Overlord IV

Episode 9

When watching Overlord, it's easy to forget that, by and large, our main cast of characters are unabashedly evil. After all, we have likely seen more scenes of the floor guardians' comedic antics—be that arguing over who gets to be Ainz's chair next or Albedo rolling around with a Ainz-themed body pillow—than of them doing evil things. The first scene of this episode serves to remind us that most of them would gladly wipe human life off the face of the planet. To them, all lifeforms not made by the members of the Ainz Ooal Gown guild are inherently inferior. It's hard for many of them—even those with a humanoid appearance—to not murder any human they see simply out of disgust.

As we've seen in previous episodes, outside of Nazarick, Albedo appears to be the picture of the perfect lady—prim, proper, and with a regal bearing. Even when Philip puts his arm around her, she is able to suppress her inner rage to put on a polite face. However, with the time for diplomacy at an end, Albedo finally drops the mask to let everyone around her see just how much their existence disgusts her and how happy she is that they were dumb enough to start this unwinnable war.

But while the majority of Nazarick's netizens share Albedo's opinion of humans, this episode also makes sure to show us that there are some exceptions. We heard back in the first episode of the season that Nigredo and Pestonya previously went against orders to save human children. Now, with genocide looming for the Kingdom, the two of them wish to try and stop it.

More than just showing us that Nazarick is a diverse place (one that would likely fall into utter chaos without Ainz to unify it), this situation also serves to demonstrate Ainz's true talent: he's a fantastic boss. While he may not be as smart as several of his minions, he is canny enough to truly listen to them and believe in their expertise. Just because Nigredo and Pestonya are in the minority doesn't mean their concerns aren't valid to Ainz, even if he doesn't necessarily feel the same way himself. Keeping the workers happy is the key to success in any organization—especially in this case where doing so requires little to no effort on Ainz's part.

Moreover, while complete genocide might be the most straightforward way to show the world not to mess with the Sorcerous Kingdom, it's not the most effective. After all, if you kill everyone, how will the rest of the world know the horrors the Kingdom faced for opposing Ainz? In this case, keeping some alive to tell the tale is essential to Ainz's goals; if anything, the floor guardians are being swayed too much by their own bloodlust.

Meanwhile, the final act of the episode is another reminder that, while the denizens of Nazarick are overpowered compared to the average person in this world, there are other overpowered beings out there. Momon is far from the first Adamantine adventurer (not to mention that there is someone out there in the shadows capable of brainwashing Shalltear). These people can defeat a death knight as easily as a death knight can deal with an average adventurer. Knowing where they are is vitally important to any war scenario. As long as you can draw them away from vital areas, the invasion will go as planned. Even the strongest person can only be in one place at a time after all.

All in all, this is a solid second episode for the arc. Not only does it show us that Nazarick is not a monolith, but it gives us a good helping of “boots on the ground” action from those facing the invading hordes as well.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• All according to soutei. (Note: “Soutei” means "expectations".)

• Gotta love that Ainz's declaration of war is basically, “Imma murder you all with both hands tied behind my back.”

• This episode implies that Pestonya adds the bark to the end of each of her sentences because it's expected of her, not because it's a kind of natural tick since she's part dog. It got a laugh out of me.

• Man, Nigredo's creator was kind of a dick for leaving her without any skin on her face despite her beautiful figure—even more so given that she seems to have a kind personality.

• It's smart that the majority of Nazarick's forces are not being deployed for the war but rather to make sure that other countries don't interfere—doubly so given that they were able to move these troops in secret.

• Flying mecha suits and guns? If that's not a player, surely it's someone who got some items from one, right?

Overlord IV is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.