REVIEW: ‘The Tale of Outcasts,’ Episode 11 – “A Legacy”

With Dantalion and Luthor forced to retreat from their battle with Marbas and the Commander, The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 follows the battle as it shifts venues to the headquarters of the Sword Cross Knights. But the Knights will not be taken unawares, and despite their commander’s absence,l some among their numbers can challenge their impressive attackers.

With the story hurtling towards its season finale, it would be reasonable to expect that the bulk of the series’ screen time moving forward would be focused squarely on the major events and the characters fighting to survive them. However, The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 takes a different route as it spends much of its time fleshing out the deputy commander of the Sword Cross Knights, Iberta, with mixed results.

I struggle with how I feel about this episode’s exploration of Iberta. The character’s background itself is well handled. Despite having to compress it into short scenes scattered throughout a single episode, the viewer can get a good sense of who this character should be. And while I find her easily the most interesting of the Sword Cross Knights the show has introduced, her appearance here comes at a steep cost.

With a full-scale battle being waged around the knights’ headquarters, almost the entire struggle is taken off-camera, so The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 can catch the viewer up on Iberta and why they should care about her. This is unfortunate as it undercuts the gravity of the situation the show has tried to sell the viewer on as it has built its threat up to this point.

This rushed approach to the character also makes their ultimate purpose in the episode almost doomed to fail. Iberta is intended to deliver an emotional moment that will leave the unsuspecting viewer in their feels. However, due to the timing of her appearance and the rushed nature of its delivery, this moment is not only easy to see coming but also has no chance of forging the ties to the viewer such a moment requires. It’s a shame, as I feel like this character could’ve created something special for the series if the narrative had found a way to make her more noteworthy earlier on.

With the time The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 has leftover, it manages to deliver the moment-to-moment story as it unfolds around its star characters. Aside from dancing around the bulk of the potential combat moments, the story’s drama is handled well enough. With where this episode leaves off, it can be hoped that the present-day story will get better treatment in next week’s episode.

Ultimately, The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 splits its time to the degree that hurts its narrative far more than it helps. While I liked the character of Iberta, her insertion into the story here does far more harm than good.

The Tale of Outcasts Episode 11 is streaming on Crunchyroll.