English Dub Review: Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia; “Death of the King”

 

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

A prompt investigation follows in the wake of the sudden death of King Gilgamesh, leading Fujimaru and Mash to take on a journey into the Underworld. 

Our Take

This is an episode where the plot is more or less propelled by what is basically nonsense.  

First, we have Gilgamesh falling asleep on his throne and dying from overwork. This is a patently ridiculous anti-climax for our almighty and all-haughty king; as if seeing him vapidly complain in a corporeal body in the Underworld at the end of the last episode wasn’t ridiculous enough. Some tears are shed for our dear sovereign, but fortunately, everyone is quick to realize something that this must all be some sort of scheme.

Evidently, they spent so much time mourning Gilgamesh’s death that they failed to remember a series of reports stating that many citizens of Uruk were also dying of sudden weakness. Putting the pieces together, they deduce that this must be the work of Ereshkigal, goddess of the Underworld and the third member of the Three Goddess Alliance. 

The party is then appropriately baffled as they thought they had already encountered all three members of the alliance. The confusion is immediately dispelled when Ishtar reveals she is not a member of the alliance. This then prompts a new brand of confusion: how did they party not already know that Ishtar wasn’t part of the alliance by now? When Ishtar formally joined the party, she should’ve clarified this misconception immediately. Even the other two goddesses could’ve piped up before too. Why was this pointless piece of misinformation perpetuated then? For the reveal of a brand new goddess that we can fight and possibly befriend. This little twist isn’t necessarily bad, just shallow and petty. 

Ereshkigal and Ishtar were conflated with each other because they share a similar divine origin and were summoned to the real world at the same time. They even share the same body, in some unexplained manner. This explains what happened when Ishtar started glowing during her campfire conversations with Fujimaru. Presumably, Ereshkigal was taking control of their body to watch over Fujimaru. But why does this happen and what would Ereshkigal want with Fujimaru? The mystery continues to remain a mystery for now. 

Being inextricably linked to Ereshkigal, Ishtar is able to lead Fujimaru and Mash into the Underworld to confront its guardian. Ishtar had come to the Underworld previously, high on the conceit of her power, where she was summarily defeated and tortured. This comes at no surprise, considering who she is. What follows is more of the aforementioned nonsense, which also comes at no real surprise. 

The Underworld spelunking party comes across a series of gates that pose questions that must be answered correctly in order to pass through. The first question asks who is more beautiful between Ishtar and Ereshkigal. The answer is very obviously Ereshkigal, as Ishtar knows as she has been here before, but Ishtar is still compelled to answer herself. Upon answering, she is swiftly zapped with lightning and cursed. This continues six more times, with Ereshkigal asking selfish questions and Ishtar giving selfish answers until Ishtar is cursed to the point where she has shrunken to a size smaller than Fou. Admittedly, seeing a tiny Ishtar ride Fou is pretty adorable, but that’s about all the credit I can give her. 

I understand that most of this is being played for laughs, and that’s fine because it is at least functional in that regard. I understand that there’s a running trope where Ishtar acts like a brat and is promptly reprimanded in some cosmic manner. But for me, it doesn’t excuse how blatantly and persistently annoying she is. Does she answer the gates incorrectly because she can’t stand calling herself less beautiful, or does she do it to frustrate Ereshkigal? Either way, it’s done to generate more nonsense. This isn’t frustration, but weariness. How many times must we strike this dead horse? And to boot, now there’s a second Ishtar who is also acting annoying in such a way to annoy the already annoying Ishtar, exponentially increasing the annoyance. Hopefully, Fujimaru doesn’t recruit her as well.

And just when you thought we were done, Gilgamesh decides to throw away his cover and come out of hiding for the explicit purpose of bashing on Ishtar as well. I do have to also admit to actually enjoying this part of this humorous parade. We’ve seen Gilgamesh puff up his chest at everything he finds amusing plenty of times already, but seeing him waste no effort in dunking on the already pitiful Ishtar is funny in a karmically appropriate way. 

With this wandering hellish carnival arriving at its destination, they’re briefed further on Ereshkigal in an effort to garner more sympathy for her before they go to meet her. It seemed like Ereshkigal would just be a version of Ishtar dressed in pink, but what greets them is a horrifying skeleton avatar. Perhaps not what everyone was expecting, but for the goddess of Hell, it’s a satisfyingly appropriate and grotesque design. 

Now that Fujiimaru is at the bottom of Hell, maybe we can get to the bottom of this long-teased mystery.