Overlord III

Episode 10

Last episode the Baharuth Empire made a pact with Nazarick to recognize it as a sovereign state. This episode that leads to using Nazarick's new claim on the territory near E-Rantel to conduct their annual invasion of the Re-Estize Kingdom, with some participation from Ains and (as we see at the end of the episode) his small army of Death Knights. While most of last episode was shown from the perspective of the Empire forces, this episode switches gears and instead looks at how Re-Estize is responding to this crisis. That makes for one of the slowest and mildest episodes of the season to date, with no action or flashy uses of power before Ains summons his army in the episode's final minute.

Granted, the series has repeatedly proven that it can handle this kind of pacing and is quite comfortable with it, and the episode certainly ends at a proper dramatic stopping point, with the Empire/Nazarick combined force mustered and ready for the assault. Also, revisiting some key players from the earlier Re-Estize arcs is also nice, as Gazef, Brain, and Climb all have prominent roles in this episode. Seeing Marquis Raeven once again show his acute acumen for navigating both political and military matters is also a treat, though the scene showing how doting he is on his previously-mentioned young son was overplayed. Seeing the strategy meeting for how the Re-Estize Kingom will respond to Nazarick's claims and provocation is also worthwhile and important, as it establishes that at least most of the leaders of the Kingdom aren't fools.

The one other potentially interesting plot thread to spin out of those scenes is Prince Barbro, the warrior-inclined first in line to the throne whom even the king seems to distrust as a successor, being sent on an information-gathering mission to Carne Village. He demonstrates on the way there that he has not the slightest notion about the depth of trouble that he could be getting into by doing so, and seeing how he reacts to what Carne Village has become has some possibilities. With how hotheaded he's been shown to be, I can't see that winding up in anything other than a bloodbath. I also can't see the situation with Gazef ending well. He clearly knows that if a fight can't be avoided then he's eventually going to have to face off against Ains, and he knows that's a fight he can't win. I do have to give credit to the one noble who recognized Gazef's uncertainty over the matter and suggested rating Ains' strength accordingly. Given that no one has seen the fullest extent of Ains' power, he probably underestimated. I do find it a bit curious that none of the adventurers are getting involved, however, as in RPGs major skirmishes are traditionally a great time to make money.

So yeah, a lot of nice little scenes, but the whole episode seemed lacking in oomph and energy. Thankfully all of the set-up and lead-in is done, so we should be seeing a potent push of action and big events over the next couple of episodes.

Rating: B

Overlord III is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.