REVIEW: ‘The Kingdoms of Ruin’ Episode 12 — “Love and Revenge”

Last episode, Doroka and Adonis became close to each other through a Love Spell. Considered an aberration of magic, we also learned more about Doroka and her power, and by that, Queen Dorothea’s power is viewed by other witches. Now, in The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 12, the season finale, the Love Spell is a success, allowing them to survive and win their fight against Sirousagi.

Empowered by Doroka’s Love Spell, Adonis reaches new heights of physical and magical power, and the end is quick, retaliatory, and brutal. But more importantly, he unleashes his magic in a way that fulfills a promise he made to Chloe when he was a child, turning the wasteland and the ruined kingdom to ice. At the same time, we see Dorothea‘s continued influence on Redia and a declaration of war against the other kingdoms.

The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 12 is a finale, but it’s one that feels hollow in just about every way. The developments in this episode, which include Doroka and Adonis’s relationship growing in strength and seeing more kingdoms beyond Redia, all feel too little too late. In fact, learning that there are far more nations out there that are still thriving when we’ve spent the entirety of the season on Redia seems awkward at best and empty at worst.

Expanding the scope of the world in this episode is a hindrance because it makes everything we’ve just seen seem so much smaller. Did everyone kill witches? Was it just Redia? We just don’t know. While that question can lead to intrigue, it also highlights how little the series has done to build out much beyond just who witches are.

The most interesting element of the episode is how much Doroka and Adonis have grown complimentary to each other. Adonis asks Doroka to share her kindness with him. At the same time, Doroka has begun to believe that revenge has its place in the world and in her heart. The balance between them has been slowly developing, but this episode shows this connection at its clearest. Despite offering some payoff for having watched Adonis treat Doroka terribly for ten other episodes, it leaves me wishing everything had been handled earlier in the season.

The core issue of the series is that the pacing, which once felt kinetic, now seems to have moved astonishingly slowly, given the revelations we saw in The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 12. There is much more to explain and not enough time to fully understand who the characters have become after everything they’ve been through. In fact, the last two episodes easily could have been one, and the series would have been better for it. The action of the series is fantastically animated, but at the same time, the focus on it alone has been a detriment to the narrative.

The series began strong, but with the season finale, there is just no impact. To be honest, The Kingdoms of Ruin Episdoe 12 solidifies that this series fumbled much of the impact it promised with Adonis’s “raze the world to the ground” stance. It had everything going for it, but with slow character development and a story that has seen nearly no resolution, the season ends with a resounding “huh?”

I don’t think that The Kingdoms of Ruin is lost as a series, but it badly needs a Season 2 in order to bring its themes and its characters to a close. It took too long for Adonis to be someone you root for. None of that journey feels like it’s paid off—not even his revenge.

Despite its great animation and character designs, and its strong start, The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 12 is a frustrating end to a series that could have been so much more. If a Season 2 happens, then it can be redeemed, and as a manga, the story continues well beyond what we see. That said, if that doesn’t happen, well, this was a waste.

The Kingdoms of Ruin Episode 12 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.