Roll Over and Die

Episode 11

To be honest, I did not expect to enjoy this episode. Flum versus Dein is a long-belabored conflict at this point in Roll Over and Die's story, and I was not enthused at the prospect of having to spend another entire episode on it. Therefore, I mean it when I say this week's installment works pretty well. For the first time in weeks, it feels like the narrative has a direction and Flum has a purpose. There's focus. There's a consistent theme. And it builds to a satisfying conclusion. It's about time!

We start with Flum yelling at Ink for a bevy of things outside of the young girl's control. This reflects poorly on Flum, and I like that the series is confident enough to allow its heroine space to be mean and unlikable. Ink, unsurprisingly, has no memories of turning into an eyeball factory, yet Flum chooses in that moment to hold her accountable for all of the bad luck and disappearances that have plagued her recently. The events of the previous episode put Flum into a hysterical state, and she takes that aggression out on the sole remaining member of her household. It's an authentically messy portrayal of a trauma response, and it makes even more sense given Flum's background. She's been betrayed and abandoned before, so she assumes the worst when the current situation resembles her past. Flum turns angry, bitter, and desperate.

The uncomfortable introduction leads nicely into the confrontation with Dein, and while this manifests as a literal battle, it is better understood as an ideological conflict. Dein and Flum represent diverging paths leading away from the same origin point. A refresher on Dein's noble lineage reminds us and emphasizes the similarities with Flum's background. Born into a life of privilege and inherited respect, Dein lost his status, lost his power, and was forced to rebuild his life from nothing. This resembles Flum's downfall from a member of the heroes' party to a slave destined for death. While their circumstances aren't one-to-one, they're close enough for the characters to function as foils of each other.

Dein, therefore, represents the typical path an isekai protagonist would take in this genre. Cruelty and brutality robbed him of the life he was “supposed” to lead, so he embraces cruelty and brutality as the means of clawing his way back up. His allies in the guild are allies of convenience. They're a means to an end. They're cronies. As soon as they betray him, they too become disposable. All that matters is Dein taking back what should be rightfully his, and he's willing to literally give up his own humanity if that will get him closer to that goal. He is, in other words, not a nice man. But he's a familiar archetype in this isekai space, albeit one taken to its logical and pathetic conclusion. Even as he fights toe-to-toe with Flum, the audience understands that Dein will ultimately lose. He doesn't have the sauce. He can't see past his own desires, and that twisted worldview eventually turns him inside-out like a gruesome corkscrew.

Flum, on the other hand, does not close herself off from others in the wake of being betrayed. She reaches out for Milkit's hand in that cell, and she does the same for Sara, Leitch, Welcy, Eterna, Ottilie, Ink, and plenty of other people who cross her path. She's still psychologically frail, as we can see in this week's opening scene, but she's not broken. Gadhio, the latest defector from the heroes' party, comes to her aid, and even Ink's eyeball children help her out. While these appear to be examples of deus ex machina, they're better understood as manifestations of Flum's heart. Because she keeps herself open to the possibility of friendship, companionship, and love, these possibilities become realities. If you accept that the world is hopelessly cruel, then that's the equivalent of rolling over and dying. You give up on everything. The only other way is to persevere despite the darkness. You accept help and offer help in equal measure, and by not tackling existential struggles alone, everyone has a better shot of making it.

This episode is very loud and unsubtle about this theme, but it makes me care about the otherwise haphazardly adapted showdown between Flum and Dein, so I don't mind the heavy-handedness. However, I want to praise Ryō Takahashi's work on the soundtrack, which steps up its game and sounds like an appropriate accompaniment to a major JRPG set piece. And the confirmation that Milkit is also from Satils' merry band of unholy abominations feels like the first intriguing plot development in a long while. Ultimately, though, my favorite part of this episode is hearing Flum say “I don't give a shit!” to Dein. That's been a long time coming, and good riddance to that creep.

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Roll Over and Die is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Sylvia is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. You are not allowed to ask her to roll over. You can also catch her chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.