Clayman fucked around and found out.
What They Say:
Episode 22: “Demon Lords’ Banquet ~Walpurgis~”
Clayman tries to convince the other Demon Lords that Rimuru should be purged, but Guy tells him that if he is truly a Demon Lord, he should defeat Rimuru himself. What should be a one-on-one battle between Rimuru and Clayman is joined by Milim, who has been brainwashed by Clayman, so Rimuru takes on Milim while Shion faces Clayman. But Rimuru is at a disadvantage against Milim and finds himself pushed back… until Veldora bursts onto the scene and takes Milim’s attack in Rimuru’s place.
Episode 23: “Returning from the Brink”
Clayman and his pawns stand no chance against Rimuru and his allies. At a loss, Clayman orders Milim to use Stampede to kill everyone present, but Milim reveals he was never controlling her from the start. It was all an act to expose Clayman’s plans and identify the mastermind behind it all. Even Carrion is still alive and well. On the brink of death, Clayman uses the souls of everyone he has killed as energy for his awakening. Thus the final battle to settle the score between Rimuru and Clayman begins.
Episode 24: “Octagram”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The whole season comes down to this, a culmination of a long-standing feud between Rimuru, the slime who became a king, and Clayman, a middling demon lord. Rimuru entered the Walpurgis meeting on the defense as Clayman boasts of a conspiracy that doesn’t hold water. In a world with such a myriad of different magical powers, any evidence could potentially be faked. With Guy Crimson presiding over matters he pushes all of the accusations aside. Clayman can make his claims and Rimuru and his friends can dispute them, but in the end, all that matters is power.
Thus we get a fantastic, fast-paced battle in the demon meeting room. Guy tosses up a barrier and Clayman engages the battle with himself, Milim, and a few more underlings. Rimuru has Shion, Ranga, and Ranga’s packmates. Not exactly a fair match-up considering that Milim is a nightmare of power. Rimuru sends Shion after Clayman so he can hold off Milim while Ranga pairs off against a kitsune. The animators finally get to flex and it’s not a disappointing spectacle by any means. I just wish there were better ways to screenshot dynamic action, words can’t really do fight scenes justice.
Outside of the fight, Rimiris goes to bat for Rimuru hard. Beretta wants dearly to go support the slime. Guy questions where the demon supporting Rimiris’s loyalty lies but it’s all good. The revelation that another demon of Guy’s ilk is serving Rimuru piques his interest. he makes an allowance for Beretta to join the fight. That frees up Rimuru to help turn the tide of battle. She is able to attack Clayman’s marionette so Shion can focus on one target. Ranga realizes that the kitsune is a victim just like Mjurran, and so she is freed from his control.
That left Milim, who attacks Rimuru with delight. As Rimuru loses steam Veldora takes a fatal blow meant for the slime. Except that blow felt like a mere wallop for the dragon. With the arrival of the Storm Dragon, Rimuru can let him “go play” with the half-dragon.
Now, Milim and Veldora have wanted nothing other than to flex for almost the entire series. There is nothing more delightful than a nigh-invulnerable dragon otaku spamming hadouken, followed up by a kamehameha. Yes, they go there. It’s fantastic. As Shion dismembers a powered-up Clayman the fight is pretty much over. He frantically orders Milim to rampage…
And Milim drops the act.
Subverting expectations, we knew that Milim shouldn’t have been able to be controlled by Clayman. Frey wasn’t likely about to sell her out either. But this is Milim we are talking about. The fact that this was all an act is astounding. She is not the sort to have any self-control. Frey, and Carrion, were both in on the trick. (And yes, Rimuru’s guess that the winged lion was actually Carrion was both correct and so obvious that he was certain it couldn’t have been true.)
Clayman goes for one last shot at evolution and Rimuru counters his attack. Winning the contest completely the others can invite him back to the table. With that, Rimuru is a recognized demon lord.
Clayman doesn’t depart the scene without some development of his own. We learn that he was once in the employ of another departed demon lord. The Jesters are also followers of that same lord, and they seek to resurrect that lord. Clayman is killed with regrets that he didn’t listen to his friends. More astounding than anything is that he actually did care for those friends, and they cared for him. We also see that he was working with a certain otherworlder, but we already knew that.
After that amazing battle, all that is left is some political clean-up. Frey and Carrion step down to pledge loyalty to Milim. The demon lord Luminus is revealed to be the maid (by Veldora, good job bro), also no shock there. Guy makes a pass at Rimuru and orders him to come up with a new name for the group. Rimuru comes up with the Octagram, an eight-sided star. This pleases the group and everyone returns home triumphant.
In Conclusion:
They say that knowing is half the battle, and all of that planning did take up half the second season of this anime. Yet the animation never really faltered and, at least to me and a good number of viewers, the story stayed engaging. That certainly is a victory in every sense. Rimuru learns that he can’t stay the reluctant, humble leader he has been. Not when the lives of his citizens and friends are on the line. He proves himself strong enough to sit at the adult’s table, and expands his fan club in the process. All’s well that ends well.
While the light novels are far past the events of this season, the anime adaptation seems to be drawing heavily from the manga adaptation’s already condensed and visualized version of events. Thus, we are caught up. An announcement of a movie to air in Fall 2022 was made, and thus we will be without a slimy savior until then.
Episode Grades: A
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
