English Dub Review: Overlord “The Dawn of Despair”

The long-awaited return of Overlord is here!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Our return to the world of YGGDRASIL and Ainz Ooal Gown begins with glimpses of new mysteries we will no doubt see explored through the rest of the season. The episode opens on the mysterious “Captain of the Black Scripture” speaking to an eccentric woman fiddling with a Rubik’s cube. Presumably, she’s another member of the Black Scripture, and the two discuss the defeat of the Sunlight Scripture at the hands of Ainz Ooal Gown. She laments that a “strong man” is so hard to find these days and that she longs to be bested by someone stronger than her, which, if it matches her personality, is truly insane.

In parts unknown, a similar meeting takes place between an old woman and a dragon. The dragon is none other than a “Platinum Dragon Lord”, an obviously ancient and powerful being, and the woman is a retired adventurer known as “Rigrit.” The two are old friends, and Rigrit used to be a member of The Blue Rose. After their pleasantries, the dragon tells of a powerful evil appearing in the world that threatens the safety of the realm. He asks Rigrit to find information on world-level items for him, to which she agrees, as a favor to an old friend. Before they depart, the dragon notices that she’s missing a ring “that transcends human bounds” , which she coyly says she passed on to a “youngster”, none other than our favorite knight-captain, Gazef Stronoff.

Gazef is busy counseling the king of the Re-Estize Kingdom, where he has attained a position of some affluence. The king wishes he hadn’t left Gazef so vulnerable to the assassination attempt made on him prior, and after a quick introduction of his daughter, Princess Renner, King Ramposa requests from Gazef a meeting with Ainz Ooal Gown, so he may express his thanks.

Speaking of everyone’s favorite nerd trapped in a skeleton’s body, Ainz is off disguised as Momon, hunting a basilisk with the assistance of Hamsuke and Nabe. He quickly dispatches the beast in one fell swoop, and quickly departs, telling Nabe that there are matters which must be attended to at Nazarick.

Appearing once again as Ainz Ooal Gown proper, he promptly teleports to the final floor of the dungeon/fortress, to fill us in on what he and his cast of colorful guardians have been up to. Overlooking his recently acquired world map, and advised by his lewd and lascivious guardian/wife, Albedo, we see glimpses of the guardians and their activities. To the north, Fiora is overseeing the creation of a base in the “Forest of Tob”, with the assistance of Gown’s unpaid labor force of mindless minions, of course. The ever well dressed Demiurge is in Abelion, laying the groundwork for mass parchment production, so the forces of Ainz Ooal Gown can craft powerful scrolls. Sebas Tian the butler is deep undercover in Re-Estize, gathering information with Solution Epsilon, leaving only Shalltear Bloodfallen unaccounted for.

Albedo reveals that Shalltear is on a complete bender, attempting to drown herself in drink, with her own poison resistances making the effort null and void. She confides to the bartender, Sous-chef, her guilt at trying to kill Ainz Ooal Gown at the end of last season, and despite his and penguin butler Eclair’s best efforts, she is lost to her depression.

Albedo advises Ainz that while he has already forgiven her, punishing Shalltear might actually relieve her of her guilt. Ainz takes note of this and moves on to the activities of Cocytus, who is in charge of the Great Lake area to conduct warfare.

At the Great Lake, we meet two lizard brothers, Zaryusu and Shasuryu, discussing the creation of their first ever fish farm. The two are clearly close, though Zaryusu has some sort of mark that makes him a traveler of the world, but also an outsider to his people. Just as their conversation ends, a swarm of black clouds opens up above the village, revealing an eldritch head monster which proclaims that the lizard people’s doom has come. Spooky.

Our Take:

This episode is mostly a catch-up of the many different characters in the Overlord story, and it fulfills that function to satisfaction. It’s nice to see what everyone has been up to in the interim between seasons 1 and 2, and they left enough plot threads open to keep me interested in what’s going to happen next. All the while, the episode keeps a good pace between plot, humor, and intrigue, and has left me looking forward to next week, as any good anime should do. Not a bad start, Overlord season 2, can’t wait to see what else is in store.