The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 13, “On to the Next Target”.
Solo Leveling ended its second season on a high note with Sung Jinwoo’s victory over the Ants on Jeju Island. However, in the aftermath of the conflict, a lot of surprising events transpired that could change everything fans think they know about the series. From a new group of villains that have a mysterious connection to Sung Jinwoo’s father, to Jinwoo’s goal to create a Guild, there were a lot of moving parts in Solo Leveling Season 2’s final episode.
By the end of Season 2, Sung Jinwoo has officially reached the pinnacle of strength in his world. And yet, the source of that power, the System, is still an utter mystery to him as of Season 2’s finale. Given that a pair of apparent “Magic Beasts” appear in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 13’s second half who are actively searching for Jinwoo, there’s a real possibility that the veil will finally be lifted in Solo Leveling’s inevitable Season 3.
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Sung Jinwoo Arises Two of His Most Memorable Shadow Soldiers in the Season 2 Finale
Min Byunggyu’s Resurrection Secretly Hints at Jinwoo’s True Power
After realizing there’s no other way to save Cha Haein, Sung Jinwoo comes up with a dark plan: extract the shadow of S Rank Healer Min Byunggyu to have him heal Haein. At least, that’s how it goes in the manhwa. In the Solo Leveling anime, Sung Jinwoo reveals that he actually heard Byunggyu’s voice pleading with him to use his power to heal Haein, which is what compelled him to use Shadow Extraction on the fallen Hunter. These has some interesting implications for the series at large.
For one, it takes some of the ethical weight for taking control over Byunggyu’s soul off of Jinwoo’s hands. In the manhwa, Jinwoo personally choosing to resurrect Byunggyu is just another question moral action he commits in the story. In the anime, though, Byunggyu being the one to suggest it helps the anime’s end goal of making Jinwoo seem more redeemable in the long run. Another interesting consequence of Byunggyu’s communicating to Jinwoo in this way is that it suggests that Jinwoo’s connection to death is far deeper than just an ability to turn people and Magic Beasts into Shadow Soldiers.
The fact he can hear people speaking to him from beyond the grave is a greater hint at the extent of the powers given to him by the System. While this was not an ability Jinwoo displayed at this stage of the series in the manhwa, it’s also not exactly unrealistic for him to do it given the true nature of his powers as they get revealed down the line. As interesting as the implications are behind Min Byunggyu’s Shadow Extraction, he’s not even the most exciting Shadow Soldier to rise from the grave in Solo Leveling Episode 25. That honor goes to Beru, the shadow of the Ant King.
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Beru’s awakening as a Shadow Soldier in the anime is even cooler than it was in the manhwa, as he undergoes a literal rebirth from an insect-like cacao before spreading his wings in dramatic fashion. Beru has always been over-the-top and theatrical, though, so this is all actually very on-brand for his character. Beru’s true powers get revealed immediately upon his reawakening, as Jinwoo orders him to almost singlehandedly take down the remaining 4,000 ants on Jeju Island. That’s to be expected of Jinwoo’s first ever General Rank Sharow Soldier, though. As Jinwoo soon comes to learn, Beru is also the only Shadow Soldier he has arisen so far who can communicate to him by speaking. This isn’t just as simple as the fact that he was already able to speak before death, though.
As Jinwoo has seen with other Shadow Soldiers who could speak before death, like Iron, Tusk, and even Byunggyu, none of his soldiers can actually talk to him as they could before they died. Beru is the exception to the rule because of his General Ranking. All Shadow Soldiers General Rank or higher can speak to Jinwoo, and that includes those that get to that rank gradually by leveling up over time. Now that his army is the strongest it’s ever been and he’s has officially leveled up to level 100, Jinwoo is truly a force to be reckoned with. It would seem that there are truly no greater obstacles to be conquered at this point for the Shadow Monarch, but that’s not quite the case.
Jinwoo Finally Gets The Ball Rolling on His New Guild
Go Gunhee Approves Jinwoo’s Request to Create His Own Hunter Guild
After officially becoming an S Rank back in Solo Leveling Episode 19, “I Need to Stop Faking”, Sung Jinwoo began brainstorming on his next course of action. Ultimately, he decided he wanted to create his own Guild in order to keep Hunting and leveling up on his own. After singlehandedly clearing the Jeju Island Raid, which was an S Rank raid, Jinwoo has power equivalent to that of a National Level Hunter. Jinwoo is easily the strongest in South Korea, and technically wouldn’t have to answer to anyone there. However, Jinwoo still has an admiration and respect for Go Gunhee’s wisdom, which is likely why he still defers to Gunhee and the Hunter’s Association, even though he really wouldn’t have to.
