I finished the Awakening Arc. It's amazing how everything sets the tone. Everything is a half-truth, gray scenario, built on interplay between learning from mistakes, while having to handle being in a new world. It's amazing how the villains are not typical idiots, but driven by such powerful motives. It'd be one thing if they were just "super rich" or "really angry." But the writers flesh them out so well in just 5 (in some cases 3-4 episodes).
I'd be hard pressed to find people as devoted to their villainy as well as Xanatos and Demona. Xanatos does it just for the lolz (with a deeper motivation later that I can certainly understand), and Demona is one of the more sociopathic characters I've seen. It's not like she isn't right either.
Don't follow my plan. Let's kill them all. Don't follow my plan? We're all dead because of you! Don't follow my plan? I'll blow up an airship. Don't follow my plan? I'll just blow you to death with a fucking RPG!
The good guys are not bumbling idiots (well, most aren't anyway). It's all centered about this idea of surviving and keeping as many people alive in this new situation, despite all the evil that surrounds them.
I'm not saying Awakening is the best episode, but it's hard to find a better example of setting a tone for an entire show.
