Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II

Episode 24

This part of Mushoku Tensei had two climaxes. The first was the big fight against the hydra. It was your typical action climax—filled with flashy magic and life-or-death situations. The second is the emotional climax—this episode.

Rudeus knows he's walking into a minefield. As much as he wants to return home, he dreads it. After all, he's carrying nothing but bad news along with him. His father is dead and his mother's brain is damaged—he has to tell his little sisters this fact. For Aisha, the fact that her mother is alive and around to comfort her helps soften the blow. However, for Norn, things are much harder.

For Norn's whole childhood, her father was the only one she could rely on—the only one who made the world feel safe. You can tell she wants to lash out at Rudeus—but how can she possibly blame him for not doing enough when the fight cost him his hand? Even in her grief, it's obvious he wasn't holding back. Is she emotionally devastated? Yes. Is she alone in her grief? No. Between her reconciliation with Rudeus and the months she's spent with Sylphie, it's clear she knows deep down that she has the support she will need to heal—which is why Rudeus' second bombshell sets her off in a way that even her father's death does not.

Rudeus cheating on Sylphie, regardless of the circumstances, is an event that could destroy their family and leave Norn completely alone. In the worst case, with Sylphie no longer “family,” Norn would have no one but her condescending half-sister and the brother who blew up her stable life because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants. And more than that, Norn has come to love Sylphie as a maternal figure. To see Sylphie betrayed in such a way—while she was struggling through pregnancy all alone—puts Norn on the offense like never before. So, she's not only trying to drive Roxy out for Sylphie's sake, but also in a last-ditch attempt to keep the status quo for her family—even if in a damaged state.

What's truly interesting, however, is how Sylphie reacts. Rather than the lovesick girl who is so codependent on Rudeus that she'd do anything for him—no matter how much it'd hurt her emotionally—we see a mature woman who has long since accepted that she will never own his heart completely.

While she jokes about how he is a pervert and that it is natural for him to cheat, that's all that it is: a joke. Rudeus didn't cheat with Roxy because she was a convenient outlet and he was horny, he cheated with her because he loves her—and because he was extremely emotionally vulnerable. Syphie's known ever since she reunited with Rudeus as Fitz that there were two other women in his heart—the one he idolized and the one that inadvertently crushed him. She's almost certainly known deep down from the start that should either of these women re-enter his life she'd have to make a choice: accept them or lose him. And as Sylphie's had months of waiting, knowing that Roxy and Rudeus would be working together to save Zenith, she's long since made her choice—to share him rather than fight a battle she almost certainly cannot win.

Thus we end the season on a bittersweet note. Sylphie will never have Rudeus as she truly wants him but by accepting Roxy, she's creating a strong family unit. She has her child with Rudeus and her home is filled with love and happy voices. It's hard to imagine a world where there won't be troubles between the two wives at some point in the future, but at least the two are starting things off with mutual respect.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Elinalise convinces Rudeus to take Roxy as his second wife but then, at the moment where she would be most useful (as a bridge between Roxy and Sylphie), she runs off to have sex with Cliff. Way to care about your friend and your granddaughter.

• So now we know the trick of the Human God. He may be able to see the future, but he's not afraid to lie about it to try and manipulate Rudeus into doing what he wants.

• How sad is it that Sylphie's first reaction to her child is being happy it doesn't have her green hair?

• Thanks for joining me for this season of Mushoku Tensei and being so active talking about it. It's rare that a weekly review gets over a hundred comments—and this one has over a thousand. If all goes well, I'll see you again for season 3.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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