「一握りの希望」 (Hitonigiri no Kibou)
“A Handful of Hope”

Alright honesty time: yes we all knew what was coming this week. No one was going to escape, everyone was going to die, and by hell did they die—with plenty of suffering on top. Any doubts about the power and mindset (especially the mindset) of Ainz should’ve been fully erased now because with the chaos wrought and the power play performed, you can bet this week’s inglorious end to tomb spelunking has nothing on what comes next.

While watching Foresight get ravaged by spooky skeleton man was definitely disturbing in parts (we’ll get to those in a bit), some moments were too hilarious for their own good. Take Ainz walking in with wrestling/boxing robe garb. I don’t know what I expecting there, but that setup? Perfection. Then we had our male blondie who after becoming paralyzed made for one humorous mute face in between the rest telling Arche to get out of dodge. Overlord’s comedy as a whole is nothing to really write home about (barring Albedo crazy face—what can I say, I’m biased), but the show has shown a great knack for inserting funnies like these where you least expect it. Or my sense of humour is just not fit for public consumption, but I’ll stick to happy thoughts on that front. Happy thoughts.

There’s no denying though the majority of Ainz’s battle was distinctively not funny, whether that be the slow revelation by our unfortunate Workers that they were going to die, or Ainz’s nonchalant granting of merciful death to Arche for attempting escape. Papa Bones truly went full evil this week, arguably represented best by what happened to Arche after she died. What you think Entoma’s new voice was donated by cute elf girl? Oh no, she acquired it from a more innocent source. Respecting the dead by using the dead might make logical sense (particularly when it comes to livestock), but damn it doesn’t make it feel any better in this case. I guess Arche’s fate is far better than her compatriots though—looking at you memory test subject #1—especially considering we know full well what Shalltear is capable of in terms of live pain and suffering. Sometimes a quick painless death is the best thing you could ever hope for.

The real fun, however, lies in what comes next with Ainz’s political manoeuvring. As suspected allowing the Workers to enter Nazarick was a ploy to gain leverage over another human-run country, pinning the blame for trespass firmly on the empire’s leadership and demanding apology (read: bending the knee) lest they wish to accept the consequences. Compared to Demiurge’s earlier fun as a rouge demon last season it’s certainly more open and ingenious, firmly implying that Ainz, whether he truly wants it or not, is going to quickly be ending up with a country all his own.

The loyal members of Ainz Ooal Gown are ready to start spreading their wings further in pursuit of world domination and this time they won’t be doing so behind the scenes. Stay tuned boys and girls, Ainz’s actual battle starts now.

144 Comments

    1. https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
      Well, if you think about it, a certain idiot DOOMED his own team when he talked badly about Ainz’s comrades. Sigh, fool should have chosen his words more wisely.

      https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
      I am sort of curious what is that red orb on Ainz, maybe that is his heart.

      Anyway, using Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu as a reference, humans are damaging the biosphere so Ainz knows that he needs to lower the human population. So I expect more humans to die soon. I imagine that Thanos, from Avengers, would get along well with Ainz.

      Greed
      1. Party Leader: I want to try and persuade the Lich King to let us free
        DM: Uhh ok, how do you want to go about that?
        Party Leader: He said we were tresspassing without permission onto the place he and his friends built right? I want to say we were here because his friends sent us.
        DM: Interesting… ok roll with advanatage.
        Party:
        Party Leader:
        Party: …
        DM: So where’s that list of gruesome deaths I keep around…

        Also if I remember the tidbits about Earth they sneak into the LN. Earth in the Overlord universe is already something like Bladerunner. Things like the Amazon River apparently no longer even exist.

        nar
      2. That’s what I get for trying to be fancy =_=

        Party Leader: I want to try and persuade the Lich King to let us free
        DM: Uhh ok, how do you want to go about that?
        Party Leader: He said we were tresspassing without permission onto the place he and his friends built right? I want to say we were here because his friends sent us.
        DM: Interesting… ok roll with advanatage.
        Party waits in anticipation
        Party Leader rolls snake eyes
        Party: …
        DM: So where’s that list of gruesome deaths I keep around…

        nar
      3. “Earth in the Overlord universe is already something like Bladerunner.”
        I see, so I guess even Ainz knows that the culling of humans is something needed to benefit the world. For the sake of the environment, it is a good thing that Ainz can find many uses for humans. If Ainz was in Tokyo Ghoul, I can imagine many people would worship him

        Greed
      4. Well, in the webnovel it was explained that the red orb is a world item that he keeps on himself. The light novel and anime never mentioned that from what i remember…
        But even if the anime will use that as an explanation for why he still goes out without a world item weapon, it is most likely he will never use it until he can find a way to replace the lost levels. For each time he uses it, he loses a few levels so it might be safe to say that papa bones won’t use it in the new world until the level issue has been resolved.

        Damrod
      5. @Damrod

        Really?? O_O I didn’t realize that. I was always assumed that the orb was his Phylactery and the world item was something else.

        I always assumed it was his pauldrons as he still had the orb even while taking the slime bath.

        Devastator001
    1. https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
      Indeed, all hail Ainz-sama. His existence can make people vomit horribly.

