I had speculated a couple episodes ago that Wridra would join Kazuhiro and Marie as their “shield”, thereby allowing Marie to gain Sorcerer’s Guild’s approval to explore the labyrinth. I started to dismiss once Wridra’s eggs hatched but then the show revealed she can control multiple bodies of herself and I guess it’s not technically neglect if you can multitask. Sure enough, Wridra offers her services to the adventuring duo at the beginning of this episode. What’s funny about this scene is that like me and probably you as well, Wridra figured it was a no-brainer to add her to the party so this whole time, she was expecting her friends to ask her. Even better is Wridra feeling like she’s left out when Kazuhiro admits that he and Marie thought Wridra wouldn’t be interested, what with her being a powerful dragon and all. Clearly, they forgot that Wridra doesn’t have a lot of other friends besides them.
So at long last, the gang finally runs into Sven. The dude was pretty much just waiting for them to show up, which I imagine must’ve been a decent while since the gang was off enjoying a hot spring. Sven reveal his plan to kill the three and explore the labyrinth for himself. He then has his assistance put a magical barrier around Marie and Wridra and fights Kazuhiro himself, having grown so confounded by the guy. There are some cool details to the ensuing fight such as Kazuhiro using his Honest skill to “record” or memorize Sven’s attack patterns and using some sleight of hand to prevent Sven from using his clairvoyance ability. That said, I frankly zoned out a couple times during the fight. Ms. Elf‘s animation is simply not at the level to pull off action scenes so even with the writing keeping things interesting, the fight is boring to look at.
I do enjoy how hilariously mismatched Wridra is against Sven’s assistant (seriously, what is their name?). Wridra is a stinking dragon, of course taking on a child would be child’s play for her. I also love that because Wridra defeated the kid so quickly, she and Marie are then just chilling comfortably while they watch Kazuhiro try to defeat Sven, even telling him to hurry up. Marie not doing anything frustrates me a lot, though. I get that she’s dependent on whatever spirits she summons and their willingness to cooperate but would it really kill this show if it lets her do something? Anything?
Once Kazuhiro defeats Sven, the latter gets thrown into prison with his assistant. Ludry used magic to record the fight, giving the Sorcerer’s Guild enough proof that Marie would be in safe hands for the expedition. Funnily enough, we find out the guild master is an old friend of Wridra, which kind of makes the dragon’s attempt to kill Marie in the first episode a little awkward. Imagine if Wridra actually succeeded and the guild master found out (and that it was not the first time something like this has happened).
Before heading into the labyrinth, Wridra meets Mew and gives him special permission to process a blood crystal. Mew then proceeds to transform the stone into a new staff for Marie to use. I swear, if it’s just to help Marie light up a room better, I’m going to lose it. Let this darn girl put more of a fight, already.
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