Yeah, most of the rivalries that were present felt shoehorned in compared to the first season. Thank goodness for Yuuma.
Although it's been picking up, I haven't really been feeling Reconguista all that much. The writing hasn't been up to par overall compared to say Turn A or most of the other UC offerings. I haven't seen the last episode as of yet though. (and yeah, from the pictures you posted that's clearly supposed to be the remains of Jaburo)
Origin is... well, Origin. I like it, but I know what to expect from the manga. I will say the CG came across better than I expected it to, but I'm still going to miss more traditional animation (well, as traditional as it was at least).