Episode 12

Welcome (ようこそ,) is the first episode of the second cour and the twelfth overall episode of the 86 -Eighty Six- anime adaptation, originally broadcasted on October 2, 2021.

Synopsis
It has been half a year since their farewell. Lena was demoted from Major to Captain for the unauthorized use of the interception cannons, but with the parting wishes of Shin and the Spearhead Squadron in her heart, she continues to lead her new unit in the battle against the Legion. During the Special Reconnaissance Mission, Shin and the others fell on the battlefield after an engagement with the Legion. Despite heavy injuries, they regained their consciousness. What awaited them on the other side was...

Plot
Two months after Shin and his friends departed on the Special Reconnaissance Mission, Lena has been demoted and transferred to handle the Brísingamen Squadron led by Cyclops. However, as she is still the military's top performing Handler, she uses her reputation as leverage to secure more resources and benefits for her troops, as well as gain a cadre of officers loyal to her. Meanwhile, Shin wakes up from his dying dream to find him and his friends in the custody of the Federacy of Giad, the successor nation to the Giadian Empire after it was toppled in a revolution. They are greeted by Ernst Zimmerman, the interim president of the Federacy, who reveals that they were rescued from Legion and promises they will be treated as guests. After a month of isolation, Ernst grants Shin and his friends citizenship and allows them to live in his home, where they are introduced to Frederica Rosenfort, a young girl in his care. After a brief introduction and dinner, Shin and his friends decide to go to bed. Ernst begins to wonder whether he's doing the right thing, and it's revealed Frederica is actually the Empress of the former Giadian Empire. In his room, Shin is troubled when Ernst returns the tag he had carved in Shourei's memory.

Differences from Light Novel

 * The first part of the episode adapts the prologue of Run Through the Battlefront. Unlike the light novel, the anime shows a little more about Lena's life as a Captain and the relationship she has with the new squadron, as well as her repaired relationship with Annette.
 * Unlike the anime, the light novel goes into detail on how the Spearhead Squadron was rescued. Rei transferred his consciousness to a backup unit after the decisive battle in Episode 9, but since this transfer was rushed, his functions were generally unstable. Rei continued to tail the Spearhead Squadron until the scene in Episode 11 where they were defeated. Rei stepped in, destroyed all of the Legion, and then carried Shin and co all the way to the Giadian border, where he was found by patrolling Federacy soldiers and was destroyed. The anime chooses to adapt this sequence of events through Shin's dream, with Rei metaphorically defending him in a suit of armor, carrying him, and then putting him down before finally saying his farewell.
 * The scene in which Ernst gives Shin his brother's tag is anime original.