      Notably, in anime, I guess vomit is usually rainbow color.

      https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
      I am sure many will BOW before Ainz knowing he has a dragon that serves him. Not sure how many dragons, Ainz now has, but I hope he has female dragons that can mate with that other dragon we saw in season 2.
      https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20II/Overlord%20II%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2005.jpg

      Greed
      1. Last time that I’ve seen anime vomit was in Konosuba, and considering that it’s a comedy I thought it being rainbow colored was purely played for fun, so it felt out of place to me when seeing it in this latest Overlord episode.

        boingman
      2. Rainbow vomit (although in this case it looked more neon than tie dye) is probably done for simplicity and taste (or for comedy like KonoSuba). Blood, gore, and sex is one thing, but accurate regurgitation? Well that’s just nasty 😛

      3. that dragon is Mare’s pet, he has two dragons they are both level 90,

        before anyone panics this is not a spoiler it’s just their bio that Overlord’s creator made to fill the blanks.

        john
  1. While I know people complain a lot, about this episode, I still see Ainz as the “more favorable evil” of Overlord. After seeing characters like Danzo (Naruto) or Light Yagami (Death Note), we should be thankful that we are not given a main character that completely Lacks any sense of compassion or other positive traits, which would be horrible. Currently, Ainz is probably more closer to Lelouch (code geass) due to how even someone like Lelouch can make mistakes, killing or controlling people who have families, yet still retains plenty of redeemable features. In comparison to the corrupted nobles, who enjoy exploiting or killing commoners for whatever worthless desire, Ainz is a more “productive evil” as there is a method to his madness where he brings results that can benefit the world. Anyway, while Ainz did neglect to ask why they needed money, where money can be used for a lot of positive things like feeding orphans, typically those who desire money are just greedy low-lives.

    Up to date, the only “perfect evil” I know, that is more considerate about killing people, is maybe Koko Hekmatyar.

    https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
    These poor girls. Sigh, Arche SHOULD have killed off her parents, sell her parents’ stuff, and then move with her sisters. I really can’t understand why she had to risk her life to get money. Sigh, to “kill the source of one’s sufferings” probably didn’t occur to Arche or it didn’t occur to Arche that she could have given some sort of False testaments, to local authorities, if she killed her parents.

    On the side note, did Entoma have a change of voice actors, or is Entoma’s voice actor the same throughout the entire anime?

    Greed
    1. same VA. very talented, she had to do the kid voice in s1 and s2 then the elctro-bug voice and now they set it up so that she was voicing arche too in s3, and now that entoma was given arche’s voice, kei-san has to sound like arche in the persona of entoma.

      n30nl16ht
    2. Its been years since he started, i.e. he’s batshit nuts and actually bought into the role via some kind of bizarre messianic complex. This is not a mentally stable guy. If the author is even halfway decent Ainz will be made to crack at some point.

      Bertz
      1. To be fair he’s not really human at this stage. The anime hasn’t shown it well (the moments where his emotions are deliberately checked are about the extent of it), but Ainz’s humanity has slowly faded away in favour of his lich lord being, leading to things like this arc’s slaughter which an earlier Ainz probably would’ve scoffed at.

    3. Eh… Not sure. Ainz is putting into practice conquest plans for conquest’s sake, not for any revolutionary or social cause.

      In fact, I’d say he’s at this point worse than those other nobles. Oh, Ainz treats his court and retainers very well? Hey, it happens with those nobles too. The Emperor himself is a good example. To quote Sirius Black: “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

      The nobles of the land treat their inferiors like the feudal nobles of our past. Like semi-slaves (or directly slaves) to be exploited to maintain their power and livelihood. That’s as pragmatic a reason as Ainz’s, all things considered. On the other hand, how does Nazarick treat their inferiors (aka, humans)? As literal cattle (oh, Demiurge), as subjects of experiments Mengele would be proud of, as spare body parts, as nests, etc.

      In hindsight, what would I prefer? Be an inferior being in the normal feudal society or in Nazarick? And no, that Nazarick pets the dog or favors some lowly humans sometimes doesn’t count; the nobles do it too, as Climb and Stronoff can testify.

      Mistic
      1. Actually given the the situation with the later novel’s, you better off as part of Nazarick. (This ep is like a preview of what’s in store for the Slaine Theocracy once Ainz finds out they were behind Shalltears brainwashing)

        Devastator001
      2. Also Demiurge does have morals(sort of), once you’ve been recognized as part of Nazarick he’ll leave you alone, everyone else though is fair game. (As so far he’s been tormenting everyone else who’s not part of the dominion of Nazarick even now in the novels)

        Devastator001
      3. Oh, no, I’m pretty much aware of later developmets in the novels and my opinion is the same: the key is not whether one is part of the country or not, but who is considered inferior (like how in real life nobles could treat foreign enemy nobles quite exquisitely while mistreating their peasants, because that was not the point of the “equality” they had in mind). So, no, I really don’t want to be the “inferior being” in Nazarick.

        At best, Ainz and company are like the Mongols: incredibly cruel in conquest, but pretty nice overlords once everything is settled. However, like the Mongols, they didn’t start the conflicts to create a better world, but to empower themselves. And I’d say Nazarick beats the Mongols by far in terms of cruelty.

        Mistic
      4. Well, at the least, Ainz isn’t like Light Yagami, an absolute megalomaniac who become drunk and delusional by the power he obtained by “luck.” Ainz seems to be capable of some level of fairness and so forth. Ainz also treats his inferiors well, looking at Hamsuke who seems to be a good “pet” to Ainz. Enri and Tuare, people Ainz saved, are also treated well. Also, lets recall in how Tuare was raped and later sold into slavery by a certain noble, that is something I won’t see Ainz do at least.

        Notably I do hope the noble, that raped Tuare, will get killed off in the anime.

        At the least, Ainz hasn’t ordered the extinction of Humanity, maybe he will do the culling but not the extinction.

        Greed
      5. @greed I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of rape going on in Nazarick considering they’re experimenting to see if humans can be crossbred with “other beings”. Ainz did say he want Demi to use innocents but Ainz already has a narrow view of who’s innocent so you could imagine Demi’s view of “innocence” probably encompasses very little people (anyone who slights them is already instakill meat after all). And as the eight fingers, who ran those slavery businesses (which I think they still run except under Nazarick now?), can attest to, Nazarick does much worse things that they can even imagine.

