in Japanese so I can properly sing it without being offensive.
Everyone is watching from Agil's pub. Silica points out that Alice is wearing their school uniform. Liz makes the remark that Alice requested it. Sinon is impressed with the recreation they did of Alice. She says you can barely tell a difference through the screen.
Rinko tells the audience she will start with a question and answer section.
**Excuse me Rinko, I have a burning question. Yo, Alice, I'm really happy for you, i'mma let you finish but.. where the fuck is Kirisuna? I am sorry but I don't think I would be sitting around at a bar while my friends are laying in some machine and I have no idea if they are okay or not. Why is this event happening right now if they haven't saved Kirito and Asuna?**
First question is what makes Alice different from existing programmable robots? Rinko said it is the consciousness that exists in the photonic brain stored within her skull. It isn't a program that can be written with binary code. It isn't any different than human brains. The reporter wants Rinko to open Alice's skull and show the photonic brain. Rinko has a look of horror on her face, but Alice says yes. Just as soon as the reporter opens up his skull and shows her his brain to prove that he is human.
**I am not an Alice stan. She has always been meh to me, but this comeback makes me like her a little more**
Suguha makes the remark that Alice is upset. Alice doesn't look fazed to me but she has always remained composed. Another reporter raises the concern of advanced artificial intelligence causing a further rise in unemployment. Rinko says those concerns are unfounded because they have no intention of deploying the true AI into the unskilled labor force. The reporter says the financial world would want to use them as industrial robots. Rinko says that the true AI could not be mass produced in a short time. She explains that they are born and raised by their families. That to load such an intelligence into industrial robots and force them into labor shouldn't be allowed to happen. The reporter then asks about giving AI human rights. Rinko says she does not expect that to happen this century, but eventually we would live among them in society. Even starting families with them. The reporter says that the AI's existence is different from theirs. How can they be expected to acknowledge machines as being the same as human kind. Rinko is about to answer but Alice stops her. Alice says she acknowledges and accepts the fact that she was created and she is grateful to them for creating her, but as another person born in her world once said "What if the real world is also a world created by others? What if there were even more creators outside it?"
She asks the reporter what she would do if one day her creators appeared before her and ordered her into slavery, what would she do? Alice then talks about her experience with real-worlders. How they have encouraged and supported her. How they have taught her things and she is fond of them. She then says that she is even in love with one of them **Dear God, The SAO is a Harem assholes are going to eat this up** Alice says she has a right that that she will extend to the people of the real world but she will not fall to her knees or grind her forhead in the dirt because she is a human.
The broadcast then talks about the incident on the ocean turtle. They say that Mr. Kiku was the lone casualty and my heart sinks for a second but then Kiku appears beside Higa in vacation wear and sunglasses. He says it was for the best because the blame would have been pinned on him. His "death" drove their opposition in Japan into a corner. The vice minister of defense was leading them because he was getting paid off from American weapon manufacturers. Higa asks if he is sure about going public with the artificial fluctlights since it will derail Rath's ultimate goal which was the autonomous weapons loading project. Higa says it will be fine that they have already perfected the artificial Fluctlight. The Americans will have to give up. Higa says they have Kirito to thank for that. They then show Kirito and Asuna laying in the STL's which is heartbreaking to see them laying there in that cold dark room alone.
We go back to the press conference. Rinko says she hopes everyone who is watching will interact with the newly born fluctlights in the virtual world. A reporter jumps up and asks if there is any danger of the AI's annihilating the humans to take over the planet. Rinko says that would only happen if we were to try and annihilate them first. Alice looks startled and looks away. She excuses herself and walks away from the press conference. She enters the room where Kirito and Asuna are. She grabs Kirito's hand and he opens his eyes and says "Hey, Alice long time no see." Classic Kirito. He tells her that her sister Selka decided to go into Deep Freeze to wait for her return. He tells Higa to delete the memories of the last 200 years since the start of the maximum-acceleration phase. He says that his and the queen's roles are done. Kirito looks rough here. He has lines around his eyes and his cheeks look sunk in.
Kirito wakes up in a hospital bed. Asuna walks in with a new hairstyle and fusses over Kirito. She asks him if he has been eating. He tells her that he will be discharged in three days. She says they will need to celebrate. Kirito looks off into the distance and we get a few flashbacks that make Kirito cry. I hate seeing him cry because it breaks my heart. I am glad Asuna is there to comfort him. Asuna says that even though their memory is gone the memories will not vanish. We hear Eugeo's voice telling Kirito to not cry and stay cool. Kirito says he is sure they will see them again someday.
