Quick Note: I’m sorry I couldn’t do the other entries earlier this week, just when I had recovered from one thing, I got sick by another. TT ^ TT Been a rough one.

Goodness, this episode was nuts, but in a great way. It was full of action-packed sequences, all of them so much fun to watch and so well done. There were certainly horrific moments as well, Phyrea’s horrific demise due to her lack of tact and inability to read the situation. You don’t try to woo a guy who is Freya, the Goddess of Beauty’s right-hand man. Like hell he would tolerate listening to her speak less of his Goddess.

It was interesting however to see the two sides to his character. The terrifying and powerful warrior he is, and the merciful one, who poured healing potion onto Mikoto, who ended up having a harsh landing after-all. A kind gesture we don’t really expect to see, especially in the kind of situation that was unfolding.

I was really taken aback by how much of a coward Ishtar ended up being. And to be honest, it disappointed me. Her confidence and determination to attack Freya made it seem the killing stone was a safety-net of a sorts to give them the upper hand. But in reality, it was the only ace she had up her sleeve, and she was banking on the success of the ritual and Hermes to upkeep his vow of secrecy, both which had failed and backfired on her.

Ishtar may have thought she had control over her players, but what she wasn’t aware of was Hermes’ own hidden agenda. At first, I was under the impression he spilled the beans in the name of friendship, but I was naive, and it was only after this episode I remembered that Hermes has always been a dodgy character to begin with. Ever since the unexpected Floor Boss that taken place in the sanctuary of Orario’s Dungeon, Hermes too had developed great interest in Bell, drawing his connection to Zeus, and proclaiming him to become ‘Orario’s Last Hero’. That was why he deliberately had passed the information on to Freya. And frankly, I don’t believe him when he says he underestimated how ugly the battle between two Goddess would play out. I mean dude, this whole thing was fuelled by petty jealousy and dangerous obsession, what were expecting? A catfight? Far from it!

No seriously, she was litterally bitch-slapped off the tower.

Freya made is absolutely clear why her familia is considered to be the most powerful in Orario. With only a handful of warriors, they set Ishtar’s territory ablaze, and left a trail of blood and casualties. But what made the whole confrontation even scarier was how this was the first time we got to see just how powerful Freya actually is. Heck, Ishtar’s charms were overwritten by Freya’s, and so none of her own children were able to defy the Goddess of Beauty. Heck, I’m surprised Freya didn’t send the dude who tried to attack her to his death. Instead, she bitch-slapped Ishtar right off the tower and that was the end of her. Her time on the Lower Worlds is over and will never be permitted to return again, so she was promptly summoned back to the Heavens.

Nonetheless, both Bell and Hestia are in quite a predicament. While Freya has yet to make her move of making Bell one of her own, (and favourite child at that), the scary part is the fact as they are now, their familia doesn’t stand a chance— and even with Haruhime by their side, I am not entirely convinced that alone would be enough. We saw how Bell had moments of struggle against Phyrea, even after having been buffed by Haruhime’s Level Boost spell. Really goes to show just how strong Phyrea was, and how dangerous it would have been for Bell had he not had that buff to work with.

Speaking of which, Bell also had a rematch against Aisha. Being the honourable fighter he is, he elected to fight her without the buff in effect. Their fight was super fun to watch, but also meaningful in a way of Aisha challenging him to make sure he is strong enough and has the resolve to protect Haruhime from the dangers she will continue to face. That being said, it was a bit hard to watch her get that fireball in the stomach, especially given she basically had no armour.

Overall, this incident between Ishtar’s and Freya’s Familia ended a lot sooner than I expected. I also can’t help but laugh how Hestia and Take’s Familia litterally did NOTHING, and was just walking through the mansion while all this shit was happening around them. I suppose they should consider themselves lucky on this count to some extent. They didn’t have to sully their hands, instead the blood that was drawn was strictly between Freya’s and Ishtar’s children. That being said, poor Welf suffered from a bruised ego after being called a loser by one of Freya’s kids, Allen: a level 6 adventurer.

With only two episodes left, I am left to wonder what will happen next. With Ishtar gone, her familia has been officially disbanded (making it the second familia to fall this season), we are pretty much left with whatever Freya and Hermes chooses to do next, unless there’s another threat that has yet to make itself known.

Eva

Blogging Anime since Summer 2009, & Founder of AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog ...I may or may not be addicted to writing

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. zztop

    Sword Oratoria reveals that Hermes setting up Bell to become more heroic was just one part of his master plan.
    The other was to manipulate others into causing Ishtar’s downfall, because of the social threat she presented to Orario. I mentioned in a previous post she’d been actively plotting with dodgy parties to take down Freya, said parties were evil enough that social order would’ve collapsed if the news ever came out.

  2. Eva

    NOTICE: DanMachi S2 Ep 11 Review will be released as a double-post next week!

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