Ragna Crimson – Season 1 Episode 18 Recap & Review

End of the Battle to the Death

Episode 18 of Ragna Crimson Season 1 begins with Starlia telling Ragna that she’s the real deal. Additionally, she says she and the others successfully teleported away to this strange environment via the magic teleportation circle. While the two venture to Starlia’s comrade’s location, they discuss Garm and Shin briefly. 

Ragna confirms the two provided him with exceptional internal and external support, and Starlia’s glad to hear that. Starlia reflects on Shin and Garm’s potential and thanks Ragna for motivating them to grow more. After that, Starlia highlights her other comrades’ strengths and faults.

Starlia stops and tells Ragna to go on without her. Starlia says she must create a sword called The Silver Comet. Even if this results in her death, she wants to ensure Ragna that this sword will be of use to him. The ground erupts under Ragna’s feet, causing him to fall. Starlia hopes they’ll be able to see each other again. 

Ragna wakes up from this nightmare with bandages wrapped around his body. Although Starlia may be gone, Ragna says he can still feel her. Ragna notices Chris, Fu, and the others are around him. Ragna heads outside and notices he’s in the same region Starlia told him they were all successfully transported to. 

Ragna spots Slime yelling at Gram and the others. Slime spots Ragna and tells him he’s been sleeping for two days. He asks Ragna to motivate everyone because they’re depressed that most of their comrades died. Ike tells Ragna that he wants him to meet with someone important. After a rough run-in with a few civilians they saved, Ike informs Ragna about their situation. 

During this spiel, Ike remembers Ragna was out cold for a couple of days. He suggests they get a bite to eat first before meeting this special individual. Ragna stops Ike and tells him he’s worried about him. Ike says he’s okay, but has an emotional breakdown seconds later. Before Ragna can tell Ike that he still feels Starlia’s presence, he hears Ultimatia’s voice. 

In response, Ragna turns around and pummels her. Ike grabs Ragna and before he can tell Ragna that this isn’t Ultimatia, the two, alongside Slime, notice the woman’s duplicated herself and paused time. The woman resumes time and says she’s the Dragon Scourge of the Solarian Church., Carula, who also happens to be the Saint of Time. 

Carula says she wants to annihilate the dragons just as much as Ragna does. Ike pleads with Carula not to punish Ragna for his actions. Carula says she’s okay with Ragna annihilating one of her copies because she values him. However, she says that Ike could take the fall for Ragna instead. Ragna apologizes to Carula for killing one of her copies. 

He asks her if she can use her time powers to save Starlia’s life. Carula says she can but is against it because it uses too much energy and she feels saving Starlia is a waste of time. Ragna says if she kills Ike, he’ll kill her and her copies. Carula revives one of her copies and the two discuss who should be the “main” Carula. 

While chatting, Ike realizes why Starlia never wanted to become a Dragon Scourge to begin with. Instead of resorting to violence, we cut to Carula, Ike, and Ragna chatting on top of one of this area’s buildings. Additionally, we learn that Carula used her powers to slightly heal Ragna. Carula states that the ruins around them belong to an old civilization the Solarian Church preserves now. 

Additionally, she says this place is protected by a few barriers that’ll prevent dragons from detecting it. Ragna asks Carula if she can cover herself up because he can’t stand Ultimatia. Nazarena arrives and Carula says Nazarena’s a Solarian Church member, whose mission was to entice Starlia to join the Solarian Church. 

Carula says Nazarena acted as both Starlia’s teacher and her assassin if Starlia got out of line. Since Starlia’s dead, Nazarena’s waiting to hear from her higher-ups about her punishment. Nazarena leaves and Carula asks Ragna if he’d like to become a Dragon Scourge. Ragna declines and Carula says if he doesn’t comply, she won’t take in the Lese’s refuges. 

Carula informs Ragna that Starlia forged a deal with the Solarian Church concerning this affair. Therefore, she hopes this will encourage him to join them. Ragna asks Carula why she didn’t provide them with significant aid. Carula tells Ragna that Starlia was a mere candidate, who didn’t live up to the Solarian Church’s Dragon Scourge requirements. 

Ragna destroys their meeting table and says Carula will take in the refugees. He promises to hunt down the Winged Monarch (Ultimatia) and remove her from this world. Ike thanks Ragna for his gesture and Ragna tells him not to worry about it. Ragna departs with Slime. The two enter one of the buildings and find Crimson. 

Crimson tells Ragna he’ll heal him up. The episode closes with him showing Ragna a key. 

The Episode Review

Many Starlia fans who held out hope for this metal princess’s survival will be severely heartbroken after today’s Ragna Crimson episode. While many will find themselves in the same state as her forces, others will ponder if the Silver Comet is somewhat embedded in Ragna’s body somehow. It’d explain why Ragna can still sense her presence despite her passing. 

While many of her forces are emotionally scarred by her death, Hesela is worth pitying the most. Not only did she lose her valiant leader, but she also lost her twin, Greya. While the battle between Olto Zora and Taratectora has ended, we’re hopeful Ike, Gram, Hesela, and the others will still have roles to play in the story moving forward. 

That aside, this episode also introduces fans to the Solarian Church and Carula’s character. While the episode doesn’t delve too much into their origins, we receive confirmation that they’re against dragons just as much as Ragna is. Hopefully, the series will explore their faction further in future chapters or seasons though. 

By and large, this was an okay showcase from Ragna Crimson. Although its storytelling, characters, and visuals could use some fine-tuning, fans will admire this series for its interesting world-building. With luck, it’s possible Ragna Crimson’s next story arc can provide satisfying results.