Mushoku Tensei II: Jobless Reincarnation (Episode 22) – Parents

Mushoku Tensei II Jobless Reincarnation Part 2 Title

After entering the Sixth Stratum, they are shocked to discover that Zenith appears to be imprisoned inside a crystal. To get to her, however, they’ll need to defeat the guardian, a hydra that can absorb mana!

Mushoku Tensei II: Jobless Reincarnation (Episode 22) – Parents

What happened?

Before anyone can react, Paul is running straight at the hydra. He leapt into battle with a thought and quickly sliced off one of its heads. The others hurry to back him up, however, Roxy and Rudeus’ magic fails to hit the monster. Elinalise followed Paul and blocked one head from attacking him, however, she got injured. Roxy creates a flood of water to wash Paul and Elinalise back to them. Then, the hydra regrew its missing heads in the blink of an eye. Paul charged back in despite the calls from everyone else to wait. Geese charges after him and creates a smokescreen. Then, he drags Paul away as they return to the magic circle and escape to the Fifth Stratum.

Paul is furious that they pulled back. He’s even more irate when he sees how calm Rudeus is about the situation. They’ve finally found Zenith. Why aren’t they doing everything they can to save her? Talhand tries to calm the situation and at least gets Paul to sit down while they try to come up with a plan. Roxy tells them that the hydra is a manatite hydra. Its scales can absorb mana so it’s almost impervious to magical attacks. The only way around that was to be too close for it to absorb it in time. That would mean the mages would need to be at the same range as the melee fighters. But would that work if the hydra can regrow its heads so quickly?

Rudeus recalls something from his past life where he learnt about Hercules and how he burned the necks of the hydra after removing a head to stop them from regrowing. It might work! Since Paul is the only one who can cut through its neck, he will be the lead with Rudues backing him up. Before going back in Paul thanked everyone for their help and then told Rudeus that he must save their mother even if it means sacrificing his life. They go back to face the hydra and attack. The plan is working, but then one of the heads tries to rip off the scorched stump on one of its necks. They managed to stop it and finally got it down to one last head. However, Rudeus takes his focus off the hydra for a second, allowing it to attack. Paul charges in and knocks Rudeus aside, taking its attack himself. Rudeus ends up neck to the hydra’s head. He thrusts his hand into its eye and explodes rock spikes out from the inside.

They did it. The hydra was dead. However, Rudeus lost his left arm in the attack and despite attempting to heal it, he wasn’t able to regrow it. He climbed to his feet to see everyone standing around looking forlorn. Then, he saw what they were looking at. Paul was dead, his body ripped in two. They freed Zenith from the crystal and made the slow and painful trip back to the entrance of the labyrinth. Several days later, Zenith woke, however, her time in the crystal had obviously taken its toll on her mental state.

What did you think?

Brutal! This was an explosive and exhausting episode. I felt every moment of that fight and the repercussions are sure to live with us for some to come. Is this what Hitogami alluded to when he said that Rudeus would regret going? They lost his father to save his mother, and she may not even be the person she used to be. It’s going to be hard seeing Rudeus reconciling what happened and I can’t imagine how he’s going to tell Norn and Aisha. The fight itself was exciting and really pushed everyone to the limits of their abilities. It’s unfortunate that Rudeus’ experience cost him so dearly as he zoned out at a pivotal moment and just as they were about to win, too!

I do, however, have a bit of an issue with this episode and it calls back to my concerns about how long it’s taken them to get to this point. There’s some discussion about how long Zenith has been missing, but it alludes to the idea that she disappeared in this labyrinth six years ago. They found her. They know where she is and while she’s encased in crystal, her body doesn’t appear to be damaged. Roxy even said that she had seen people survive like that. They knew how to defeat the other Stratums of the labyrinth. Basically, they could come and go pretty much as they pleased. So, what was the hurry? I can understand Paul’s initial charge as a mix of relief that they found her and anger at seeing what had happened to her, but once they had regrouped, they didn’t need to charge in. They could have gone back, got a bigger party, come up with a solid strategy, and then returned.

What’s an extra day or two after she’s been there for six years? Now, had they been trapped on the Sixth Stratum after using the magic circle then things would have been very different. It would have made more sense for them to be forced to fight there and then. It’s a tiny detail but it makes more sense and would excuse the lack of consideration. They needed to be under pressure to act that way. It was a great episode, but it could have been even better.

Mushoku Tensei II Jobless Reincarnation Episode 22 Elinalise restrains Paul

Episode highlights


Series Information

English TitleMushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
Japanese TitleMushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu
GenresActionComedyEcchi, FantasyIsekaiMagic
DemographicSeinen

Anime

Season One – Part One
SeasonSeason One – Part One
ReleasedWinter 2021
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Episodes11
1Jobless Reincarnation
2Master
3A Friend
4Emergency Family Meeting
5A Young Lady and Violence
6A Day Off in Roa
7What Lies Beyond Effort
8Turning Point 1
9A Chance Encounter
10The Value of a Life and the First Job
11Children and Warriors
Season One – Part Two
SeasonSeason One – Part Two
ReleasedFall 2021
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Episodes12
12The Woman with the Demon Eyes
13Missed Connections
14No Such Thing As a Free Lunch
15Slow Life in the Doldia Village
16Family Squabble
17Reunion
18Separate Journeys
19Route Selection
20The Birth of My Little Sister, the Maid
21Turning Point 2
22Dreams and Reality
23Wake Up and Take a Step
Season One – Side Story
English TitleEris the Goblin Slayer
Japanese TitleEris no Goblin Toubatsu
ReleasedWinter 2022
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Season Two – Prequel
English TitleGuardian Fitz
Japanese TitleShugo Jutsushi Fitz
ReleasedSummer 2023
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Season Two – Part One
SeasonSeason Two – Part One
ReleasedSummer 2023
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Episodes12
1The Brokenhearted Mage
2The Forest in the Dead of Night
3Abrupt Approach
4Letter of Invitation
5Ranoa University of Magic
6I Don’t Want to Die
7The Kidnapping and Confinement of Beast Girls
8The Fiancé of Despair
9The White Mask
10These Feelings
11To You
12I Want to Tell You
Season Two – Part Two
SeasonSeason Two – Part Two
ReleasedSpring 2024
Animation StudiosStudio Bind
Episodes12
13My Dream Home
14Wedding Reception
15Afar
16Norn and Aisha
17My Older Brother’s Feelings
18Turning Point 3
19Desert Journey
20Into the Labyrinth
21Magic Circle to the Sixth Stratum
22Parents
23Let’s Go Home
24Succession

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What did you think?