Solo Leveling

Episode 4

When it comes down to it, this episode is all about the mindset of our hero—and how it changes through the constant danger he is facing. In the last episode, he struggled against a group of goblins. In this episode, we see that more than the goblins, his real enemy is his self-doubt.

Despite leveling up, Jinwoo still thinks of himself as the world's weakest hunter. Therefore, he looks at the threats around him as if it were his old self facing them. Before, he had trouble defeating a single goblin. So last episode, despite them being far weaker than him, he feared them and lost the mental battle for most of the fight. But once he compared his current fear to that of the double dungeon's boss room, he was able to put it out of his mind and had little issue killing the whole group.

In this episode, the same thing happens with the wolf. He compares it in his mind to the goblins who he still (incorrectly) feels are stronger than him and fears he can't win. However, this time, having a weapon in his hand gives him what he needs to unleash his true strength. But it's not that the weapon is super strong, it's simply a crutch that lets him overcome his lack of self-confidence. And when the pack comes at him in numbers, he once again recalls the fear he felt in the double-boss room to help him fight on.

All this teaches him one thing: don't give in to fear. So when his weapon is nearly broken and his newly attuned senses tell him there is a boss ahead that is far stronger than the other monsters he's faced, he knows that, logically, it's time to use the teleport stone and get out. After all, the trip has already been a success: he's leveled up to the point where the wolves don't even give him experience points anymore. Yet, he moves forward regardless—taking the recently learned lesson to heart.

In the battle against the snake, he is once again his own worst enemy—doubting his strength and relying on a broken weapon. But throughout the fight, he's able to see himself. He turns his doubt into rage—into a powerful drive to prove everyone else wrong. It's then that he throws away his last crutch, his broken weapon, and trusts fully in himself and the power he has gained. With that, he can do what the sword couldn't: pierce the snake's hide and deal a mortal blow.

Yet, as the final scene shows, he's still not quite over his inferiority complex. Rather than accepting that he's so strong now that he was able to shatter the defenses of a golem in a single hit, he decides to believe that it had already been weakened beforehand—something even a D-rank tank could tell was not the case. So while this episode sees Jinwoo take massive steps toward being a confident hero, it's clear that this is going to be a process. Sometimes, you end up backsliding a bit. The important thing is to keep moving forward, no matter what.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Joohee is in no way ready to be back on the battlefield and trying to guilt her into fighting is only going to end up with people dead—either her or those she's supposed to be healing.

• Another episode, another weapon broken. Let's hope the fang dagger lasts a bit longer.

• From what we see of his stats, it appears that he's continuing to dump everything into strength and letting the rest grow stronger naturally as he levels.

• I liked that flashback with Chiyul. It shows why he was chosen to be the leader back in episode one.

Solo Leveling is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.