With today’s episode we should be back to the regular timeline. I was thinking about all of the time stuff in this series and when it came to it I wondered what the point would end up being. I wonder if Chloe told Luminus about the events that caused her regression and Hinata’s death in the previous timeline in an attempt to prevent it. It doesn’t look like it if we look at the ending of the previous episode but we are just thrown back into the exact same story from before this time travel stuff, then what truly was the point of it all? I know I’m making this judgement right before the episode that might give me the answers I’m looking for, but I can’t help but feel like this was all just a big detraction from the main plot. I feel kind of bad being so negative about the story lately as I truly love this world and its characters but I do feel a little bit let down by what has been happening. I hope it is purely contained to this arc in particular and it doesn’t keep popping up. One of my close friends found Rimuru’s comments when Chloe told him he loves him in season 1 creepy. He said something along the lines of “If only you were 10 years older.” And it is a little bit creepy for sure, but I really hope this isn’t the way they end up trying to justify some weird stuff. Nobody likes the “young girl who is actually thousands of years old” trope anymore in the year 2026. I’m not sure we ever did like it beyond Shinobu from Bakemonogatari. Anyway, I’ve been rambling enough, let’s dive into episode 22 of Tensura season 4 together!

We get to see a little bit more of this current arc from Yuuki’s perspective. We know he’s been conspiring with Granville to get Chronoa out of the Holy Ark and we know he succeeded in doing so. Chronoa awakens in Yuuki’s arms and does two things. She emits a spooky aura and she heads towards the scene where Hinata has just died, Chloe has just disappeared and Rimuru and Leon are facing off against Granville. What I find curious here is that Chronoa has blue eyes, which indicates that Hinata is not currently in charge of this body, but it is either Chloe or the actual Chronoa. And here we see that Luminus continues to clash with Granville, presumably leaving Chronoa to the other two demon lords. It doesn’t seem like Chloe left Luminus with any special information in this timeline that gives her a leg up over the previous timeline which once again begs the question, what was the point of this all? Aren’t we exactly where the previous timeline was at, with Hinata still dead and Chloe still gone? Whatever is getting her to move, Chronoa dons her armor and a weapon – the latter of which resembles Hinata’s weapon – and gets ready to attack Rimuru.

The opening plays again and of course we now know that the constant cuts between Chronoa, Chloe, Hinata and Rimuru reflect the shared fate that these four characters have. The three women of course being one and the same although having different souls to still be their individual selves and Rimuru being the catalyst that sends Chloe and Hinata back into the past to fix the broken timeline. We also get the answer to my question about what Luminus knows and the answer is pretty disappointing. She knows some things but Chloe hid all the important stuff from her. Either that, or this time around we’re not in a loop so Luminus still knows the things from the previous loop before this one in which things went differently? I don’t know. 

With the chaos of Chronoa attacking whoever seems to be the closest target, Tear – who is hiding among the innocent villagers – gets Chronoa’s attention towards Leon so that Yuuki and the moderate harlequin alliance can leave the place. Tear looks much more normal under that mask than I expected, I thought she’d be weirder. Either way, Yuuki bids his farewell to Rimuru and tells him that his ambition will surely make him clash with Rimuru as enemies in the future, as he wants to conquer the world. With Yuuki gone, the battle between Leon, Rimuru and Chronoa continues while Luminus is keeping Granville at bay.

Apparently – and this isn’t all that surprising to be honest – Rimuru has the ability to summon Veldora to his location, which the tsundere dragon agrees to despite reading manga in peace at home. This is probably the best chance Rimuru has to change the tides of battle. Veldora immediately recognizes the person that sealed him and I really hope we finally get to see Veldora go all out for a change. He’s been sidelined so far because he’s so powerful, so it would be nice to get to see him in action. At the very least it gives Leon and Rimuru the chance to recuperate and we also get a reunion between Leon and Charys. Can they please turn back to a tall woman? Asking for a friend.

Luminus loredumping on Rimuru about who Chronoa really is was very funny. Speaking of funny, Veldora just decides to take Chronoa’s attacks head on and is surprised that they hurt. What a silly dragon. Rimuru uses his new information to piece together what might be truly going on and with a little help from Raphael-sensei they reach the correct conclusion. It is nice to see both Leon and Veldora have such tremendous trust in Rimuru. Sure, he’s a powerful demon lord with crazy abilities, but probably the thing that makes him the most impressive here is his kindness towards the people around him. Rimuru is very trusting, treats everyone with respect and love and now he is getting that returned to him.

I was wondering if we got to see more of Diablo and of course he shows up just in time. He tells Rimuru that Guy is still looking at the place and keeping an eye on things. I wonder just how deeply involved the red-haired demon lord is with all of this. He didn’t seem like he would be a villain in the story when he was first introduced during Walpurgis, but then again neither did Yuuki. We end this episode with the fight in full force and everyone all in one place. I’m assuming we get to see the conclusion of this battle next week and finish up the arc in the week after. I’m already looking around to see which anime I will be following along with next season because I have really enjoyed doing this again after all this time. Currently I’m thinking of doing this for either JoJo’s Steel Ball Run or the new season of Apothecary Diaries. Depending on what day of the week these air, I might even do both. But that is something to worry about later. For now, thanks for reading this post and I hope you’ll stick with me until the end of this season!