English Dub Review: Requiem of the Rose King “A man who has no awareness as king… A man who is not qualified to be king… Neither of them is fit for the throne.”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
The Earl of Warwick plots rebellion, and tensions mount between George and King Edward. The king refuses to doubt his comrade or his brother, but his trust may cost him his crown.

Our Take:
The episode showcases a family feud before a family feud was even a thing. Here, we see Warwick continuing to put his plan to overthrow King Edward into motion. His next step involves switching sides with Lancaster and pitting George against Edward for the throne. Meanwhile, Richard constantly dreams about his father and questions his destiny.
As the title suggests, the episode explores the worthiness of ruling the country. For King Edward, his worthiness is blinded by his undeniable love for Elizabeth. This led Warwick to believe that a king should be more faithful, thus choosing George to be the next heir. Unfortunately, his choice to side with Lancaster not only proves himself to not be worthy for the throne as well, but it also proves himself to be an asshole.
The episode portrays the scenario in a riveting and stylistic way through its animation and dialogue. Although, it still has a couple of moments that made me scratch my head, such as remembering which Edward is which. Luckily, it doesn’t affect my experience with its portrayal of King Edward’s potential fall.
The scenes involving Richard III continue to be the most exciting part of the show. The episode further expands on Richard’s conflict with the possibility of taking the throne. This is mainly due to the visions he has about his late father. While Richard is concerned about that likelihood because of him being intersex, he understands that neither Warwick nor George can be York’s true heir.
Overall, this episode is worthy to sit on the throne alongside the show’s other chapters. Some of its scenes took a bit for me to remember what’s happening and the supporting characters’ names. Fortunately, its animation and storytelling manage to keep me engaged regardless. The next chapter will see Richard and Catesby going on a mission to rescue King Edward, so here’s hoping that they’ll arrive in time to save him before he shares the same fate as their father.