Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 3

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? III Episode 3

A Mission from the Guild

DanMachi III episode 3 was a pretty good episode. It had some plot progression, a few reveals, and some pretty nice animation. Considering this series is animated by J.C.Staff, I wasn’t really expecting the quality of animation that this episode has — so good for them.

At the start of the episode, the Hestia Familia is issued with a mission from the guild. This is the first time we’ve seen a mission issued, so, naturally, the difference between a mission and a quest was explained. Missions are mandatory quests that are issued to Familias rather than being selected by them.

We can assume that any Familia that refuses a mission will be hit with a fine, expulsion from the guild, or both. But why would the guild have to issue a mission to a Familia in the first place?

The Hestia Familia heading into the dungeon from the anime series DanMachi III
The Hestia Familia heading into the dungeon

Due to the fact that missions are generally given to larger Familias, we can assume that they’re generally reserved for the most dangerous and urgent quests that come through the guild. For example, a search and rescue quest on one of the higher floors may be issued as a mission because it’s both dangerous and time-sensitive.

Additionally, quests that require a level of secrecy are also likely candidates for mission status. This seems to be the reasoning behind the mission the Hestia Familia was served with.

Traveling to the 20th floor is fairly dangerous, but a larger guild couldn’t be asked to take Wiene there because her existence needs to be kept a secret. Since the Hestia Familia already knows about her, and are the ones currently housing her, they were selected for the mission.

Ouranos’ Master Plan

Up until this point in the series, Ouranos has been portrayed as an antagonistic god who’s always in the shadows pulling the strings. Perhaps I’m misremembering, but I’m pretty sure he was supposedly behind the monsters rampaging throughout Orario in one of the earlier seasons.

And the fact that Hestia confronts him as she does in this episode shows that she has suspicions regarding his involvement with some of the troubles her own Familia has encountered.

But, shockingly, Ouranos doesn’t actually seem to be a villain. Or, he at least doesn’t seem to be a villain of this arc. It turns out that he’s actually working to protect the sentient monsters from adventurers. But, this brings up the question of, why he doesn’t just do this overtly rather than from the shadows?

The god Ouranos from the anime series DanMachi III
The god Ouranos

I understand that the gods aren’t supposed to be directly involved in the affairs of those living on the surface. But the fact of the matter is that they very much are. Throughout the whole series, we’ve seen gods taking interest in and directly supporting or working against certain adventurers — namely Bell.

So why wouldn’t Ouranos be able to step in and declare that sentient monsters be allowed to live in peace? It’s not like he’s some small-time god who would be ignored. Sure, some of the other gods wouldn’t agree with his decision, but I think over a fairly short amount of time the majority would come around to his side.

And, despite the fact that the civilians (and adventurers) are afraid of monsters, they would go along with the gods’ decision.

The fact that Ouranos isn’t doing things out in the open suggests one of two things to me. Either there are even more powerful gods who don’t agree with him, or he actually has some ulterior motive that we aren’t privy to just yet.

Xenos

As we learn from Ouranos, Xenos is the name that has been given to the collective of sentient monsters who reside on the 20th floor. We can assume that this name was given to them rather than one they came up with themselves because “xeno” is used to denote something or someone as different.

It’s also not a term you would use to describe yourself as different from others. It’s a term used to describe others as different from yourself. So, either Ouranos gave them this name, or perhaps it originated from members of his Familia.

Interestingly, the members of Xenos also aren’t limited to humanoid monster species. Some are much more animal-like, and some appeared to be plant or fungi-like. So, it looks like my comment about the potential for only plant-like monsters remaining as antagonists after this arc is wrong.

Bell punching Lyd from the anime series DanMachi III
Bell punching Lyd

We also have to consider how life for the Xenos is going to change from here on out. It’s pretty obvious that their way of life is going to change now that they’ve had contact with the adventurers of the Hestia Familia.

If there was only a small number of Xenos, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal. They could either become part of the Hestia Familia, continue to live in hiding within the dungeon, or venture out into the world beyond Orario. But because there are so many of them, I only see one path forward now.

It’s clear that the Xenos are going to be discovered by other Familias in the coming episodes, and that’s not something that can be ignored. With this many members, they won’t be able to simply hide as they have been once Familias begin to hunt them down. So, the only way to protect themselves is to join a Familia and gain the protection of a god.

Conclusion

What do you think of DanMachi III episode 3? Do you think missions are a common occurrence for the larger Familias? Do you think Ouranos has an ulterior motive? And what do you think will happen to the Xenos? Will they join the Hestia Familia? Or, maybe the Ouranos Familia? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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