        I still like this show and the novel but then again, I never thought Ainz was a “well intentioned” character (that’s why I like him XD). Anything good he’s ever done was never out of the goodness of his heart. They were either of some use to him or it was just fleeting feelings of mercy like how you’re about to step on ant but decide not to for no other reason than just cause you can . If his friends ever do show up and their character was human, they’d most likely be against Ainz once they find out the things he’s done.

        DunDun
      6. I agree with Mistic on this one, Ainz as a ruler is arguably worse than the rest because he simply doesn’t care. Humans overall are just tools, gristle for the mill which is finding out what happened to him and his fellow guild members. Some may be held in high regard (ex. Nphirea), but this is only because they are useful to Ainz Ooal Gown—remove that use and they’re no better than the countless other humans who Ainz already ignores as a whole. Of course he may preferentially reserve experimentation for criminal elements, but as this week shows Ainz is not actually above doing what he considers necessary for his end goals, even if that extends his actions to innocent people.

        For good or bad Ainz sees humans as insects, something which can be fun or useful from time to time, but otherwise a nuisance whose suffering is beneath notice. It’s just we now have an example (outside of Solution and Nabe trash talking) showing this mindset in practice.

    4. Agreed with Light (athough even he started with the more positive message of “get rid of all criminals”). My point was mostly about the Lelouch comparison; Nazarick actually is closer to the evils of Britannia than the revolution of the Black Knights.

      As for Hamusuke, Enri and Tuare, they all prove my point: they are assets to Nazarick and treated well because of it (and yet, even Lupusregina needed to be explained that, lest she allowed the latter two to die horrifically just for laughs). However, their fates don’t nullify the fates of thousands of civilians kidnapped by Demiurge for his experiments, or the Workers turned into living breeding nests for parasites. Those are the “Tuares” of Nazarick. The same Climb and Stronoff are the “Enri” and “Hamusuke” of the kingdom.

      Mistic
      1. (Damn, this should be below Greed’s latest post; and with Lupusregina I was thinking of Eri and Nfirea, not Enri and Tuare)

        Random Curiosity definitely needs a way to rewrite comments, sigh.

        Mistic
      2. I see your point, thanks. Well, at the least, Looking at anime like One Piece where there are a lot of Tyrants I hate, as “justice” is overused as a propaganda and there are plenty of Tyrants that delude themselves that think they are “justice” and so forth, Ainz is at least the “honest evil” type. Ainz, to some degree, knows he is not good person but is mainly looking for the best option to benefit Nazarick.

        Greed
      1. I’d honestly say he is both. Which is the most dangerous type of ruler. The prideful part of him is what makes us like him and believe in him. Also why we are willing to believe it isn’t all of him just being evil.

        The childish part however is the part that brings out the worst of Ainz. And that part is becoming more and more out there in terms of what he is doing.

        I guess you could also put it as a reason vs instinct as well.

        Dorian S.
  2. Damn this ep left me equal parts with amazed and feels. Even knowing from the LN what was gonna happen next, the part when Ainz was raging was awesome O_O! and damn Arche’s little sister feels T^T

    Devastator001
  3. For anyone curious, Arche’s fate (and that of her sisters) actually differs GREATLY between the anime/LN and the original web novel.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    qwert
      1. Interesting. I understand that the webnovel predates the other media, doesn’t it? Taking that into account, and especially the author’s remarks, it suggests that the writing is intentionally getting bleaker.

        Mistic
      2. @Mistic

        Well beyond making for a bleaker story it also serves a purpose in restricting the already large cast of characters. Her continued existence in the web novel doesn’t serve any real purpose beyond giving her and her sisters a happy ending. As for the LN/Anime she and the other workers have served their purpose narratively so there’s no real need to keep them around.

        qwert
      3. @Mistic, when it was still a webnovel he could get away with a lot more as well. The sex slave thing for example would most likely never be allowed in light novels, let alone anime considering how graphic the translated pieces were that i could dig up.I don’t think it would work there when you have little girls like arche her sisters as sexslaves by old perverted nobles turn into sexslaves for shalltear after all.
        Heck the webnovel is even divided in 2 parts, the first part follows the light novels with some changes here and there where-as the second part deviates completely from the lightnovels and overall has a far darker and evil feel to it. Lightnovels and anime are happy happy fun times in comparison from what i saw translated in the webnovels…

        Damrod
  4. Personally, I think the worst fate that was for the party leader and his half-elf lover: turned into “nesting room” for Gashokukochuuou. While alive.

    The horror.

    And yes, this episode marks a milestone in Ainz’s character. Beforehand, he had done bad things to people who, let’s be honest, deserved it. Or it was his followers doing it, offscreen and most of the time without his direct input. Out of sight, out of mind. But here, he was doing it himself, subjecting people to fates worse than death just to icnrease his power. That he complained for a moment about the plan, at the beginning, actually makes it worse: he admits it was leaingd those Workers to their doom was part of the plan from the very beginning. Any claim about “dirty thieves soiling the tomb” is blatant hypocrisy.

    In previous episodes, you could always believe that Ainz was just playing a role to survive. There was that “normal” inner voice to remind him who he was originally. But here? Even with many chances to be a kinder version of an evil overlord, he willingly chose the more cruel path. I wonder what Touch Me would have said.

    Mistic
      1. Yeah, I know. These deaths were a waste, in more ways than one. I also find it ironic that Ainz has such a good opinion of Adventurers when compared to Workers, since you could make almost the same arguments for both.

        Mistic
      2. @Mistic

        well granted the Workers he’d encountered at E-rantel were the information broker and back alley thug types, I can understand why he’d have a low opinion of workers. As he didn’t stay long in the Empire capital at least long enough to get to know other workers other than the four teams that were selected (at that point he reaaally doesn’t care for workers)

        Show Spoiler ▼

        As we’re stepping in Vol. 9 territory now 😕

        Devastator001
    1. I’m mildly curious about how Touch Me would have developed in this world. It was implied somewhere in the first season that Ainz is changing partly because of he has turned into a true undead in this world, rather than playing the role of undead in Yggdrasil. Would Touch Me’s character also change since he is….whatever non-human he is?

