Ranking of Kings

Episode 16

Well, this episode might be the starkest indictment of the ranking system, if not the idea of a monarchy as a whole. We've had disturbing content in Ranking of Kings before, lest I need to remind readers of Daida drinking his reincarnated dad's blood slushy in episode 5, but while this episode is nowhere near that level of magic insanity, it depicts an event so savage that it is difficult to stomach.

The flashback this week is our third formal introduction to one of the world's kings, and he's no better than the last three. I've talked at length about Bosse, a man who appeared to be a loving father to Bojji only for it to gradually be revealed that he has allowed, or in some cases assisted, Miranjo in destroying his family over and over for his own pursuit of power. This week we see Miranjo use an army of hired Gigantes to launch an attack that killed Bojji's mother who in turn used her body as a human shield to protect Bojji. This kid has experienced so much trauma; he almost drowned in his mother's blood. There are a lot of questions still about the circumstances that led to this event but I remain doubtful that Bosse was unaware of it. We also know from previous episodes that Kingbo's father, the now crazed man living in the woods, went mad and slaughtered his own kingdom, including his daughter-in-law and grandchild.

Then there's Despa, Desha, and Ouken's father. Again, the circumstances aren't immediately explained, but the more sinister Ice King has apparently begun a campaign of murder against his own people and now his three sons are attempting to end it. At their father's side is a mercenary army of Gigantes whereas the three brothers have employed an army of human mercenaries, with the exception of Gigan. Over the rest of the flashback, the audience is confronted with the depravity of war and then asked what truly awful actions are excusable. Is torturing a baby so that its wailing cries for its parents can lure the Gigantes into a sinkhole a permissible strategy? Should Gigan have been jailed for slaughtering Desha's army to make it stop?

The sequence of events asks us to feel some pity for Desha, who is obviously disturbed by what happened but feels it's his duty to see the "big picture" and so he kills the child to end their suffering and does nothing to punish the torturers in order to maintain morale. Desha's reasoning supports that there's really no room for honor in war, or at least in this war, as he considers the possibility of his father defeating them a greater evil than the horrible event we just witnessed. For Despa, it was a bridge too far and it might have been here that he left the whole situation behind. Ouken, though, was spurred on to create a kinder Underworld Army once their father is defeated, but we know his dream isn't realized due to his current state.

We only have some of the pieces of the puzzle, but it's clear these events had a lasting effect on Desha. While he sometimes seemed bored by his own power (and how inadequate others are in combat), he doesn't enjoy carnage and was hoping to take Bosse's kingdom without any bloodshed. Based on Despa's own advice, he refrains from battling Bojji at all and enlists Gigan instead of jailing him. In some ways, the horrors he witnessed before seem to have taught him restraint and he carries some measure of guilt for what happened to Ouken.

The idea of guilt and forgiveness is present throughout the episode, but it's displayed most prominently between Bojji, Kage, and Domas' interactions. I was honestly surprised to see the show continue to treat Domas' betrayal with the seriousness it deserves. Plenty of other fiction would have Bojji forgive Domas for narrative convenience, but Ranking of Kings is giving it far more weight. That moment was one of Bojji's lowest, mentally, as a man who had showed him kindness and attention pushed him to his death. This is a boy who has had very limited relationships with others. It's why Hokuro has such an emotional reaction to the very idea that Bojji, a boy who was continuously mocked, belittled, and pitied his whole life, has a genuine friend. He used to think the same of Domas until the moment he found himself falling into a fiery pit.

I think we're going to continue to see stories that show the corruption of the Ranking system. It's possible Bosse is aware of this issue as well, via Miranjo, and that's why he's never pursued the rank of #1. I have suspicions that upending this system may in some way be Miranjo's (or the demon's) overall goal and we'll have to once again grapple with if the ends justified the means.

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Ranking of Kings is currently streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.