Nanatsu no Taizai Chapter 293/294: That "Some Day" is Now and
Hope, Discord, and Despair by eefritWhat better way to end the year than with a double review of the last two chapters until the New Year?
293 begins with Elizabeth approaching Ban and inquiring about Mel's status. Ban confirms that his mission was successful, much to Elizabeth's relief. However, Ban's attention turns elsewhere as he appears to be searching for something, presumably, using his senses that were finely honed in Purgatory. As he heads towards his goal, he tell the others to go ahead to where Mel is, as he has something he needs to take care of. I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get much interaction between the King, Diane, and Ban, but I'm hoping we get some in a future chapter.
Back at the Fodder Battlefield, we are treated with a decent double spread of the war. It's a shame a lot of these characters loss relevance, because while it's a fun page to look at, you really don't care about the results seeing as how all of the stakes lean towards the Sins side of things. If all of these characters loss, it wouldn't really matter as the Sins can win and still save the day.
Anyway, in a nice progression of panels, we see various individuals of Stigma saving one another from a number of attacks by Demons, ending with Guila and Howser being rescued by Elaine, The Fairy's Holy Maiden. However, it's clear that she isn't doing to well herself. Gerharde, the Aid to the Fairy King, tell her that she must rest after rescuing her from an attack by a demon, but Elaine refuses to do so, citing that she has to fight for the Fairy King's Forest as hard as Ban is in Purgatory. She lets loose a large attack, wiping out a large portion of the demons, but, as a result, loses the wings and power she gained. After large swaths of chapters passing with no real detail on Fairy Physiology, we are just now getting confirmation that if a Fairy loses their wings, they lose their power. Gerharde most likely was way stronger before than she is now.
Elaine falls into the demons path, but before they can kill her, she's saved by Ban. It's not exactly impressive seeing as how it's only low level demons, but I guess it's still a decent feat compared to what he was capable of before.
After a melodramatic speech, Elaine dies for all of two pages, before Ban bring her back to life using his new ability "Gift" to bring her back to life, at the cost of his immortality. Who gives a crap. Between that and the whole "underaged" make out scene, this was one of the worst chapters of the year for me. My main source of contention with this chapter is the fact that Ban's gaining of this ability was literally only 10 chapters ago, so this being the result so soon doesn't sit well with me. It really felt like a rushed conclusion to this arc which feels like it ended early on when Elaine was brought back to life the first time.
Thankfully, things get better in the next chapter.
294 beings with Mael performing a spell on the corpses of Derriere and Oslo. He reveals that it's a reincarnation spell that allows the individual to keep their memories of the past. I assume this will come into the future, but seeing as how these characters didn't really appeal to me or had late development, I'm not really interested in what will come of it.
Gowther request Mael come with them to Camelot to help with the fight, but Mael doesn't seem to want to do that. His hesitance really doesn't make much sense though. The world is going to end if they do nothing and he's throwing a pity party about his previous action. Not the time bro. Anyway, Elizabeth comes in and, as usual for characters she speaks too, he'll go along with her request.
We switch back over to King, Diane, and Hawk, with the latter two wondering where the other's went off too. King isn't much worried about them however, and moreso worried about the terrifying presence that appeared out of nowhere. Diane asks King if Merlin, Escanor, and the others are okay. King makes himself some fly clothes from some plants as he agrees with Diane that he's worried their friends and that's why they should hurry. King's my favorite character, so I'm obviously going to love him getting some new duds and looking good. Diane seems to agree as she does a never before seen double pony tail grab. She notices King's spear Chastiefol is gone, but before she can ask where it went, Elizabeth, Gowther, and Mael return, ready to head out.
Back at Camelot, Escanor and the Sinner are going at it. However, with noon having passed, Escanor is on the losing end of the fight. Sinner delivers a strong slash, but Escanor keeps on trucking, delivering a point blank Cruel Sun to Sinner. Merlin suggest they wait until King and the others come in to back them up to which Escanor rejects, stating that the two of them are more than capable of finishing the fight. Sinner, unscathed, basically proves that notion wrong. Merlin attempts a quick sneak attack, but with just his voice, Sinner makes her attack backfire in her face. Merlin's injured and Escanor attacks Sinner in anger, only to be met with a donkey kick. Before he's finished off though, the previously missing Spirit Spear comes out of nowhere and smashes in Sinner, causing him to cough up blood. King sent of the Spirit Spear ahead to assist his friends. Badass. We were shown previously that King and others were at a midpoint between Liones and Camelot, which are nearly a whole continent apart.
The final panel shows King and rest coming in to help save the day, ending the year on a hopeful note.
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