So, you are going with the interpretation that Homura can't loop until the month is up, even if Madoka dies before then?
Less interpretation and more 'Word of God,' AFAIK:
According to an interview in Otona Anime Vol. 20, translated by symbv, here is what Gen Urobuchi said on more of Homura's power: "The weapon that looks like Homura's shield is actually a sand timer. When the flow of the sand is blocked, time is stopped. And when there is no sand on the upper part of the sand timer and then the timer is reverted, one month's worth of time is turned back. But before that stage is reached, only time stopping is possible. This means the special power of Homura is the ability to manipulate one month's time's worth of sand in the sand timer. As for the time passed and then turned back, since it was not the focus in this work I did not think it through very thoroughly. I think you can say that the world split up and became parallel worlds there." In episode 11, we see Homura's sand run out in the middle of her fight with Walpurgisnacht, verifying this limitation of her time stop powers.
...
Basically, Madoka was essentially doomed the instant Oriko contracted, which happened way before we got there...
Madoka was doomed the moment
she contracted
Because I recall Flan repeatedly having trouble finding them or getting into a position to kill them, except for when they practically fell in our laps during the Karen incident. Definitely not, "Can kill them at will."
Hmm ... setting aside the 'Do X [Specify]' choices, there were six times when going out to hunt or otherwise attempt to locate Kirika were options. They were simply never chosen, for a number of reasons:
* '
Mustn't Disturb the Kobolds' had a pair of options for going out; people decided to watch a movie instead.
* It was also an options after '
Movie Night,' if a fast kill was chosen.
* '
Goodbye, Saya' had an option to ask Homura for Kirika's likely location.
* '
Homura's Explanation' had an option to follow Kirika.
* '
Ophelia' had an option to go find Oriko and Kirika.
* '
Ophelia Defeated' had an option to go along with Mami to fight them.
And again, that's ignoring cases like '
Flandre on the Wall,' where the votes were:
[ ] Keep watching.
- [ ] Talk to Homura.
- [ ] Talk to Sayaka.
[ ] Go with Lutecia and Agito.
- [ ] Where they want to go.
- [ ] Take them somewhere else. (Please specify)
[ ] Leave on your own.
- [ ] Go back to Homura's.
- [ ] Go somewhere else. (Please specify)
[ ] Other?
- And a write-in/'Leave on your own' option to go find Kirika was available. (Also ignoring cases like '
Falling Apart,' where going up to fight Mami would have resulted in fighting Kirika as well, because no one could have known that.)
At least from my perspective, the situation was one of putting off attacking Kirika in favor of other options, and I don't recall any attempts at actually locating her. I can't say whether it was right or wrong to avoid the issue - too many things would have changed, and 'right and wrong' depend on your desires for the quest's outcome. But unless I missed something - entirely possible, given I've misread
votes before - it doesn't seem like a case of 'can't find/bad positioning.' The only times where the situation would have prevented Flan from attacking Kirika (and did) was at the Tower Meeting and the Pool Party, and the latter had the option to follow Kirika once the situation changed.
