Sword Art Online - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Adigard]

Originally Posted by Rakshasa

Why would anyone think Heathcliff made the bet thinking he had a chance to beat Kirito?

There's obviously something else behind the offer, as if beating Kirito was the objective he would have insisted on a honorable fight where Kirito didn't 'cheat' by dual-wielding. The point is, I think, to put Kirito into a place where he can't keep soloing for some reason.

OTOH, maybe just like Kirito the guild leader of KoB is a MMO addict who "wants to see the Unique skill in use". That's not even vaguely surprising. You've got the perfect excuse, and Kirito is perfectly willing to go along with the idea.

AND, it's not like they're dueling right in that room... it's probably going to be a semi-public spectacle, maybe for the guild? Heathcliff could be setting things up for Asuna's benefit... knowing that he'll get toasted, but he could show his loss and Kirito's victory as a way to ensure that Asuna doesn't need a bodyguard / has a valid reason to miss the next boss floor fight / show the guild the powerful new member who's joining.

Hell, for all we know KoB being the most powerful guild in the group has a bunch of members screaming to "get to see the new Unique skill".

Long term the guild leader wins... because Asuna will obviously try and convince Kirito to join KoB to be with her more often (she's not quitting her guild obviously).

Originally Posted by Rakshasa

We're going to have a very public fight where the amazing new dual-wielding skill is going to be on display. And it has a good backstory too; the mysterious loner who cares only of himself fights to get the girl.

Yup!

Originally Posted by Lumir

So after Asuna gets unintentionally fondled by kirito, she decides to jump behind kirito when her body gaurd shows up because? And then moments later dismisses that same bodyguard? Dunno bout you but it didnt seem right. To me it seemed like she wanted kirito to handle the guard.

And that's wrong? Why? Asuna obviously likes Kirito, and is unhappy that Kirito doesn't return her feelings quite so obviously, what's wrong with wanting to be rescued by the guy you like? She is a young girl for god's sake. I'm sure there are some 'maiden fantasies' in there somewhere.

Originally Posted by Lumir

As for the political implications, you can throw those out the window.

pshaw~ There are always political implications, everywhere. You can choose to ignore them, but it's at your own peril.

Originally Posted by Lumir

This is a life or death game, and like I hinted to before, if a guild cant respect your choices then thats not a guild to be in. With her position she could have sent an IM to the guild leader and expected a good response to her "guard" situation. And if not, then she could have seen the guild leadership unfit/ect and decided a course of action.

She is one of the major driving forces for the clearing of the death game 6,000'ish souls are currently trapped in. Why do you even imagine she wants to quit her guild / leave her position / go hide in a yurt with Kiritio until someone else frees them?

And on the bodyguard situation? It's been discussed before, no? She was shocked and unhappy but still respects her bosses authority to some extent. Why not let Kirito rescue her and maybe raise some flags there? She's certainly trying to raise flags in other places... maybe that's a good spot to do it in.

Originally Posted by Lumir

If the guild cant handle climbing up further without asuna there are a multitude of other things they could focus on while she is absent, (it is an MMO full of things to do).

You're going to send an instant message to 500 people and let them know that they should do other things for two weeks while the person who does all the strategy is on vacation with her new boyfriend? Yah...that'll go over well.

On the other hand, Asuna is in the perfect position to take a vacation NOW, since the floor boss was defeated and it'll likely take another 6-7 days to get to the next floor boss, she could probably go away with Kirito for a week safely.

Originally Posted by Lumir

Hopefully kirito has a brain and asuna has the "balls" to not allow the guild to manipulate them. I mean to be honest, the guild already has asuna, and kirito is more then willing to help people out, so whats all this fuss to get him to join a guild?

The most powerful guild in the game... not trying to recruit the hero who just solo'ed a 50-man fight versus a floor boss with a 50 hit unique combo after it had destroyed an entire squad of powerful players.

Yah... I don't see the reason at all, do you?

[~Yami~]

wow! Lizbeth and Klein make their appearance again ^^

and that nitouryuu is super awesome... I like how Kirito finally decide to solo that boss...

Heathcliff is also get his appearance in this episode...

I think I've said enough... this episode is very great in my opinion

notes : I think I'll faint if Asuna hugs me like that for more than 7 mins

[Rakshasa]

Originally Posted by Adigard

The most powerful guild in the game... not trying to recruit the hero who just solo'ed a 50-man fight versus a floor boss with a 50 hit unique combo after it had destroyed an entire squad of powerful players.

