5 Point Discussions – Black Clover 52: “Whoever’s Strongest Wins”

The Black Bulls arrive just in time to back up the Golden Dawn. But do they even need back up? And, what’s Yami’s problem with the Golden Dawn’s leader? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. You might have thought from the way they set things up with the last episode that we were about to embark on another major arc. Something that would take a minimum of two months to do, where both the Clover and Diamond Kingdoms kept one-upping one another in a battle for supremacy to finally decide who would claim (or re-claim) Kiten.
…And then we get into this episode and the majority of it is just the Golden Dawn batting clean-up. We see Klaus and some of the other members effortlessly smiting all the nameless hooded mages, and eventually the group’s leader William uses a spell of his own–the World Tree–to capture everyone but the most powerful mages in the branches of his giant tree, draining them of their magic and putting an end to most of the hostilities. You knew the Golden Dawn were the best, but who knew this would be so one-sided?

2. Well, it took fifty two episodes but it seems like we’ve finally found the most gross spell ability. The third Shining General of Clover Kingdom pops up while the important members of Golden Dawn are taking out nameless hoods, and starts attacking some of the Golden Dawn’s mooks with his mucus spells. Yup, there’s a magician here who specializes in snot magic. Of course, since this is a shonen series the most ridiculous powers tend to be some of the most dangerous–his spells weaken the effectiveness of other people’s magics while drowning them in…ugh, snot. I’d say this guy probably got made fun of by the kids in Diamond Kingdom, but this is the nation where the graduation ceremony for kids with magic is a screwed up, battle royale where only one mage can walk out alive.
Granted, none of this matters when he runs into another of the Golden Dawn’s higher up mages: Langris, brother of Finral. Unlike Finral, who’s just Fast Travel on a body, Langris has no problem using his magic to attack, and a single spatial spell cuts a massive chunk from our mucus mage…and lays waste to a sizable chunk of the city as well.  It sure would be nice if at least one guild could at least pretend to care about protecting people?

3. Well, it seems we have just one guild who does care in the Black Bulls, By the time they arrive, it’s too late for them to help stop the Diamond Kingdom soldiers, but they prove pretty helpful in aiding the villagers escape their war-torn village. This seems like a small thing, but the Magic Knights have been nothing more than a strike force for the King since episode one. For the most part, the guilds we’ve seen have cared way more about punching the threat than ensuring the safety of those around them. Now technically doing the former kind of ensures the latter…but when a town’s half ruined you’d think at least a few people would think of protecting the villagers–there’s no kingdom without them, after all.

4. All things considered, this is a pretty hilarious beatdown. They went out of their way to describe the Eight Shining Generals as these terrifying threats which matched up with the strength of the Magic Knight Captains, and Yuno gets into it with Lagos and wrecks him in barely two minutes. These guys are clearly not on the level of any magic knight captains, and I actually like that. Who would’ve specifically measured their strength levels in the first place to know? It’s not like there’s an annual tournament between all the best warriors from every kingdom (which would be hilariously stupid given how militaristic everyone is). At best, you had some spies watch from afar, notice they had some decently impressive magic, and assume they were equivalent.
So Yuno comes along, realizes these guys are only impressive to scrubs, and the result is Lagos taking a wind arrow to the chest and burying him in a building somewhere. This feels like the least Yuno could do to show he’s not being left behind by Asta, since Asta and the gang just beat someone who’s actually stronger than a Magic Knight Captain.

5. Though the series hasn’t made plain why yet, Yami clearly believes William Vangeance is the leader of the Midnight Sun. After William easily takes out not only the scrubs, but the over eager battle maniac Brocks with his World Tree magic, nearly all of the work is pretty much done. But at the very last second, Locus pops up with a sneak attack to try and turn things around for the Diamond Kingdom, only to be rebuffed by Yami. Sensing his opportunity to win has passed, Locus runs off to report back to his superiors, leaving Yami and William alone.
Yami points out that William’s magic is plant-based, but he still has a lingering sense of doubt, and rather than allow it to go on any further, he’s decided to cut straight to the heart of things. If he’s right, next episode’s going to be lit.  (…Get it?  ‘Cause Licht uses light magic?  Lit?  Ah, nevermind.)
Black Clover is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.