Rose’s character development complete her transition into Queen Oriana and Shadow commits an atomically world bending act.

Recap & Reaction

This episode review is going to be a bit different from the usual, “Recap & Reaction” posts that I usual do. The first half of the post will be the “Recap & Reaction” and the second half will detail how genius the episode was!

With the Mordred opening the portal that is the “Black Rose,” many creature descend upon Oriana Kingdom. Shadow, Shadow Garden and Rose look to upend and make Sir Mordred speak upon the knowledge of the Cult. How will this episode be different from many other arcs involving Cult villains? You are in a for a big surprise..

Destruction Creates

The episode begins with no opening credits, quickly recapping Shadow arriving to fight the Archfiend Ragnarok. Nu arrives to tell Alpha that the “Black Rose” has been unleashed. Eerily, Alpha says that “the destruction that precedes creation has begun.”

Early on, the easy assumption to make here is that the Black Rose will destroy destroy ‘something’ to create something new. As Mordred will explain later, there this ‘destruction’ into a new ‘creation’ has a different meaning. It’s the perfect line for how the episode unravels.

The Arrival of Shadow Garden

Given Shadow’s surprise arrival, Mordred is not convinced that they have any shot at defeating him. In Shadow’s response, he brings out Shadow Garden, saying their classic line of “they who lurk in the shadows, in order to hunt the shadows.” Arriving out of the Black Rose portal are countless amounts of magical creatures, which sets up Shadow Garden’s task to bring them down. Shadow tells Rose to “continue on” because “she still has something to accomplished.” As Rose moves on to her next destination to save her people, Shadow faces the dragon, Ragnarok himself.

This is a very typical Shadow & Shadow Garden moment in this scene. The highlight to me would be Shadow telling Rose to do what she needs to do, when we’re are all thinking “Tyrannical Rose!”

Beta & Epsilon vs Mordred

After Shadow flies off to fight Ragnarok, Beta and Epsilon come to face Mordred themselves, taunting Mordred to reveal everything he knows. In typical bad guy fashion, Mordred shows his condescension for Beta & Epsilon, pulling out one of his artifacts in the “Invisible Sword.”

The best parts of great action scenes. Dialogue. More specifically, talking s**t! It’s cool to see two main ‘Shadows’ fight side-by-side and just mentally eviscerating Mordred’s character.

Beta & Epsilon begin their emasculation of Sir Mordred of the Knights of Round. Calling out further that all of the powers he gained are from stolen artifacts like his sword, armor and cape. A battle ensues and Mordred is completely blind sighted by the artifacts that Beta & Epsilon are using.

The animation in this anime isn’t anything mind blowing, but it feels very fitting for this anime. Those shots with Epsilon & Beta fighting Mordred are short, but really cool to see. Shadows linking up to fight as a duo isn’t something we’ve really seen just yet either. These are the little things that keep the predictability and freshness balanced.

Queen Rose

As Beta & Epsilon’s battle continues, Rose is marching forward to defeat all of the magical beasts within the castle. Just as she questions how she will defeat the monsters outside, Shadow Garden finishes the rest. Margaret comes to Rose’s aid and to apologize, Rose stops her short to give her a command to help save everyone she can and hide them inside a secret cellar. Margaret forgets her apology and does something even better, bowing at her command, calling her “Queen Rose” for the first time.

In Rose’s ascension of her character, Margaret’s acknowledgment of her as Queen Rose completes her next transformation as a character. This is actually a pretty unbelievable moment for her character. Just think about all the phases, trials & tribulations that she went through. Rose is the perfect character for OP MC isekais to have. As her character completes this part of her arc, there are still tons of other characters that should take steps in their next character development as well.

Shadow vs Ragnarok

Shadow & Ragnarok continue fighting in an aerial battle high in the sky Shadow drops some dialogue in his normal ‘Cid’ voice before dropping some classic lines as Shadow. He pulls out those magical strings that John Smith used in the previous arc and proceeds to ensnare the entire dragon midair.

Typical Shadow, displaying his wisdom upon the dragon and doing something epic after. It’s a short & sweet scene, which is the right kind of pacing for this episode.

Queen Rose & Shadow Garden Work Together

The scene shifts to Queen Rose speaking with 664 & 665. The royal guards question whether they can place their trust in a ‘shady’ organization, but Rose says that they will prove to do so. Rose ponders the current events and wonders how they will be able to take down Mordred, when he comes free falling from the air.

This episode was so plot heavy that you kind of forget all the funny little moments that shine in this show. That’s the most balancing part about this show. It can work its way between being lighthearted to being super serious when it wants to.

Not deserving of an epic fight, but only deserving of a comedic fall, Mordred completely underestimates Beta & Epsilon’s strength. Beta & Epsilon continue scarring Mordred’s pride further. However, he believes he still has the trump card at his disposal, Ragnarok. Buying into the belief that everyone would be destroyed regardless, Mordred starts to explain everything he knows about how the world works.

