The Faraway Paladin Episode 2: Survival of the Fittest

The Faraway Paladin episode 2 continues the story after a beautiful debut. Our protagonist makes massive mental and physical strides to match this chaotic new world. Also, the stage set up previously grows ever bigger with introductions to new thematical developments.

As before, I remain impressed with the show’s visuals; pulling off some great framing. With such complex themes, we see some great camera work to capture the emotions of characters reacting to sudden changes.

In The Faraway Paladin episode 2, we continue our lessons with Will. This episode shows a bit of time skip as both Will and the story have progressed 5 years, as Will is now 13 years old. Gus, Mary, and Blood are still raising will in the temple so that remains the same. However, Will’s lessons increase in difficulty because his life within the temple is coming to an end.

In this world, we learn that the age of adulthood is 15, and Will must begin preparing for life as an adult. He works with Mary to find a god to worship and receive their blessing. Gus teaches him more basic magic skills and history to communicate and understand outside cities. However, most importantly he must learn how to fight and defend himself with Blood

Essentially the focus was on Will’s survival as Blood test his strength by sending him underground. With only a basic sword and shield combination and minimal supplies. Will struggles to his way back after being abandoned by Blood. Will also does fairly well, for the most part, taking down most enemies with great skill in both magic and swordplay. He also picks up a new weapon of choice which looks to play a role going forward.

However, not all is smooth sailing, as Will runs into a challenge at the end that even his genius-level skills cannot stand against. This plot development provides some major complications within the story as Will struggles to handle not only making it out alive but dealing with the aftermath.

This show continues doing a great job of providing intrigue and mystery. Viewers are left to wonder the same questions as Will adding to the relatability to the main character. We as an audience continue to learn at the same time, and I continue to crave more as the story evolves.

Again massive credit to the director as the visuals and camera work impress me constantly. Will’s ever-growing list of questions about his new family and the world they live in makes no progress. However, this is what makes this show one of my favorites of the season. The story has more to tell and I am more than willing to hear what it has to say.

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All images via Crunchyroll.
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