Score: A-

The wait for this episode was honestly a difficult one! It just sat there waiting and wondering what on Earth was going to happen. What would be the horrible event? Would Rudy have someone trying to kill him again? There were many things I was worried about seeing happen and admittedly most of that was regarding Nanahoshi since it just felt palpable. But nothing could quite prepare me for what we got!

Rudy…meet Rudy

Oh boy the episode didn’t joke around in terms of a Turning Point. Rudy from the future time travelled? I don’t know why or how or what the heck is going on. But looking at this eyes and using a name that only Rudy would know (likely his original Earth name) that’s the obvious conclusion. Something so serious happened that made this older version of him come back. Now I can’t say it was to warn himself since he considered his appearance there a failure. So maybe he was trying to jump into his own body and just bring future memories with him? Or maybe he wasn’t even time jumping as an old man but the process aged him drastically. The questions and possibilities are numerous!

That’s not the turning point I imagined, but it’s definitely a turning point! What’s going to happen? Is old man Rudy just going to live there? Is he going to get killed or is the effect of time travelling going to harm him? I don’t know. What other information is he going to bring? Will he mention Eris? And will Rudy believe the warning? I’d presume he will since this guy has a name that no one else could realistically know. Who’d even want to check the basement right now?

I get seeking comfort in his wife

To a degree I respect that the show doesn’t gloss over things. For us the incident last episode was over with and it was fine. They got out of there, minimal harm done, and that’s great. If you look at the end results it was nothing. But for Rudy I guess it would hit different. They were a timely rescue away from getting captured and enslaved. Rudy hadn’t felt that helpless in a while, where nothing he could do was enough to get them out of a bad situation. Even against the hydra they at least had a tactic. Not to mention his dad died against the hydra so maybe that didn’t help anything…

And I think that highlights again the importance of the slower early part of this season. The more a person has…the more they have to lose. You could say the whole season to this point was to build up that feeling of fear within Rudeus. If he can’t protect his family he’ll lose it, if he can’t protect himself then he’ll lose his family. It’s a simple truth, but one that can easily hit a person hard in that moment.

This guy had me feeling nervous

This episode did a great job just with the title in creating this feeling of stress. At least I found it easy to get into Rudy’s head space in feeling uneasy. Halfway through the episode and I’d say there were no points that were turning. And that just had me more worried. What would be the shoe that would drop. Nanahoshi? Well she seemed to be recovering alright. Thankfully the medicine was working ok with her body. It was a chronic condition effectively, but they got the plant and thankfully the instructions on how to grow it. So they’d be able to manage her condition to hopefully enough of a degree that she could keep researching on getting home.

That left every conversation with Perugius. Would Rudy say something thoughtless or would someone give him a bad impression? We know the Human God thing set hell upon Rudy at one point, so even casually mentioning that name could be worrying. But in fact things looked to be going alright. Rudy earned some good points by giving Perugius the chance at some vindictive revenge and even showing off his figure production didn’t cause problems. But that only made watching the episode more stressful!

I hope she can figure it out

Perugius testing Ariel was kind of nice. He wasn’t just shutting her down and refusing her any chances. Instead he kept giving her opportunities to prove herself. And it was a test that was good for Ariel. She’s clearly a capable girl and has manoeuvred her way into a good position. But it’s not a bad thing for her to think about what makes a good ruler. Taking the throne isn’t the endgame after all. What she chooses to do with that position and power once she has it matters. And Ariel was given hints. That Rudy’s answer was better (though maybe not perfect) was one and telling the flaws of a man he considered a true King to show that it’s not about perfection either. If she can figure it out and provide an answer with confidence…then she’ll have a powerful ally on her side.

Is this guy the Joker!?

My trust levels for that “god” were in the basement right when he showed up. Because I call utter BS on what he said would’ve happened. For one…Roxy was seconds away from death if Rudy hadn’t found her. And that was only because Rudeus had an unnatural ability to lock in on Roxy. There’s no chance that Paul and company would have stumbled upon her and saved her in time. I won’t say it’s 100% impossible. But it’s close enough. Same with saving Zenith. They weren’t getting anywhere. Maybe with years they would’ve figured it out…maybe. But without Rudy there to figure some things out and a freaking guide book they would’ve been trying for years. How the heck would they have beaten that Hydra without Rudy?

Same with the beast girls. He was told to claim one of them. Now he’s being told he would’ve gotten both? Ok, that’s not beyond possible. But I don’t see it. Especially since I just don’t see Rudy ever seeing those two that way. They are attractive sure, but like Sylphie pointed out…he tends to get drawn to people that save him and those two never have in any sense. And what would have happened to Norn? Frankly I’m convinced the Human God is just making things up to punish Rudeus for not following orders. That and to convince him to follow orders without thinking next time…

Maybe future Rudy has a diary with answers!

That opens up the question of…what’s in the basement!? What does Future Rudy mean by the Man God tricking him? Certainly it says a lot that Future Rudy looked absolutely pissed at his past self calling him the Man God. Something very bad has happened and will happen if Rudy continues to do what that creepy guy tells him. But again…what the heck is in the basement? What would Rudy find down there that would radically change his life so badly that his future self would feel the need to warn him not to go down there? I want answers! But I don’t want to be spoiled so no one give me answers!

Thank god she’s looking better

Beyond that though, I will say that let out a sigh of relief. I sincerely figured the doom was going to be about Nanahoshi. It just felt like that’s what we were doing. That she was going to die and that failure would leave a scar on Rudeus. But she seems ok. Her condition isn’t good and they’ll need to keep pumping her full of that tea. But she should be ok. At least she should be ok enough to get back to doing her research and working to get home as soon as possible. That’s the goal. That she really needs to go home because he body can’t survive in this world is fine. It’s just one more reasons to get going. That’s way better than I thought this would be!

Adorable Roxy, give me answers!

So yeah, this was an episode! Spent the whole episode waiting for that shoe to drop and it dropped! Not as terrifying tragic as I suspected, but perhaps even more wild. We’re in a show where people have teleported into other worlds and/or been reincarnated. Time travel isn’t necessarily beyond imagining, but I never imagined we’d have time travel playing a part in this! I suppose it’s possible that Rudy is being deceived (by the guy that showed up). But this guy hasn’t had an overtly evil smile. I’m just willing to put a bit more trust in this old man than the creepy one that calls himself a god!