Events unfold in the Dragon Palace but it’s all a delaying action for the next and final episode.
What They Say:
Kurohagi – Inside the Dragon Palace, Logan must face Shingen.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the last couple of episodes focused on Madripoor and the hoped for revolution there, it got down to putting Logan through the process of clearing out the Hell Road passage to the Dragon Palace. Others like Koh have taken advantage of him in this form and there’s been a lot of loss along the way, including some simple revelations as well. The show has come down to showing men that are intent on getting what they want, with Koh wanting to remove Kurohagi, Kurohagi wanting more power and Logan trying to get back Mariko. And they’re all doing it, to varying levels, without worrying about the consequences of it all. Logan’s the one that draws some additional people to his side though as Yukio is intent on following through on all of this and Kikiyo has someone he wants to take down as well.
Considering the history that goes on here, the main thrust of events early on involves general bloodshed as the trio make their way into the Palace, but also having Koh face down Shingen as the two have such a history to them. Yukio gets caught up in it as well, which is good to see since she has her own issues with him that have been made clearer over the course of the series. And using the marriage ceremony as the background to it as Kurohagi forces that through as a way of trying to cut off Logan’s plans is not unexpected, but it just doesn’t feel right after all that’s gone on. Considering it could have been done at any point, putting it right at the end of the series is lazy writing since it’s done just for dramatic effect rather than real storytelling.
The natural progression of events here does have Logan finally facing off against Shingen, which is something that’s been fated since the beginning of the series when they first went against each other. And unfortunately, it’s not something where I think Logan’s truly grown as a warrior here with what he’s gone through as it’s just been chaotic fighting, especially on Hell Road. Shingen’s a powerful opponent and even Logan’s fight against Kikiyo isn’t something that would prepare him for Shingen either. And unfortunately, it’s all a deferred fight here as well, more posturing than anything else. It’s disappointing to see it go in this way since you want some form of real resolution or confrontation to exist here.
In Summary:
While there have been decent parts of the series and characters I’ve enjoyed seeing run around in this world, the show has largely been disappointing in not really taking Logan to the level that could have and should have been done through the anime adaptation. It’s simply been too clean and too simple overall and hasn’t hit the kind of level it needed in order to showcase Logan either as a wild man or a refined warrior. The fact that the show avoided really putting Logan through a proper track of becoming Japanese, understanding the way of the warrior and finding that inner quality to take him to the next level, it’s all a huge missed opportunity and episodes like this only highlight it more since his face off with Shingen shows him to be exactly who he was when he started out.
Content Grade: C
