This episode features a bit more background into the character of Ghim, the grizzled elf. Their journey through the Forest of No Return which foreshadows his terrible realisation of what has happened to Leylia, the daughter of Neese whom he seeks. The plot continues at a quick pace, keeping interest in the series high, while providing lots of character development, especially for Ghim, Karla and the Dark Knight, Ashram. The writers continue with an excellent job of keeping the audience on its toes, throwing curveballs to keep everyone guessing as to where the story is headed. Sakakibara's character continues to be the most interesting, with a surprise revelation into her current incarnation. The music does get a bit tiresome, as the grandiose orchestra hits become a little too commonplace and repetitous at times. But the rich, complex story is this series' strength, and there is no disappointment in this regard. The characters of Karla and Ashram are wonderfully cold, calculating and mysterious; voice acting for the two are perfectly executed. The ending of this episode introduces a very chilling twist, keeping you wanting more. What a great series! - AN

This episode is fairly fast paced with a great deal of action happening in many areas. Valis has made its move to try and ally with Alania, while Kannon's king refuses to submit to Beld. At the same time, our six would-be heroes are on their way to Valis after finding Alania unwilling to get involved in any way with the Marmo invasion. I found that it was not so much Parn's character which was annoyingly portrayed in this episode so much as Woodchuck's. However, we have some character development in Ghim and learn just what prompted him to set out on an adventure in the first place. Deedlit's character continues to be solidly portrayed by Touma Yumi and Karla's character leaves us suitably puzzled as to her motives in Lodoss' war. This episode keeps your interest and doesn't let go until the end when you have a very nice piece of foreshadowing of further happenings to come. This series is not a straightforward work which is easy to see through. Rather there are some complexities to the plot which keeps the viewer in suspense and guessing as to what will happen next. - JYN