English Dub Review: Ragna Crimson “The Winged Monarch”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
The darkest hour is at hand.  As cherished comrades fall on both sides, bittersweet memories of the past surge to the forefront.

Our Take:
Man, this war makes the previous battle against the Monarchs look like child’s play.  We not only see both sides gaining the upper hand in the showdown, but we also see them resulting in plenty of supporting characters biting the dust.  I’m not talking about the nameless extras, either.  We have people we’ve grown attached to since the earlier episodes getting killed off in gruesome ways.  This is basically the entire episode as we get closer to its groundbreaking season finale.
The first two to perish were Fu and Olto Zora, with the latter being killed off by Isaac after Fu sacrificed himself to deliver his devastating spell.  Also, believe it or not, we see Crimson’s servants getting murdered by none other than Borgius, who gains god-like powers from Nebulim to protect Ultimatia.  Yes, that includes the seemingly indestructible Slime, who had been a mild pain in my butt since the beginning of the series.  Honestly, I’m more relieved than devastated that Borgius killed Slime, but it does leave me concerned about Crimson, who’s about to end Ultimatia’s reign before Borgius intervenes.
Amid the destruction and death, the episode also provided some flashbacks to fill in the remaining runtime, including Christopher’s life before he joined Starlia.  However, the most crucial one is from Ultimatia, who’s revealed as one of Carula’s clones, Number 19835.  She was driven to become a Monarch by the war between humans and dragons and was forced to choose who to save.  This reveal further emphasizes Ultimatia’s tragedy before her eventual demise.  While it could be seen as a filler episode to prolong the battle, “The Winged Monarch” retains the series’s thrilling stakes, with Borgius turning the tide in the Monarchs’ favor.  Hopefully, Ragna will finish his fight with Woltekamui soon so he can help his friends…or what’s left of them.