I kind of knew this would be a “Short Review” when the leaks came out; these battle chapters in a series like this don’t leave much to be discussed. And besides, I don’t really have all the time in the world right now between the Scarlet And Violet DLC coming out in a Few Hours from when I’m writing this(Tuesday, September 12th, 2023, 8:20 pm); work in a few days for………….. very long hours; helping my dad with his T Shirt Business(which I enjoy– check out Whohustle.com to check out some designs); and a whole bunch of other sh!t going on right now. So yeah, I’ll just make this a quick one. Maybe I should change this to “Quick Review;” it’s not like what I’m about to say is anything different from what I would usually try to stretch for content. If ONLY I knew how to change the category names……….. In whatever case; Four Knights Of The Apocalypse Chapter 120: “Banquet For Braves.” No clue what that refers to in the chapter, but I’ll say that it sounds cool.
More Information About Percival
This is a BIG piece of information to come out of this chapter: We learn that Ironside’s wife was pregnant during the Holy War 16 years ago- around the Sin’s Final Battle against the Demon King. And the miasma he gave off in his Final, Monstrous form plagued the world and caused a number of deaths. And she died from it, probably only having enough strength left to give birth to Diodra. Or……… perhaps……… she gave birth to Twins. And in line with the miasma being too much for her and the new borns to bear; the baby that would become Percival likely didn’t make it past birth. Diodra BARELY survived and grew up sickly; Percival straight up died. And the Life Spirit we just learned about that’s inhabited that infant and came to the material world because it sensed an imbalance of life and death, and found a vessel to possess to fix it. Or perhaps it ALREADY fixed it- or the Demon King’s miasma WAS the irregularity- but is just stuck like this now.
And like Percy told us in chapter 113; Ironside is seemingly involved in that- as Percival “has a duty to punish him.” Percy could have just been referring to his killing Varghese, but what if Ironside is the one who’s locked the Life Spirit “Percival” in his son’s body? For what reason, though? He seems to hate Percival right now, so the Life Spirit leaving his body and killing “Percival” would be the best course of action, right? Or……….. Does he have some kind of grudge against the Spirit? “They are tasked with bringing Glory to all worlds, but also Death.” Did…….. was it not the Miasma that took his wife? The miasma might have only taken Percival’s life and sickened Diodra- but the Life Spirit is what killed Diodra and Percival’s mother!! And Ironside is keeping the Life Spirit in the material world so he can get his revenge!! And that’s why Mortlach said that he “deserves punishment-” for taking his sister from him. Got it. Pretty smart, Suzuki Sensei; you sure know how to build a mystery!!
Percival vs Mortlach
This is something smaller, and it’s a “Quality vs Quantity” thing between Percival and Mortlach. Percival is carrying the hopes and ideals of his friends, his grandfather, the people of Britannia, the Demon realm, and all of other realms. Mortlach only has Diodra and no one else. But again: “Quality” and “Quantity” are 2 very different games. Just because Percival is carrying a lot more on his back doesn’t mean he wins no matter the situation. Especially not in this context, what with him having to fight this one without magic. It’s not about the weight of what you carry; it’s how you carry it. Like; Mortlach……… has no one but Diodra relying on him. At least not PERSONALLY. He doesn’t have the same “weight” on him that Percival does, but he certainly knows how to use it- how to carry it and use it to spur him on. For that reason; his blade might have more “weight” behind it.
That vs Percival who has the hopes of entire realms backing him- but he doesn’t have the same experience holding that “weight.” It’s like……… he doesn’t have the “conviction-” the determination- to make it back to someone in particular because they’re all waiting for him to come back alive. He has a reason to fight, but not the reason to win. Or, no. I’m not sure if these things are supposed to “scale” to each other. I just remember something similar happening in Hiro Mashima’s first series Rave Master, and the key to winning a certain Sword Duel was to- instead of focusing on the feelings for “Everyone-” the answer was to think of the one who mattered most to them in the world. Check out the series if you haven’t; it’s seriously some of Mashima’s best work. But as for who this would be for Percival………….. there’s really only 2 choices. Though that might be a little too “generous.”
Conclusion
You know? I hate my job. And that leads into a very long story that I’ll tell one day. Hopefully one day soon. Straw that broke the Camels back this time, folks! I’ll spare you the story this time and simply end it here. Um……… a lot more to say this time than I thought; definitely could of done a full review for this one. Then again- I’m glad I did this this way, considering the Thursday, September 14th, 2023 I had. Ah………. are you guys reading Kaiju No 8? It feels like it’s in this battle “lull” like the Captains vs the Espada or………….. a lot of “Mashle’s” Final Arc– a whole bunch of fights with no substance or purpose beyond 1)Filling up time and 2)The purpose “assigned” to them in the middle of the battle. I don’t know how it’ll read in a Binge, but reading it chapter-by-chapter………… Not really invested. But it’s still a GREAT Manga- particularly if you’re an Attack On Titan fan!! Okay, I’ve stalled enough; catch y’all later.
