Yeah that cutscene totally saved the story for me up until that very point I really wasn't that interested and then that cutscene came and it just blew me away. That guy kicked ass and I can't wait to find out what happens next in the story and when we will face off against him.

Also does this mean that Gunblades will be in the game!!!!! I hope so ^^

Oh and I am almost positive the huge blast was because he signalled the crashed airship to fire the nuke/big bomb with his flare. I can't remember ever seeing another airship flying around and I have watched that CS at least 10 times ^^