      Beedle
      1. Sebas has sympathy for life because of Touch Me(his creator) who was an insect paladin (paladins are not evil). Touch Me was the leader of the guild and who recruited Momonga.

        Charkan
      2. I don’t think Sebas is a good example because, for all we know, Touch Me programmed him that way– to have disdain for humanity while simultaneously helping anyone for the sake of helping. Until there is concrete evidence of Nazarick’s (former) NPCs breaking their source code/flavour text (and honestly, the only one I can think of is Albedo falling out of love with Ainz because that was the only explicit code presented), it will be difficult to assume their actions are their own.

        My point is that, since coming to this world, it is implied that Ainz’s personality changed due to his race: he has become more detached to his “fellow humans” and he even has a skill that is actively suppressing his emotions. Thus, it could be assumed that maybe even Touch Me, had he been transported instead, could change as well.

        Beedle
      3. In the light novel all important characters have game status. Sebas is a few who possess neutral morality, while the rest is pure evil. Touch Me has neutral morality in his status, Momonga is pure evil.

        Charkan
      4. @Charken

        Believe me, Once you read the Paladin of the Holy Kingdom Arc you’d question alot of the alignment of Paladins. As as twisted as the entire arc was, it does a good job from framing Justice and Power and how they relate to one another.

        For Sebas and TOuch me it was more because TOuch Me was Roleplaying a Sentai character, just as Ainz designed his character around the persona of an evil overlord.

        This is the reason why Sebas and Demiurge don’t get along as the they also inherited the interpersonal relationships of Touchme and Ulbert (as they never really got along in the guild as well)

        Devastator001
  5. There WAS something interesting here in this plot that got tossed aside early on: the lead is so neck deep in his own delusions he’s completely forgotten who he is (a NEET from earth). Where are the betrayals from within Ainz’s ranks? Where are his former gamer buddies, ready to pull his autistic ass back to reality? Instead we get more self insert power, trips and yandere haremshit.

    Fede 5000
    1. Ainz isn’t a NEET though as one of the requirements to be part of Ainz Ooal Gown (he said so himseld way back in S1EP1) is that you have to be a working member of society to join and the main reason that he’s doing all of this is to see if he has his gamer buddies in the new world. (he’s aware that there might be hostile players as he doesn’t have enough intel that it was the Slaine Theocracy that brainwashed Shalltear)

      Dunno what kind of show your watching to get all those conclusions from.

      Devastator001
      1. Or it is true that they only told us this fact in one of their dense dialogues as if it were a “side note” they never showed us what their real life was like, it could be ignored and since at this point it does not influence nothing the fact he was a loser or someone with a high-ranking job, this does not matter to a NEET since you can also self-insert himself into the character of absolute power, is not even very different from SAO in that sense:
        -MC is levelcapped, while all other players are lvl1
        –Much female chars are in love with protag (without any reasons or explanations)

        Where are consequences or difficulties for the main character?

        Fede 5000
      2. “this does not matter to a NEET since you can also self-insert himself into the character of absolute power, is not even very different from SAO in that sense:”

        Do you even know what NEET stands for? (Not Employed, in Education, or in Training) being anti-social doesn’t automatically make a person a NEET.

        “Where are consequences or difficulties for the main character?” I dunno gradually losing your humanity to your skeleton avatar seems like a sucky development? Knowing their is an enemy with a World Class item able to take over your mind even though you ought to be immune to mind control effect is dangeorous? Not knowing who/where the said opponent is? that’s kinda a big difficulty.

        All of these have been addressed in the previous 2 seasons if you have actually been paying attention.

        Devastator001
      3. In this case, I must side with Fede 5000.

        True, NEET is not the correct label, but the consequences in the narrative are the same: the protagonist didn’t have a friendly social life or hobbies beyond the MMO. That he had a job is such a non-issue that it is barely mentioned in the anime.

        In the same vein, it cannot be denied that Momonga and the inhabitants of Nazarick are grossly overpowered, and such power hasn’t seen a real challenge since Shalltear was brainwashed. True, it happened, and true, it was discussed… but it hasn’t been a plot point in a long time. In fact, Shalltear’s fall is another proof of how overpowered Nazarick is: not only the brainwashing wasn’t perfect, but in the end they could resurrect a restored Shalltear just fine. No serious price was paid.

        I compare this to another Isekai that is running right now, Isekai Maou. We have another MMO player who had an overpowered evil overlord PC and is brought to a fantasy world that hasn’t heard of him. He also plays the evil overlord role to bluff and get by, but he’s limited by his crippling social anxieties, either playing them for comedy or for drama. Although the execution can be clumsy, the idea is very good, and the PC has foils that are ready to stand up to him if need be.

        Mistic
      4. @Mistic

        I’ll yield to your other points (Ainz lack of social life outside the game) as you make a good argument for them.

        The part though of Shalltear’s brainwashing not being a major issue though is where I have to contest, as the mere fact it happened is what influences all of Ainz actions to date. ie he avoids making big flashy moves (well till now) as he’s operating under the assumption that he’s being monitored by the unknown party. (This adds to the anticipation of what will happen once Ainz discovers it was the Slaine Theocracy that was behind the brain washing)

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Devastator001
  6. I keep laughing about how that emotion control keeps kicking in when he starts to feel outraged 😛
    Best part of that whole conversation was that if they had called him momonga instead of ainz, they would most likely have survived as papa bones would consider the possibility of one of his buddies being in contact with them. When they used the name of Ainz however, their fate was sealed with how they tried to lie to his face.

