Review and Analysis of the Fourth Episode of Tempal: Item no Chikara

The odds of Grid rescuing Huroi were minimal—almost nonexistent, less than 0.8 percent—and no one believed he could complete the mission; however, we know of Grid’s ability to pull through even the most difficult situations.

We see that Grid must face Euphemia in a blacksmithing competition; the goal is to forge a dagger, and the winner will be whoever creates the highest-quality dagger. Grid tries to encourage himself somehow, knowing that he is the successor to Pagma, the legendary blacksmith, so he has great confidence in his ability. But his rival has made a name for himself as someone highly skilled in blacksmithing, so victory is by no means assured.

I must say that both of them create impressive daggers; it’s clear that they’re both skilled at what they do. Euphemia (what a beautiful name, by the way) creates a captivating, epic-level dagger that leaves the audience in awe. Just as Grid finishes his dagger and is ready to present it to the judges, he is arrested by the guards.

It had all been a trap set by Valmont to capture both Grid and his master so he could get away with it. We see just how low and despicable Valmont is for not letting Grid finish his dagger and for resorting to trickery to get what he wanted.

Witnessing this injustice, the blacksmiths look for ways to help Grid escape from prison and try to rise up against this injustice, but Valmont—having once again assumed that the blacksmiths would help Grid and Huroi—arrested all the blacksmiths who were trying to help Grid. Source

I find this interesting, as it’s something we’ve seen many times in real life—uprisings as a means of applying pressure and making demands on those in power. Although the episode doesn’t focus on this, it’s something I think is worth mentioning.

What follows is the most exciting part of the episode, as Euphemia helps Grid escape from prison in exchange for him crafting something for her. Grid agrees, and the two try to flee as quickly as possible. However, to escape the prison, they’ll have to face a large number of guards. While Euphemia takes on numerous guards all by herself, Grid faces a Level 120 Knight. Once again, Grid is at a disadvantage—remember, he lost levels by failing to complete his quests.

Nevertheless, the dagger he forged is of exceptional quality, and with it, he manages to defeat this knight; upon doing so, the game rewards him by leveling him up. While searching for the exit, after finding and rescuing Huroi, Grid and Euphemia find a massive army standing before them. Once again (what a pain in the neck), Valmont tries to hold them back; however, Euphemia uses her last remaining skill and single-handedly defeats hundreds of knights with a single blow.

Grid achieves a new milestone in the game by becoming the first player to complete two missions at once, so it’s expected that more players will venture to do the same—we’ll see.