Ragna Crimson (Episode 3) - Agitation

Ragna and Crimson save a group of Dragon Slayers who need them to help defeat a superior dragon that hides in a tornado. Crimson refuses but sees a chance to increase their forces. Can’t kill all dragons alone!

Ragna Crimson (Episode 3) – Agitation

What did you watch?

Have you heard of the three-episode rule? If not, it’s the idea that you can work out whether or not you will enjoy a series based on the first three episodes. I guess it’s similar to reading the first chapter of a book before you decide whether to continue or not. Of course, if you took that approach with everything, you’d give up way before many classic stories started to get good. Thankfully, Ragna Crimson decided to go all out from the beginning. So, let’s find out how the third episode goes. Can it keep up with the level of crazy we’ve seen so far?

Ragna Crimson Episode 3 Ragna and Crimson

What happened?

Ragna and Crimson race across the wilderness in some sort of military truck. They come across some Dragon Slayers fighting against a group of powerful dragons. Ragna leaps out and quickly kills them all. However, he’s used too much of his power too soon and it’s left his muscles weak and broken. In fact, he can barely stand and soon finds himself face down in the dirt thanks to Crimson. However, Crimson sees this as an opportunity to test Ragna’s Silverine arts by letting the other Dragon Slayers use them. After a bit of manipulation, Crimson convinces them to fight back against the Third Seat of the Blood of the Wing, Disas Trois.

To do that, Crimson gives them access to a room full of guns, unlike anything they’ve seen before. However, it’s not the guns that will defeat Disas Trois but the bullets. Crimson made Ragna infuse the bullets with Sivlerine making them deadly to dragons. Then, Crimson asks Ragna what would happen to him if Leonica were to die. He points out that maybe it would be better to capture Leonica, drug her, and place her in a secret room. This infuriates Ragna, but Crimson seems to be having fun. After getting Slime to scout the area, Crimson comes up with a plan of attack.

Ragna Crimson Episode 3 Crimson showing the Dragon Slayers how they will win

What did you think?

I’m about to start volume two of the manga. I have two other books to finish reading first and then I’m going all the way from two to nine. Exciting times. Anyhow, this episode took us past the first volume so it was all new to me. Now, I did enjoy the chaos that seemed to come with Crimson and the insane monologues of Disas Trois, however, not much happened in this episode. The most notable aspect is that I don’t think Ragna can trust Crimson one bit. Crimson doesn’t seem to trust Ragna anyhow so it would make sense for him to be a bit more guarded. Of course, there was one other thing that was quite surprising. Maybe even a little jarring!

Ragna Crimson Episode 3 Crimson teasing Ragna

What was your favourite moment?

I don’t think this is my favourite moment, but I feel like I really need to talk about this at length. When I saw Ragna and Crimson driving in a military truck it was quite shocking. I didn’t recall seeing anything in the first two episodes that made me think that this would be normal. It kind of reminded me of how out of place the Humvee was in Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest. Then, this episode took things a step further and gave us modern-looking guns. So, either we’re dealing with some sort of Isekai element or this is a distant future where technology has taken a big step back. It’s going to be interesting finding out what happened.

Ragna Crimson Episode 3 Crimson reveals a room full of guns

Who was the most impactful character?

It was another episode for Crimson. No doubt about that. We really got to see just how messed up they are, especially with the way they manipulated the Dragon Slayers, by playing on their weaknesses and regrets. Showing them magic and almost training them to start chanting when they see magic is some scary cult-style brainwashing. It also showed us that Crimson is cursed to never be able to die, no matter what happens to them. We kind of saw that in the future when Ragna killed them over and over again, but this time Crimson showed Ragna what it truly meant to be cursed. I do wonder if they went too far with how edgy Crimson is and it wasn’t helped by how goofy Slime was. This episode felt a little out of balance compared to the first two which were darker.

Ragna Crimson Episode 3 Crimson manipulating the Dragon Slayers

What have you learned?

Anything that makes the audience step out of the story is not a good idea. All you’ve done is give them a chance to walk away and not come back. I feel like this episode could have done that with the truck and the guns. They just came out of nowhere. There wasn’t even a hint of there being something else going on here. I’m reminded of The Dark Tower by Stephen King and how it does very subtle things to make you realise that it is in the future after the fall of modern civilisation. There are lots of little moments that make it clear without being so out of place that they throw you out of the story. Things like the piano player singing Hey Jude in the bar are so well hidden that they almost feel natural to a Western story, but it’s enough to make us question what we’re seeing. This series could have done a better job of preparing us for this shift.