Impression
Steph was a pushover 😀 A very cute pushover, mind you (with her continuous head-bashing and forced dere) but a pushover nonetheless. And we saw that last episode too – she was unable to keep a good poker face up at all, although admittedly it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t figure out how Kurami was cheating. Not that Steph knew she was cheating. Even in her game of Rock Paper Scissors with Sora, her thinking was always a few steps behind – there’s also something to be said in how easily she was duped into playing a game with him. Her bigger problem is that she fails to consider the semantics of these games in general, and was too easily drawn into Sora’s psychological tricks – it seems like verbal assent is needed to enforce a pledge, which means that she carried the same risk regardless of whether she lost or tied. After all, a “little favour” is subjective, and thus could have meant anything. While the transitions between Steph’s punishing antics (WRYYYYYYY!) and her cute dere was probably meant to be used for comic effect, it did get me thinking about something I hadn’t really thought of before. One of the pledges makes it an indisputable law to uphold all bets, which has largely happened so far – except with Steph, who tried to go against it and was suddenly “forced” to respond cutely to Sora. With lots of cheaters around, I can imagine that a lot of people wouldn’t be happy with an undesirable game outcome, either. So what happens if someone goes against these pledges (or tries to) – is there some sort of divine punishment handed out by God?
Anyway, that escalated quickly! While I knew there was going to be some fanservice and ecchi (it said so on the tin) I didn’t think it’d be this crazy. I’m sort of conflicted over it all – sure, it was hilarious, but at the same time I’m hoping it doesn’t become a staple part of the show, because what I’m really after is all the badass gaming strategies and tactics we’re going to be getting. Shiro did remain impossibly cute though! I’m surprised they literally can’t function if they’re too far apart from each other – there goes my hope of a platonic, non-incestuous relationship from the siblings, as comically adamant as Sora was against it. I didn’t really get that vibe last episode, where they just seemed understandably close. But you know Sora, I won’t hold you against it. She is adorable.
The bit of world-building we got in the second half was very interesting. Of all the sixteen races, it seems like Imanity (or humanity) is in a bit of a pinch – and if Steph’s grandfather was anything like she is when it comes to gaming, I’m not surprised. The need for country territory to be bet in order to expand (in line with the pledge that all bets have to be equal in value) makes things very risky, as does the fact that all races seem quite hostile and expansionist towards each other. That’s especially the case if you initially start out with almost nothing, as Sora and Shiro did. Not only can Imanity not use magic, they can’t even tell if magic is being used – it seems like Tet’s decision to drop the overpowered Sora and Shiro into Disboard was meant to level the playing field more than anything else. I don’t think they’re subject to those magic restrictions, by the way – technically they aren’t part of Imanity even though they’re siding with it, so perhaps they may be able to use magic in addition to seeing it.
Helpfully, the OP shows both Sora and Shiro wearing crowns (not that we’d doubt their victory!) which implies that they do end up reigning over Imanity, and will at least teach Kurami a little lesson. She’s very enigmatic as of now, and we know hardly anything about her or why she’s trying to become king – nor what her race is. I think she’s human, although her cheating partner looked like an elf. And at any rate, she doesn’t seem to be “siding” with Imanity as a whole, and is almost like an outsider who’s invading the country for her own purposes.
“So what happens if someone goes against these pledges (or tries to) – is there some sort of divine punishment handed out by God?”
We saw that. You pointed it out yourself. Steph literally was brainwashed into loving Sora every time she looked at him, despite the fact that she had no reason to even LIKE him. The pledges aren’t just rules that you can try to ignore, they are the FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF THE WORLD. They are the laws of physics. You CANNOT violate the pledges: it is physically impossible. They are how the world and everything and everyone in it works.
Gah… when you put it that way, the risks of a high-stakes game seem terrifying. It makes sense, though – previously, the way I saw it was that those who break the pledges would be “punished” by God, i.e. something would happen to them if they, say, murder someone or steal something. But if they’re completely inviolable, then people would literally be “unable” to murder in the first place. I assumed they could from the existence of those thieves from last episode. Although Sora and Shiro finished them off with games (and fully intended to) it’d be hard to make a living as a thief without the possibility of violence given that both parties have to agree to a game and set up bets.
I’ll specify that that is simply how I interpreted it, but last episode when Shiro made the comment that the thieves not only wouldn’t attack them but COULDN’T do so, that’s how I came to understand things, and nothing I’ve seen so far has made me think otherwise. Tet remade the world after the other gods destroyed it killing each other, or so I understand from that story, so it would make sense that that universe works around whatever fundamental laws he wants