Yes, I hereby dub this show, Last Exile: Millia, the Second Princess of Turan. Of all the characters featured so far, she shows the most growth and has been one of the few interesting ones to follow. The titled lead of the show currently lacks complexity, as does her navigator, and I find myself constantly overlooking them in favor of side characters. This episode was no exception, as Millia has a small breakthrough that defines who she is and the nation she represents.
There are larger events at foot in this episode, with Fam’s capture of the battleship, Prince Victorius, and Ades Federation’s annexation of the kingdom of Turan. And yet, my attention was largely interested in Millia’s claim of “land” on the Sylvius. Her dual decisions to declare war on the Ades Federation, as well as choose portions of the Sylvius to represent the new kingdom of Turan show a strengthening in her character, one that promises to come to head later on in the show. I wouldn’t be surprised if she succeeds in protecting her new Turan, where her older sister could not save the old. 
The agreeable improvement of Millia’s self-worth was smothered in maid outfit moe, but I’m willing to forgive the inclusion given that the clothes prove just how determined the second princess is to re-establish her nation. I’m glad that almost every single person Millia encounters while dressed up in this outfit finds it just as ridiculous as I do.
And the costume wearing doesn’t end there. An important part of the infiltration and theft of the first Ades Federation ship includes Ades Federation-issued uniforms. As they are of limited supply, Fam, Giselle, and a select group of Sylvia crew don homemade imitations and successfully fool the unbelievably gullible crew of the Prince. The ease with which their uniforms and Giselle’s intel work to their success is far-fetched, at the least, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the Jack Sparrow-like gall of this band of pirates.
Overall, I’m getting used to the flow of this anime, as lighthearted and easygoing as it is. I wouldn’t mind if a few more episodes followed the same vein as this one: a capture of a battleship, accompanied with some character development…preferably of Fam and Giselle since they lead the anime.
Anime B&B 
Maybe it’s because I was expecting something different, but I did not like the “easygoing” nature of this episode. To me it undermined the effect the of the serious mood established in previous episodes. I can’t take the Ades Federation seriously and Millia’s maid outfit did not fit at all. I guess it comes down to personal expectations and how one approaches a show, but I was hoping this to be more serious than what it has presented.
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I knew that many fans of Last Exile would probably hate this episode because of Millia’s maid outfit and overall laid back mood, but I do think it’s still good to note the importance of the meaning behind Millia’s actions, as sugarcoated as they were. I also think I’ve started to just give up on expecting too much out of this anime. My reactions from the first one are just too high to match.
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When I first saw Millia’s maid outfit I thought that she would be laboring as a maid to symbolize her resolve to do whatever necessary to help her kingdom in its dark times. The inclusion of a maid outfit wasn’t necessarily a problem, but poor execution made it come off as simple otaku pandering. I haven’t seen the original Last Exile, so I don’t come into this show with expectations from its predecessor. It just feels that this could be better than it is right now. But perhaps, as you say, the best way to watch this show would be to not expect too much out of it.
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I won’t defend the poor execution of the maid outfit, since I agree with you there 🙂
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“Last Exile: Millia, the Second Princess of Turan” = “The Last Exiled Princess Millia!?”
I disagree a bit on the part about Fam and Giselle. What I feel from them is that, despite their easygoing nature, they have much more experience than Millia, even thought they have the same age. Being active part of the sky pirates, they surely had matured more than a normal girl their age. Millia should be the opposite, being a princess and likely having a sheltered life before the events.
Looking at them, I don’t think development was needed for Fam and Giselle at the moment. While Millia was in dire need of it, after all she had to go through because of the loss of her country. And I think it shows the difference in maturity, how part of Millia development thus far was after talking with the two.
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I don’t deny that Fam and Giselle have a good amount of their own type of experience through pirating and through Fam’s loss of family, but Millia still has vasts amounts of experience in a completely different field than them, that of the responsibility of what it means to be a ruler of a kingdom, to govern lives and hold yourself up as a role model. Especially when looking at her older sister, I don’t think you can underestimate the amounts of their own type of work they have to do. In contrast, Fam and Giselle still feel extremely flat as characters.
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