WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 8 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, "The Dream Gazing Trap," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Animelab and Hulu.
Yashahime Episode 8, "The Dream Gazing Trap," is filled with important reveals -- all brought about by the use of the rainbow pearls. The episode picks up directly where "Meeting Through An Apple" left off, with the princesses chasing after the owl demon Yotsume. Yotsume successfully escapes back to his mistress, Kyuki, one of the four perils, and she allows him to use her rainbow pearl to stave off Moroha, Towa and Setsuna.
Yotsume uses the pearl to plunge the princesses and Takechiyo into a world of dreams, which reveals much about the backstory of the characters. Takechiyo was put into the care of corpse dealer Jyubei by Miroku when Takechiyo was still a little baby tanuki demon, though exactly why is unsaid. It's also revealed Inuyasha and Kagome were forced to give up Moroha urgently, as they were about to confront Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru.
Towa naturally dreams about Setsuna -- and realizes the dream butterfly that stole her dreams has taken them to the tree of ages, where the same slumbering individual from before is present. It's still unclear exactly what is going on here, but Towa will now have more of a target for regaining Setsuna's dreams.
Since Setsuna cannot dream, Yotsume's spell does not work on her. She manages to stay awake to fight Yotsume, brutally killing him using her Scourge of Swallows attack. This proves to be just the beginning of the battle, as Kyuki now emerges and reveals her true form-- a massive demonic hybrid of a tiger and a bird. She takes back her rainbow pearl and promptly casts another spell on the now awakened princesses, draining them of their demon energy.
Perhaps the most striking moment in the episode is during the fight with Kyuki when Setsuna pushes Towa out of the way of an oncoming attack. Towa reminisces that this is just like when they were children in the fateful forest fire that first separated them. Setsuna may act like she doesn't care about Towa, but it is clear that she still has some compassion and interest in her sister's well being. This will only add to Towa's fervor to return the favor and save her sister's dreams. Fortunately, the fight is resolved once Moroha and Towa realize that Towa has the innate ability to absorb demonic energy from attacks-- so long as they don't kill her. Towa rushes in, and using this ability manages to destroy Kyuki.
The series is starting to provide a sense of the power the rainbow pearls can hold. As well as bestowing great fighting power on their owners, they can also have the ability to rob other pearls of said power, to plunge opponents into dreams and who knows what else. It remains to be seen what the other perils are in store for our heroines with their own respective pearls.
The pirate Riku possesses his own rainbow pearl, and at the beginning of the episode makes it clear to Jyubei that he is manipulating the princesses into killing the four perils for him. Jyubei notes that Riku could easily do it himself, as he is clearly very powerful. Riku comments that he only kills those he loves, and he hates the perils -- a cryptic comment, to say the least. Which loved ones exactly Riku has killed in the past is a mystery. As the episode closes, he also makes sure to take Kyuki's rainbow pearl from himself, giving him even more power.
