After the emotional roller coaster that has been the last two episodes, let's hope things cool down a bit this time. While I wouldn't call the opening scene to this episode calm per se, it does deescalate the seriousness of the last two episodes. It's a short comedy scene where Shihoru apologises for mistaking Yume's relationship with Haruhiro and of course Ranta has to butt in. Yume doesn't manage to clear up the situation either, but what can you expect from anime these days.
One thing I like about Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is that it offers themes that touch on a large variety of life lessons that people will come to face eventually. This episode is about how to be proactive and make friends. I can only think of a few anime that touch on the lack of proactiveness when dealing with character relationships. Usually it's a they don't get along or they don't mix well sort of thing, when the realistic answer is they're not trying to get along. The party takes this message to heart after realizing how they've been treating each other and decide to be nice to Mary. It doesn't go over well at first. Mary is still defensive, reluctant to open herself up to them. The only indication they have of an improving relationship is her responding at all to Haruhiro's greeting.
The team heads back to the ruined city for more goblin fighting, and Mary finally puts in some aid to the fight. She heals Moguzo after he takes a hit to the head. Ranta keeps complaining about not being healed, but at the end of the fight he realizes why. Looking at the wound, he notices that the bleeding is slowing down on its own. Mary is too cautious to waste her valuable healing spells on cuts that can heal naturally, and focuses her spells where they will have the most effect. Manato's failure to do so is part of what lead to his death, so it's good the team now has a more focused member. She still doesn't get along though, and wonders if the team is better off without her.
After that, they head off to a bar and engage in their usual antics. Ranta insults the others, They all act strange to Mary, etc. Not much happens, but they do see Mary meeting with a member from another clan. Haruhiro faces stress over Manato's dying words which he believes to mean that he should become the party leader. He states he doesn't want to bear that burden, but suddenly a ghost Manato shows up to give him a confidence boost. I'm not sure if this looks the way it was meant to based on the light novel, so it can be a bit strange if you don't realize this is just Haruhiro's imagination.
yes, every image in this show is either bright gray or dark blue.
Going back to the ruined city, Haruhiro keeps a few new things in mind. He first pays attention to Moguzo's battling style, which could drastically improve from getting a helmet, so he offers to chip in to buy one. This is a part of a greater effort to pay attention to his allies and try to help them out. He takes note that when they are caught off-guard, Mary moved to join the fight and protect Shihoru who has no defensive magic. He later thanks her for it without mentioning the event itself, slightly confusing her. This is part of the proactive friendship-forging I mentioned earlier that is key to their relationship.
The team recalls the person Mary met with in the bar and decide to find out about her past to become better friends with her. They learn that she was part of a team before them which had run into similar issues. She was just as overprotective as Manato and put herself in the same amount of danger, but instead of being killed, she had to watch her friends be killed by a monster in the Cyrene mine. The team grows a deeper sense of connection with her through their shared pains and want to improve their relationship even more.