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Solo Leveling episode 24 titled Are You The King? released this week and it is an episode that was worth breaking the internet and it did. The episode begins where it left off in the previous one with the beheading of Japan’s ace S-rank hunter Goto Ryuji.
The battle inside the cave with the Ant Queen’s royal guard and Korean S-rank hunters continues with Jinwoo’s soldiers joining. With each ant being close to S-rank the humans are getting pushed back and their numbers dwindling with their healer and fastest hunter being taken out of the equation.
While waiting for their end to come the Korean hunters were about to give up and entered the battlefield, the main man, Sung Jinwoo. Jinwoo makes quick work of the smaller ants and heals all the hunters except Cha Hae-In as the former’s healing potions do not affect the latter.
This worsens her situation and forces Jinwoo to bring in more shadows to the fight however before he can do it, the Ant King appears. With the presence of Ant King in the cave the other hunters confirm that Goto is gone and the former locks his eyes onto Jinwoo.
The two responding to each other’s powers and bloodlust start sharing punches. With every move, the Ant King realised that Jinwoo was no ordinary human as his powers kept on growing amidst the battle.
Understanding that Jinwoo was on par with him in strength, the Ant King shifted his stance to speed attacks mixed with stabbing. However, Jinwoo countered everything the bug threw at him leaving the latter to use poison-based attacks.
However, due to the system’s ability to neutralise all foreign contaminants Jinwoo was saved and the battle of fists resumed. And what a battle it was, the animation, the background music and the growing feeling of despair within the Ant King were all amazingly portrayed.
The camera angles used in the battle were very immersive yet never failed to provide an ominous environment of the confrontation. The BGM further elevated the feeling making our hearts race with excitement.
The battle choreography however could have been better as the Ant King isn’t a one-time villain. His presence further in the story is crucial and builds up the future arcs as well as the sequel Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.
Understandably, the studio wants to provide a POV that Jinwoo is the strongest, however, if they can show that Jinwoo and Goto were on equal stages then they could have also lengthened this battle duration even further.
Additionally, the title of the episode also serves as a correlation and a pathway to the upcoming arc. We get to know that Jinwoo indeed is a King and his defeating the Ant King is a metaphor for him being the one and only true King.
Furthermore, the emotions the Ant King displays throughout the battle as it gains more sentience and despair it shows were immaculate as it nears its doom. In addition to that, the peril between Jinwoo’s concern over healing Cha Hae-In further showcases that he is not a cold-hearted person and cares for people around him. This will eventually turn into a full-fledged romance between the two.
