REVIEW: ‘Tower Of God’ Season 2 Episode 3 — “The Trustworthy Room”

Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3 proves how near-impossible it is to keep track of all the many characters and plots this series juggles. To strip it down to its most basic, bare-bones parts, the idea is simple. A group of beings decide to climb a mysterious tower to achieve power, wealth, and happiness. It’s whenever the series looks beyond that premise where things begin to stray towards convoluted. Everyone has a title, and every challenge has five more rules than necessary. While there’s no denying the endless thrills of the series, every so often, an episode like “The Trustworthy Room” tests patience.

One of the reasons Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3 suffers the weight of its exposition more than the first two is because it is a transitional episode. The first two episodes of the season reestablished the world and introduced our new protagonist, Ja Wangnan (Yuma Uchida), along with the returning Bam (Taichi Ichikawa) — now a FUG operative known as Viole. Those establishing moments, along with us being thrust straight into the action and straight into the realization of Bam/Viole’s new, profound power, kept the plot zipping along.”The Trustworthy Room” slows things down, even with the promise of more action at the very end.

It almost seems overtly on the nose just how much the storyline stalls as even Wangnan complains about how bored he is as he, Nia, and the rest of the contestants are confined to their rooms. We even get the visual gag of them all playing cards together, continuing to bond as Viole isolates. If anything, these moments will allow us to learn more about the new ragtag group. The serious Hon Akraptor (Kento Shiraishi) gets two particular stand-out moments that flesh out his character.

For the most part, the past of these new characters remains deliberately vague. This was largely true with some of our Season 1 players as well. With Hon, however, we learn quickly that there’s a reason why he gravitated towards the group and why he first argued that Yeo Miseng (Saki Miyashita) should leave the competition. While it was initially seen as him simply trying to eliminate the competition, it now feels more compassionate. His past is troubled, and something happened to his daughter as a result. He becomes Miseng’s personal bodyguard in Episode 3 as he strives to keep her safe from leeching contestants.

Hon and Horyang Kang (Kenichiro Matsuda) also get a moment of understanding once the surprise next test starts. They both understand what makes the other tick, suggesting some level of mutual respect. But both use that understanding to try and play the other as they’re tasked with deciding who leaves the room they share and who stays to recruit more members and pass the test. These character moments help soften the convoluted nature of the test itself, which is presented by Mule Love (Ayumu Murase), one of the administrators.

It’s not so much that the test itself is hard to understand. Contestants must rally up a group without having a key component taken from them. One person from each room must stay to protect it while the other leaves. However, it is overly verbose to the point of distraction. Perhaps it comes down to being one of those people who can’t be taught how to play board games, but my eyes began to glaze over in this sequence. It isn’t helped by Viole’s separate set of rules that has him going up against Yeon Yihwa (Sayumi Watabe), Prince (Kengo Kawanishi,) and more.

All this results from Viole refusing to pick a team in Episode 2, and Love punishes him for it. Viole doesn’t listen to Love’s rules and goes straight to him for combat, refusing to listen to anything the admin says. Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3 pays even more attention to the new developments of Viole’s powers. He can somehow freeze assailants in their place, and while he tries the same move on Love in a final test to determine Viole’s fate, it isn’t an easy fight. The episode ends with them mid-battle while Prince enlists the help of some mysterious figures to take Viole down.

Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3 is decent if overwrought. There needed to be a better way to streamline the plot and details to keep the pace moving at a decent, engaging clip. Instead, it loses steam in the first half before the action ramps up again. While the greater character development helps, it would’ve worked better if it had happened in tandem with a strong narrative.

Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3 is out now on Crunchyroll.