Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot…
Welcome to the party.
After last chapter’s completely unexpected, out of left-field reveal (seriously, it came out of nowhere), I was pretty excited to see just how The Seven Deadly Sins take on Britain’s most famous king would shape up. I wasn’t disappointed!
The sudden appearance of the king and his MASSIVE army left both Great Holy Knights Hendericksen and Dreyfus reeling, and their potentially deadly feud seems forgotten (at least temporarily) after the arrival of the new threat. It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts (my guess: not all that long…). For now, though, they split up, with Hendricksen racing to confront Arthur and his army and Dreyfus heading off to deal with Meliodas and the other Deadly Sins – who were largely left out of the picture in this chapter.
Arthur remains something of a mystery, but at least he we were given some of his back-story here by Hendricksen: how he pulled a sword from a stone that no Holy Knight could remove, and that he is the king of a rising power, Camelot. So far, so Arthurian legend. When that rather funky helmet came off, though, Arthur was revealed to be far from archetypal kingship material. Turns out he’s a kid – brash, reckless and really young. Still, I like the design, and given the tendency in The Seven Deadly Sins for childish-looking characters being the most badass cough, Meliodas, cough, I’m sure lil’ Arthur will be right at home.
But guess what? More shocks are in store! Turns out the hooded figure accompanying Arthur created his entire army as an illusion, and dispels them with a snap of his fingers. Apparently, young Arthur feared he would be refused an audience without the military might to back up his claims.
To be fair, his fears seem pretty much bang on as Hendericksen is hardly courteous to the young king. This is especially obvious when Arthur notes that the mysterious figure with him can cure the king’s illness. Now that would seriously screw with Hendricksen’s demonic machinations, and is something I’m sure he’ll try and prevent at all costs…
More ominously, though, was Arthur’s assertion that he would (very nobly) help rid take on the other threat currently facing Liones – which I presume means the Deadly Sins themselves. All this begs the question: is Arthur an ally, or an enemy? I mean, he seems nice enough, but given that he has promised to rid the villanous Hendricksen of Meliodas and co, could he prove a potential adversary in the long run? Or will he see the legitimacy of their cause, and side with them against the Holy Knights?! I honestly have no idea… And I like it.
In any case, it looks like a showdown could be incoming, with Arthur facing off against Melodias, Ban and Gowther. Can’t wait. Given that the Holy Knights – including members of the nasty, demonic young generation – are already set to square up to our heroes soon, it should be one hell of a three-way-scrap.
Arthur is unproven, really, and we have no idea how strong he could be, but given that he is KING FRICKING ARTHUR it’s safe to say that he should pack a punch. Will he be able to deal serious damage to the beast that is Meliodas, and his rather ridiculous full counter? I guess only time will tell – but finding out should be an absolute blast.
Finally, the fate of Elizabeth (whose kidnapping by a mysterious female Holy Knight was the spark that set current chain of events) was revealed: she is in prison – which she quickly escaped from with the unlikely aid of Hawk the pig. Funny moments aside, this too sets up some really intriguing stuff, as Elizabeth looks set to try and break her sister Margaret out of prison…
The Good!
- Arthur Pendragon’s reveal was a great shock last week, and on the evidence of this week’s chapter he looks set to be a brilliantly brash, noble character.
- Really great setup – if not actual action – drives the story in a great (and unexpected!) direction.
The Bad!
- There was a serious lack of the Deadly Sins themselves in this chapter (ie, they weren’t in it at all), and pretty much no action. I’m not counting Hawk taking out a guard – you know a chapter is action light when a pig is the only one launching any attacks! I’m sure that’ll be rectified next time, though.
Overall, a great setup chapter – can’t wait to see where it goes from here! The Seven Deadly Sins continues to be one of the craziest, twistiest manga out there. I give it a 7/10.
Final thought – A Kooky Theory:
Just who is that mysterious hooded figure with Arthur?
Well, given that King Arthur is almost always mentioned in conjunction with a certain wizard, could that figure actually be Merlin..? What’s really intriguing is that the name Merlin has already been mentioned before in the series, as one of the two missing Deadly Sins who have yet to be revealed (Merlin is the Boar’s sin of gluttony, and a suspected traitor, no less).
Could they be one and the same person? And if so, could we see the reveal of the Sixth Sin in the near future?
Let me know what you guys think!
Koba out.
Sleeping Geeks 