Yah... I don't see the reason at all, do you?

Kirito has gone from a beater to... Something of a legend.

Pretty much the perfect story to give the tired players new hope. And really, a 2 week vacation would be good for not just Asuna and Kirito, but pretty much all the frontliners.

Seems like Klein and his group are the only ones who are managed properly which makes sense considering he was a former guild leader. Actually the whole situation reminds me of The Dronelands War back when I was highly active in EVE Online null-sec.

That kind of beneath the surface exhaustion is something that happens right before a complete collapse, and I'm not talking about the Army guys. A failscade is imminent.

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

and that nitoryuu is super awesome... I like how Kirito finally decide to solo that boss...

It's nitouryuu, if you're going to romanize it with 'ryuu' then be consistent.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by Karakuri

Just like relentless said, if Kirito joined the guild there would be a higher level of morale, not to mention, even Asuna wants Kirito to join a guild, because it's risky to keep on leveling up by himself. We've seen Kirito did enjoy doing the party with Asuna, and he really thinks it's better if you're not alone, so why wouldn't he accept the duel? He'll win even if he is defeated: He will stay with Asuna and he'll be in a guild. A powerful one.
And Heathcliff is probably aware of that anyway. The monsters are getting harder to kill...I'm pretty sure he knows Kirito can't stand alone by himself for much longer, why not help him have his girl and a guild to give a bit more of protection?
Probably even if Heathcliff lost, he would still ask for Kirito to join the guild after the vacation with Asuna...I mean, what does Kirito lose in joining a guild, where Asuna is in? Nothing...

Unless Heathcliff is some secret PK in disguise, you make your point quite well. (it's not like I even have any such negativity in the first place.

So... in case Heathcliff wins and/or Kirito joins KoB, who wants to see Kirito in white cloak?

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

Unless Heathcliff is some secret PK in disguise, you make your point quite well. (it's not like I even have any such negativity in the first place.

So... in case Heathcliff wins and/or Kirito joins KoB, who wants to see Kirito in white cloak?

I'd like to see that because: It takes out the negativity people have from him " The Black Swordsman "...it just seems way too gloomy...Plus, different visual...Yeah ^^

[M1sFyr3]

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

notes : I think I'll faint if Asuna hugs me like that for more than 7 mins

I think I'll start lagging like Klein did

[Adigard]

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

So... in case Heathcliff wins and/or Kirito joins KoB, who wants to see Kirito in white cloak?

Betcha money Asuna does!

[ronelm2000]

Then... the only thing left to do is to equip Dark Repulser as main weapon... Put a couple of white cloaks here and there.... add a white t-shirt, red scabbard...hmm....

...wait... what do you mean I have no illustrators to get it done? TT.TT

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

Just awesome dual swords 50 hit combo and what ever that flash thing was

It's actually a 16 hit combo, the newspaper exaggerated it.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by chaos_alfa

It's actually a 16 hit combo, the newspaper exaggerated it.

It's either a 16-hit combo or a 32-hit combo depending on your POV. However, newspapers in SAO are like Aya's newspapers: they're ALWAYS exaggerated. Always.

[csuree]

really nice episode.....i loved it....Kirito on the loose....

Another thing.....the game is 100 levels.....they are at level 74/75 now. Kirito always said that it is better to level up with + 10 lvls so eventually soloing would be more like a hindrance than help close to levels 90+.

[mod edit: removed source material info]

[chaos_alfa]

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

It's either a 16-hit combo or a 32-hit combo depending on your POV. However, newspapers in SAO are like Aya's newspapers: they're ALWAYS exaggerated. Always.

It could also be two or more 16-hit combos.

Originally Posted by csuree

really nice episode.....i loved it....Kirito on the loose....

Another thing.....the game is 100 levels.....they are at level 74/75 now. Kirito always said that it is better to level up with + 10 lvls so eventually soloing would be more like a hindrance than help close to levels 90+.

[mod edit: removed source material info]

No one has said the level cap is level 100.

[csuree]

if you were the game designer would you make it easy to beat the last boss or real hard.....

i played wow... where the bosses were stronger than the level cap....so no game designer gives the player the advantage.....so at a 100 level game the max level will always be 100.....