Mordred getting his butt handed to him feels way better than what Delta did to Nelson. The confidence in the back and forth dialogue between Beta, Rose & Mordred is very satisfying. Let’s accept that villains are just going to get rag-dolled by Shadow & Shadow Garden. So, it really comes down to what creative ways can you make that interesting?

The Ultimate Plot Device, Exposition

The ultimate plot device? Isekai again. Sounds simple, but when there is something simple, it is ripened for a plot twist. Mordred explains that the world exists in different dimensions called ‘Realms.’ All these realms host different types of world like ones engulfed in fire, frozen in ice, poisoned from gas and of course, the one with monsters & magical powers. All of these different Realms are all revolving around a “singular point” in the middle. That singular point remains a mystery to the Cult.

I’ve always wondered from a writer’s standpoint, what they want to leave a mystery & what do they actually have answers for? Keeping a cohesive story that keeps continuity is always funky when there are different dimensions involved..

As these worlds revolve around that singular point, sometimes they crash into each other, creating a new world that intermingles both dimensions together. He goes on to give the example that their current world used to be ‘magic-less’ until 10 million years ago, when magic suddenly started to spread across their world, resulting in the decline of dragons that couldn’t adapt to its existence. Among the creatures that did adapt to this power are all the ‘humanoid’ races, which puts into question the origins of humans. Did humans originate from the current world or from a different ‘Realm?’

Mordred continues further about this idea of “spirited away.” Using ‘Atlantis’ as an example, some kingdoms that used to exist, end up disappearing from the face of this planet. This phenomena is what sends different entities from one dimension to another.

The question arises from where the Demon Diablos came from? The demon itself came from their current world, but the entity from what “became the basis” for it was from another dimension. That entity or creature from where the basis for Demon Diablos came from is called the “First Realm.” Hence, when Oriana Kingdom opened up the gate with the Black Rose before, it was the Cult who came to close it, stopping all the magical creatures from entering their world, devouring everything in its path. As a result, Rose and her high amounts of magic were to be given to the Cult as payment. Before Mordred eds his villainous monologue, he states that “no one can defeat Ragnarok, the Grand Ruler of the Fourth Realm.” Then, limbs from Ragnarok’s body start to fall atop of Mordred.

It’s the second time that the episode has done the “comedically well timed fall.” There is actually a ton of unpack here with Mordred expanding upon how the different realities work. It’s also noteworthy that Mordred knows the title from where Ragnarok came from, as he refers to it coming from the “Fourth Realm.”

Even Red Pills Can’t Save You

Everyone takes a look above and limb by limb, Ragnarok’s body begins to fall apart. In epic proportions, Shadow puts on a grin and slashes the rest of its body to shreds. 559 comes to report that Shadow Garden has taken down all of the creatures that came through the portal. Mordred starts to hit peak denial as he stuffs his face into one of Ragnarok’s ripped limbs.

These are the kinds of scenes you can literally expect from any anime, but they are ones that we all want to see. Who doesn’t like a villain getting totally humiliated and shamed, all the while all the heroes are just patronizing him into oblivion.

Mordred rises above the ground in his evolved form into Shadow’s face, Shadow can’t help but feel the same ‘recycled’ characters doing the same thing. A classic Shadow fight ensues as he starts to finish what Beta & Epsilon started with demeaning Mordred’s character. Heading off into space, Shadow starts his own epic monologue. To put it simply of Shadow’s monologue, humans seek the power of gods—reminding himself of why he sought out the powers that he did, thus “I’m Atomic.” As he blasts away with his “I’m Atomic,” it creates a giant flash of light that engulfs the night into a bright purple ray of light. Just as the light calms down and Shadow Garden cheers on his victory, a little black hole is created, sucking in the air around him. Due to Shadow’s curiosity, he touches it and gets sucked in.

There two major themes to note about the plot and Shadow’s next step in his journey. One, he’s been looking for the next step of his ’eminence,’ in which he complained about Mordred’s character doing the same thing as previous Cult villains. The other important point is literally the plot, in which the Cult’s purpose for the entirety of the story is to expand upon the anime’s world. There is no bigger change than what Mordred just helped setup here as Cid gets pulled into a vortex that sent him back into what looks like a dystopian version of his original world...

Minoru & Cid Kagenou’s World Collide

Cid gets sent back into his Minoru world, as the episode starts off in similar fashion to episode one of season 1 with Akane Nishino’s inner dialogue. This look like a dystopian version of the Minoru world that takes place a few years after his isekai death as Akane states that “she is 20 now, but still in her school uniform.” Lots of events of the current plot with Rose, gets spliced into Akane’s. Akane looks to be defending her people from the Cult just like Rose is.

Winding down in the episode, the upcoming events are eerily similar to the very first episode of the anime. Akane is walking down the same path and she hears a noise. In her reaction, she pulls out what looks like a magical artifact. The same ruffians from the first episode appear again to kidnap her, but are like brainwashed versions sporting odd technology. This event turns out just like the extortion kidnapping from the first episode however, this one expands upon Akane being a magical knight and that she is this “great savior.” She is tied up by this device that stops her from using her powers.

