English Dub Review: The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody “Those with Resolve”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
After receiving the Demon Lord’s declaration of war, Varvatos decides to take him down. Ard feels history changing around him, but he’s unable to predict where it will lead. While lost in thought, the Demon Lord suddenly appears before him. Ard is shocked when he introduces himself as Disaster Rogue and reveals his true identity. The Demon Lord then offers him a proposal.

Our Take:
With the Demon Lord finally revealing himself, Ard and his friends are now on a path to save history from his wrath. However, this so-called “Demon Lord” isn’t who he seems to be, as shown in the second-to-last episode of the season. That moment is where things get more interesting than our little trip through time.
As Ard ponders about God’s orders to repair history, he is approached by the Demon Lord, who reveals himself to be another Ard from an imminent future. I know that someone has to face themselves in order to heal, but this is ridiculous. The alternate version of Ard, whose real name is Disaster Rogue, is also sent back in time by the God boy, but to destroy the world and kill Varvatos. Like Ard, Disaster Rogue is also haunted by the sin of killing Lydia and wants to make things right. Rogue offers Ard a chance to join him, but Ard eventually refuses, resulting in them dueling each other.
This episode comes in full circle as it delves further into Ard’s guilt for killing a cursed Lydia as Varvatos. The main antagonist being an older version of himself forces Ard to come to terms with what happened and learn to accept it. This is due to him spending quality time with Lydia at the marketplace and punching each other, which offers a tenderhearted moment between the two.
What makes that scene sentimental is that it shows Lydia as more than just a heartless killing machine or a sexual harasser. After Ard asks Lydia what she would do to fix a mistake, she takes him to a destroyed town, where she had to decimate every building and person in sight during the war. Because of her guilt, Lydia wishes to die without interference once the world is at peace. It signifies that no matter how much history changes, Lydia’s death is inevitable, meaning Ard has to accept that fate instead of fixing it.
The two Ards share the same passion for trying to fix the mistakes they caused, but for different reasons. Because of his moment with Lydia, Ard chooses not to side with Disaster Rogue, who persists in destroying the world. This is one of the reasons why I think Rogue is a decent choice to be a formidable foe in the last two episodes. The other is that Rogue shares the same amount of power as Ard, meaning this battle may last a while. Unfortunately for Ard, Rogue arranged for the war to coincide with their magical duel to distract him, so Ard will have to think of a way to end it fast.
“Those with Resolve” is unsurprisingly another engaging episode with interesting reveals and plenty of heart. The scene with Ard and Lydia punching each other in public was admittedly funny, but it didn’t overshadow the heartfelt moment that came after that. Ard has been secretly affected by his difficult choice in the last couple of episodes, so it’s nice to see him getting the closure he needed to accomplish his mission. The execution of its thematic material may not be anything special, but it does enough to provide satisfaction for my feelings towards a caring character like Ard.