Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV

Episode 10

Beware the Juggernaut, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that snatch! Ignore the lessons of Lewis Carroll's classic nonsense poem at your peril, because when it's in the context of Bell Cranell's fight against the Juggernaut, the Dungeon's final line of defense, it's looking much less like nonsense and more like one of Cassandra's prophecies. This particular monster may also be a secret kept too well, because while Ouranos explains to Fells that he kept the beast's existence under wraps, it turns out that of the two adventurers who know about it, one of them is the absolute last person who should.

This is, of course, Jura, one of the men responsible for the wholesale slaughter of Astraea Familia. They may not have intended to commit murder via Juggernaut five years ago, but it was hardly something they didn't welcome, even if it meant that most of Rudra Familia also perished, although Jura seems to have changed his tune a bit since then; to hear him recount it to Bell, it sounds like they were delighted to have an easy way of wiping out the hated members of the all-woman familia and it was only later, when Jura realized that Ryu had also survived, that it took on the air of a wrong to be righted.

And nothing quite says “unhinged toxic lunatic” like a guy who resents a lady for surviving his blatant murder attempt. We knew Jura wasn't of sound mind several episodes ago, but he's taken on an entirely new level of insanity now that he's unleashed what he thinks of as “his” monster. Jura is utterly convinced that he can tame the beast with his magic whip, and there's a sense that that's at least in part because he survived it the last time. In his mind, the fact that it didn't kill him before means that he's somehow stronger than it, and therefore suited to be its master, and he so despises Ryu that it doesn't even occur to him that she also survived the Juggernaut's rampage five years ago. He sneeringly tells her that her lone survivor status is somehow less than his because her familia members gave their lives so that she could live; he frames her survivor's guilt as her having killed the rest of them herself. And while anime-only fans may worry that I'm spoiling book information here, this is more interpretation based on how manipulative he's been this whole time. He blames Ryu for doing to him what he's been trying to do to her, and it's not that hard to see him turning her survival into the worst possible interpretation of events. If Jura says that Ryu killed Astrea Familia, you can bet money that that's not at all what happened.

In that sense, Bell, the perpetual white knight, is an added boon to him. Jura is playing with the fact that Ryu lost everyone dear to her as a way of manipulating her into the Juggernaut's path a second time. Bell, someone she clearly cares about, can be counted on to sacrifice himself to save her, throwing Ryu into the exact same situation she found herself in years ago. It's the lemon juice in the papercut of Jura's plan, building on the horror Ryu must feel watching even unrelated adventurers be mowed down by the monster right before her eyes. This is by far the bloodiest, most gruesome episode of the series to date, and it's made even worse by the final shot of Bell closing his eyes.

But all hope is not lost. Ouranos mentioned that the Xenos know what the Dungeon's screams mean, and even if most of them are helping with Knossos, there's still someone left who can help, if she can get there before the lights truly fade.

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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? IV is currently streaming on HIDIVE.