Krapopolis – Season 1 Episode 9 “Dungeons & Deliria” Recap & Review

Dungeons & Deliria

In this week’s episode of Krapopolis, we see Tyrannis vie to protect his newfound epiphany to protect the personal rights of citizens…all in the form of a man wearing pants. This man – who shall not be named, and can’t…because he isn’t named – wears pants in a bar. The server sees this as an abomination and refuses to serve him. Enter Tyrannis into the scene and his vigil for the pants wearer’s right to self-expression. 

Hippocampus has taken on a more arduous task. He must hunt down what the villagers call a “monstadon,” who roams the woods freely and kills cattle and the citizens at will. The only hurdle in his way is Daphne, the tree nymph from a few episodes ago. She doesn’t want him to kill the creature…until the creature wants to kill them both.

Deliria follows Stupendous into a remarkable situation – a side quest! However, the Goddess isn’t pleased that her daughter has kept it a secret from her and must now do everything to redeem herself in Stupendous’ eyes.

Tyrannis tries to convince people to let the unnamed inventor be. He even brings his guard to pacify the situation. However, the villagers are not in agreement with the King. They do not want the pants-wearer to get anywhere near their fashion world and the bar owner refuses to serve him. To reach an amicable solution, Tyrannis does the sensible thing and decides to pass a law: one that permits each of the parties involved to do as they wish without impeding on the others’ rights. 

However, before Tyrannis can make a change, he sees the pants wearer leaving the city for good and being killed by the monstadon. He later tries to make his point in court by wearing pants himself but quickly replaces them after finding them uncomfortable. 

Stupendous explains to Deliria that she wants to escape from her aura. Everything she does is attached to the Goddess’ name. Deliria feels a little guilty and understands her point of view. She even says that Stupendous’ heroics make her proud. In order to reach a compromise, Deliria accompanies her as Susan, a bustling simpleton on the quest. However, Susan’s ordinary and humble roots charm the others. They get enamoured with her, much to Stupednous’ chagrin. 

Hippocampus and Daphne are caught in a hole. To make their way out of it, they rely on each other’s skill set – the combination of science and nature. Hippocampus uses explosive mushrooms to break out of the place and escape the monstadon. Stupendous fake kills Susan. But her constant attacks on Deliria’s inadequacy as a mother force the Goddess to get the others on her side. They fly away to a temple where they unwittingly release a Titan, Laepetus. He instantly kills the others and goes after Deliria, who is powerless against him.

Stupendous swoops in and saves her, successfully putting him back into the depths of the ground.  Hippocampus and Daphne bid each other farewell as she prepares to leave the forest, thanks to him. 

The Episode Review

Krapopolis is quite the turnaround story. Dan Harmon’s legend has truly not died down…not yet. Episode 9 bolsters even more confidence that the show can be a multi-season affair. The quality of the subplots and the writers’ newfound existentialism have lent a completely new look to Krapopolis.

The rise of Hippocampus in the last two episodes is a heartening thing. It has brought attention to his character in a new light altogether. I think loosening up Tyrannis from his wound-up attitude in the first few episodes has also helped make a difference. His transformation into a modern-day pants wearer in the episode while still maintaining the traditionalism of the setting is a joyous thing to see.

The cleverest thing in Dungeons & Deliria is the episodic namesake “side quest” that Stupendous and Deliria go on. This subplot gives that narrative push to the mother-daughter dynamism to make the dysfunction come full circle. A great comeback after the last episode’s debacle!