I don’t know why Julius has to be like this. When Scarlet’s besties were talking about the prospects of getting married one day, she instantly thought of him. Basically, he all but has Scarlet’s heart in his hands. He could seal the deal right now. All he has to do is stop being a troll. But the troublesome prince couldn’t resist himself. I suppose it’s just his nature. Like how Scarlet can’t stop clobbering people, Julius can’t stop riling her up. Maybe it’s even deeper than that. Maybe Julius’s afraid that commitment would make their relationship boring — that them being lovey-dovey would make her less interesting. Well, heavens forbid, we can’t let the prince be bored! But seriously, when you think about it, he’s another spoiled prince like his brother. Julius is certainly not nasty and cruel like Kyle, so at least he has that going for him. This guy has obviously never been put in his place. So if Scarlet does sock him at the start of next week’s episode, I can’t even be mad. He deserves it. Naturally, I’d personally punch him for different reasons. Remember folks, no kings.

At the end of the day, actions do speak louder than words. When Godwin has Scarlet in his sights, Julius doesn’t hesitate to put himself in harm’s way. The crown prince, i.e. the next king, would risk his everything for her. Maybe he is certain he would survive — and he does, because Leo heals him — so we can’t quite call it a sacrifice. Nevertheless, there is a nonzero chance he could’ve died. He couldn’t have been 100% certain that someone would be able to save him. Would you go this far for a mere toy? Maybe this is cope, but there has to be something substantive behind all that trolling. The only question is whether or not Scarlet can keep tolerating him continually playing with her feelings like this. Maybe the punch — if it happens — can be an invaluable lesson in convincing Julius to stop fucking around. Rather than accept his behavior, she’ll correct it. Eventually. How many punches do you suppose it will take to get to the center of a spoiled prince’s heart?

But enough about Julius. Let’s get back to the antislavery plot. Godwin tries to buy Scarlet’s mercy at the last second, which is always the go-to move when the corrupt find themselves backed into a corner. Some people — a lot, unfortunately — have this twisted worldview that everyone has a price. They believe that everyone can be bought, so they act accordingly. If the world is corrupt, then I’m going to be corrupt too. I won’t let others get the better of me. But this then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You’re going to lie and steal, so I’ll lie and steal first. You’re going to cheat, so I’m going to cheat first. You’re going to commit election fraud, so I’m going to do it first. We thus end up with a world full of people who cannot rise above the “survival of the fittest” mantra in order to help and love their fellow man. Selfish people aren’t merely just selfish. They justify their heinous actions; they convince themselves that they are just. That’s why we’re so fucked.

Anyways, Scarlet could’ve just punched Godwin with her natural born strength. But no, she has to personally slow time down in order to relish the opportunity to punish the evil prime minister. Is this necessary? Of course not. If anything, she’s putting herself in a position where she needs to be saved. She overuses her blessing without being 100% sure that she will put Godwin out of commission. To be fair, he’s a rather resilient punching bag. We’ll only learn later that he could take all that beating thanks to a certain blessed pendant. Nevertheless, Scarlet’s bit of overindulgence is as risky as it is stupid. This is like fumbling the ball at the 1 yard line for all you local sports team watchers out there. If this hadn’t been a feel-good anime where the good guys must always prevail, she would’ve died right there and then to Godwin of all people. How pitiful would that have been? To come so far only to lose your life to a despicable slaver.

But all’s well that ends well, so we get an extended denouement to wrap up this arc. Godwin somehow still manages to survive despite Scarlet’s last blow sending him flying off the roof. In the end, Terenezza is the one who does him in, but for what? Why does she need or want him dead? Just because she’s evil? Because he knows too much? Well, he did spill the beans about her being from another world. We also see Alflame up and on his feet again, but I don’t think anyone honestly expected him to go down for good. Rather, he’ll be a persistent thorn in Scarlet’s side going forward. If you look at this show as a reverse harem, she already has three in her collection: the prince, the maidboy, and the meathead. Still, it’s funny how Alflame had to use up all his blessing in order to survive when Godwin just needed a pendant. More important than both of these chumps, however, is that Scarlet’s exploits have spread far and wide. She deserves all of her newfound fame. After all, she literally crushed the slave industry beneath her punches. Scarlet’s a goddamn hero.

But for every hero, there’s a villain. Terenezza infiltrates the prison where Godwin is held, and she does it easily. She can put men under her spell with just her breath, so she’s literally an evil temptress. I naturally wonder if we might see her flip Julius against Scarlet one day. Maybe we get an arc where Scarlet has to punch the prince back to his senses. In any case, our isekai heroine’s motivations are simple enough: achieve a happy ending. And how do we accomplish this? Through religion, apparently. Godwin was protected by pendant blessed by Palmia, so this specific goddess keeps coming up and up again. Terenezza even thanks him for suppressing Dianism. As it turns out, slavery was just a side gig. The real goal all along was elevating Palmianism to the top, making it the official state religion. So is this the endgame? Are we going to have to punch a god before Scarlet’s tale is all said and done? Imagine recounting all of this your grandkids. Ah yes, when I was young and spry like you, I punched out god.

Luckily, our heroes aren’t completely stupid. Julius won’t believe for a second that someone like Godwin would willingly kill himself. And they’re already investigating Terenezza despite the fact that there’s little to learn. After all, she is from another world; from their perspective, she literally showed up out of nowhere. Kyle, who is now in prison, has nothing to divulge either. He’s just an idiot who got used and tossed aside once he had no worth left. We even get a bit of exposition about the two competing major religions. It’s not the most exciting part of the story, but again, this is the denouement. If people are free to worship whomever they wish, why would you even allow an official state religion anyway? And finally, whenever a story arc comes to an end in anime, we have to introduce another character. This time, it’s the herself: John Diana in the flesh! So that’s the good saint, right? Ah, who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see if she also gets punched or not. Let me amend my statement from the top: no kings and no gods.

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Stray thoughts & observations:

• Just like how Scarlet has a hard time believing that Julius can be genuine, she also doesn’t believe anything Godwin says about Terenezza. It does seem pretty outlandish. Reincarnated from another world? How would you even verify such a claim?
• Somehow, Scarlet overused her blessing to such an extent that a significant portion of her silver hair has been stained black. I dunno, it’s not such a bad thing. Two-toned hair can look kinda cool. I’m not sure about silver and black as a color combination, though.
• When did Scarlet get a dragon? Has she always had one? I forget.
• Eh, not a big fan of the maidboy cuddling up to Scarlet. A regular dog? Sure, I love pets. But no, not a maidboy. As much as I enjoy this show, I could never recommend it to my normie friends. Anime always has to have one or two weird shit that can’t properly be explained to people who see the sun on a daily basis.
• Scarlet’s besties seem amusing. I hope they get more screentime, but it seems like besties these days usually don’t. Dandadan also has a pair of besties that could’ve played a larger role. Alas…
• When you think about it, female characters physically punishing male characters is sadly nothing new in anime. At least Scarlet isn’t punching Julius for “accidentally” stumbling in on her naked or whatever.
• I thought about expounding on my beliefs regarding gods and the act of worship, but then I’d just be playing into the “edgy atheist” stereotype. I’m a little too old for that.