Overlord IV Episode 8 Review – Best In Show

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Overlord IV Episode 8 – Quick Summary

In Overlord IV episode 8, “An Unexpected Move,” Philip Dayton L’Eyre Montserrat came up with a “genius” idea – he would attack the Sorcerer Kingdom’s humanitarian aid shipments to the Holy Kingdom. Why would he do such a “genius” thing? Why, to punish the Sorcerer Kingdom for using charity to drive down his prices, of course! How will Albedo react when she learns Philip destroyed the plan she had devised? In other words, how will she react to Philip embarrassing her in front of her Lord Ains? Put that way, the answer becomes more clear!

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

Favorite Quote from Overlord IV Episode 8

Well, they went looking for an idiot. They found one! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

My favorite quote this week is short. Very short. And it’s from two characters I couldn’t find in the character lists on MAL, Anime Planet, or AniList. But I found it as funny as it was short.

Barons Delvi and Rokerlen decided they could manipulate Philip into doing a little mischief on their behalf. So they got him all fired up by encouraging his conceits. No one would listen to him? It could not possibly be because he was a blithering idiot! It was because they were the blithering idiots! Of course Philip was not to blame!

They overplayed their hand, though. They made him angry that the Sorcerer Kingdom sent humanitarian aid in the form of food to the Royal Kingdom. That depressed prices in their kingdom, including Philip’s lands.

“I can bring down the hammer of justice on the Sorcerer Kingdom while reaping the benefits for my domain and my kingdom!” Philip said (06:56). “Three birds with one stone! No, it’s the perfect plan!”

My favorite quote was a single word, spoken by Delvi and Rokerlen at the same time (07:05): “Huh?”

They knew Philip was a complete idiot. They just didn’t know how complete.

Best in Show Moment for Overlord IV Episode 8

Demiurge had given Ains’ words some thought. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Patterns Dull with Use

I learned two quick things reading the Reddit thread that might be interesting to you: 

1. There’s an Overlord movie coming out that takes place between episode 7 and this one
2. The Crunchyroll translators kept mistranslating the recipient of the humanitarian aid as the Theocracy; it’s really the Holy Kingdom (i.e., Roble Holy Kingdom) – either that, or the movie fundamentally changed the political world!

This show has a certain rhythm. It has a specific schtick. By blundering through his day, Ains says something or does something that his people can turn around and claim are signs of his infallibility.

It works well, for the most part. The set pieces show variety, and that keeps the joke fresh. But at some point, even I have to step back and ask, “Say now, Albedo and Demiurge are bright. Wouldn’t they at least anticipate some of the twists of logic Ains threw at them?”

Albedo set up Demiurge as well as any character from Harukana Receive. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

It’s like the show read my mind.

We were going through the typical scenario where Ains asked Albedo to explain something, presumably for the benefit of the assembled floor supervisors, but really as much for his own education. Ains asked a basic (but solid) question, and Albedo tried to answer, but Demiurge cut her off.

“We can only think of countermeasures against an intellectual,” he said (15:42). “But the Lord Ains can even understand the minds of the asinine.”

Delivery: But Variety Can Sharpen Them Again

I figured, yeah, that’s pretty funny, but it’s getting a little stale. Isn’t it?

The conversation turned to how they were going to punish the empire for allowing one of its nobles to attack their shipment of humanitarian aid. Aura, Mare, and Shalltear were all for crushing the empire to make an example. I expected Albedo to support that idea, too. Instead, she just said, “However,” and looked at Demiurge.

“This is different,” I thought.

Demiurge proved he had been listening to and thinking about the random things Ains says. Demiurge said (17:06), “Lord Ains once said, ‘While it is easy to rule with violence, you make many enemies along the way. A desolate kingdom would sully the name of Ains Ooal Gown.’”

After Demiurge spoke of how he remembered Ains’ words, everyone else wanted to voice their support, too! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

That broke the pattern! Yeah, it’s a little thing, but I like details like this. Of course, the situation veered back towards the violent rather quickly. These characters are, after all, representatives of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They’re going to be violent to anyone who they see as enemies. But they’re developing, and they’re rising to the challenges before them – including deciphering Ains’ words! That slight improvement in this episode made it my favorite moment.

What did you think of how Ains treated Hilma Cygnaeus? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Overlord IV Episode 8: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Overlord Season 4 – Episode 8 discussion
• RABUJOI: Overlord IV – 08 – The Dumbest Noble
• Random Curiosity: Overlord IV – 08

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Overlord IV Episode 1: Ains Ooal Gown Nation of Leading Darkness
• Overlord IV Episode 2: Re-Estize Kingdom
• Overlord IV Episode 3: Baharuth Empire
• Overlord IV Episode 4: The Ruler of Conspiracy
• Overlord IV Episode 5: In Pursuit of the Land of Dwarves
• Overlord IV Episode 6: The Impending Crisis
• Overlord IV Episode 7: In Pursuit of the Land of Dwarves
• Overlord IV Episode 8: An Unexpected Move
• Overlord IV Episode 9: Countdown to Extinction
• Overlord IV Episode 10: The Last King
• Overlord IV Episode 11: Well-Prepared Traps
• Overlord IV Episode 12: Invasion of the Royal Capital
• Overlord IV Episode 13: The Witch of the Falling Kingdom