I saw some people complain about all the SoL stuff in the previous episodes before, but they provide an important context to events like the ones we’ve seen in this episode. It’s not just filler, those are the parts that let you savor the dramatic moments and understand characters better.

And the drama in this episode was great, specifically Nanahoshi’s outburst. Stellar performance from Wakayama Shion, even better than the one from S2. You can really feel her grief, and her words cut Rudy deep.

I was expecting that the expedition would take a long time, but they have found Kishirika surprisingly quickly. And leave it to the Great Emperor of the Demon World to make a fabulous entrance. It was nice to have this comical relief after that heavy first part.

As a side note, I was surprised that Orsted is so young. He’s just half Elinalise’s age