Sword Art Online II "King of the Giants" Review

FULL EPISODE SPOILERS AHEAD

Attack on ALO, am I right?

While yesterday's episode focused on how our group had come together for a fun little adventure, this episode showed what our group is capable of when under pressure to save the virtual world. Oh yeah, that's at stake now apparently. Cool beans.


The odd thing is that there still isn't any real sense of urgency at work here. I never really get the vibe that we're rushing to get somewhere. I still feel like the endgame for all of this is to save the sword and replant the World Tree to make Jotunheim green again, not to stop the end of days for ALfheim Online.

It's still a really fun episode. We get to see each of our characters in battle and show off what roles in battle they have.

We open with Yui explaining that the Cardinal System that was in both SAO and old ALO is still very much at work here, and  so this quest that they've ventured on is one with the capability to eradicate every map/ zone in ALO because the Cardinal System was capable of doing so. Remember: the very last thing the Cardinal System did was destroy all of Aincrad, so it definitely has the power to destroy ALfheim, especially if it has a means and the AI to do it, such as the various armies. The game is covering it up as a mission, Ragnarok in Norse mythology. Makes sense. Ragnarok is the Nordic end of days, so, having the mission tie into it is both true and interesting. Adds more lore to the story, if need be.

The attack the castle and come across two very powerful foes: two large monsters, one gold and one black. The black one is feeding the golden one strength while is resistance to magic attacks, and the golden one is protecting the black one and is resistant to physical attacks while the black one protects it from magic attacks so basically it's really tough.

Phew.

Through a series of concentrated attacks, we get to see each of our team members display some form of strength, as well as learn the group's strategy: Kirito, Klein, and Leafa are all part of the advance squad to try and gauge it's attacks as well as beat it down through sheer power. Makes sense. In the past, Kirito and Klein were normally just very powerful players with little regard for defense (neither of them carrying a shield) while Leafa has the most developed avatar out of all of them in ALO. Silica and Lis stay behind for support, with Silica commanding Pina when need be for various spells. In the vanguard are Asuna and Sinon, for obvious reasons: Sinon is the archer, and Asuna is the healer. Gotta keep them in the back for safety, and it's a good strategy they implore by having Sinon stay back with Asuna for further protection.

Before getting into the fight itself, I wanted to say that the new music for this arc is very dreamlike. Perhaps it has something to do with they're playing a video-game with little implication on the real-world, maybe it's the environment they're in, I don't know. But it feels like this would be the music you would hear while playing ALO, not the big grand epic music from previous seasons. Now that doesn't mean the old songs are gone. The original "Swordland" plays during the battle--and why wouldn't it?--but it's also nice to hear the music changing up every once in a while to add to the ambiance.

Kirito displays a new trick, stunning the group, while they are all frozen as they have drained their stamina. Gotta admit, hate it when my character runs out stamina, it's such a buzzkill.

They each delivered well-timed strikes before Asuna is the one who finally leaps in, since she has full stamina from standing still, and slays the monster. The black one prepares to strike, but since he isn't resistant the normal physical attacks, he's put down quite easily.

This scene, while taking up most of the episode on just a single fight, is good in that we get to see everyone in battle. It's something we really haven't ever seen before and something that we've deserved to see for a while. It pays off here. Everyone has a role, everyone is important. Even the characters we hardly see like Lis and Silica come into play, and even the new girl Sinon gets a few good shots in as the Legolas of our fellowship. It does drag on for a little while, sure, but I still feel it was important for us to get to see.

The group, I'm just going to refer to them as the fellowship from now on, moves on until they spot a NPC woman trapped in an ice-cage. In a comedic moment, they shut down Klein by saying it's a trap


Too easy

and they have to move on. But Klein's samurai code or whatever kicks in and they decide to let the woman, Freyja, tag along. Why not?

If they didn't have someone like Kirito on their team, I would say to leave her behind. She just opens up another side-quest, obviously. But, Kirito is the VRMMO Jesus or something so, why not? What's there to lose?

I like how Klein is getting a lot of attention this season. He was pretty much a joke the last season in the Aincrad arc and was seen once at the very end after that. Now, though, he's a main part of the group and is more than welcome. He certainly adds a comedic edge to it all. Though a little cliched now, it's still fun to see.

Before entering the boss room to face Thrymr, Kirito lays down the rules and then they enter, with Freyja boosting their HP massively. See, she's not so bad?

Thrymr spots the fellowship, and approaches them and all I can think of is how convenient it would be if they all had 3D-manuever gear right then. Take out the nape of the neck!

After some banter about Thrymr wanting to marry Freyja--it's part of Nordic mythology, either look it up or watch the next episode--Klein has enough and the battle begins, with Thrymr throwing the first punch after we see that he only has three health bars. Pft.

Gleam Eyes and the Skull Reaper had FIVE health bars, bro, DO YOU EVEN LIFT?

Anyway, this episode is once again, a ton of fun. It's pretty much the reverse of last episode, where we get an exposition dump taken on us in the first act, then the last two acts we get nothing but action and some comedy. It's better that way, so we're not left leaving the episode with our head drooping. There's also some fun set-up for a big showdown and some big possible twists and turns coming up, so exciting things are brewing in ALO!

Tomorrow, it's a battle against the king, and our fellowship is in cramped quarters. Can they survive, and will I make more Attack on Titan jokes? You can count on it. See you then.