[csuree]

think of it as those caged in players near the final levels.....more and more players would come to the front line to get home as quickly as possible.....

here the main goal is uniting the players to clear the game....so now there are 6000 left......
at level 99 we say there will remain 5000.....i think at level 99 most if not all those 5000 will go to the last boss to beat it. so the game needs a cap or the final boss would be the easiest...and then all those players would curse themselves for not joining the front lines sooner.

and every game has a cap....i never heard of them not having

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by csuree

think of it as those caged in players near the final levels.....more and more players would come to the front line to get home as quickly as possible.....

here the main goal is uniting the players to clear the game....so now there are 6000 left......
at level 99 we say there will remain 5000.....i think at level 99 most if not all those 5000 will go to the last boss to beat it. so the game needs a cap or the final boss would be the easiest...and then all those players would curse themselves for not joining the front lines sooner.

and every game has a cap....i never heard of them not having

5000? O.o
There are only 500 at the front line...so I guess it couldn't be 5000 fighting agaisn't the last Boss, since the rest of those people are people who are enjoying their life / not leaving the village in fear of dying / just being an average player who doesn't really care about leveling up that much...
And not every game has a cap...I think I've seen some in which you can level up as far as you want to...An example: Gladiatus - I've never heard of a max level in there, and I was in the guild of an Admin, so I would know if there was a max level...

[Triple_R]

A bit late to the party here, but I felt I should share my thoughts on this episode.


It was great to see SAO truly become the action-adventure extravaganza that I expected and hoped it would be after I first heard about it. This episode is probably my favorite SAO episode yet!

I loved the bit before the OP with Kirito and Asuna running away scared, shouting even, from the boss. It humanized our main protagonists in a way, while also setting up this minotaur-esque boss as a compelling threat for the episode.

The big fight itself was certainly a great watch, and I loved the overall execution of it. I like how Asuna was the first one to rush in, and how it was afterwards Kirito to the rescue. I think this strengthens both characters - like Kazu-kun said, it showcases Asuna as a real hero. At the same time, it shows how Kirito is still suffering from a bit of PTSD over how his former guild was decimated, hence he needed somebody important to him being in danger in order to snap him out of his psychologically paralyzed state.


I also liked how Klein, Lizbeth, and Agil all made appearances in this episode. It's good to see a lot of recurring characters in this episode, as it makes the world of SAO seem a bit more fully realized to me.


I have no major bones of contention with this episode. On the whole sexism discussion, I don't think that Asuna was portrayed as weak. In fact, she was portrayed as stronger than 95% or more of the guys there, imo. It's just that Kirito was portrayed, once again, as the ultimate, badass protagonist. But this is a case of Kirito overshadowing everybody, not just Asuna.

So I will admit that Kirito's overall portrayal is bordering on "too good/strong for his own good as a character" right now, which is the main thing that kept my rating for this episode down to a 9 instead of a 10.

I honestly hope that Heathcliff wins the duel with Kirito. I think that Kirito needs a significant loss/setback just so the overall narrative doesn't seem overly favoring towards him.

[dark998]

Well, the managed to surpass the episode 2. While the fight was shorter, it also was more focused and the visual quality was better as well. The audio too, using three different BGM during it (one new). That coupled with Asuna cooking skills and that long hug near the end pretty much make this the best episode so far.

And now onto the Heathcliff duel.

[EnOfEridu]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I honestly hope that Heathcliff wins the duel with Kirito. I think that Kirito needs a significant loss/setback just so the overall narrative doesn't seem overly favoring towards him.

Well, it would be true if the overall theme is "you can't go solo forever". But i want Kirito to win, get the girl and show he is The Best There is. Period. Just because i like the concept of "Lone Badass"

I like this series, but all the episodes seem "decompressed" to me. They take their sweet time to go anywhere. Nice to see it "moving forward". This has been the best episode, if only for the super-powered dual wielding technique. (also, googling for the name and stupidly spoiling myself, not cool. )

[FlameSparkZ]

Awesome episode.
Once more we see how much Kirito likes food (read: Asuna's cooking).

Kirito is forced to use the skill he's hidden so far, Dual Wielding.
Starburst Stream reminds me of a skill in Mabinogi called Final Hit (aka Infinite Slash) that is much like that combo: The player doesn't get stunned from being hit and allows them to continuously slash the target while the skill is active (also lets you teleport to the target)

Next will be the duel with the leader of KOB, Heathcliff...so it's a dual swords vs sword+shield match.

[relentlessflame]

This is regarding some of the posts from earlier -- as a reminder, you may not post any information in this thread that has not been revealed in the anime. That includes information from any external website that contains information from the novels or any other medium that is further ahead than the anime in the story. Some posts were edited/deleted.