The levels of Dio’s bodyguards are unexpected and at times anticlimactic, for comedy of course. First, D’arby junior was not a joke but by no means was he as scary as Vanilla Ice; the most terrifying stand user yet. Meanwhile, Kenny G was one shot and now we have… ‘idiot’, the vampire henchman I honestly can’t help but feel bad for. I have to ask, Dio gave idiot his blood when he’s this unworthy? Well, if Dio also called him idiot, I can imagine him being used as an errand boy like Dio’s first sidekick, Wang Chan. He was beaten by Jotaro in the famous woman punching scene which I’ve been anticipating although it wasn’t what I expected, and this served to test Dio by proxy. Amazingly, this ‘idiot’ is roughly the level Dio was at in Phantom Blood back when he made zombies rather than vampires, presumably to make sure he was the strongest. This says a lot about Dio, the Pillar Men were the ones who had vampires as servants but now Dio does, he has ascended, confident enough to imbue his blood with minions as strong as Vanilla Ice. Overall, the remnants of Phantom Blood are definitely felt with the lingering of vampires existing but not being prominent.
Speaking of Dio, Polnareff approached him and we got his first canonical unshadowed face, he looks good and is continuing the heart motif. The obvious thought is that Joseph and Jotaro are the ones that will have the most interesting relation to Dio due to family ties and history. But, Kakyoin and Polnareff aren’t going to have minimal interactions as Kakyoin’s character arc was based on overcoming the fear that Dio won him over with, and Polnareff was manipulated into working for the same guy that his sister’s murderer did. Plus Dio is responsible for killing the friends the two non-Joestar boys made, and almost killing Holly. This should be intense no matter what.
Specifically with Polnareff being the first to face Dio, I would like to retouch on Vanilla Ice. It was an arc I appreciated more with thought, the brutal tearing through the party members who show their instinctual compassion and camaraderie, sacrificing themselves, and the spark of Polnareff’s strength and will. He bested Ice in a battle of manliness which went on to the bitter end and he’s filled with anger and sadness. In a way, Polnareff is the most viscerally meaningful encounter with Dio at this moment. Having come to respect Polnareff all the more with how much he carries the weight of his allies and fights until he's out of comission, going so far to differ from the long mourning or long goodbye we had with Caesar and Will Zeppeli and trudge on, means I am definitely curious to see how this plays out more than ever. Good job with Vanilla Ice for that.