Dr. Stone Episode 20

The Age of Energy

Dr. Stone episode 20 introduced some pretty major inventions: the gear, the water wheel, gold thread, and most importantly, cotton candy. And of course the one invention I have the strongest opinion on is the cotton candy, so expect to read more about that later on.

But before we get to the inventions of the episode, we need to discuss the climate. And by climate I mean both the “political” and physical climates.

Winter is coming. This isn’t the first winter of the series, but I don’t quite remember if it’s the second or third. So obviously Senku and the other reanimated humans of generation zero have already figured out how to survive in the cold.

However, the people of Ishigami Village have been living in this area for far longer. Generation zero might know how to survive through the winter, but the villagers have a system in place. And this is one of the reasons why Tsukasa doesn’t want to attack them during the winter.

Remember, the Tsukasa Empire is basically a group of hunter-gatherers who live day to day. I don’t believe Ishigami Village is a farming society yet, but due to the structure their society has, they do have the capacity to store excess food for harder times.

So based on this information, both sides determine that the siege on Ishigami Village is going to happen in the spring. But is that really the best idea? Should Tsukasa wait that long to strike? Let’s find out.

Siege on Ishigami Village

There are three main reasons given for why Tsukasa wants to delay his attack:

1. Ishigami Village can outlast his army in a siege.
2. Ice will form around the island making it harder to approach.
3. Given more time, the Tsukasa Empire can bolster its numbers.

However, Tsukasa is wrong about all three of these points. First of all, yes, Ishigami Village will have more food stockpiled for the winter than the Tsukasa Empire. But, they’ll have no way to resupply during the siege (except for Suika, probably). Meanwhile, the Tsukasa empire can still hunt and forage what little there is to find.

Second, the fact that the lake around Ishigami Village is going to freeze over is actually a good thing for Tsukasa’s army. If the lake is unfrozen, then they’ll have to either use boats or make their way across the single bridge. In the winter, they can simply march across the ice.

And let’s not forget that the bridge is currently down as far as we’re aware. This means the Kingdom of Science can’t retreat to their island fortress if Tsukasa were to attack immediately.

Finally, while it’s true that the Tsukasa Empire can gather more troops over the winter, that may not be to their advantage. During that time Senku will be developing his own scientific weapons which he otherwise wouldn’t have. Also, more troops means more mouths to feed during the winter months.

And, as a final nail in the coffin, if the villagers retreated to their island, Tsukasa could just burn everything to the ground with flaming arrows. There’s nothing the Kingdom of Science could do to prevent that unless they planned for it in advance.

Cotton Candy Machine

But since Tsukasa has decided not to attack just yet, that means Senku is free to build weapons of science as he sees fit. And the first weapon of science he creates may just be the most devastating for the Tsukasa Empire: a cotton candy machine.

Senku actually claimed that some people may defect from the Tsukasa Empire after hearing about this marvelous machine. I don’t think anyone (other than Homura) will, but maybe I’m wrong. Something tells me that cotton candy isn’t the invention that’s going to change the dynamic of the war.

I’m also a bit confused as to how the cotton candy is going to convince Homura to defect. I mean, last week I mentioned that this was going to happen, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon and in this way. I kind of figured it would be some sort of a deal like with Gen and the cola.

Instead, it seems like the cotton candy itself isn’t what’s going to convince Homura to swap sides. She’ll probably be drawn to the Kingdom of Science because they don’t treat their citizens like trash. The cotton candy is just a way of showing that Senku is nice even to his enemies.

Okay, but before moving on I do have one more thing to say about cotton candy. Does Homura not know how to eat cotton candy? You don’t lick cotton candy. That’s just going to make it all sticky and messy. If you lick cotton candy then I want you to know you’re preemptively banned from my Discord server.

The Water Wheel

Finally, we have the water wheel, invented by Chrome and Kaseki. Unfortunately for them, it was invented thousands of years earlier. But, that doesn’t make the invention any less impressive. In fact, I’m actually surprised Senku wasn’t the one to pitch the idea of building a water wheel considering how simple, yet effective it is.

With this invention, Ishigami village will theoretically have an infinite source of electricity. They can have light when it gets dark, heat when it gets cold, and the capability to create even more advanced technology. The only thing they really need to develop now is farming and they’ll basically be set.

Oh, and that water wheel can even help them with farming. They can use it to pump water up to wherever their crops happen to be. This water wheel, not the cotton candy machine, is likely to convince some Tsukasa Empire citizens to swap sides.

Now that the water wheel exists, the cotton candy machine can be put to use as it was originally intended. Cotton candy is nice and all, but creating gold thread which can then be used to create radio waves is even nicer. And keep in mind that I was right about Senku not inventing a cell phone.

Let’s also not forget that he somehow has to sneak the radio transceiver to Taiju and Yuzuriha while under surveillance. The Ishigami villagers are under surveillance, and Taiju and Yuzuriha are under surveillance. Perhaps this is where Homura will come into play. Will she become a double agent like Gen?

Conclusion

What do you think about Dr. Stone episode 20? Is the invention of cotton candy going to turn the tide of the upcoming war? Should Tsukasa have attacked immediately, or planned to siege Ishigami Village over the winter? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.