It’s time for the epilogue of Ranking of Kings. Bosse is dead, Daida is back in control of his faculties, Ouken is compressed inside of a giant boulder, and all the major players are alive although a few are now short some limbs. The final two episodes seek to put a bow on most of the straggling threads and reassert the series’ overall thesis of abandoning malice for empathy and forgiveness. Ranking of Kings has long been married to this idea that there is not true villainy (sans episode 18) and while I can appreciate its commitment, it’s asking a lot of its audience in these final moments.
Primarily, it’s asking us to forgive Miranjo, a horrifically abused woman who nonetheless orchestrated the murder of Bojji’s mom, influenced Daida to have his brother assassinated, attempted to have Hiling torn apart by mind-controlled beasts, unleashed Ouken on the general populous,…