    Also, for those wondering about the reasons none of those attacks seemed to do anything i’ll include the abilities and passives in the spoiler thing as these things usually get ignored by the anime.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Damrod
  7. https://randomc.net/image/Overlord%20III/Overlord%20III%20-%2008%20-%2004.jpg
    The plan was multifold: Ainz now knows even a scouting party from any of the nations around him is pretty much doomed to failure. This was the reason he gave Nazarick security over to Albedo.

    This episode was pretty much bitter with no sweet. Everybody died at the end (the workers, that is), and Re-Estize Kingdom has a Big Problem landing in their palace’s courtyard.

    jhpace1
    1. Also this was a controlled test as well of Nazarick’s automated defenses as they have yet to suffer an invasion like they had before when they were in Yggdrassil so basically 3 birds with one stone. (Casus Belli vs the Empire, Gauge how far Invaders can get in the tomb and get an idea how the Tomb’s automated defenses work in the New World)

      Devastator001
  8. And this, boys and girls, is why you never accept shady jobs on face value. Hired to do something off the books? Do recon. Client is rich and doesn’t want you to do recon? Do lots of recon. I know it’s a moot point, but I can’t help but grind my teeth at how five seconds in Carne Village would’ve saved Foresight.

    I mean, yes, being a Worker instead of an Adventurer means that shady work is sorta your field, but it feels like so is bending the rules. And a completely new, massive tomb just appearing with nothing in any history books? Unless you’re just arrogant you’ve gotta check local legends to have some idea of what you’re walking into. Especially if the client isn’t giving you anything. That’s just good sense.

    But then we wouldn’t get the slaughter of adorable innocents and the gut-wrenching fear of what’s waiting in the future for her two poor sisters. *grumble grumble*

    Aex
  9. Well, Momonga hasn’t gone full Skeletor yet. Why?

    1. Indulging Herrakan with his bluff that one of Guild buddies or other players also showed up in this world. And the resultant temp tantrum.

    2. Ordering the Floor Guardians to close their ears while he complains about Demuirge’s plan.

    3. Almost blurting out that he is Momo when the half-elf girl tried another bluff that Momo will be coming down to get them.

    He is getting there though. His answer to Roberdyck’s question about mercy is pure evil Overlord.

    ordnance11
  10. Well, putting the EVIL into Evil Overlord trope…
    In Nazarick death is reward and freedom from pain.
    And now his envoy land effortlessly in the middle of the continents major power, and threaten to raze the place if they won’t “apologise”
    I am now wondering how will Einz handle his conquests… simply killing everybody and turning them into armies of undead?
    Or maybe creating ring of vassal states around Nazarick?
    Considering the Emperor is kinda smart guy, he can actually offer himself as vassal… which would be hard pill to swallow for his pride but which gives him – nad his nation – at least a chance to survive.
    Or, alternatively the Elder Mage of his might offer himself as Saruman of sorts?
    I wonder if in the entire world there is anyone who would pose even slight challenge to Ainz and his merry band of psychopaths.

    ewok40k
    1. Might be adder in next episode or in the remastered ones? Or they just do the same as with some of the overlord movies where they just recap the previous seasons while adding some details. For example, they added flashbacks regarding Peroroncino and other guild members in nazarick, they added some scenes with shalltear when she got mind controlled and they also added a tiny bit of ainz before he logged in as papa bones.
      So if they won’t add those things in the upcomng episodes they will most likely add it in the movies or ova’s as that little detail will become more important later on.

      Unknown
      1. They can prolly add that bit of foreshadowing at any later point in the series (basically when Ainz and Albedo are having a conversation) as even in the LN that part has yet to continue foward. 😕

        Devastator001
      2. Well, in the last part of volume 13 it is hinted that she is almost ready for that with her just lacking in available free time as she almost finished preparing for something in the outside world with a team…
        Now, while that team can mean anything, i’d like to hope it is that specific team she is gonna use for a lot of potential “Oh hell no” moments.

        Damrod
  11. So we’ve got around 5 eps to go… Seems about just enough to cover vol. 9’s events at decent pace :-?. around 1 ep for Jir, 1 to maybe 1.5 eps for Enri’s side of Vol. 9 and remainder for Katze plains 😕

    Devastator001
      1. Yeah just hope they don’t rush it like what they did with Men of the Kingdom arc of season 2 towards the end, they skipped alot of good parts there. (esp Sebas’ Fight with Six-arms was over way too fast even for mooks of their level)

        Devastator001
    1. Over the last two seasons they’ve shown that Ainz is a little off, and he’s always given the Guardians more room to work then any really moral person would’ve, but I never would’ve guessed he’d go this far down the rabbit hole. And now that he has, there really is no telling what else he’ll just shrug off as “necessary”.

      Aex
      1. To be fair on the Floor Guardians Ainz has given them room with a logical reason in mind (learn to act independently in a way favourable for Ainz Ooal Gown). The issue lies with Ainz’s morals as he could stop any egregious behaviour with a snap of a finger.

      2. The issue lies with Ainz’s morals as he could stop any egregious behaviour with a snap of a finger.

        This. I think this is the point of contention. One of the disadvantages of anime, which can’t show Ainz’s inner train of thought throughout the seasons as well as a novel.

        Before this episode, viewers could entertain a different notion of Ainz. Despite his people’s cruelty, he was arguably the Big Good of Nazarick; once he got his hands on the matter, there was more mercy and leniency. For example:

        -Tuare. Sebas was ordered to kill her, but was stopped in the last moment. You could believe that Ainz devised a secret test of character that, under the guise of proving Sebas’ loyalty to convince the other Guardians, could spare her life at the same time.

        -The lizards. He wanted them subjugated to test and increase Nazarick’s forces. At first it appeared very cruel, but it all seemed another test of character to make Cocytus realize on his own that killing and enslaving others is not good if a more peaceful and beneficial agreement can be made.

