Tower of God Season 2

Episode 5

After four episodes, we were still left with a ton of pressing questions like “What happened to our heroes from season one?” and “Did Rachael really get away with murder?” This episode is all about answering those very questions.

Rather than Bam, Wangnan, and the rest of the new team, this episode is squarely centered around Khun. But while there is a familiar face at the center of things, the episode is, in and of itself, built like a mini-mystery. Right away, it's apparent that things are not quite as we expected them to be. The last time we saw our heroes, they had unified around the idea of carrying Rachael to the top of the tower in Bam's memory. Yet, that's no longer the case. Only Khun and Rachel are still together as they try to build a new team to continue the climb. We are simply left wondering why.

For most of the episode, it seems that Rachael, despite being separated from the main team, has still succeeded in her goal. She lazes in bed while her team does all the hard work of climbing the tower. But then comes the big reveal: Khun knows that Rachael killed Bam.

For years now, he's been playing the long con. He separated her from the team of people loyal to her (telling only one other the truth of what happened to Bam) and replaced them with a team loyal only to him. While he's outwardly supportive of her, he's actually working to uncover the identities of those who helped Rachael murder Bam and their motives for doing so. Only after learning this information will he kill them all, including Rachael, and get revenge for his best friend.

However, that's not the only twist. Judging by Rachael's last scene, she seems to know what Khun is doing and finds his “betrayal” hilarious. So we are left wondering who is truly using who and who is ultimately in control of their relationship.

All this is great stuff. It's a solid character drama with twists that redefine everything we'd seen earlier in the episode. Likewise, it's awesome to finally hear about what's been happening to the team from season one, even if it's mostly hearsay and rumors. Frankly, it's a relief to know we'll occasionally be following characters other than Wangnan's team as things continue.

As always, the visuals are the weak point of the episode. Of the two fights we get, one happens on screen and the other is over in two punches. While the flashback scene is important for reintroducing Khun, it makes the change in art direction since the first season painfully clear.

The music, on the other hand, is killer this week. Maybe these songs have been playing in the background all along this season but the slower pace and dialogue-heavy scenes do a great job of showing them off. At this point, I may actually end up buying the soundtrack for this one.

All in all, this is arguably the best episode of the season so far, especially since the recent pacing problems feel like a thing of the past. Hopefully, this will mark a turning point for the anime.

Rating:

Tower of God Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.