Sword Art Online Episode 21

The Truth about ALfheim (アルヴヘイムの真実) is the twenty-first episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on November 24, 2012.

Plot
Kirito and Leafa had finally arrived at Aarun and were admiring the city. Suddenly, they heard the system voicing: "The servers will be down today, January 22nd, from 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM for scheduled maintenance. Players are asked to log out ten minutes in advance." Heeding the warning, Leafa suggested to log out at an inn. Kirito agreed but nowhere that is too expensive because he was out of cash, though Leafa teased him and says that it was because he had shown off by giving it all away to Sakuya. Leafa asked Yui, if there is a cheap inn nearby, and she pointed to the inn's direction and they began to walk into the city.

Meanwhile, Asuna ran through the branch pathway and spots a cave-like entrance. Inside the cave, Asuna spots a large metal door and places her hand on the keypad, sliding the door open. The sudden movement frightened Asuna, causing her to run and hide. After a few seconds, she took a peek at the door and sees a long and brightly-lit hallway.

Back in the real world, Kazuto was washing his face and greets Suguha in the morning. Noticing Suguha's drowsiness, he asks when she went to bed. Suguha told him, she went to sleep at 4:00 AM because she had been on the Internet. Kazuto tells her that she shouldn't be staying up that late, though he quietly thinks that he shouldn't say that. He tells Suguha to turn around, and after she does so, Kazuto pours cold water down her back, causing her to scream loudly.

Asuna cautiously walked through the hallway until she came across a map. She examined it and tried to find where the console to log out could possibly be until she notices a label that said "Experiment", and recalled Sugou Nobuyuki's plans.

Kazuto and Suguha were making food. Unhappy with Kazuto's prank, Suguha demanded that he buy her shaved ice and a parfait to apologize. He agrees, but not today as he had something to do in the afternoon and was going to visit Asuna in the morning. This saddened Suguha, but she asked if she could come, which surprised Kazuto but he accepted the idea.

Asuna went to the "Experiment" room and in it were many pillar-like objects and each object was projecting the hologram of a human brain. Realizing that the brain was suffering from various negative emotions, she continued recalling Nobuyuki's plan and vowed to make him pay and liberate everyone, and told one of the brains to wait a little longer. Suddenly two slug-like monsters entered the room and began to monitor the projections. Asuna hid behind one of the pillars and tried to sneak away.

While getting on the bus, Suguha asked Kazuto about school. Kazuto told her that it was planned for one of the city schools to bed used for students from SAO, which did not require an exam to enter and graduating from it would grant students to take a test at a university. Suguha thought it was a good idea, but Kazuto believed that they did this to observe them. He also states that even if he wanted to go to a regular school now, he would have to spend a year at a cram school. Suguha encouraged Kazuto and offered to tutor him.

Asuna noticed a floating black cube and believed it to be a system console, much like the black cube she found in SAO that was a GM Console. She ran to the console and slid the card slot before many windows began to pop up. Asuna looked through the window menu and notices "Transport" and the window asking to log out. However, before she was able to confirm the log out, but one of the slugs approached her from behind.

Kazuto and Suguha arrived at the hospital where he introduces the unconscious Asuna to Sughua and explains to his cousin about her status in SAO.

Asuna was caught by the two slugs and pulled away from the system console. Asuna then claimed to be a friend of Nobuyuki, but the slugs denied her claim, stating that he would not allow anyone in the Experiment room. They then quickly recognized her as the one who Nobuyuki keeps in the bird cage. Asuna then tried to reach the log out button with her foot, but was restrained. She then questions the "scientists" in partaking in such an unethical experiment, but they respond that the victims are having "wonderful dreams". One of the slugs then logs out to contact Nobuyuki in the real world while the one restraining her attempts to molest Asuna until she bites its tentacle, as he deactivated the pain observer. The other slug then returns and states that Nobuyuki is angry and ordered the scientists to return Asuna to her cage, change the password, and keep constant watch on her.

Suguha commented on Asuna's beauty and how unfortunate it is that she was still sleeping. She then regretted for coming with Kazuto and quietly began to question her own feelings towards her cousin as she was changing the water in the vase of flowers.

After the slugs lock Asuna back in her cage and leave, she promises Kirito that she will escape from her prison. Asuna then reveals an admin card, which she had taken from the system console when the scientists weren't noticing.

Leafa logs into ALfheim Online, in the inn they logged off prior to the server maintenance. Kirito soon logged in after her, greeting a sorrowful Leafa who revealed that she was heartbroken. Kirito consoled her, saying that whether or not it is in a video game or in the real world, she can cry when she is hurt. Leafa cried on his shoulder, hoping to bury her feelings and forget them. After she regained her composure, Leafa, Kirito and Yui walked towards the base of the World Tree and gazed at awe. Kirito wondered how he could make it to the top, but Leafa responds that the climbing area is an off-limits zone and obviously flying up the tree is impossible due to the flight limit, and also says that the attempted stunt pulled off by the five people was immediately patched. As they continued walking, Yui detected "mommy" right above them, causing Kirito to blast off rapidly to the top of the World Tree.

Locations

 * Aarun City
 * World Tree

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from Sword Art Online Light Novel Volume 4


 * In Volume 4, Chapter 5: Kirito and Leafa's adventure in Jötunheimr was omitted.

Quotes
Episodio 21