Tower of God Episode 5

Tower of God Episode 5

The Crown’s Fate

Greetings from my phone. This week’s Tower of God episode review is being written on mobile because I currently have no power. But that has nothing to do with the series, so let’s just get on with it.

This week we witnessed the final two rounds of the Crown Game which featured quite a few surprises. I expected Rachel’s team to be at least as strong as Anaak’s, but I didn’t expect there to be so many characters with comparable strength.

Anaak and Hatz were the strongest two characters in the first two rounds. The third round then saw Bam, Khun, and Rak take the crown, and we got to see that Khun and Rak are also extremely strong.

Then, in the final round of the game, Rachel’s team entered the arena. We already knew that their team is strong due to the fact that they wiped out all 397 other Regulars in their first test, so that’s not new information.

But the masked woman they fight against is shown to be even more skilled than they are, so we can gauge her abilities by comparison. And it seems safe to say that she’s the strongest one who took part in the Crown Game, even more so than Anaak.

However, we still don’t know who that masked woman is. My guess is that she’s going to be revealed to be another one of the Princesses of Jahad, but at the same time I think if that were the case someone would have known and pointed it out.

Khun’s Exposition Dump

There are a few things about this episode that I’d like to commend.

First, and this isn’t specific to this episode, but it still applies, is the fact that Kevin Penkin is doing a good job with the soundtrack. I was a bit worried after the Shield Hero soundtrack, but this one seems to be going much better.

Second, the animation quality definitely seemed to be improved in this episode when compared to those which came before it. For example, the masked woman does a backflip away from Rak at one point, and the flip is fully animated unlike Yuri’s flip back in episode 1.

But, while the soundtrack and animation seem to be succeeding, the storytelling seems to be failing. There were multiple exposition dumps within this one episode, and one of the worst offenses of this came from Khun when he explained the ace up his sleeve.

Khun gathering allies during the first test from the anime series Tower of God
Khun gathering allies during the first test

Khun doesn’t tell us exactly what his bag is, but he does show (and tell) us some of the things it’s capable of. It can make copies of anything he puts into it, it can store things including living people, and as we’ve seen multiple times so far it’s strong enough to block swords.

Last week I mentioned that it’s probably some sort of Ignition Weapon, and I still think that’s the case. Just the fact that it has all these abilities and the fact that Khun knows what Ignition Weapons are is enough evidence for me.

Back to Khun’s exposition dumped plan, though, he hid a three-person team inside of his bag to use when necessary. These were people he found during the first test who were strong but still wouldn’t have survived. He gave them a second chance in exchange for their loyalty.

Bam and Rachel

Now that we know Khun has an entire second team under his control, we can begin to see a larger group of allies forming. I don’t know exactly how important Khun’s allies are going to be, but we’ve also already seen Bam befriend Shibisu from Anaak’s team.

Later on in the tower, I could see them all teaming up.

And then things get more interesting when Rachel’s team enters the arena as well. Previously, Rachel didn’t respond to Bam’s attempts to get her attention, so I thought that maybe her team would actually be fighting against his. But that turned out not to be the case.

Strangely, we don’t actually know why Rachel’s team decided to fight alongside Bam’s in the final round of the Crown Game. Neither Rachel nor her team members commented on their motives, and it didn’t really seem like it had anything to do with Rachel’s connection to Bam.

Rachel and her teammates from the anime series Tower of God
Rachel and her teammates

So, now I have another theory which contradicts one I posited just last week. Rather than Rachel being a Princess of Jahad, I think her female teammate with the demon horn is. 

This would explain her dislike for Anaak if they’re rival princesses in some fashion. And, all of the princesses so far seem to be powerful, which this demon girl definitely is.

I bring this up because I think that the reason they helped Bam’s team is due to his bet against Anaak. I think the demon girl wants Anaak to lose, so she was willing to help Bam win. Why exactly Rachel is connected to her is still up in the air — as is why Rachel was distancing herself from Bam.

Is Rachel attempting to save Bam from her own teammate by hiding their connection?

The Purpose of the Tests

The final thing I want to discuss in regards to this episode is the purpose behind holding these preliminary tests. Over the past few weeks I’ve been questioning the point of testing challengers before they enter the tower proper, and this week we’re given a reason.

However, allow me to preface this by saying that I don’t think the reason we’re given is the real reason, and Lero Ro seems to agree with me — though it’s strange that not even he knows why he’s testing the Regulars.

As someone who has successfully made it to the top of the tower, you would think Lero Ro knows its secrets.

Lero Ro and Hansung Yu discussing the purpose of the tests from the anime series Tower of God
Lero Ro and Hansung Yu discussing the purpose of the tests

The reason we’re given for these tests being held isn’t to determine who has the ability to survive the tower. Instead, it’s to determine which challengers pose a risk to the tower itself. What exactly this means is unclear.

Does this mean that certain people will physically harm the tower with their power? And if that’s the case, I still don’t see the point of these specific tests. If you’re trying to find out who’s too dangerous to be let into the tower, why did you let them kill off everyone who wasn’t too dangerous?

I guess the series wanted me to be questioning the reason behind holding these tests before the real trial even begins. But the longer these initial tests go on, the less I feel that whatever answer we get in the end is going to be satisfactory.

Conclusion

What did you think of Tower of God episode 5? Who do you think is the strongest character we’ve met so far? And why do you think Rachel has been hiding her connection to Bam? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below. Also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier and Rob Wright for supporting at the Kouhai tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

Leave a Comment