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Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10 Review

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Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10 Review – Quick Summary

In Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10, “Labyrinth in Akiba,” something separated the top-tier Adventurers like Shiroe and Naotsugu from the younger Adventurers like Minori and Isuzu. There was one exception. At the time of the event, Akatsuki had been using the Teaching System, so she remained with Minori. At first, Adventurers like Isaac felt zero concern. They were at the top of their ranks, so they thought they just needed to kill the monsters and get everyone back together. However, their enemy showed an unexpected ability. Adventurers suddenly found their were back to rank 35 — and all that entailed. Many couldn’t even use their advanced weapons, since those weapons had a minimum level requirement. Can Shiroe figure out what happened, and how to stop it, before the experienced Adventurers are killed? Is this the work of the Genius Ereinus, as seems likely? And just what is Ereinus’ goal?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10

William felt disgusted that such low-level monsters presented a challenge. Nyanta put him at ease. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Since the first time we met him in season 1, Nyanta has acted like a perfect gentleman. Whether he’s comforting a recently freed Serara (back in season 1), cooking a delicious feast for Log Horizon, or engaged in active combat, he acts polite and considerate.

Even with his level reduced to 35 amid a type of attack none of them had seen before, Nyanta maintained his cool and his civility. He, Shiroe, and others were running away from some rodent-creatures when they encountered William Massachusetts, Rieze, and others. The latter group had been engaged in a running battle with a huge minotaur and assorted monsters, and their hit points were getting low. As soon as William saw the other party, he yelled “Scissors!”

Both teams had so much experience that they knew exactly what to do. Scissors switched the enemies between the parties, so Nyanta, with full hit points, attacked the minotaur. William finished the rodents following Shiroe and Nyanta with his arrows/distance attacks. After the battle, he said he felt disgusted that it was so hard to take care of such low-ranked creatures.

Nyanta said (18:07), “You reduced its Hit Points quite a bit, so it helped a lot.”

I thought was a gracious and honest thing to say.

Best in Show Moment for Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10

Shiroe felt shocked that the Mofur sisters remembered him and Tetora. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Setup: NPCs Have Feelings, Too

I was all set to declare the “Scissors” fight as my favorite moment when something unexpected happened. An even more interesting moment happened. And it had to do with two adorable but annoying Non-Player Characters (NPCs).

Have you ever played a game with NPCs? I’m guessing you have. I remember games like Fallout New Vegas. As with Fallout 3 before it, it had NPCs called Companions that could help you. Many of them had extensive dialogue. I have a tendency to anthropomorphize anything that even acts like it has emotions, so I got to really like some of those NPCs. Of all the Companions, Veronica Santangelo, stood out. Voiced by the talented and extremely cool Felicia Day, the character had a heart-breaking back story and was an absolute joy to be around.

To put that into context: I hated almost every Companion except her. I’l a solo player; the Companions just got in my way. But I made an exception in the case of Veronica.

What must the world look like from the perspective of NPCs? Capture from the Funimation stream.

After parting ways with Veronica after the Downloadable Content (DLC) package Dead Money, I wondered what happened to her. I’m only a little embarrassed to say that when I saw she was missing, I went back into the Sierra Madre casino looking for her. I never found her again.

That all came rushing back to me in this episode.

Delivery: The Mofur Sisters in a Different Light

After the fight referenced in my favorite quote, Shiroe asked Tetora to cast a pacification spell on Lelia Mofur and her sister Litka Mofur. He intended for them to take Rieze’s notebook about the new raid monsters to Minori. Shiroe knew that being stuck at level 35 with his friends meant they weren’t going to survive the fight. So, he trusted the sisters to get the notebook to Minori.

Suddenly, Litka burst into tears and starting apologizing to “Teto-Teto,” her affectionate name for Tetora. Specifically, she starting apologizing for losing all of those scales — the scales that were the subject of my favorite quote back in episode 8.

The apology shocked Tetora. Litka went on to say she felt sorry for losing so many of everyone’s scales. While Tetora and Shiroe tried to absorb what this could mean, Litka’s sister Lelia said (19:25), “It was fun when you all came to the Underground Empire and played with us.” She went on to provide details that proved she remembered them.

Tetora’s felt shock no less than Shiroe’s! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Shiroe, in his amazement, remembered back to when he was playing the game for the first time. He remembered those two buggy characters that had practically made the quest impossible. It had never occurred to him that they would remember him, Tetora, and the others. In that moment, you could just see that he and Tetora felt a strong affection for the two buggy little characters. Shiroe summed it up by saying (20:05), “They’ve been waiting all this time for us to come play with them. We were the ones who had forgotten about them.”

Something about that moment felt so poignant that I had to pause the video. I thought about Veronica and wondered what had happened to her in her fictional world. I love it when fiction is so well-presented that it makes the characters feel almost real.

What did you think of the use of game mechanics in this episode? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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2 thoughts on “Log Horizon: Destruction of the Round Table Episode 10 Review

  1. I can’t bring to mind the details of that reveal, either. I wish I had enough time to go back and re-watch the first two series. I have a feeling there’re a ton of details I missed. This is one of those series that the closer I look at its lore and world, the better it holds together!

  2. That the sisters remembered them is rather interesting from a world-building point-of-view, too, since there are implications about the relationship between the game and the world they’re in now. I’ve sort of assumed that it’s some copy world (I don’t remember why though; I think it was some reveal of season 2?), but that’s quite the detailed copy, if the presumed copiers even create memories… Are there memories in this world of players who did NOT get transported here? That’s one thing I’d like to find out. It’s a really interesting development.

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