Review: Onyx Equinox “Predation”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

On the way to Danibaan, the group runs into a group of monkeys who want the cacao that they have. After that Izel whines which gets K’in irritated and they start arguing and it escalates to Izel pushing Yun off the tree. A mysterious woman shows up and tells them that she can heal him. They carry Yun over to her cave where she tells them to get an axolotl from the lake and that they should go together to make the search faster. The healer saves Yun from near-death and once he regains consciousness they talk and she asks about the gates of the underworld.

Meanwhile, they search for the axolotl, and Zyanya urges Izel to leave the twins to head to Danibaan however Izel is hesitant. Then the group of monkeys appears again and Zyanya drags him away, but Izel refuses and goes back for K’in. The trio defeats the monkeys with Izel’s plan as it ends up with a bloody result. Afterward, they go back to the healer who heals Yun and gives Yun and Izel a chance to talk. The next day the healer directs them to think of Danibaan and then they’re magically transported to a city with winged guards.

Our Take:

This episode helped with getting Izel and the twins to bond on a common ground after a messy argument. Furthermore, we get to see the magical aspect of Onyx Equinox with the healer healing Yun and transporting the group at the end with the axolotl.

The argument worked well in showing Izel’s temper at anyone who disrespects Nelli and his continuous denial of her death along with K’in being fed up with his whining and Yun trying to defuse the situation. The episode also shows how life and death go hand in hand with each other with the group and their current motivations. Zyanya’s logical reason to leave the twins was a good opposition to the emotional-driven K’in searching for the axolotl. It places Izel with a decision to make on saving Yun or saving a hundred.

There’s also the mysterious healer who heals Yun and probes him about the gate of the world. Then she chats with Yun about their quest and gives him some advice about Izel. Her voice and character design were good at making me curious about her true identity. It’s clear that she isn’t human with her first moments in the episode with a warning to one of the monkeys and her comment on humans as well.

The fight with the monkeys was won with Izel’s plan, so while he may not have the strength most of the group has, he has the intellect to get the monkeys to fight each other and therefore dwindle their numbers to a reasonable amount. It’s a good plan that ends with him stabbing the last monkey showing to K’in and Zyanya that he does have it in him to do the hard thing like killing even if he pukes afterward. After the search for the axolotl, Izel admitting that Nelli is dead was a good step to processing her death as he talked with Yun when the healer gave them a chance to talk to each other. It wraps up the conflict of the episode and builds Izel’s trust in them. The sibling relationships in the Onyx Equinox are heartwarming to watch as the twins interact with each other and Izel talking about Nelli.

Overall the episode was good with the team building for their journey. Now with the group in a new city, they’ll have to figure out where they are and how to get Danibaan.