The Faraway Paladin episode 3 differs quite a bit from what we’ve seen so far. Will’s youth is ending as he turns the corner into adulthood. As such Blood and Mary sit down with him to tell him the full truth of this world.
I will never stop praising the show’s visuals; especially since the camera work hasn’t disappointed me yet. There’s even a cute moment where after drinking for his first time Will stumbles down the hall. The camera moves from his perspective, swaying and I think it’s a really nice touch. However, the story is my key point this week as it expands this world in a natural way.
So The Faraway Paladin episode 3, actually follows different pacing than the previous episodes. Will seems to still be about 13, maybe 14 years old. However, we see fewer lessons with Gus and Mary, and the most eventful part is the duel with Blood. Oh, or maybe Blood getting Will drunk and making him into a pervert, but you can decide that for yourself.
There is not much in terms of anything noteworthy story-wise until the duel. The duel itself ends very quickly, as Will shows off just how much he has learned from his mentors. He keeps a cool head, uses his techniques well, and thrusts a killing blow. Normally I should say, as Will forgets the most important part of fighting; know your opponent.
Blood is undead, so getting stabbed is not in fact fatal. Blood turns the tide and wins as Will gets his weapon stuck in Blood’s ribcage. Turns out Blood used this technique when he was alive too, so credit to him for using the same techniques over the centuries I guess. Yet, as much fun as the duel is, the narration after that showcases the story the best.
Blood and Mary sit Will down to finally tell him the real history of the city of the undead. I normally hate extended exposition as it can really take away from a show. With people talking for so long we can forget about the main stars but it’s actually done fairly well here. Mary and Blood narrate mostly, but Will slips in his own voice so the conversation still feels pretty natural.
I won’t retell too much of the story here in order to not spoil some really good voice acting and storytelling. However, I can summarize it as a tale of a Demon Lord conquest. We finally understand how the world became the way it is, as well as Will’s involvement within it.
Again, the show’s visuals stay fairly impressive. However, this week’s stars are the voice actors giving a great performance as storytellers. We make some tremendous progress in world-building, and the ending provides a great chance to segway into another great episode next week.
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All images via Crunchyroll.
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