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

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Clover finally enters Tenebre, fully expecting the unexpected… and still, what they find inside shocks them.

Our Take:
Tenebre certainly has its dangerous capabilities on the outside, mainly transforming people into Shadow Stalkers.  But what about the inside of this mysterious black dorm?  Well, considering what Clover has been through since the beginning, it couldn’t be any weirder or more threatening than what they’d encounter, right?  This week’s episode gives us that answer in the form of a group of Shadow Stalkers roaming around Tenebre.  Of course, from what we discovered in the previous episode, the Shadow Stalkers were once people who were affected by the Tenebre’s ability, including Rafuma, emphasizing Marina’s concerns about harming them.  However, those worries seemed to immediately die down thanks to Yuke’s support, as they’re able to slice down the Shadow Stalkers without any regret.
Following a few episodes involving plenty of exposition, “An Unexpected Reunion” wasted no time in getting Clover back into action, especially with Jamie and Rune by their side.  Though Rune may not seem to be much of a fighter, her ability to detect monsters in dungeons comes quite in handy.  However, that’s not the only reason the episode represents a slight improvement over the previous ones.  The other reason lies in the episode’s title, which has Yuke and Jamie confronting an illusion of the Thunder Pike members inside the Tenebre’s dungeon floor.  Aside from the presence of Shadow Stalkers, the illusion of Thunder Pike demonstrated what could have been if Simon and the others had truly given Yuke the respect he deserved. If the real Simon had behaved like the illusion of Simon from the beginning, he might have avoided the path that ultimately led to his downfall.
Regardless of how I feel about the show itself, this is one of the episodes where its heart shines the brightest in terms of character development. Yuke has finally put his doubts about leaving Thunder Pike to rest after witnessing Simon’s kinder side one last time, realizing the potential friendship between him and Thunder Pike that they could’ve had.  Yuke has had a difficult journey recovering from the incident caused by Simon’s selfishness.  Fortunately, thanks to Tenebre’s illusion, he finally found the inner peace he’s been seeking since the season’s first act.  This moment alone makes “An Unexpected Reunion” one of the better episodes of the show’s first season, as well as a suitable start to Clover’s mission inside Tenebre.