Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 24) – Betrayal

Eri reveals her plan and it’s as crazy as she is, however, she is the one with all the power right now and she plans on turning everyone into one of her undead puppets. Who will save them?
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Episode 24) – Betrayal
What happened?
Eri revealed that she was the one behind everything. Shizuku couldn’t understand how. Necromancy can’t be used on the living! Eri ignored Shizuku for a moment as she moved towards Kouki who was being restrained with a neck collar. She knelt down before him, telling them that she did it all to get Kouki. In Japan, it would have been hard, but here, her job gave her the chance she needed. She kissed Kouki and smiled.
Eri betrayed her friends all to turn Kouki into her puppet and live happily ever after. But how could she do that with necromancy? Unfortunately, Eri was all too willing to explain. Everyone that had helped with her plan was already dead. She had been able to bind their souls to their bodies which enabled them to talk and move more freely, but they were most definitely dead. She showed them how it works on Reichi.

Next, she turned her attention back to Shizuku who she hated. Her plan was to turn Shizuku and have her body kill Kaori. It would be the perfect scenario. However, as Eri stood over Shizuku’s body a barrier appeared, saving her. It was Kaori. She was joined by the Princess who put up a barrier as Kaori attempted to heal everyone. Daisuke ran towards them and tricked the Princess into lowering her barrier. He then drove a sword through Shizuku’s chest. That didn’t stop her from completing the spell so he stabbed her again.
Eri was about to turn Kaori into an undead puppet when Hajime arrived. He stepped in and took Kaori aside, asking Aiko and Tio to save her. Daisuke tried to attack Hajime but was swatted away like a bug. He strode towards Eri and was attacked by Reichi’s body. However, he blocked the attack and then blew his head off. Meld’s body was next, however, Meld had enough control to beg Hajime for help, and unlike Kouki, Hajime knew what to do. He killed Meld and then summoned his Gattling gun to take out the rest. Finally, the demon lord reappeared and threatened to kill everyone. Hajime summoned another device and obliterated the demon army with a laser from space.

What did you think?
I can’t believe this is the same series anymore! This episode was incredible. The tension and dread that permeated were unreal. I have goosebumps just thinking about the scene. Now, Eri’s reasoning for what she did was completely insane, but at the same time completely understandable when you remember that these are hormonally charged teenagers with very little life experience who have been thrust into a pretty bizarre situation. She was mental.
I thought Kaori was amazing and the way she managed to complete her healing spell with a sword thrust through her chest was an incredible show of strength. Daisuke pulling the sword and then stabbing her again after she healed was not what I was expecting, but at least he got his comeuppance. I felt like Hajime should have taken a little more time with him, but kicking him outside the arena to be torn apart by the demon army was an acceptable punishment. The best thing about this was you knew Hajime was coming and you knew what was going to happen when he did, but it was still so satisfying.
I still can’t get over how much this series has turned it around in the last few episodes, each one getting better than the one before it. I’d be surprised if this isn’t the peak as it was amazing, but I will be anxiously awaiting the season finale!


What have you learnt?
This is something that I’ve been considering for a long time and ironically was thinking about before watching this episode. How do we know if something is good or bad? I don’t think there is a right answer and this episode highlighted this point for me. I finished it and was blown away. This was the best episode in both seasons by a long way, however, when I looked at the comments I saw several calling it the worst episode ever and some rating it as average. There were several like me so that was reassuring at least.
The thing is it’s impossible to say whether something is good or bad beyond how you feel about it. Objectivity does not exist and anyone claiming that it does either doesn’t understand what it means or doesn’t care. Our opinions are founded on experience. Our thoughts and feelings are founded on experience. Our experiences make everything subjective because we are looking at it with all of our experiences in mind.

The point I’m attempting to make here is that it is impossible to please everyone. Equally, it’s not possible to create the same experience for everyone. I’ve seen shows that I have hated and then found out that others loved them. That doesn’t change either of our memories of the show. We don’t have access to each other’s experiences to be able to validate what or why we each feel that way.
So, if you’re writing a story and are worried about how people will perceive it you are wasting your time. Some will love it and some will hate it. There’s literally nothing you can do to change that outcome, so you might as well enjoy what you’re doing and write for yourself. There are no rules. If anyone tries to tell you there are, I bet you can find an example of that not being true. This series is the perfect example of what I’m saying. Hajime doesn’t care if you like him or not. It’s completely irrelevant in his thought process.
Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – The Monster of the Abyss
- Episode 2 – Pandora’s Box
- Episode 3 – The Golden Vampire Princess
- Episode 4 – Guardian of the Depths
- Episode 5 – The Maverick’s Lair
- Episode 6 – Worthless Rabbit
- Episode 7 – The Great Reisen Labyrinth
- Episode 8 – Reunion with the Past
- Episode 9 – Dragon Slayer
- Episode 10 – The Goddess’ Sword
- Episode 11 – The Monsters’ Day Off
- Episode 12 – A Looming Shadow
- Episode 13 – The Best at Being the Worst
- Season Two
- Episode 14 – Irregular
- Episode 15 – Burning Light
- Episode 16 – Black and White
- Episode 17 – Reunion
- Episode 18 – Memories from the Bottom of the Sea
- Episode 19 – Someone Important
- Episode 20 – A New Vow
- Episode 21 – A Disturbing Darkness
- Episode 22 – Invasion of the Capital
- Episode 23 – God’s Apostle
- Episode 24 – Betrayal
- Episode 25 – A New Journey
- Bonus Posts
You might also like…
