Isekai Quartet 3

Episode 7

This week gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about the unsung hero of this season of Isekai Quartet: Lalatina Ford Dustiness. You can probably count her spoken lines on your fingers and toes, but her screams of joy are my favorite recurring joke in the show.

To anyone who's not seen KONOSUBA, the joke with Darkness is that she's a huge masochist—she gets off on being abused, both physically and verbally. That's why when everything goes wrong, when everyone else is running in fear or cringing in terror, she alone throws her arms in the air and bellows with joy. While the standout iteration for the joke this season probably involves the spaghetti monster, my personal favorite has to be the sumo contest, where you can barely hear her voice above the explosions and wind as Garfiel and Albedo's clashing energy rips the school grounds apart.

Of course, the trick with Darkness is that she knows herself to a high degree. She doesn't expect others to share her tastes and so doesn't force them upon others. Likewise, she is aware of just how sturdy she is—that she can shrug off far more damage than the vast majority of people (even in her world full of knights and magic). She is not insane. She is well aware of when she is in actual danger and has a survival instinct just like anyone else.

That is what we see in this episode when she and the party sent after her encounter the Winter Shogun. Back in the first season of KONOSUBA, she saw what happened to Kazuma when he forgot to drop his sword and kneel head-to-ground—namely, his beheading. The moment the Winter Shogun appears, Darkness has already assumed the position. But there is no joy in her voice or face. This may be humiliating, but not in a good way. The danger is real, and she doesn't want to die.

Of course, this isn't the world of KONOSUBA where Darkness' only allies are a ditz, a kid with delusions of grandeur, and an isekai'd asshole. On the raw power front, the Winter Shogun may be as strong as the Demon King's Generals, but Cocytus is literally one (though of a different demon king). Moreover (if you're interested in some truly deep lore), in an Overlord crossover with the KONOSUBA mobile game, KONOSUBA: Fantastic Days, Albedo was able to defeat The Winter Shogun—and as we saw from the aforementioned Sumo match, Garfiel is her equal in raw physical power.

But, as we see, there is no need to take things that far. Puck is also a great spirit of ice, more than able to relate to the Winter Shogun as equals. Likewise, Otto can communicate with any living creature, and Cocytus also happens to be an ice element warrior. All this comes together to get our heroes a peaceful outcome with little effort.

In the end, this silly school ski trip seems to be all part of Roswaal's plan. With the zombie pasta, the monstrous morning glories, and the arrival of Shadow Garden, things at the school have been more serious than normal—with tension clearly building. But as he stated back in the first episode of the season, Roswaal won't let X, the Dragon, the Witch of Envy, or the Goddesses take control of this world. This strange school life is built to give these copies of our beleaguered heroes (and villains) a break from their own life or death struggles—perhaps to even have them help their originals in some way—and he is determined to protect that. Taking only Class 2—a group who have long since come to trust each other fully—to re-strengthen their bonds and decompress is his way of doing that. If our heroes are refreshed and working together at 100% capacity, they're more likely to overcome any future conflict—and in a peaceful way as opposed to a violent one.

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Isekai Quartet 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.