Delicious in Dungeon

Episode 11

Episode 11 of Delicious in Dungeon sees the ultimate confrontation with the red dragon, and the grim aftermath in its wake.

The actual battle with the dragon is very well done. Much like everything else thus far in the series, there are a lot of important and sensible considerations that go into making the absurdity of the European-style dragon seem believable. I have seen numerous realistic attempts at explaining fire breath and the fuel required, so that was nothing new per se. However, I have a particular fondness for the concept of the clicking tongue as a means to spark the ignition of the dragon's fiery breath - that was a novel addition, at least to me. This adds a nice texture to the dragon's attacks, giving it a reasonable explanation for how the fire ignites. The clicking tongue makes the otherwise standard red dragon seem uniquely suited to the Delicious in Dungeon world while also adding a sensible in-universe way to telegraph the dragon's attacks for our heroes.

Additionally, the party's plan to take down the dragon is a pretty smart one. This is one of those areas where standard dungeonpunk fantasy often falls even further down in believability; if a dragon is as imposing as it would seem, how exactly are plucky adventurers supposed to take it out? Dropping a metric ton of masonry on its head and then stabbing the weak spot is as good an approach as any, and though there are complications, it's perfectly believable that they succeeded in their endeavor. I think the fight didn't make the dragon out to be quite as big a threat as I expected, certainly given that it had defeated the party once before, but I don't think it was a pushover either.

The aftermath is where I'm a bit mixed on. There has been a lot of time and effort put into making Falin's loss hurt for Laios and Marceille. The graveyard flashback is an excellent addition to that work. There was some handwaving at the beginning about how she might not be digested yet, but seeing that she's been fully digested still comes as no surprise. The head-scratching element is how this plays into the healing and revival magic that has been either shown or hinted at thus far. We have gotten hints that there is more to what's going on than a quick respawn system, but it's a possibility to bring her back in some capacity. So the actual emotional impact of seeing Falin's skull is somewhat muddled in my mind, as I'm not sure how big of a setback this is. Maybe I'm alone in this confusion though.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Delicious in Dungeon is currently streaming on Netflix.