        -In the previous arc, Lupusregina is chastised for planning to let everyone in the village die. She has to be taught the value of Nfirea and Enri to change her mind. Again, you could believe that Ainz was trying the utilitarian angle to convince his people not to be such murderous psychos

        -In that same scene, Ainz gets in trouble when his giving a pation to Brita is put into question. He has to make up an excuse on the spot, despite it being evident that it was a mere act of generosity that had no ulterior motives.

        And yet, in this episode there can be no doubt: when having several chances to make things better for the Workers, Ainz was as cruel as Demiurge. Without the context of his slow descent into darkness (and even with the context, let’s be honest), it can be like an ocean of cold water pouring down on the viewers.

        Mistic
      3. Actually now that I’ve got time to think about every plan that involves Demiurge always comes out as a really twisted result. The Kingdom arc of Season 2 was mostly a plan by Demiurge (thousands of people taken for experiments), The tomb invasion also is though up by Demiurge (Ainz basically tacked on the defense test to max the usage of the workers), also the Paladin Arc later was a plan by Demiurge and that was twisted as hell (literally), But whenever Ainz deviates off on his own devices it ends up relatively normalish

        Ainz really should stop using plans concocted by Demiurge :p

        Devastator001
      4. @Devastator001
        Yeah, there’s a trend. I mean, I understand: Demiurge embodies the darkness of Ulbert, his Creator, which even in the anime was hinted to be Touch Me’s opposite, but he’s also one of the most intelligent, functional beings in Nazarick. He can make plans and carry them out. That’s a big plus. A pity his plans are always so cruel.

        Sometimes, I wonder what the series would have been like if instead of just Momonga, other players had been with him. Like the aforementioned Touch Me and Ulbert. Those three could have made for an intriguing (and creepy) Kirk-Spock-McCoy classical trio.

        Mistic
      5. Considering the
        Show Spoiler ▼

        I have a feeling that trio would bring even more chaos than just Momonga/Ainz on his own. It would be interesting to see how the NPCs created by others would align in that case, though.

        SK
      6. They would probably favor their own creators over Ainz as only Albedo hated the 41 supreme beings for leaving them with the exception of Ainz. The anime already showed that,so it is not a spoiler. The rest of the npc’s seemed to fawn over their own creators that left them so i’d guess that they would prefer following their own creator. Now, if tabula smaragdina decided to stay instead of ulbert or touch me, that could lead to some interesting stuff considering she has mentioned a few times how she is only loyal to Ainz. Now, if that is solely thanks to him changing her settings a bit or because he decided to stay with them until the end is up for debate but fact is that she has made it clear several times that she will only follow ainz and doesn’t really like the other supreme beings.

        Damrod
    1. also, i would suspecting that Demi (the one under Ainz-sama) could be the force behind this Tomb raid, to bait the “workers” and others that could become an threaten to Ainz-sama into the Tomb and get killed

      Well.. lets see

      Worldwidedepp
      1. Hmm didn’t Ainz already admit that this was indeed Demiurge’s plan? They wanted to test their defenses and at the same time find an excuse to blame the kingdom for intruding. I don’t think Demiurge saw any of these people as a threat though.

        DunDun
  12. I had hoped the anime would be different. But even the anime did not correct the author’s failure to present sympathetic characters who are killed as cruelly as possible. In other sites fans already show divided reactions, some even comparing Overlord with Sword Art Online (malefic version). The hyper for the anime has already had an impact with this episode, some fans will become haters and the situation will get even worse if the anime continues to follow the novel faithfully.

    Charkan
    1. The shock I guess was made more jarring when Madhouse decided to show Enri’s side of Vol. 8 and the treatment Nemu got for sincerly flattering Ainz vs what happened here when you piss him off.

      That’s what I find funny about the shocked reactions to Overlord (OMG Ainz is so Evil!)as what were they expecting? (I laugh at the SAO comparison) We’re literally following the actions of what would be the Big Bad in any other fantasy series, it just so happens that for the first two seasons Ainz fought against worst bastards than himself.

      I mean in the first 3 volumes he literally massacres Igvarge’s adventurer team because they insisted on coming along even after he warned them. (who incidentally was planning to backstab him after he was supposed to have beaten Shalltear)

      Mistic earlier made an apt comparison for Ainz and Co. The entire Tomb of Nazarick is the Mongol Horde, you either submit or you die in the most cruel ways possible.

      Devastator001
      1. I think the key in the previous instances was that Ainz was offing worse bastards. This was premeditated against at least one sympathetic character– Arche. Even after finding out the reason for why she needed money and acknowledging Foresight’s bond as friends, Ainz decides to kill her. Granted, he killed her in what he finds the most merciful manner, but killing her all the same.

        It takes a lot of balls for both the studio and the author to write this as such, and I can’t help but wonder if this was intentional to desensitize the audience for the future of Ainz’s exploits.

        Beedle
      2. I like the light novel but I always hated the protagonist. I still hope that the author has the decency to give a cruel ending to the protagonist. In order to have a moral for history, those who plan evil receive evil in the end (karma).

        Charkan
  13. Man, I was so hoping that Arche would survive at least. I feel so bad for her sisters still waiting for her…

    So the worker with the 3 elves was basically mistreating his slaves? Is it a given that they will survive, or will they be used for experiments like all the others?

    Hikarub
    1. Show Spoiler ▼

      We get an intermission on that in the later volumes.

      Devastator001
      1. Yeah, although now that Entoma has a voice, that’s one less reason for her to specifically seek out Evil Eye. And if there is one thing Ainz prefers, it’s to have a reason (as evident in this week’s episode). Also he didn’t acquiesce to Solutions demands exactly so I’d assume something similar would be granted to Evil Eye IF Ainz finds reason to keep her alive (and not “alive” as in what the Workers were settled with).

