REVIEW: ‘Sand Land: The Series’ Episode 11 — “Flying Fortress Garam”

With the Demon King captured by Muniel and Supreme Commander Bred, Beelzebub, Rao, Thief, and Ann must face their foes and save him and the other demons Muniel has captured. Sand Land: The Series Episode 11, “Flying Fortress Garam,” picks up with the titular flying fortress finally taking flight to invade Sand Land.

Muniel and Bred finally have acquired enough Aquanium to power this massive fortress to launch an attack on Sand Land. The reveal scene of this incredible fortress does a great job of highlighting how frightening it is. It is a massive disc-shaped fortress that can fire a laser beam strong enough to split the heavens. It is the perfect weapon for Muniel and Bred to conquer the world with.

Muniel mentions wanting to be seen as gods, a particularly interesting goal given his status as a fallen angel. The fact that the series has flipped the general notion of angels being good and demons being evil is already interesting, but this new revelation adds to the story and makes an even stronger point. Those that we are trained to see as villains are not always bad, and those that we expect to be good guys can often be the real villains.

It is fitting, then, that Sand Land: The Series Episode 11 follows up this revelation by cutting to a lonely Beelzebub. He is sitting underneath the moonlight on a rock,  downtrodden. Ann wants to comfort him, but Thief stops her. He talks about everything Beelzebub has been through and suggests she let him be while he works through his emotions.

Beelzebub has shown tremendous growth throughout the series, but he still has room to grow. The drastic shift from a carefree prince with an occasional kind heart to a necessary hero was forced on him after his father was captured. Seeing him thrust into the spotlight before he might be ready makes for an interesting next move for this unlikely hero.

He won’t have to do it alone, however. The Royal Army from Sand Land meets up with the heroes and an alliance of convenience starts to form. This is where Rao and the rest of the crew, except for a sleeping Beelzebub, learn about Muniel’s plan and his massive flying fortress. It is an epic scene with some serious ramifications that even gives Bred pause. Muniel is virtually unstoppable with Garam, so it will take everyone to band together and stop him.

The idea of unlikely allies has always been a theme in Sand Land: The Series, but the way they continue to build on it has been fun to watch. It is never just random people allying for the sake of it, there are genuine stakes and believable reasons. There is now a large group of resistance fighters teaming up against Muniel and they come together pretty naturally.

There is one moment where Sand Land: The Series Episode 11 borderlines on corny. It seems like the resistance in Forest Land was killed by Muniel, but they are almost immediately revealed as still alive. It would have been better to have a little more time to sit with the idea of their deaths. That would have made the reveal that they lived more exciting, but the threat is so massive that there really isn’t any time to waste in getting these allies together and sending them off to stop Muniel and Bred.

A conversation about possible surrender is what finally gets Beelzebub back into action. He claims he wasn’t dealing with his emotions at all, a dubious claim, but that he was creating a plan the whole time. His “plan” is to storm the fortress and free his father and Ann’s mother, but he doesn’t actually have a solid plan. It shows that he is still a child at heart, even though he is forced to step up and lead.

This also leads to a fun little montage of the ragtag group of heroes preparing for war. Exciting music roars in the background while they ready their arms and do what they can to equip themselves for battle. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t the most exciting scene of the episode. However, it is lighthearted and appreciated reprieve before the intensity ramps up.

The ground assault on the fortress starts off with a bang. Seeing a small army of tanks face off against such a massive fortress really highlights how steep a challenge this is going to be. Their shots do almost no damage and Muniel isn’t phased in the slightest. Bred thinks there is something else at play, but Muniel is so short-sighted that he believes they are invincible.

Garam also has a regiment of mechs inside of it that are unleashed on the heroes. These giant mech designs are creative, unlike anything we have seen in the series so far. In action, they are exciting to watch and a serious threat to the heroes. Sand Land: The Series Episode 11 keeps throwing wrinkles in the heroes’ plans, but they always find a way to keep going. They are able to hold their own for now, but the final confrontation between Beelzebub and Muniel is still to come.

Sand Land: The Series Episode 11 delivers high stakes and exceptional action as the series gets closer to an epic finale. The challenge for the heroes is intense, but they just might stand a chance of bringing down Muniel and Bred.

Sand Land: The Series Episode 11 is streaming now on Hulu and new episodes release every Wednesday.