Welcome to exposition, and something of
a meaningful change in tone. The episode starts with the stare-down
between Khun (the blue-haired dude), Rak (the giant lizard man), Bam,
and the strange multi-eyed creature that Bam was prepared to fight.
Rak intends to hunt strong prey to make himself stronger, and has
figured Bam for his mark since he’s recognized Bam’s sword. Khun
also recognizes it, and takes an interest in Bam because he’s
curious. Khun’s interest is very different; he’s taking a pacifistic
approach to the number-reduction trial, preferring to make allies and
wait out other people killing each other down to 200.
Khun’s approach is interesting – he
doesn’t seem to be following it out of any desire to spare or save
lives, but rather out of a desire to not blindly submit to the
Tower’s rules and wishes. Of course, he also might have known what
was coming next: After there are 200 competitors remaining, a second
culling kicks in: those left have five minutes to band together in
groups of 3. As long as they’re touching when the timer runs out,
the group is accepted and moves on. Rak still wants to hunt Khun and
Bam, but at the end of the timer (after an interesting show by Bam,
who recognizes that Rak won’t attack him unarmed) they tackle-hug
him, forcibly forming a team.
Those who made it out are taken to a new place to rest, where Rak is tamed with promises of strong enemies to come and candy bars now, before being confronted by another trial. This one is administered by a “Ranker” – someone who has made it to the top of the tower, where dwells the King, and returned. He puts up a wall of magic water (apparently an important substance in the Tower) and challenges all the remaining teams to pass through it. Those who do, advance. Bam, for his part, was left on the winning side when the wall went up and is rewarded with some exposition.
We learn what we mostly already knew
about Irregulars (that they’re people who enter the Tower from
elsewhere, uninvited) but more critically we learn a little more
about how this universe works. First, from Rankers and the mention
that the King is at the top, we know this isn’t like the Abyss. The
mystery in this setting isn’t for the world, it’s just for Bam, which
makes me more interested in how they explain and build things going
forward. I have… mixed feelings about the demystification, but
this is only the second episode so I’m wholly willing to see how it
goes, and what they do with a more “known” world.
Speaking of what’s know, the structure
of the world is brought to our attention: The Tower is, in some
sense, the whole universe, and there is both Inner and Outer. The
Inner tower is the one we’re concerned with, while the Outer Tower is
where Regulars come from. Where do Irregulars like Bam come from?
That’s unclear and mysterious. Once again, I’m willing to accept it,
but I want to know more about this world if there’s really more to
properly know.
We also see everyone else deal with the
Wall. For unspecified reasons some people are able to pass through
trivially, others can force their way through, and still others spend
all their might and fail. It seems to be based on a nebulously
defined “power” or possibly luck, and either way Bam would have a
lot as an Irregular. This… is something that does not please me to
encounter. Since we clearly do know, I’d like to have some concept
of what this ‘Power’ is. Affinity with something about the Tower?
Force of will? Is it an inherent trait of the body, the mind, or the
soul or can it be trained and gained? The characters that have a lot
aren’t consistently strong looking or intellectual, so it doesn’t
seem like something you could tell at a glance. So, other than being
able to pass through a magic wall, I want to know what it really
means to be powerful or not.
Another thing that’s a little annoying
right now is Bam. He’s got time to grow and develop into an
enjoyable and well-defined character, but right now his ignorance and
naive quest are not a whole lot to go on. I’d like him to have
opinions and take a stand, even though I know he’s got to get his
feet under him before that’s really going to be possible. It’s
certainly something I’m on the lookout for going forward: Bam growing
as a character and letting us in on what he’s like as a person.
For the time being, that’s all. It
seems like there are more “tests” ahead before we get to
something of a free tower climb… if we ever do rather than just
running the characters through a never-ending battery of filters.
There were some good scenes in this one, especially seeing how the
red shirts and incidental characters approached the wall and its
random stubbornness, and on the whole the pacing felt a lot more
fluid, but while I’m curious and interested there’s still a lot of up
left to go.