Sword Art Online II "Excalibur" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD

Much like the first episode of this little filler-arc, the episode goes from fast and exciting to kinda slow toward the end, but has the benefit of a cute closing scene as well as a pretty funny credits scene with the whole group that I had a big grin on my face for the duration of.


The episode did have to wrap things up pretty quickly, but I feel it did so in a very well-paced way. It feels like there should be more to it, but, then you realize that Thrymir is the final boss and that all there is to do after that is just pluck the sword from the stone. Nothing too grand.

The big fight was pretty cool to watch only because getting to watch the group work together is just such a fun dynamic. I know I keep repeating that, but, guys, I can't stress it enough. After waiting so long, I always get excited to see it.

Though most of the member's skills were used a little more sparingly, as several members only got in a few good hits while Kirito, Klein, Sinon, and Asuna did most of the work. Well, Freyja did pretty much all the work, but of the regular players, those four did the most.

The fight itself isn't too long and we actually manage to catch the back end of it. Guess only having three health bars doesn't affect the outcome like Kirito guessed. Then again, it could be because they don't have 3D-Maneuver Gear. That tends to help in those kinds of situations. Just saying.

Part of me wonders why they don't make a bigger deal out of how they aren't making that much of a dent in Thrymir's HP, but, again, I think it's mostly because he's a giant and the whole point of his character being there is to stall the quest out long enough for the players to not reach Excalibur in time. Maybe if you weren't talking so much all the freaking time it would help! They did kill quite a bit of time just speculating rather than trying to clear ranks a few moments.

Anyway, Freyja steps up and tells Kirito and Leafa to look for a golden hammer amongst the many other golden artifacts. Great. Kirito uses a Thunder Sword Skill (that's a thing?) and he manages to find Mjolnir, the legendary hammer of Thor. He throws it at Freyja, who suddenly transforms into the Thunder God.

Huh. Well, SAO II is now 2 for 2 in good twists, with Death Gun being the first and now this one. I can honestly say I didn't see Freyja turning into Thor coming. It makes sense that Thor would be the one to eventually help slay the king of the Frost Giants. I thought at first that Mjolnir was going to simply be the weapon of Thrymir's destruction, that one of the group members would have to wield it to defeat him. You know, like a super powered weapon that deals chunks of damage?

The inclusion of Thor is still a welcomed one. And it isn't like he just deals with the King instantly. No, the players have to get his health down to the proper point before Thor is able to deliver the finishing blow. And he gives Klein Mjolnir. Why Klein? I dunno. I feel like Lisbeth would be better suited with it, given how she probably has dabbled in a hammer skill before as a blacksmith. Klein's a samurai, I'm not too sure they used a hammer all the time.

I do wish that another twist would have been for Loki to be faking as Thrymir this whole time, but then again that might have been too easy and possibly dragged things out longer than they should have. We have a whole other arc to get to as well as a episode chocked full of nostalgia coming up tomorrow, so there's really very little time outside of just three episodes.

With Thrymir cleared, the group rushes to Excalibur, where Kirito just barely pulls the sword from the...ice. Yeah, not stone but I'll take it either way. He also does in fact recall that this is the same sword that he summoned at the end of Season 1, wondering if it's been waiting for him to return. I guess it sort of is his sword to own, since he was the one that first summoned it.

But with the sword no longer holding it together, the ice pyramid plummets to the ground, only for the group to be saved by Tonky. Kirito, unable to claim the item and thus transfer over to Tonky, is forced to throw the heavy weapon away, and climb aboard the octopus elephant. Sinon, however, is able to shoot a line-arrow, easily hitting her target and yanking in Excalibur for Kirito. I mean, it's only 200 meters. Sinon could have done it blindfolded.

Before giving the sword to Kirito, Sinon makes Kirito promise to always think of her when he gets ready to use it. Meh. It's like the show is trying to make Sinon fall for Kirito. Personally, I'm not a fan. I like the idea of Sinon not needing any man to make her happy, just a solid group of friends to help her out and to hang out with. I mean, it's never brought up again, and Sinon never appears to be jealous nor does anyone feel really threatened by Sinon, but still. It's like they tried and figured, "May as well, what's there to lose?"

Whatever. It does get a funny moment where all the girls give Kirito and Sinon a dirty look and Kirito kicks Klein in the face, so, I can't complain.

The only downer to this whole episode is that it takes forever just for Jotunheim to get restored to it's natural green. By the time it's done, it does in fact look cool, but it just feels like such a slow process and it drags on and it feels mostly like padding. Even the return of Urd is boring. There is a fun little Klein moment that I guess wraps up some very well-hidden character arc for him, but, whatever. It just feels like we're dragging our feet.

The main part of the episode ends with Kazuto showing Shino and Suguha, over in Agil, whose real name is Andrew fun fact (didn't know that until now!)'s, restaurant, the new tech he's developing for Yui: multiple cameras that act as sensory organs for Yui so that she may, in a way, interact with the real world and make it feel like she's flying. Apparently Kazuto is doing this as a school project.

I can tell you right now, I was not that ambitious in school. Then again, it is 2025/ 2026 at this point in the show, so, we've got a long way to go. You kids in school don't give up! Make the dreams of virtual reality programs come true!

Thus, our episode and arc end with our gang hanging out in the restaurant talking about the legend of Excalibur and why it's name got changed, with Suguha pointing out its relativity in legend, Shino pointing out that a "caliber" is used in gun terminology, and Lis pointing out that the wielder of Excalibur has to be basically rich and noble...and Kazuto just got paid for his little detour into GGO. So, he's covering the check! There isn't too much substance and it sounds weird to say that a scene where they're just eating would be that much fun to watch, but honestly, I could probably watch a whole episode, I love all these characters.

So, overall, this was another fun episode with a cool twist and a brand new item for Kirito to have! The Excalibur arc is nothing crazy, but it's just a good time to be able to kick back and not really worry about anything. The whole group is together, everything is okay, and it's just time to have fun watching an anime. What more could you want?

Tomorrow: FLOOR 22!

See you then.