Summary
- Both Sung Jinwoo and the Ant King share thematic similarities, showcased through use of color and music.
- The Ant King’s actions parallel Jinwoo, both displaying raw strength and destructive power.
- The episode establishes a strong comparison between the characters through their demeanor and final showdown.
In Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 11, the Ant King unleashes his power on the unsuspecting S-Rank Hunters participating in the fourth Jeju Island Raid operation, slaughtering eight S-Rank Hunters in a single episode, and most of them, in a single swipe.
During the Ant King’s rampage, there were various moments that felt familiar, and one specific statement by Draw Sword Guild Master Ryuji Gotō that solidified the feeling that had been building up over the course of the episode: there are some parallels to be drawn between Sung Jinwoo and the Jeju Island Gate’s true Boss. How does Solo Leveling Season 2, episode 11, manage to pull off this interesting comparison?
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How the Solo Leveling Anime Sets Up The Comparison
The Two Thrones
One of the first things that Solo Leveling does to establish a thematic connection between Jinwoo and the Ant King, is the use of color, with the Ant King’s purple-red aura having similar hues to the purple that Sung Jinwoo now emits due to being the Shadow Monarch. Purple is a colour that communicates concepts like royalty, grandeur or magic, which fit both Jinwoo and the Ant King within their own contexts. The Jeju Island Ants are already primed to go for stronger individuals, but for the Ant King, this is about slaughtering the enemies that threaten the colony; at least until he hears the death throes of the Ant Queen and finds her severed head next to her carcass. The next connection to Sung Jinwoo lies in the demeanor of the Ant King, who was “calm” until he ate the head of the Queen, and likely came into contact with her memories of the encounter with the Hunters present.
After eating her head, the Ant King unleashes a terrifying shriek that can only be understood as rage as he turns to destroy the enemies who killed the Queen. The soundtrack, “Dark Aria”, best known for the texture and emotion with which it colored the scene when Sung Jinwoo had to kill a fellow human being for the first time after being betrayed by Hwang Dongsuk and his crew, was used in the scene where the Ant King fully decimated the Korean strike team to avenge his mother. The music was a big hint from the series that there are thematic parallels being established between the Ant King, which was followed in its exploits much like a main character, especially given the lack of Sung Jinwoo screentime in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 11.
Similarity of Killing Intent?
The Most Striking Connections
On top of the music scoring both characters’ most memorable victories that were clinched against a group of supposedly powerful enemies, there was an interesting similarity of movement to that of Sung Jinwoo seen when the Ant was annihilating the Korean strike team. Just like Jinwoo sent a High Orc flying into the cave ceiling during the confrontation against Kargalgan, the Ant King sent Cha Hae In spinning into oblivion. Where Sung Jinwoo smashed Hwang Dongsuk’s head into the ground, the Ant King made Dongwook eat dust. Where Sung Jinwoo has a move inspired by Arya Stark’s dagger drop-and-catch, fights a giant spider that looks like Venom, or warms up like Son Goku prior to a fight, the Ant King turns Dongwook into a ragdoll inspired by Hulk’s rampage on Loki in the first Avengers movie.
The music was a big hint from the series that there are thematic parallels being established between the Ant King, which was followed in its exploits much like a main character, especially given the lack of Sung Jinwoo screentime in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 11.
Where Sung Jinwoo caught an arrow without even looking during the Red Gate Incident, the Ant King did that in blatant disrespect of Lim Tae Gyu’s attempts to protect his allies, and perhaps, the way that both characters make off with some abstract, immutable aspect of their enemy, should they choose to, might be the most eerie similarity between the two. The comparison is not complete; however, until after the Ant King eats Byung-Gu and tells Baek Yoonho that the deaths of human “soldiers” will not make up for the death of the Ant Queen, before heading out to fight Gotō, who, in his final moments, is reminded of another time he felt this utterly powerless in the wake of incredible magic power: during his sparring match with none other than Sung Jinwoo. Gotō’s last thoughts become the glue that connects the various parallels that have been drawn throughout the episode. The true similarity between the Ant King and Sung Jinwoo is that they stand at the pinnacle of their respective species in terms of raw strength, far beyond those categorized as their peers.
Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
Solo Leveling
- Release Date
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January 7, 2024
- Directors
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Shunsuke Nakashige
-
Taito Ban
Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura
Kenta Morobishi (voice)