        Lorain
  14. It was at this point in the story that I decided the only fitting end for this series was Ainz by some chain of events being transformed back into his human form and enjoying the tender mercies of his minions. Then a month after his death the guild disbands for lack of active players so all assets, holdings, and npc’s just cease to exist.

    Magewolf
    1. Another small problem… Suzuki Satoru (the real world human player behind Ains/Momonga) was presumably left lying comatose wearing a deep dive device (shades of SAO). Therefore he has already either starved to death or been found and kept on life support.

      Kling Klang
    2. No He wasnt stuck in a game. He was in OTHER/PARALLEL WOLRD. Not that SAO-trapped-in-game crap. It is just that we were never given explanation why he was transported to isekai though. many other isekai novel,(like The New Gate) try to explain this phenomena (God’s mischief/mistake mainly) but in overlord the author never explain that.

      Nawdir
  15. This, I feel, was a turning point for both Ainz and the Overlord fanbase. As other comments have mentioned, Ainz’s past actions can still be excused. This one, however, is concrete proof that he has lost or his losing his humanity, and each future action can no longer be completely defended because this is the precedent. It does make sense and was hinted as far as episode 1 of the first season, but this really was the eye opener.

    It wasn’t even like with the Lizardmen where Ainz’s forces slaughters them because he still ends up reviving them, giving off the impression of a benevolent Overlord. The attack on the Kingdom was largely Demiurge’s plotting while Ainz was uninformed; in fact, Ainz was only informed about Demiurge’s plan during their climactic battle. Here, it was heavily implied that Ainz as Momon, following Demiurge’s plan, collaborated with Fluder to send the Workers in the tomb to instigate conflict with the Empire.

    I don’t hate Ainz or the way this story is playing out, and while I can’t speak a lot for everyone else, but Ainz as a character has lost a lot of sympathy from me as a viewer.

    Props to the studio, though, for giving the death of Foresight a lot of respect. Rescind said props for showing Arche’s sisters waiting for her return…

    I worry heavily now for Gazef as the opening implies he will be facing Ainz very soon. It’s very likely now that he will be killed off during that confrontation.

    Beedle
      1. I will resist the temptation to google that; I get the feeling we will reach that arc since Overlord seems popular as a series. Again, I do think this was the author telling us that Ainz really isn’t human anymore and should not be judged as such– no matter what his inner monologues state.

        He is now, truly, Ainz Ooal Gown, the Undead Overlord. A fraud of a hero but definitely the protagonist of this series.

        Beedle
    1. I’m a little confused, are you saying you’re dropping the series because Ainz is no longer in a morally gray area? I mean he’s a friggen skeli lich commanding inhuman beings, most of which are insanely sadistic with no regard for human life since episode 1.

      Flamestrike
      1. Yes, but HE wasn’t sadistic up until now, and it only gets worse from here. Being an elder lich he wasn’t even supposed to be ABLE to be sadistic. This whole arc was cruelty for cruelty sake and I don’t want to watch a protagonist like that. The main selling point for me was an evil lich being evil with other evil humans in a “You think you’re evil? I’ll show you evil.” Kind of way.

        DmonHiro
      2. @DmonHiro But isn’t what Ainz is doing exactly that? They thought they knew evil and one of them even was evil with how he treated those other elves and they got what was coming for them.
        Hell, considering the punishments most of them got by sheer bad luck ( neuromancer for example? Granted, if it was a hot chick it might actually be funny to watch as a viewer but considering she looked terrifying from the start… ) a quick and painless death is not so bad. If you had to pick any of those punishments, Arche her death might even be considered humane and kind in comparison.

        Damrod
      3. Arche’s death WAS a mercy, but that’s not the point. The point is that Ainz doesn’t really gain anything from torturing the workers. Hell, he doesn’t gain anything from just killing them either. Later he has to spend time looking for teams like Forsight to scour the world for him. Someone who knows needs information shoulnd’t just throw resources away unless clouded by emotions, which Ainz’s shoulnd’t really have. This whole arc was edgy shock value that didn’t serve any real purpose. Ains gained nothing. He tested his defenses against something that never had a chance at penetrating them in the first place. “I wonder if my level 100 dungeon can defeat level 10 adventurers”? NO SHIT IT CAN!

        DmonHiro
      4. @DmonHiro He also gained a new voice for entoma, some new breeding grounds for his servants, got a fun new experiment regarding that faith user and his memories, got some resources and money in general ( all of them did carry money with them after all ) and even got all of their equipment. If it turns out that the equipment is useless for him and the other denizens of nazarick, he can always sell them for money as well i think.
        Oh and he does gain something from torturing them. Information about their body and mind. Having the information pulled out of them might help them somewhere like learning about skills, areas and more since the maps they had were kinda bad in general. And their body just so that they can figure out the limits before one breaks.
        Sunlight scriptures disappeared after all when they got tortured for information ( think it was demiurge that said that ) and more information is always nice for papa bones.

        As for him being clouded my emotions, as he has shown before, he still has those and was rather furious at foresight for their lies at having permission from his comrades. Besides, give them a bit more credit as they are probably around the lvl 15 or 20 range instead of lvl 10 😛

        Damrod
    2. Wow. Not having a goody two shoes protagonist is what makes this series interesting. It’s refreshing having a protagonist that isn’t knocked down with remorse for multiple episodes for killing people.

      Avalon
  16. Stuck in a game shows how demented the main character is. He views people lives as trash that can be used to gain more power or benefits. Probably a real sick person that hides his true color in the real world and when given an opportunity to shows his true self, he didn’t even hesitate. Hope to receive a more hellish punishment after the montrosity he has done.

