Episode three begins with Kirito still pondering his options, deciding the best course of action to reach Central City. He’s still convinced he’ll need to go with Eugeo if he wants to reach the city, but knows Eugeo isn’t the type of person to abandon his calling. Throughout his mental gymnastics however, are sprinkles of character development from Eugeo, who’s quickly growing on me.
For starters, the relationship between Eugeo and Alice must’ve been extremely close for her to have such a lasting impact on him after all these years. The way he describes her flaky pie as the most delicious thing in the world is both nostalgic and depressing. He tells Kirito of her talents in the Sacred Arts like a boyfriend showing off his significant other, and he seems genuinely happy describing the kind of girl Alice was. Furthermore, he describes the horde of goblins inhabiting the countryside, but seems sure that the Integrity Knights would handle the situation. A flash of insecurity passes through his eyes as he says this however, because if the Integrity Knights don’t handle the goblins, why did they come so quickly for Alice? I think this is likely the first step in unraveling Eugeo’s faith in his society, or at the very least shaking it to its core. How long until he realizes something’s wrong with the way his state is run?
Eugeo brings out the Blue Rose Sword after Kirito asks for anything stronger than the Dragon Bone Axe. Of course to our sword loving Kirito, this is like a wet dream come true. A chance to practice with a legendary sword that Eugeo claims to be a “divine object?” Kirito cannot pass on that. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t meet the level qualification to wield such a blade. We’re given a taste of SAO’s gorgeous battle animations through a few swings onto the Giga Cedar, which are surprisingly effective. It still seems like it’ll take a hundred years, but that’s better than three hundred. But perhaps the most important thing to take away from the scene is Eugeo’s swing. It didn’t do much, but it was enough to surprise Kirito. Since we’ve seen Kirito and Eugeo being a sword duo in the opening, this is likely the start of Eugeo’s way of the sword! Very excited for the possible training sequence we’ll get from Kirito for Eugeo.
The other important part of the episode is Kirito’s interactions with Selka. It is revealed that Selka is Alice’s younger sister, who chose to pursue the Sacred Arts after her sister’s sentence. She drops a lot of information during the episode, such as Eugeo’s isolation and sadness after Alice’s disappearance. It appears that her glance towards Eugeo in the previous episode was not out of any underlying bad blood, but because Eugeo feels guilty and has trouble looking at Selka. Their conversation ends with Selka asking about her sister’s circumstances when she was taken away, which was a red flag from the get go. Sadly, Kirito missed the signals and told Selka everything, prompting her to go visit the same cave. It’s possible she’s doing this because the only way to see her sister might be by getting taken away herself, but I’m sure Kirito and Eugeo won’t let her do that.
The episode ends with goblins! As if I didn’t have enough goblins in my life from covering Goblin Slayer, there are even more here. These goblins however can speak and are quite intelligent, abducting Selka for ransom. Eugeo yells out and gives their position away, but freezes in place once he realizes they’re in genuine danger. Eugeo definitely has this extreme fear that renders him incapable of moving, but I’m sure it’ll be something he works on. He can’t be a hero if Kirito’s always the one saving him, after all. What’s in store for next episode? Who knows. Maybe Kirito will do what Kirito does and beat them all up, but he doesn’t have a visible weapon! Perhaps Eugeo will pull through and blow away all our expectations, or maybe Selka’s sacred arts? Regardless of the path chosen, I’m very excited for the next episode!