Escaflowne viewing reactions

I don't think I mentioned it before, but Vision of Escaflowne was one of the first anime series I watched when I was in high school and being introduced to anime. It's not the best series ever (a number of plot holes and you can tell that it was originally supposed to be 39 episodes long instead of 26) but I still have a soft spot for it. Earlier this year I had an idea for a long AU, which started a re-watching of the series for ideas. For your entertainment, here are the observations and questions I've been noticing as I go along.

( behind cut for length and early spoilers )