The Misfit of Demon King Academy II

Episode 8

This episode does some crazy heavy lifting. To start with, we have Anos hard at work breaking down the overall problem with Misa. As a spirit born from the legend, Avos Dilhevia, should people come to no longer believe in her legend, she will die. So, while Anos could likely overpower her and prove her falsehood, it'd be pointless if doing so would kill her in the process. It seems that, until now, he had planned to change her legend and link it with his own. After all, if she is the spirit of Anos Voldigoad instead of Avos Dilhevia there would be no issue. Unfortunately, fundamentally changing a spirit after its creation is impossible and will lead to its destruction.

Luckily, Reno clues Anos into a bit of a loophole. While the legend's core cannot be changed, the legend itself can be expanded to include things not in the original—and if enough people believe in it, then it will be as much a part of the legend as anything else.

But while this is a meaningful hint, it is not a solution. Not only would Anos need to create a new part of the Avos Dilhevia legend, but also get as many as possible to believe it. He can't just start spreading rumors in the present, nor can he change the past. While Anos and friends are currently time traveling, they are in a stable time loop. They literally cannot do anything that would change what they have experienced in the present—and if they try, time will fix itself back to normal once they return to the present.

Of course, there is one way to change that: Anos' rule-breaking sword Venuzdonoa. Using it, he can keep a person who should have died alive and charge him with spreading the additional Avos Dilhevia legend. Better still, since he is not a demon but rather a human, the new Avos Dilhevia legend will be spread in the human world—leaving the demon lands exactly as they should be. It's a creative solution to their problem (even if the specifics remain a mystery for now).

This brings us to the elephant in the room. Venuzdonoa shouldn't be present at Anos' location, nor should he be able to use it while time traveling. But there it is, at just the right place and able to do what he needs to. All this is chalked up to Militia, the goddess of creation. While most gods don't care about the mortal races, Militia cares deeply for everything she creates. This is why she worked with Anos to stop the war alongside Reno and Kanon.

Moreover, as the Goddess of Creation, Militia has precognition abilities—she knew what Anos would need and when and set it all up for him despite all the time travel shenanigans. Yet, even though she may have been his only true friend, she is not there to meet him in person. All that remains is a message.

What's interesting is that Anos doesn't see the message for what it is: both a confession of love and a letter from beyond the grave. Militia is not there because she is almost certainly already dead. Be it by her hands or another, she has passed on since his sacrifice and is determined to be by his side in his next life—to reincarnate herself along with him much like Shin had planned to do.

And with this, the big revelation of the episode becomes clear. We already know a white-haired young woman who is so skilled in creation magic that she can recreate the corpse of a god and who is also deeply in love with Anos—the girl who became his first friend upon his rebirth and has stayed by his side no matter what. Misha is Militia reborn. When she is asking Anos about the goddess, she is asking about herself. And while some things have changed, her love, loyalty, and kindness have not.

But if all that wasn't enough, the episode uses the Militia conversation to develop Anos further as a character. We know Anos as unbeatably strong and completely unflappable. However, that doesn't mean he hasn't suffered loss and pain. Anos' true weakness is the same as Superman's: there's only one of him, and he can only be in one place at a time. Because of this, those under his rule will die, and there's nothing he can do about it. It's a sad fact. There was no way for even him to have saved everyone during the war. And worse yet, the more fervently they believed in him, the more eager they were to throw their lives away for his goals.

This is why the era of peace is so important to him. It wasn't just some whim to be reborn 2000 years later. He did this to protect the peaceful world—to give meaning to the sacrifices of all those who died along the way. If he wasn't needed, he would stand to the side and watch. However, if he was, he would become the Demon King of Tyranny once more. It is this mixture of responsibility and survivor's guilt pushing him on. And while he couldn't save every soul under his rule, this time around he is bound and determined to save all those close to him—even if those very same people are trying to kill him.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Lay trying to teach Shin a bit about love mid-sword fight is a cute moment.

• It was actually rather heartbreaking to see the demons who wanted to give up on their hatred but just couldn't. They are the reason the wall was needed—so that new generations of demons would be born without that hate.

• You know, Misha being Militia reborn would make her a “godchild” as well, wouldn't it?

• If Misha is the Goddess of Creation reborn, does that mean that Sasha is the Goddess of Destruction reborn? After all, we know she died at Anos' hands so she should be able to be reincarnated too.

The Misfit of Demon King Academy II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.