Mindblowing Visuals Once More As Sung Jinwoo Takes On Baran In Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 8

The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow-, Episode 8, “Looking Up Was Tiring Me Out”, available on Crunchyroll.

The eighth episode of Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- was a highly cinematic affair as Sung Jinwoo finally carved his way to the 100th Floor of the Demon Castle, even turning one of his demonic enemies into an ally who was swayed enough by him to even lift her blade against the Boss of the 100th Floor, the ruler of the Demon Castle Dungeon, Baran, the Monarch of White Flames.

The battle was by far the most challenging Jinwoo has faced with his newfound strength, and the sheer intensity and quality of the visuals definitely matched the occasion, making for one of the series’ most entertaining battles thus far, not to mention one of its most visually striking episodes to date.

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Solo Leveling Season 2: Who Is Baran? Monarch Of White Flames Explained

Find out more about Baran, the Monarch Of White Flames, who fought Jinwoo on the 100th floor of Demon Castle.

Another System Glitch

Sung Jinwoo Meets a Resident of the Demon Realm

Episode 8 of Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- starts off by following Sung Jinwoo in his battle against the demons that appeared at the end of the previous episode. He makes light work of three of four, but just as he was about to administer the finishing blow, the Demon Knight begs for its life, removing its mask, revealing a young demon woman. She desperately tries to defuse the situation by apologizing profusely. Jinwoo questions her apology, given that she only issued it after her allies were killed, but she claims that they’d be pleased by her survival as “it is a knight’s duty to protect their lord”. Jinwoo holsters his weapon and turns to leave, giving the demon the opening she needed to put in an underhanded and cowardly attempt on Jinwoo’s life, which is easily deflected by Tusk’s Song of Protection.

In exchange for letting her live, Jinwoo will take her with him as his guide through the higher Floors of the Demon Castle, since she knows her way around and the location of the entry permit for the next Floor. She introduces herself as Esil Radiru, the eldest daughter of the Head of the Radiru Family, but what Jinwoo is really trying to gain is more information on the System, like with his encounter with Barca. He asks if demons hear a voice telling them to exterminate humans, but she claims to hear a different order, one telling them to protect the place they currently inhabit. She claims to have come from the Demon Realm, but when Jinwoo tries to ask further questions about what was happening in the Demon Realm, another System glitch happens, and Esil’s voice takes on a distorted, robotic quality as she begins to describe a war that was taking place prior to their spontaneous transportation to the human world. Just as she was going to describe the enemy that was being faced at that time, she repeated the error message “the permitted amount of information has been exceeded, so this conversation is terminated”. There’s a lot that the System doesn’t want Jinwoo to know.

The Fourth Jeju Island Raid Is On

The Emergence of Killer Flying Ants in Japan Causes Concern

In Jinwoo’s absence, the world is on the brink of collapse, and doesn’t even know it yet. Giant flying ants, variants of the horrors that overran Jeju Island three years prior to the events of Solo Leveling, have made their way to neighbouring islands, with the Japanese island closest to Jeju Island falling victim to a single ant. The insect caused 294 civilian casualties and called for 108 Hunters to deal with it, leading to the deaths of four E-Ranks, a C-Rank and a B-Rank. Based on Hunter Association Chairman Go Gunhee’s appraisal, the winged giant ants should be considered to be on-par with A-Rank Hunters. The attack in question took place 120km away from Jeju Island, meaning it’s only a matter of time until the giant ants gain mastery over flight and make their way to the mainland. He decides to get in touch with the Japanese Hunter Association, and with neighbouring countries about the looming threat to declare the Fourth Jeju Island Raid.

The Radiru Family Castle

Esil Brings Home Calamity

The permit needed to gain entry to the next Floor is in Esil’s father’s possession. On their way there, Esil regains consciousness and guides them for the rest of the way. When they arrive at the Radiru Family Castle, Esil’s father, who looks like Vlad Tepes, can barely hide his terror, incredulously asking his daughter if she’s seriously unable to see the army lurking within his shadow. Jinwoo tells the shaking baron that he won’t hurt anyone unless he gets the entry permit he wants, as well as Esil’s continued assistance as his guide. He works his way to the 89th Floor, leveling up enough to see Igris and Tank become comparable to an S-Rank and an A-Rank respectively. Esil tries to prepare gifts from home to make their trip through Floors 90 and above easier, given it’s the region of the elite nobles who are far stronger than anything Jinwoo has faced in the Demon Castle thus far.

Jinwoo manages to remind Esil that she wouldn’t have struck a deal with him if she thought he’d be weaker than demons. He tries to send her home, but over their short journey, Esil seems to have developed a fealty towards Jinwoo akin to that of Yoo Jinho, so she wants to stick beside him to the very end. It was as she described, with the demons on the 90+ Floors being far stronger than those on previous levels. The episode’s greatest gift to fans is the battle between Jinwoo and the Final Boss of the Demon Castle, Baran, the Demon Monarch, also known as the Monarch of White Flames. The production of the entire episode was great, as usual, but something special happened for the episode’s climactic bout against the strongest enemy Jinwoo has ever faced since the Cartenon Temple Double Dungeon Incident.

“I’m Not Done Yet This Time Either!”

With hordes of demons emerging from gates all around the battlefield, Jinwoo unleashes Monarch’s Domain and summons his Shadow Army, while the main Boss, Baran, stands atop a silver dragon in what was the most ominous entrance of an enemy in Solo Leveling since the anime began. To say Jinwoo vs Baran was a brilliantly animated fight would simply be an understatement. It should rather be described as a testament to the very journey of the series protagonist, one of several raises of the bar, and will most likely go down as one of the best animated and choreographed battles of the Winter 2025 season, if not the year. Jinwoo was badly outmatched in the fight, with his Shadow Army being wiped out by Baran’s hordes and his AOE attacks. The clash between these forces far outshines what we saw in Kargalgan’s cave, and there’s an unmistakable cinematic quality to be enjoyed throughout the entire battle.

The stakes are higher than ever because this time, not only is the enemy more powerful than Jinwoo, but he is forced to go toe-to-toe with such an enemy in pure, unfiltered, blade-to-blade combat that culminates in a raw moment where a disarmed Jinwoo is holding Baran’s arms apart to avoid being slashed by his twin blades, while the demon charges up a gigantic mouth beam inches away from his face. Esil bravely throws her blade at Baran, distracting him just enough for Jinwoo to use a combination of Ruler’s Hand and brute strength to rip the demon’s arms clean off before delivering a blast of an uppercut, a moment that took on the same sketch-like artistic quality and intensity seen during Jinwoo’s final blows in his battle against Igris during the first season. The uppercut causes the charging blast to go off in Baran’s mouth, decapitating him. The event blows a hole in the thick clouds above, revealing a gorgeous sunset radiating with hope as Jinwoo tells Esil that the Radiru Family have come out on top. At this point, the series is so good, it pays homage to itself. It’s hard to imagine how Solo Leveling will continue its upward trajectory, but that’s the last of fan concerns as each week delivers an impeccable exploration of the story.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)