Following Min Byunggyu’s funeral, Gunhee meets with Jinwoo to discuss Jinwoo’s plans given his new international fame. To that end, Jinwoo makes a request: he wants to start his own Guild. Ordinarily, a strike team would need at least 10 members to raid a gate. However, Jinwoo wants to create a Guild with permission from Gunhee so that he can undergo dungeon raids entirely on his own to continue leveling up. As expected, Gunhee approves Jinwoo’s proposition.
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On Jinwoo’s drive home from Byunggyu’s funeral, he ends up getting a call from the only other confirmed member of his Guild so far: Yoo Jinho. Now that they have permission to start a Guild officially, Jinwoo and Jinho only need one more guild-mate to meet the minimum requirement to become an official guild. However, there is apparently at least one more person who wants to join their guild so far. After overhearing their conversation from the background, Han Songyi takes the phone from Jinho and tells Jinwoo that he should hire her to join his Guild.
Upon hearing Jinho and Songyi get in an argument, Jinwoo hangs up on them, but this may not be such a bad proposition. Songyi is still an awakened being after all, and having her become a secretary for his guild would be a good way for Jinwoo to ensure Jinah’s best friend stayed far away from any gates. In the manhwa, Jinho’s cousin, Soohyun, is another prominent prospective member for Jinwoo’s guild. However, considering her introduction in the series seems to have been skipped at this point, it’s very possible the anime may be setting up Songyi to be Jinwoo’s third guild member.
Who Were The Two Villains Introduced in Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 13?
Solo Leveling’s Finale Introduced The Main Villains of the Series
While Jinwoo contemplates his next move in a time of general peace for him and South Korea as a whole, there are dark forces at work who are also beginning to conjure plots of their own. As a secondary raid party returns to Jeju Island to clear out any remaining ant stragglers Jinwoo’s soldiers might have missed, the strike team is met by a surprising new threat. From the darkness descends two intimidating humanoid Magic Beasts of high intelligence. One dressed as a barbarian with long hair and sharp fangs, and another who looks strikingly similar to the Ice Elves who Jinwoo fought in the Red Gate at the start of Season 2.
While the identities these figures are not yet revealed, they’re clearly of far higher power than anything Jinwoo has faced yet. Not only can the Ice Elf out to sleep an entire strike team of Hunters with a snap of his finger, but both he and his companion are able to conjure gates at will to travel between them like portals. Most striking of all about these two new characters is that they both have a keen awareness of Sung Jinwoo and his powers. The two had apparently arrived on Jeju precisely to see if it was his power at work, and they both seem utterly shocked that he would “help the humans”.
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Throughout Season 2, Jinwoo found himself questioning the source of his powers, as he can communicate with Magic Beasts and Magic Beasts don’t hear a voice in their head ordering them to kill him as they do for other human beings. In reality, these two beings are part of a larger group who lie at the heart of the entire conflict in Solo Leveling, and have a deep connection to the System that causes Jinwoo to level up. This is further hinted at by the fact that they’re being track by Sung Jinwoo’s father, Ilhwan.
Back in Season 2, Episode 3 when Ilhwan was first introduced, he tried to explain to Hwang Dongsoo that a war was coming, and that the one with the power to destroy everything had awakened. Ilhwan’s only goal was to defeat that power in order to protect the world. Given that context, it’s clear that Ilhwan is also interested in the power that underlies Jinwoo’s abilities, and is seeking to stop it. While this pair of Magic Beasts perceive the power underlying the System as their ally, Ilhwan clearly sees it as a threat, which is why he is keeping an eye on this pair of villains from the shadows.
Solo Leveling Season 2 Set The Stage For the Next Major Arc
Solo Leveling Volume 8 Starts The Ahjin Guild Arc
The ending of Solo Leveling Season 2, Episode 13 solidifies Sung Jinwoo as South Korea’s most powerful Hunter, and one of the strongest people in the world. Jinwoo wants to use his newfound social status to start his own guild, allowing him to become a true leader for his country and putting himself in a position to protect those he cares about by remaining a Hunter. Unfortunately, while peace has momentarily set in for Jinwoo, dark forces are converging around his power that will ultimately force him to confront the terrifying truth about the System that blessed him with the strength to change the world.
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If and when Solo Leveling Season 3 begins, it will inevitably pick up where Season 2 left off, with Sung Jinwoo making preparations for the creation of his own Guild. Along with Yoo Jinho, Jinwoo will have to find a suitable office, hire at least one more guild member, and finally, come up with a name for his Guild. Even as he does that, there will be the ever-looming threat of a new group of villains with untold powers scheming in the background, and only Jinwoo’s father seems to be aware of their schemes. Above all, these new villains are actively looking for Jinwoo, and seem to know the truth of his powers. Considering not even Jinwoo himself understands the System, he could be in for a rude second awakening.
Solo Leveling Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
- Release Date
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January 7, 2024
- Directors
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Shunsuke Nakashige
- Writers
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Noboru Kimura
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Taito Ban
Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura
Kenta Morobishi (voice)
