The following contains spoilers for Episode 7 of DanMachi IV, “Cassandra Ilion (Dream Seer)” now streaming onHIDIVE.
AfterDanMachi IV’s brief respite last week, Bell and the gang are venturing into the dungeon sooner than expected, in search of a friend in a spot of trouble. With Ryu Lion - known by the alias The Gale Wind - accused of murder, the party joins in on a massive party in hopes of finding Ryu before anyone else to see if she can be helped.
In previous seasons, Ryu has been one of the most mysteriouscharacters, presenting herself as some masked hero, and she’s frankly underrated as one of the most powerful characters. After hints about her past and the tragic fate of her past Familia, she is now front and center, and the anticipation is killer, quite literally.
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The Premonition
The next great chapter inDanMachicould have easily jumped right into an investigation of Ryu, speculation of her innocence, and the party resolving to search for her, but it became so much more. All of that does indeed happen, but the tension was expanded tenfold by Cassandra’s involvement.
Up to this point, Cassandra wasmostly a quirky side characterpalling around with her totally-not-girlfriend Daphne. Her premonitions are typically correct, but the presentation of these dreams of the future was more of a character quirk and a reaffirming of plot points that were more or less expected. However, after the last arc’s constant danger, all predicted astutely by her, this arc sees her a lot more on edge about her newest dream.
The episode begins with a harrowing glimpse at the future and a prophecy that seems to see the Hestia Familia and friends seemingly dead. Either as a friend, foe, or force of nature, Ryu is at the center of the story, and now Cassandra knows that they are heading right towards the future told in the dream. Perhaps because Cassandra’s predictions have been so normalized in the storytelling, the execution of her scenes is especially impressive.It’s hard not to feel some twinge of anxietywatching Cassandra try to warn her allies not to go into the dungeon, and watching as they don’t believe her, not out of spite, but for a multitude of reasons.
It’s the dramatic irony of it all that can put knots in your stomach watching, especially if you’ve had moments of anxiety. It’s quite pleasing, however, to see Cassandra take a more active role. This season continues to impress by highlighting members of the cast that previously were on the sidelines.
Changing Fate
Cassandra knows that no one would believe her, and even if they would, it wouldn’t stop them from trying to save a friend, so in what will hopefully be a full character arc, she decides to fight fate.Much like Lili taking to a tactician rolewith confidence, Cassandra isn’t content to let her prediction come true and - however awkwardly - tries to change the course of events.
Part of this involves asking members of the party to ensure Bell’s safety, or suggesting switch-ups in the party to throw off how the future will pan out. Not only are these moments breaking up what would be an otherwise boring beginning to an adventure, it allows the characters to take inventory and prepare for the next steps.
This means Bell has even more equipment added, though this time only a scarf, but a dang cool one. Depicting the evolution of a character visually is important for numerous reasons upon further inspection but at a base level, it’s justreally cool to see the characters get cooler outfits.
There are bound to be a lot of hardships ahead for the party, but while this episode had moments that were certainly stressful, it’s also one that ends on a high note. The future predicted is certain to come true in some way, but it’s completely up in the air how, and there’s some implication that Bell knows that Cassandra expects terrible things.
He is simply being too adorable not to expect that her vision of the future is correct, and his experience in the last arc would make it silly to ignore the warning signs. As for Ryu, she’seven more of a mystery nowthat she’s become a central figure, but that’s sure to change from next week onwards. And hopefully, Marie will make another appearance after her far too brief exit last time.
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