Expanding upon the kidnapping further, the person that issued this kidnapping wants to kill her wants to do the honors him or herself. The man that got beaten up by the “Stylish Ruffian Slayer” in the first episode, is now this brainwashed zombie that has visions of that night. once he zombie walks to Akane, he couldn’t help but flash that memory of Stylish and starts to choke her out. If these scenes are indicative of any deja vu of that very first episode, it shouldn’t be a surprise at what happens next. Shadow arrives from the roof!

This time, Shadow blows away the top of the roof, flying down from the moon. In a quick hand to hand combat scene, Shadow beats down the brainwashed bandit. In bad guy fashion, he questions just who this guys is and Shadow responds the only way he knows how, “I am Shadow! He who lurks in the shadows in order to hunt shadows!” As Shadow introduces himself, Akane yells out ‘Shadow!’ And then, the episode ends as the OG opening credits plays.

If the ending didn’t give you a goosebumps, then you might just be brainwashed yourself. It’s one thing in this arc to tease every Eminence in Shadow trope, but to invite such a world bending plot twist into the mix is the best thing that can happen to this anime. After starting to become too predictable, the creator echoed the same sentiment through Cid’s character and literally gave a world bending change to the story—coming at the best time possible.

Changing the World

Keeping the Show Fresh

Shadow’s entire journey after the John Smith arc had Cid completely out of ideas. This is indicative of OP isekai protagonists that the creator wants to echo. Gearing up for this epic conclusion of the arc, displayed the entire formula to what makes The Eminence in Shadow such a brilliant anime. These qualities includes the hilarity of the well timed comedic irony and the funny dialogues within these scenes. Also, the characters that have tons of depth and there is no better example than this arc’s conclusion from Rose’s character from Student President Rose to Princess Rose to Shadow Garden 666 to Queen Rose.

Expanding Isekai

When you have OP protagonists, villains don’t stand a chance, so how can the story be compelling? The answer to this question is truly fundamental to an isekai’s core. EX-PO-SIT-ION! Being in a new world means new rules, characters and of course every fantasy element you can think of. It is the fantasy come true allegory that these main character’s lives never got to experience in real life.

When the current isekai world becomes fully realized and there feels like nothing left is to explore, creators must look beyond just that isekai world. Now, if you can go to a different world, surely you can go back? Makes sense, right? However, the true genius is what this episode introduced in a world of “different dimensions.” No matter how ‘crutch-like’ time traveling & multi-dimensional worlds feel, when executed in spectacular fashion and not hitting the repeat button like Marvel, it creates the fresh twist you need after 32 episodes.

If you can’t make villains matter, change the rules of the world.

The Villain’s True Purpose in the Show

This is where the genius lies. The plot itself as described by Mordred is learning how these different dimensions interact and this creates a melting pot of worlds that can interact. This is such a incredibly genius plot device because it makes the world incredibly large and having dimensions collide is a incredible explanation that can explain any isekai world ever created.

This gives the world significantly more flexibility. It literally melts the worlds together to create new worlds to explore, expanding the roster of characters and it still maintains continuity within the story. The Cult of Diablos still exist as the main antagonists. Upon expanding the world, it tees us up for an easy plot twist. Honestly, that might just be the best way to end this arc. Give closure to Queen Rose, while expanding upon this new dystopian Minoru world.

The world where Minoru came from is still technically his original world, but now has magic and what still seems like a Cult of Diablos plot. Remember that Diablo’s origin basis is from a different ‘Realm’ from Cid Kagenou’s Realm, creating that world’s Diablos. Cid is still Shadow. Akane is still Akane, but apparently 20 now. The ruffians that kidnapped Akane in the first episode for extortion, now looks like Cult of Diablos members.

Last Thoughts

There are so many takeaways from this episode that it concluded many different character arcs that includes Shadow as well. Rose made her transition from 666 into Queen Rose Oriana. What Shadow sought out for a new way of ’eminence’ concluded perfectly with a world changing event. With that world changing event, places Shadow back in the world where he was Minoru and where the story gets to expand upon the first major side character in Akane Nishino. It’s not only her character, but potentially many other new characters.

Given that this new world that Minoru used to reside in has magic enabled and looks completely apocalyptic, it’s literally going to feel like a completely different world. That might just be the secret sauce that continues to remix the show’s amazing formula.

Take into account that the storyboarding of this episode was amazingly executed as well. From scene to scene with the patronizing dialogue against Mordred, the fun action scene and well time humor, this episode check marks off everything an anime should do well. Now with the ability of the worlds to intermingle and mix, this brings a ton of excitement for future seasons. This has been an incredible season and with the announcement of a new movie, you’d have to wonder if the creators got something epic up their sleeves with this one. This is truly a special anime that got even better in season 2. Hope to see you guys soon on the next review!