Plot Armour
Episode 4 of The Promised Neverland Season 2 begins with William Minerva on the phone. Only, it’s actually a recording, confirming that Minerva’s real name is s James Ratri. He’s a defector and the demons at the farms have been hunting him, brandishing the man as a traitor. Ratri has left clues at different farms though and now gives the kids a new plan. If they want to go to the human world it’s up to them, they just need to type F.U.T.U.R.E. into his pen to retrieve their next instructions. This brings up coordinates to the human world. In order to head there, Emma and the others decide to save everyone from the farms, bringing them to this shelter, before pressing on. With things looking good, the kids all begin practicing their different skills including archery and hunting. The latter brings the kids back with a whole stack of fish. As they taste it to make sure it’s okay, the sound of a ticking clock chimes in the background; an interesting throwback to season 1. Meanwhile, Isabella finds herself captured by the demons following her role in letting the kids go free. She has several options going forward but the most alluring is the promise of being released from Grace Field. If she can round up all the kids and bring them back, then they’ll let her go free. Meanwhile, a group of soldiers arrive at the house and begin looking around the shelter. While the kids hide out, Rossi and Don find themselves trapped in the security room. Thankfully, they evade one soldier but on the way out, find themselves at the mercy of a whole group who have rounded up the kids together. With everything looking bleak, a giant demon suddenly appears out the forest and kills all the soldiers. The kids flee into the woods, having regrouped from earlier, as Isabella looks like she’s set to hunt them down.
The Episode Review
Promised Neverland returns this week with an episode of two halves. On the one hand you have the situation involving Emma and the kids, who settle in at the shelter after learning it’s a refuge for escaped kids. The recording and the teasing glimpses of the human world bring back the mystery that made the first season so appealing. The other however, offsets the pacing completely and introduces a whole group of soldiers out of nowhere. Where did they come from? What is their purpose? Are they from the human world? And why did the giant demon only attack the soldiers and not the kids? Given the tightly written plot of the first season, this feels a little disappointing by comparison. What was whispered in Isabella’s ear? Will she really go after the kids and bring them back? The promise of being freed from the hell of serving as a Mother at this farm seems like a pretty good trade in her eyes but it could also be her playing the demons too. We’ll have to wait and see of course. For now, the latest episode of Neverland ends with the kids back on the run again. The ending promises more action to come but is this really the Neverland we came to love in the first season? We’ll have to wait and see of course but for now, this is definitely the most disappointing episode of this anime.
