Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 3 — Jinwoo returns to Demon Castle

The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Episode 3, “Still A Long Way to Go”, available on Crunchyroll.

Summary

• Jinwoo gains strength and obtains a cure for his mother's illness by challenging the Demon Castle Dungeon.

• Jinwoo's father mysteriously returns after 10 years and disturbs the status quo with ominous warnings.

• Episode 3 shows Jinwoo's progress in the Demon Castle Instant Dungeon with a dynamic battle against Vulcan.

The third episode of Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- saw Sung Jinwoo revisit the overwhelmingly challenging Demon Castle Dungeon where he obtains the recipe for the Holy Water of Life, a powerful potion that can cure all ailments, including the incurable eternal sleeping sickness that is slowly eroding away his mother's life. Elsewhere, a series of significant events begin to unfold when a human appears from beyond a gate and warns of an unspeakable calamity that will take root in the world.

From Jinwoo gaining even more strength to his father returning after ten years of absence, episode 3 of Solo Leveling season 2 had a number of significant moments that set up some of this season's key story beats, not to mention battles that culminated in a satisfying match against a demon arguably as powerful as Cerberus itself.

Shadows long for the mines

A taste of the comedic potential of the shadows

The Solo Leveling The anime has an unmistakably more serious tone than the manhwa, but after Jinwoo completes the Job-Change Quest and gains the title of Shadow Monarch, the shadows he brings in as his personal army add a humorous element to the anime when on screen in non-combat situations, especially Jinwoo's latest recruit, Iron, whose behavior can elicit a few laughs, especially when other Shadows interact with him.

The third episode opens with Jinwoo and Jinho completing the 19th and final raid needed for Jinho to become a Guildmaster. Shocked by the Shadow Army, he is briefly convinced that he has been replaced, but after the raid and subsequent mining of the Mana Crystals, the two celebrate at a barbecue, where Jinho tells Jinwoo about how his older brother by 10 years came to dislike him and never spent time with him. Jinho wishes Jinwoo could have been his brother instead. Jinwoo tells him then and there that he will be Jinho's honorary brother, causing him to shed a few tears of joy.

The talking magical beast

Sung Jinwoo's father appears

Just before the opening credits, there is a scene of an unknown man on a wrecked ship-like dungeon, heading towards an English-speaking man in full armor. The English speaking man (James, an A-Rank Hunter) is terrified as it is clear that the unknown man took out his allies. He can tell they have a language barrier, so he tells James in English that he is human and wants to go home. This man is revealed to be none other than Sung Il Hwan – the father of Sung Jinwoo and Jinah, who disappeared about ten years before the events of the series. He is taken into custody by the Americans, who call on S-Rank Hunter Hwang Dongsoo, fresh from his trip to Korea, to talk to him in case he is dangerous.

Sung Il Hwan claims to have been trapped in a gate over 10 years ago, which came from a gate that appeared in the United States. Since he came out of a gate, there is no way to know if he is some kind of “human monster”. When Hwang Dongsoo arrives, he brings his trademark arrogance, and Il Hwan's cryptic musings about how little humanity actually knows about the Gates, Dungeons, and the magical energy that now permeates the world only makes him bolder.

Il Hwan claims that his goal is to prevent a disaster from occurring, one that not even all the hunters in the world could prevent. Dongsoo reads Il Hwan's file and learns that he is Jinwoo's father, and unleashes a murderous aura as he tells the “talking magical beast” that he should meet Jinwoo (who he believes is already dead) in Hell. There's a short cut to Jinwoo literally fighting demons in the hellish landscape of the Demon Castle, so Dongsoo wasn't wrong that he was in hell, but when we cut back to Il Hwan and Dongsoo, we're met with the scene of firefighters rushing for to put out the blazing fires around what used to be the building where Il Hwan was kept, with Dongsoo scattered in the wreckage. The lack of damage to the immediate surroundings led the workers to a terrifying thought: Hwang Dongsoo was defeated in an instant, before the catastrophic damage that comes with the battle between two S-class hunters. Sung Il Hwan's introduction at this stage completely elevates the hierarchy of characters we've seen up until now,

Jinho gets the opportunity he was hoping for

His father wants him to sign Jinwoo at any cost

Jinho meets his father to show him that he kept his end of their deal. Now that he qualifies to become a Guildmaster, Jinho is qualified to lead Yoojin Construction's new Hunter Guild, narrowly beating his brother. Jinho asks his father to hand over the company and allow him to run it, to which his father agrees, but only on the condition that Jinho prevents the White Tiger Guild from hiring Hunter Sung Jinwoo, who he knows has been involved. in various strange Dungeon incidents, including the Double Dungeon incident, the mysterious deaths of hunters who were on the Society's watch, and most recently, the Red Gate incident. He is also aware that Jinho managed 20 raids because of Sung Jinwoo's help. Mr. Ahn of the White Tiger Guild searches for Jinwoo, along with B-Rank Hunter Park Heejin, who was one of the survivors of the Red Gate, but they cannot find him.

Jinwoo takes a trip

Revisit the Demon Castle Instant Dungeon

Jinwoo decides to tell Jinah that he is going on a trip for a week to give himself time to make some progress in the Demon Castle Instant Dungeon, where he fought and killed Cerberus in Solo Leveling season 1. To complete his collection of the ingredients for the Holy Water of Life, Jinwoo spends several days working his way up the 100 floors of the Dungeon, which is a hellish version of Seoul populated by hordes of demons.

His goal is to acquire 5000 demon souls, and he manages to do so with minimal struggle until he meets Demon Castle's first Boss, Vulcan the Avaricious, a giant orc-like demon who is faster than he looks and greatly surpasses Jinwoo in strength, at least according to the red color of the text in the monster's name field in the system's HUD. The fight against Vulcan is short but really exciting for how dynamic the animation is in this scene, adapting the manhwa to such a high quality in its animated form.

Do the undead experience fear?

– Sung Jinwoo to Metus, Guide of Souls

Jinwoo's confidence has grown, and the way he handles Vulcan's immense speed and strength shows how used to dangerous situations he has become. The Vulcan fight was definitely the most exciting aspect of Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 3, as it combines the high-octane fight choreography we've come to expect from the series, with Jinwoo's connection to his shadows. His dramatic finish on Vulcan earns him several new gears and various rare items, including part of the very World Tree used to form Vulcan's club.

As Jinwoo's army advances into the territory of the next boss, Metus, the Guide of Souls, he drops a solid Vegeta reference when he asks if the undead can experience fear. After putting in a solid shift, Jinwoo only has one more ingredient to hunt down before he can make the holy water, and chooses to go home for now, not knowing how much commotion awaits. Overall, episode 3 was really exciting for how it juggled several important developments, while its rearranged storyline expertly leaves out the current arc's emerging main story to visit next week, likely.

Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- is available on Crunchyroll.