Warning: Spoilers for Trigun Stampede Episode 12The final episode of Trigun Stampede saw mention of a character whose conspicuous absence at the beginning of the series had a lot of fans asking just one question: “Where is Milly Thompson in Trigun Stampede?”
When Trigun Stampede was first being shown to the public, fans immediately latched on to the missing Milly, who seemed to have been replaced by an original character not present in the manga or ’98 anime, Roberto. Needless to say, some fans were quite upset about the character’s absence, but as the story unfolded, it became apparent that Trigun Stampede was set earlier than either previous version of the story, with Meryl a young and inexperienced rookie just learning the ropes alongside Roberto. Many fans then expected Milly to show up in a potential second season, and the season finale seems to have confirmed this, with Milly mentioned by name to Meryl.
Milly Thompson Will Return in Trigun Stampede’s Second Season
Milly and Meryl seem to have been working together for a while at the start of the ’98 Trigun anime, so it will be interesting to see the pair start their relationship from scratch in Stampede. This will be especially significant given the fate of Roberto, who became Trigun Stampede’s first major death when one of Elendira’s nails struck him in the torso. It offers a reason for Meryl’s no-nonsense attitude that she’s well known for–she has now seen that actions can have life or death consequences in this line of work and is likely to be just as protective of her new protege as Roberto was towards her. Forcing this shift in Meryl’s character should be quite entertaining, as now she’ll be arguing against the very stances that she would have taken just a little while earlier.
Given that Milly was only mentioned by name, fans have yet to see what her new character design in the Trigun Stampede CG style will look like, but it’s likely she’ll receive an update to her design the same way that Meryl and Vash (and to a lesser extent, Wolfwood) did. One of Milly’s key traits is her size, as she’s quite tall and powerfully built, so that element at least is likely to remain. Milly is also known for carrying around an absolutely massive weapon, which is likely to make the transition to Stampede as well.
No doubt many classic Trigun fans are thrilled at the news that Milly will be joining Trigun Stampede at last. While a second season has been confirmed, no information on a release date is yet available.
