The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- Episode 11, “It’s About to Get More Intense”, available on Crunchyroll.

We pick up from where the previous episode left off in Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow, episode 11 in what is probably the episode with the highest death (and decapitation) toll of the series thus far. The Japanese S-Rank Hunters are eviscerated by the Ant King, and as soon as the Korean strike team take out the Queen, her death throes call her strongest soldier back to the nest, where he encounters the decapitated carcass of his progenitor.

To say “all Hell broke loose” would simply downplay the massacre that ensued. It was a thematically interesting episode that was unique to the series for lacking the presence of protagonist Sung Jinwoo, but only because this episode was one of the few times we get a change in protagonists in an episode of Solo Leveling.

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The Red Blur

Heads Will Roll

There was an utterly diabolical start to the episode, something so utterly criminal it could be compared to that infamous shot from within the fatal eye injury of a certain main character in Jujutsu Kaisen. Yes, Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- episode 11 kicks off right from where the last one ended, starting with a shot of the sky and environment as it pans downward to simulate rotation, because the episode cruelly begins from the perspective of S-Rank Healer Akari Shimizu‎‎, who was the very first victim of the Ant King.

The distraught and terrified face of her colleague, Tatsumi Fujishima‎‎, comes into view before everything fades to black, after which revealing the gruesome situation. A red blur zips about them like The Flash, and despite their attempts to keep an eye out for the threat, they are simply no match. Kenzo Tanaka’s head is the next to fly. Fujishima regains his wits and tries to put up a fight, somewhat keeping up with the Ant King’s speed, but the moment his sword is drawn, his head flies in the same direction as his blade.

Japan’s Jeju Island Raid Strike Team Charlie is decimated in mere moments. Kei and Ippei Izawa arrive at the scene after Team Charlie fails to respond to communication, finding the grizzly scene. Kei, who wears a gas mask all the time due to suffering from likely the same affliction as Cha Hae In, retches from the intense stench emanating from the Ant King. He unleashes his powerful ice ability, with giant ice spikes bursting forth from the Earth. An ingenious shot of his image from behind the ice briefly interrupted by the terrifying reflection of the Ant King, followed by the breaking of Kei’s image within the ice as it’s smashed, is perhaps the most striking of the S-Rank massacre in the early parts of the episode.

Suffering From Success

An Easily Dispatched Ant Queen Brings Forth Calamity

In the parts of the episode that aren’t montages of the Japanese S-Rankers getting pwned, we’re treated to some good ol’ fantasy action that is capped off by the fact that Cha Hae In gets some proper time in the spotlight, showing how she earned her moniker, “The Dancer”. The teamwork and link-up play of Team Korea as they comb through the swarms of not just the current gen red ants, but the bigger white ants of raids past. Even the Healer, Byung-Gu; who, mind you, wanted nothing to do with this operation, managed to get himself a kill.

While they may have made it look easy, each of these ants is about S-Rank at this point. Despite going deep into the caverns of the ant colony and encountering stronger foes the deeper they get, they are yet to encounter any bipedal ants, but Cha Hae In is certain there’s something strong deeper in the caves. Using his beast vision, Baek Yoonho surveys the darkness and locates the Queen. The battle is the only time in the series so far that we’ve seen a party of purely S-Rank Hunters work together, and it is a feast for the eyes.

With allies this powerful, each of them can go all out without worry, so Baek Yoonho’s full Magic Beast Transformation is revealed, and Choi Jong In lights up the battlefield with his immense firepower in some of the most enjoyable sequences the episode has to offer. Ma Dongwook’s solid work as a Tank is invaluable to the fight, and even Lim Tae-Gyu’s masterful archery makes a solid dent in the Queen’s forces, but the true MVP of the Jeju Island Raid operation is Healer Min Byung-Gu, whose masterful use of various spells, and decent battle IQ facilitated their victory against a Queen who really took every single one of them to defeat. Cha Hae In’s beautiful final attack was simply art.

Solo Leveling, despite its fantasy, RPG and video game inspirations, unfortunately forgoes much of the excitement that can come from party combat because of the obvious lone wolf operation Sung Jinwoo is running, but scenes like the Ant Queen Boss Battle really remind you that this could also have been a solid dungeon crawler series. The group celebrates their victory, and Byung-Gu is elated to have avenged Eunseok, but the fun is cut short as the Ant King arrives, having heard the Queen’s death throes.

