My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's

Episode 8

All right. It's official. I am confused—and I'm not sure if my confusion is a hint about what's actually going on or if it's just inconsistent writing. In this episode, it's revealed that Gram Cluster leaked the information to the Demons that Amelia had entered Uruk (after his slavers failed to capture her at the border). Therefore, in Akira's mind, Gram is at least partially responsible for Amelia's kidnapping, which is why he's considering making the noble his first kill.

However, my confusion comes from the fact that the Demon Lord already knows where Akira is at any given moment. He can literally see and hear anything that Night sees or hears. The Demon Lord doesn't need some corrupt noble to pass him information. Thus, anything Gram may have done should be treated as irrelevant. The attack would have come regardless.

Assuming that this is a hint and not a plot hole, this implies a few things. The first is that Akira hasn't thought the situation the whole way through—that he's letting his emotions blind him. While he knows he can't get revenge on the demons for what they did—they are both out of reach and far stronger than he—he can enact his vengeance upon Gram. He's a target of convenience (and an all-around terrible person, which makes things easier to justify).

Another potential implication is that things with the Demon Lord are not what they appear to be. Perhaps someone high up in the Demon chain of command—like a general or royal advisor—eventually got the information about Amelia's location provided by Gram. Then, without informing the Demon Lord (either to purposely circumvent him or simply not thinking it was worthy of his direct consideration), issued the capture order for Amelia in the Demon Lord's name. Said individual might not even have known about the Demon Lord's previous orders to Night or his standing invitation to Akira—and the Demons tasked with the mission would have no way of knowing that their mission was not directly sanctioned by the Demon Lord. Of course, this is all speculation.

The other notable part about this episode is our introduction to Latty, the Demon Lord's daughter. On the surface, she seems nice and bubbly. But this is clearly an act that she is putting on, though not necessarily a malicious one. Latty seems to be trying to play the role of “The Good Demon”—the one that, by her very existence, proves that not all Demons are evil. This is why she stops Amelia from killing the kidnappers sent after her. She has put herself on “the side of justice,” which dictates that she acts a certain way. It is her persona and what it represents that is important. Latty couldn't care less about the kidnappers. This is why she tells Amelia to kill them later if she still feels the need—i.e., kill them when Latty's no longer forced to intercede on their behalf.

All in all, this episode, despite its fan service trappings, gives us a lot to think about when it comes to the Demon Lord and Demons in general. To raise a daughter like Latty, even if she's in her “rebellious phase”, once again highlights the incongruity between the attempted mass slaughtering/kidnapping orders and everything else we know about the Demon Lord. What are the Demon Lord's true goal and personality? We'll just have to keep watching to find out.

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My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero's is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.