    Zombielover
    1. Well, you gotta remember that life outside of the game was really shitty as well. Unless you were of the rich elite, you only got the basic education in order to properly work for the rich elite. The parents of Ulbert ( a fellow guildmate of ainz ) were even killed in a horrendous accident and the kid only got the barest minimum paid as insurance money while still being forced to work slave labour. Think either the ova’s or the previous seasons already said that much.
      Show Spoiler ▼

      Just hid it in the tags as i can’t recall those scenes from the anime or ova’s even though it sheds an interesting light on the current situation ainz is in 😛

      Damrod
    2. No He wasnt stuck in a game. He was in OTHER WOLRD. Not that SAO-trapped-in-game crap. It is just that we were never given explanation why he was transported to isekai though. many other isekai novel,(like The New Gate) try to explain this phenomena (God’s mischief/mistake mainly) but in overlord the author never explain that.
      And yeah Ainz is evil. many fans even acknowledged that.
      But just because Hitler and Mussolini get their just deserved end, karma doesnt work 100% of the time
      And not especially if this is literal den of Demon Gods, that even if ENTIRE world united, cant defeat or destroy Nazarick only contain them to their Tomb(this is confirmed by author)

      Nawdir
  17. Since we know how Ains views humans, I’ll condemn him for animal cruelty.

    Even though Ains/Momonga is losing his humanity and doing inhuman things, I think he is acting in a very human way. Note that it’s human, not humane. A couple of examples: See monkeys tress-pass and steal things, what did the humans do? We hunt them down and kill them. The unlucky ones are kept alive for who knows what. Rumour is they’ll be sold for some archaic medicine. See a wasp go in the house? We burn their house, including the kids and pregnant mother.

    It was shocking to hear what happened to Arche, but I do think he did treat her with respect. A little more sympathy would’ve been nice though. Those poor twins…

    theirs
    1. I don’t rate humans by Ainz’s scale, though. I rate them by mine. Since I’m a human, I don’t like seeing him murdering humans that couldn’t possibly have harmed him in return. It’s like, I dunno, having some guy break into your house to steal your TV and you show up in working Space Marine armor, knock him out and keep him in your basement to sadistically torture him for the rest of his life.

      There are probably people like that, but I don’t really want to watch an anime about him.

      Guile
      1. I don’t quite get the reference to “murder” here. Neither Foresight nor any of the other worker groups laid down their weapons and begged for mercy, instead they kept attacking with intent to kill. The fact that they were too weak to injure Ainz or any of the higher level Nazarick guardians is irrelevant, if you attack a tank with a BB gun there’s no reason why the tank can’t shoot back.

        Kling Klang
      2. Well, foresight can be excused as they only saw two options to survive. Option 1 is trying to bullshit their way out of problems which failed and only made it worse and option 2 is beating the enemy after pissing of the opponent.
        Didn’t one of the teams ask for mercy though when they encountered the bugs? The rest just screwed up by either overestimating their strength or just pissing of the enemies 😛

        Damrod
  18. Overlord is good by history itself but sins in offering a stable protagonist. As I said earlier that now the new fans will assume a relationship of love and hate with this story. Protagonist does not possess an antagonist (nor he himself can consider himself own enemy because it does not present any remorse), worse fault that the author may have created.

    If you are reading this comment and have given up on this story I recommend other stories with more stable monsters protagonists: “Re: Monster” and “The death mage does not want a fourth time”.

    Charkan
    1. Dude, I’ve been looking for something to fill the void of Overlord and Dungeon Defense. Just read the prologue of “The death mage does not want a fourth time”, and I’m sold. Thnx for the recommendation!

      Reaper201
  19. I am not gonna lie, this episode surprised me. Ainz just went full on nuts in this one and I kept wondering if he has truly went full on evil or not. Case in point when he appeared to be upset about blondie bad talking his departed friend. Was that him really getting upset or was he pretending and if he was pretending how come the spell to calm him took effect which means he was really upset which means he has gone a bit bonkers. I am really looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds. The first half of the season showed a less sure Ainz than first season so to now show a merciless Ainz…hmm…will see.

    kurik
  20. I just hope we never see a point in this anime where Ainz becomes weak or is outmatched/overpowered by another being in the world (with the exception of a possible other player). The draw/fun of this show is how OP Ainz is and how he deals with that power.

    The moment we suddenly start seeing a legitimate challenge from others in the world is when it becomes just another isekai in a sea of isekai.

    Person
  21. Why are so many people upset or disturbed by the Evilness of Ainz? I’m assuming most people understand high fantasy mmos. In most of those games there are evil factions or gods, people often choose to play within these evil factions. Typically those factions have locations engrossed with torture, death, and cruelty. So why is anyone surprised at what is going on in this show. I mean its called overlord not shining savior, get over it, its “just” a show. Yes some things are meant to be uncomfortable to anyone with a sense of morality but its a story with the main character happens to be playing on the side of evil and world domination while finding out the rules to his new reality.

    Persgod
    1. Great, so that would mean i don’t have a sense of morality eh? During the times when we as the watcher are supposed to feel uncomfortable, i actually get the most laughs in.
      I mean, what is not to love there?

      Demiurge being his casual self while talking about his experiments with and without humans, ainz just going along with it for shits and giggles if it means good stuff for him and nazarick, albedo and shalltear doing their thing while also being obessively in love with ainz and so on. Even renner, a human who is supposed to be damn creepy when she lowers her mask is just enjoyable to watch with how she loves to to do things as her crazy self ^_^

      Unknown
      1. Same I’m just commenting on some of the responses i’ve seen here. I love the idea of seeing the other side of a story for once, and not the “he’s the hero of the otherside” but no he actually just toying with the world he’s completely detached but forced to be a part of. Anyways isn’t Ainz goal somewhat to get the attention of other possible players stuck in the new world.

        Persgod

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