This is probably just my own opinion, but the build up from last week was without a doubt worth it. Great episode.
I think we were all aware that sooner or later some kind of incident would occur due to the presence of the prisoners. Especially during the separation at the 3 tunnel entrances, Kang's almost malicious grin towards Jin-Woo was extremely noticeable. As if he saw through Jin-Woo's true power, which obviously wasn't the case.
So that was behind the scene from the last episode where this older gentleman asked for help to kill a certain group of people, which I assumed was targeting Jin-Woo and the other survivors of the double dungeon. A truly unfortunate circumstance that the right and middle tunnels were connected to each other. Otherwise, Kim and Jungho would never have witnessed Kang killing the inmates, essentially sealing their fate.
I feel bad not only for Kim's family, but equally for Jin-Woo. Even with a sincere apology from Kim, Jin-Woo would probably never have been able to forgive him and yet it is clear from Jin-Woo's reaction that he didn't want his sacrifice in the double dungeon to be in vain, but rather because of this very fact, Kim for his family should live on.
That's why I'm glad we got a glimpse of Kim's true feelings beforehand, as the incident in the double dungeon and how he left Jin-Woo to his fate there obviously affected him deeply. In the end, he was at least able to apologize, even if it wasn't the way he would have liked to do so.
Song's strength might've been boosted by Joo-Hee's enhancement spell, but it can absolutely be said that he gave Kang a run for his money.
Obviously, the ensuing fight between Jin-Woo and Kang represented the main event and was extremely satisfying to watch since we haven't yet been able to draw a comparison between Jin-Woo's strength and that of higher-level hunters. I had to laugh when Jin asked if Kang could tone down his murderous intent, as the "system" responded with a quest, giving him yet another reason to kill.
Overall, this fight was actually pretty even. Both of them used their full arsenal of abilities, although I was amazed that Kang was able to withstand the side effects of Jin's dagger. Kang's face when Jin Full used his Full Recovery item was priceless. Unfortunately, Jin seems to lose more of his emotions with every fight, as they radiate weakness to the system and only a strong Jin-Woo is needed. This fact once again confirms Jin's constant change, which takes place not only externally but also on an internal level.
The final clash between Kang's Stealth and Jin's Murderous Intent ability was on point and couldn't have been presented better.
There is a lot of truth in Kang's words as Jin is walking on a dark path. I love the way Friedrich Nietzsche's "If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you" is quoted as this applies perfectly to Jin. What are his limits and how strong can he actually become? He will only be able to find out and answer these questions if he searches for the abyss of his potential. And this is exactly where he has to be careful not to become what he is fighting against, as losing his emotions could be a start, something Jin himself has also noticed.
That being said, I would expect stealth to become extremely useful in the future as it can be used in various ways. Not only on a pure fighting base.
When Jin made his way to close the dungeon I instantly felt bad for the poor dungeon boss lol.
Even if Song's statement was meant to keep Jin's true power a secret, Jin-Chul seemed to immediately realize that Song would never have been able to defeat Kang even with a healer at his side. It will be interesting to see whether this could still have an impact on Jin and whether Jin-Chul might take any steps in the near future. I loved the inner dialogue of Jin while realizing and acknowledging the immense strength of Jin-Chul as an A-Rank Hunter. Jin, on the other hand, would probably be ranked as B right now.
The title of the next episode suggests that this could probably be a date episode, but maybe I'm wrong.
Nonetheless looking forward to the next episode. |