Now, last episode was AMAZING with the great animation and pacing, so it was expected for this episode to not be as great since last episode is hard to follow up. Especially how weird some of the animation was (but considering how fantastic it was last week it’s to be expected), but I digress. After the epic battle between the Ten Commandments, Meliodas is stuck at the mercy of Estarossa who seems to be taking great pleasure in crushing him under his foot. It’s honestly really hard to listen to Yuki Kaji screaming bloody murder because it sounds like he’s actually crying out in pain and agony. Kudos to him for being able to belt out these screams.
While Estarossa has Meliodas under control, Melascula asks Gloxinia to heal her body. Thankfully for her, Gloxinia had one drop left and afterwards won’t be able to use it for a while. Which is understandable considering he used it A LOT with his and Drole’s fight against Meliodas. I’m surprised he hadn’t run out till now. We then find out that Meliodas used to be the head of the Ten Commandments as Estarossa wonders outloud of when he’ll betray the Seven Deadly Sins just like he did them. The image of the old Ten Commandments is pretty interesting. Especially since there are a few we recognize such as Galland, Melascula and Monspeet, along with Derieri and Estarossa who look to be a lot younger than they are now (when Estarossa actually looks like Meliodas lol). And then we see a few of them we don’t recognize… along with Gowther being cut off at the side. Don’t pretend it’s not you, Gowther, we see you in the exact same outfit in the opening!
Apparently Meliodas was a powerhouse to behold as he even put the goddess clan on the ropes. He was also believed to be the next Demon King with his strength and all of his clansmen believed in his power. Estarossa even wanted to be like him. However, Estarossa reveals that Meliodas then betrayed them and killed two of the Ten Commandments with Gloxinia and Drole to take their place afterwards. However, the biggest shocker was that it was actually Meliodas who started the Holy War 3000 years ago.
Now, this part was probably my favorite part in the episode. After Melascula decides to devour Meliodas’ soul because of the trouble his friends gave her, Ban shows up after asking to be sent to the battlefield. He uses this ability I have never seen him use called Zero Sign and I had no idea what this even was so I had to look it up. Apparently it’s a technique his ability “Snatch” can do by suppressing his presence, essentially making him invisible and undetectable to anyone around to sneak up on them. It honestly feels like that ability kinda got pulled out of nowhere, but considering his ability is to rob people of their strength, who says he can’t rob them of their senses? Anyways, he gets past the Ten Commandments without them realizing he’s there until he breaks Melascula’s neck and destroys the rest of her hearts in the most epic fashion.
Like I’ve said in the past, Ban and Meliodas’ friendship is one of my absolute favorite relationships in this series and seeing Ban come to Meliodas’ aid despite knowing full well that if he were to kill Melascula, Elaine’s lifeline would die along with her. This is the development I wanted, to choose to save your friend rather than sacrifice them for your lover. However, the bromance could only last so long when Estarossa completely disregards Ban and starts stabbing each of Meliodas’ seven hearts. It was completely heartbreaking (I’m sorry) to see Ban desperately trying to break Estarossa’s neck to try and stop him from killing Meliodas. Just hearing Ban’s desperate cries to stop, only for Estarossa to not even seem fazed and stab Meliodas’ last heart, really was emotional. And talk about overkill to have Estarossa have Ban just explode because he thought he was annoying…
Not to take away from the feels of Elizabeth crying over Meliodas, but I felt a lot more emotion from Ban losing his precious friend. The guy did everything he could to try and stop Estarossa but to no avail, the poor guy was even in tears when he realized he wasn’t stopping. The next day, Diane brings Elizabeth to where Matrona’s family is to heal the kids of their wounds. Everyone is relieved to find the kids were able to pull through. However, things have gotten worse for Britannia now that the Ten Commandments are starting their movement to take over. Demons are scouring the lands with everyone desperately trying to fight back. Gowther was also arrested for possibly being a Ten Commandment and Ban seems to be doing his best to fend off the attacking demons.
We get a little Ban and Jericho scene and it’s nice to see them on closer terms with each other. With Ban able to open up to her and Jericho genuinely caring about him, even beating herself up over not being able to protect Elaine. The expression she makes seeing how much Ban is probably hurting… best girl.
But hey, aren’t these guys a blast from the past. I honestly didn’t think we’d see them again… with their armor no less! I didn’t quite recognize them at first but when I saw the staff I was like: Are these the Weird Fangs from the first season??? And boy, was it disturbing to find that the villagers seem to have resigned themselves to sacrificing the Holy Knights souls for the demons to eat, believing it’s the only way to save their families. The one Holy Knight who turns invisible was able to escape his pursuers (probably a good ability to have when you’re being treated as a fugitive) and winds up passing out when something seemingly attack him. Turns out it was Elizabeth who picked him up, allowing him to rest at the bar. Though I will admit it was cute to see Elizabeth do the same exact same thing and pose that Meliodas did in his introduction in the first episode of the first season.
Because Meliodas is the main character, it’s impossible for him to stay dead with the main threat still out there. So he’s definitely going to come back for sure. However, it’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the character fare with such a big threat on the loose and their dear friend seemingly dead for the time being.
Also, the fact that Gowther got arrested on the air date of his birthday (6/2) is pretty ironic. Happy Birthday Gowther, but you’re also under arrest.