Rage of the Cephalophage

Min Byung-Gu Dies a Horrible, Painful Death

The Ant King’s aura overwhelms them all. At this point, as a viewer, you have forgotten about the poor A-Rank cameraman who captured it all, standing quietly in the corner too stunned to speak as he watches the scene unfold in horror. The pure murderous aura of the Ant King fills them with dread, and Cha Hae In, like Kei, reacts viscerally to the stench of the magic beast, who walks right past all of them to the carcass of the Queen. After staring at it for a while, the Ant King eats his mother’s head and lets out an unholy shriek, turning to the Hunters behind him.

He blitzes behind Cha Hae In, who doesn’t even have a moment to react before the sheer impact of an angry Ant King swatting her sends her flying through the cave ceiling, spinning at a ridiculous speed. Dongwook gigantifies, and is immediately shown why the adage “… the harder they fall” is so apt, while Baek Yoonho is quickly sliced up along with Choi Jong in.

When Lim Tae Gyu tries to attack the ant, it catches his arrow before sending him flying into next month. With Byung-Gu backing them up, the team can sustain all kinds of injuries and be propped right back, as seen with Dongwook, who is once again thoroughly decimated by the Ant King. The insect fixes its gaze on Byung-Gu, who had been concealing his presence with the Camouflage Skill, and before he can even react, a claw rips through his gut.

He manages to beg Yoonho to run before the Ant King eats his head, throwing the corpse at the white tiger as he tries to avenge his best friend. He then eerily repeats Byung-Gu’s last words, having obtained speech, and tells Yoonho that the death of a few Hunters won’t make up for the slain Queen, asking where their “king” is. He darts outside, headed straight for Ryuji Gotō, leaving the injured Korean strike team to their fate as thousands of ants return to the colony, breaking through the fire net Choi Jong In had placed beforehand.

The Dishonour of The Draw Sword Guild

The Death of Japan’s Strongest Hunter and Hope For the Abandoned

Gotō and his allies, Mari Ishida and Minoru Hoshino, fail to contact squads Charlie and Delta, who were wiped out by the Ant King. They find the gory scene where Charlie met their demise, while Gotō speaks to the Chairman of the Japanese Hunter Association, Shigeo Matsumoto, about the situation. Upon hearing of the casualties, Matsumoto considers them collateral, as Gotō’s presence ensures mission success. Gotō tells him about the ant swarm returning to the colony as the jamming signal weakens, explaining that the Korean Hunters have no chance of survival.

Matsumoto’s cunning is on full display as he comes up with a story that justifies their retreat and claims the glory through a second strike team waiting at sea. It was, for all intents and purposes, “Lizarding” on an international level. However, Gotō’s call is interrupted when the Ant King decapitates Ishida. Gotō sends Hoshino to sea to contact the second strike team as he takes on an overwhelming foe, one that reminds him of Sung Jinwoo. He is just as easily dispatched as the six other Japanese Hunters who lost their lives.

Absolute Hype Loading For Next Episode

Sung Jinwoo’s Most Important Battle

As things reach dire straits for the Hunters at the nest, Sung Jinwoo’s Shadow soldiers emerge to protect them, and we see him sitting atop a skyscraper as he says the activation phrase: “exchange”. This is perhaps the most frustrating cliffhanger the show has ever had, which is all the more frustrating because it was a truly great episode of Solo Leveling that lived up to the hype around this arc, with the quiet parallels between Jinwoo and the Ant King creating an interesting thematic background for their inevitable encounter. Some of these include the red-purple colour of the Ant King’s aura and the use of the instrumental to “Dark Aria” as the soundtrack to his decimation of the Korean Hunters acts as a callback to Jinwoo’s extermination of Hwang Dongsuk’s gang. The next episode will have to be truly phenomenal to complete what has been an exceptional run so far.

Solo Leveling

Release Date

January 7, 2024

Directors

Shunsuke Nakashige

Writers

Noboru Kimura

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  Taito Ban

  Shun Mizushino (voice)

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  Genta Nakamura

  Kenta Morobishi (voice)