A slight step down from the first episode, but still good. The main problem is of course the extremely fast pacing. In the span of 40 minutes, the group of protagonists goes from 3 to 6! And not only that, but the 3 new characters just kinda of appear lol, they come out of nowhere. Now, I understand that this show is only 4 episodes, so the storytelling needs to be fast, but this was still pretty goofy.
Most of the episode was quite good though. The forbidden gay lovers trope is kind of played out in fiction, but I don't have a problem with it yet. The empress (forgot her name) getting someone to spy on balon is an intriguing plotline. Speaking of balon, where was he? It felt like he was barely in this episode.
On the side of the protagonists, most of it was pretty good too. Unfortunately, scian is sick so she barely had any screentime, but at least the other characters were good. I liked the nightmare sequences. We learn that both main characters went through some serious trauma. F'jall watched his brother die, and éile was forced to burn innocent people alive. Jeez, that was disturbing.
This episode had less action than the first, but when it did happen it was great. The first action scene in the barn was genuinely intense, and I wasn't sure how the characters were gonna get out alive. I also wanna mention about that scene that I LOVE that the soldiers didn't just charge in like mindless idiots. These soldiers were actually smart and knew they didn't stand a chance against the protagonists lol. Instead, they tried to burn them alive, which was smart but it didn't work.
Balon's one great scene was when he kills a couple children in order to obtain the chaos magic, but it isn't enough. He still has to sacrifice something important to him, and I wonder what that'll be. For now, it seems like balon is only in it for himself, and he doesn't love anyone. So I'm truly perplexed as to what he can sacrifice.
F'jall also learns that the empress murdered his sister! I can't wait to see what their confrontation is like. Clearly, the empress still loves him, since she wanted his bounty cleared. But I doubt f'jall still has any affection for her after what she did...
Lastly, the main characters attempt to infiltrate the castle by jumping from monolith to monolith. It doesn't work, and they get teleported to another world, where they stumble upon a horrifying monster. Great cgi, by the way. I can't wait to see how they deal with that creature.
Overall, this episode was slighter weaker than the first. It had higher highs, but lower lows. Also, I unironically hope that they continue the trend of having some character deliver a cringeworthy barrage of f-bombs every episode. I honestly can't believe those were actual pieces of dialogue that got implemented into the show. To be honest, if someone told me they dropped the show simply because of that, it would be valid. Solid 7 out of 10.
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