Solo Leveling – Season 2 Episode 2 Recap & Review

I Suppose You Aren’t Aware

Episode 2 of Solo Leveling Season 2 begins with Jinwoo staring at the Ice Bear armies’ corpses. He says “Arise” and the Ice Bears’ shadows arise from their bodies. Meanwhile, Baek, Dongsoo, Woo, Ahn, and Hyun discuss at the Red Gate. Ahn says it’s been three days since Jinwoo and the others entered this gate.

Dongsoo thinks Jinwoo died. Before Dongsoo leaves, he questions Baek and the others about Jinwoo’s intentions. Ahn confirms that Jinwoo participated in this expedition because he wanted to tackle a C-rank-level mission. Baek stops Dongsoo from harming Ahn and the two fight.  

At the same time, Chul stumbles upon the Ice Bears’ corpses. Chul believes the White Demon killed them. Meanwhile, we learn Woo interrupted Dongoo and Baek’s clash. Woo tells Dongsoo who killed Dongsuk, but Dongsoo argues that Jinho murdered his brother. 

Dongsoo receives a text on his phone and departs. Meanwhile, Chul observes Heejin, Song-Yi, and another gentleman chatting at a shelter. Chul confronts the group and informs them about his teammates’ demise. He argues his group died because someone took all their gear. 

Jinwoo knocks out Chul. The former senses an enemy group nearby and demands them to reveal themselves. The group reveals themselves and our heroes learn they are Ice Demons. Jinwoo interacts with the Ice Demons. He discovers he can understand their language thanks to the Player Log System. 

Jinwoo chats with the Ice Demons’ leader, Baruka. He murders Baruka’s comrade and hurts his horse. Baruka says a voice wants him and the others to harm humans. However, the voice doesn’t want Baruka and the others to harm Jinwoo. Jinwoo wonders if the Ice Demons’s internal voice works similarly to the Player Log’s command system. 

Baruka orders Jinwoo to give him his humans. He promises to spare Jinwoo’s life. He glitches briefly and Jinwoo’s confused. Nevertheless, Jinwoo refuses to hand his allies over to the leader. Jinwoo summons his shadow army and his army clashes with the leader’s brigade. 

Baruka rushes toward Jinwoo, and Chul does the same. When smoke envelops Jinwoo, Jinwoo orders Igris to murder Chul. Chul dies and Jinwoo uses his abilities to extract Chul’s shadow. Chul turns into a large shadow knight and Jinwoo names him Iron.

Jinwoo, Igris, and Iron fight Baruka. After Jinwoo’s army defeats Baruka’s forces, they assist Jinwoo’s group in defeating Baruka. A new gate appears and Jinwoo tells Heejin and the others that it’s time to depart. Before Jinwoo’s group departs, he attempts to extract Baruka’s shadow.

Jinwoo’s group returns to the city. Baek stops Jinwoo and wants to know what happened inside the gate. Jinwoo tells him to ask the guild because he’s tired and wants to return home. Baek stops Jinwoo and Jinwoo understands Baek’s concerns.

However, Jinwoo wants Baek to thank him for saving two White Tiger Guild members. Baek apologizes to Jinwoo and Jinwoo takes Song-Yi home. Baek tells Ahn to bring Jinwoo to his guild. After Jinwoo drops Song-Yi off, we learn he couldn’t extract Baruka’s shadow.

Jinwoo believes it’s because there’s a big gap between his and Baruka’s strength. Jinho picks up Jinwoo and Song-Yi in the morning. Jinho is perplexed by Song-Yi and Jinwoo’s close connection. The episode ends with our trio heading to their next destination. 

The Episode Review

This episode concludes Jinwoo’s group’s quest inside the Red Gate. Not only did Jinwoo murder monsters, but he also murdered another human. Although Chul wanted to harm Jinwoo, it’s still another human body to add to Jinwoo’s kill ratio. On that note, seeing Jinwoo reflect on his actions was great. 

Although Jinwoo’s become power-hungry, that specific restroom scene shows he’s still a human. Additionally, it’s wonderful that Jinwoo’s new abilities have some limits. It ensures audiences that Jinwoo isn’t absurdly overpowered and still has ways to go, strength-wise. 

On that note, seeing Baek and Dongsoo clash was exciting. Hopefully, the anime delves into their characters more because we know little about them. Moreover, the animation and visuals were spot on. Baruka’s battle with Igris, Iron, Jinwoo, and Jinwoo’s army was spectacular. 

Unfortunately, the soundtrack took a backseat in favor of the visuals. However, some fans won’t mind it. I’m interested to see what awaits Jinho, Song-Yi, and Jinwoo next week.