Score: A

Another episode where I’m really blown away. Both by the complete evil of game Pride and also the absolute will and determination of the current Pride. This episode just hammered both things home and has us set up for what should be a satisfying finale of the first arc after coming back for S2. The Leon story has been better than I expected. But I’m also just really excited to see what Pride is going to get up to next.

Pure…evil!

There were times I felt like Pride was stressing herself out too much over a version of herself that showed no signs of existing now that she was at the wheel. But the way this episode opened up…good god! When focusing on how horrifying evil that Pride is…I get it. That version is pure evil. Her only joy seems to be in tormenting people physically, emotionally, or both at the same time. Her fiance was a bit late and she tracks down every person he was with and strings them up to brutally whip them. Beating these poor people until they are bloody sacks of meat. She of course only did it because she knew Leon cared about the people. No shock he wanted to spend more time with them than her since again…she’s evil. But she made sure to not harm him while focusing her wrath on everyone else.

Just…painful

And if it was just that it’d be one thing. The horrifying thing with that Pride is that it’s never just one horrible thing. She doesn’t just take your freedom, but she breaks your soul. Putting Leon in the horrifying position of making a no-win decision. Does he stand by the innocent people he was with to spare them from any further torment? If so then Pride would absolutely send her armies to raze his homeland to ashes and do so happily. Or does he protect the people of his homeland and abandon these innocent people to torture and death? Our Pride really doesn’t exaggerate with how evil she considers that version of herself to be. Leon was left choosing the lesser of two evils…but left feeling responsible for those poor people being killed. Even if he wanted to tell himself they were already dying…it wouldn’t make him feel better.

You’d think that’d be it. Surely that’d have to be it. But of course she goes further. Not only did Pride make him watch as she tortured those people, not only did she make him abandon them to save even more lives, but she had to go one step further. That Pride is so evil that she’d make him kill all those people himself. Making Leon who cares about people to betray them and kill them. It’s not like Pride is being secretive. I’m sure some realize the no-win situation Leon is in there. But when you’ve been strung up and tortured, only some people are going to be able to look at a bigger picture. And that’s the Pride that good Pride fears. A monster so utterly despicable that she won’t stop until she inflicts as much pain as possible.

Just shaking with anger!

All that wonderfully contrasts with isekai Pride. She’s someone that inherits the grief caused by evil Pride and has basically spent her life trying to do as much good as possible. But she’s also human at the end of the day. She thought just warning Leon and having him stay out of trouble would be enough. Maybe her memories were hazy until this episode, but either way it wasn’t enough. Leon was already struggling and his brothers took full advantage of that. And there was nothing he could do. Pride has struggled with the evil of her other self, but that version isn’t there. But those brothers are a lesser evil, but still an evil that she could fully direct her anger towards. And wow, you could just see the absolute rage in her eyes.

Helping this guy was a real struggle

No shock how much damage evil Pride was able to do. Leon even in this point in the story is honestly near broken. No wonder that Pride was keen to have him as a fiance. He was a half-broken toy that she could amuse herself with. For year Leon’s reputation has been slandered, his faith in himself eroded, and it left him with an inability to even verbalize his own desires. Even with Pride pushing as hard as possible it was still like pulling teeth. If someone didn’t try that hard to reach him…there’d be no chance.

Time to crush these two!

This episode just highlights why this is going to be one my shows of the season. This episode was excellent. One could say the opening sequence went on for a long time, but I think that works perfectly. This is the first appearance of Evil Pride in S2 and it hits home how completely evil she was. It both showed how much Leon would endure and how much was stacked against him. This guy’s own brothers were one step behind the pure venom of Pride, but only by so much. But the good version of Pride is ready to take action. Whatever happens to the engagement is secondary. She was ready to make Leon’s life a happier one and get him to accept the position he always should’ve had.