English Dub Review: Black Clover “The Messenger from the Spade Kingdom”

Overview

After a mysterious stranger from the Spade Kingdom reveals that Yuno is Spade Kingdom Royalty, Father Orsi asks about Asta, since he out of sheer coincidence was left on the orphanage’s doorstep the same night as Yuno, but Ralph has no idea who Asta is. With his flame magic, Ralph shows Yuno visions of his past leading to a long and convoluted story of how Yuno is blood-related to the true rulers before the Dark Triad (AKA the three Zogratis siblings) gained devil powers and attacked the castle.

Consequently, Baby Yuno’s safety was a pyrrhic victory. But before Yuno can properly process this revelation, he receives word that the Golden Dawn headquarters has been attacked as Zenon Zogratis of the Dark Triad…


Our Take

The backstory and lore uncovered in this episode were wild reveals. And Spade Kingdom’s royal family and the Dark Triad are slowly starting to make sense and Yuno’s importance shows he also has a stake in this war. It seems weirdly symbolic that because of the Dark Triad, Yuno’s family perished. And now, Yuno’s current family, the Golden Dawn, is also suffering because of them.

For most of the series, you see Asta’s story and daily life in real-time. Only a few episodes here and there do you get to see Yuno. I appreciate his growth and character development from this episode onwards. He isn’t just about the desire to be a Wizard King to 1-up Asta, he treats Golden Dawn members as equals though he doesn’t always show it.

Overall this was an important episode in regards to Yuno as a character and the effort to make him more than just a bland 1-upper to Asta. It kinda makes me wonder if Asta is related to the Dark triad in any way. Also, it leaves me wondering if Yuno will go back to the Spade Kingdom and claim the throne after all this is over? And since Yuno is born through the Spade Kingdom, what about Asta? I wanna know more about Asta but that probably won’t happen anytime soon…