English Dub Review: I Left My A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! “Shadow Stalker”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Clover accepts a quest to help promote an armor workshop’s latest line of adventuring gear.

Our Take:
When you’re a massive celebrity in the streaming business, there’s always a good chance someone would use that popularity to promote their brand.  It’s a win-win on both fronts, depending on how much they get paid.  This occasion is no exception, as Clover is tasked with a mission to advertise a new line of adventuring gear from a workshop called Earthys.  Their quest takes them to the new village, Qualto, where they seek to conquer the Aion Ruins dungeon while wearing the new adventurer gear.
In a way, “Shadow Stalker” is basically the first episode involving the team completing a dungeon, although it isn’t without a couple of roadblocks that hinder their progress.  One is their encounter with the orcs on the second dungeon floor, reminding the enraged Silk of the history between orcs and elves.  While nothing too significant, it does showcase a bit more of Silk’s background, in which she’s a dark elf known for betraying regular elves.  However, that doesn’t seem to come into play later on.  The other roadblock is the Shadow Stalker, a vicious shadowy creature that seemed more formidable than the Zarnag due to its dark magic and ability to break through magic barriers.  Fortunately, despite being overwhelmed, Yuke managed to save the day again with his profound support magic.
“Shadow Stalker” reflects the first episode’s dungeon-exploring plot but with an advertising subplot that emphasizes their popularity.  However, it’s also another episode that showcases Clover’s teamwork and trust being tested by a formidable foe, mainly the Shadow Stalker.  The sound mixing continues to be inconsistent with the action scenes similar to the show’s second episode, leaving me to question the show’s post-production schedule.  Fortunately, the sound mixing in this episode was a bit more tolerable than Clover’s battle with the Zarnag, although it would be interesting to see how much longer I can tolerate it before I lose my mind.