REVIEW: ‘Solo Leveling’ Season 2 Episode 5 — “This Is What We’re Trained to Do”

While the previous episode jumped around, Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5, “This Is What We’re Trained to Do,” sticks to simplicity with its storyline. Sung Jin-woo (Taito Ban) spends much of the episode trying to stay incognito, but he’s too powerful at this point not to stir some attention. However, a new complication gets thrown into the mix at the end of the episode that may shake the fabric of human society. It may blow the lid off of Jin-woo’s identity before his re-assessment results are revealed.

Things seem calm at the beginning of Episode 5, with Jin-woo getting a glimpse back to his pre-Player life when he arrives for his second (and hopefully final) day at the construction site. It’s a bittersweet moment. His life before he was selected by the System was different. People openly smiled at him but also pitied him for his lack of rank. Despite the fear he felt, there was still a level of calm that he’d always be safe. Now that he’s stronger, the roles have reversed. But the construction crew’s ready acceptance of him is a temporary healing balm.

The arrival of Captain Son Ki-hoon draws Jin-woo into danger again. This is something Jin-woo jumps at as soon as it’s offered, and almost immediately upon entering, something is awry. Unfortunately, as Solo Leveling has progressed, dungeons being something more than expected is now the norm and holds little surprise at this point. But there’s always something to uncover when this happens, and Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5 is no exception.

Keeping the storyline simple in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5 keeps things flowing.

The battle in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5 mostly focuses away from Jin-woo, giving viewers a closer look at the different hunter types. It’s been a while since we’ve seen anyone except Jin-woo use powers, so this change is refreshing. That doesn’t mean our boy doesn’t get a chance to fight. Utilizing stealth, he evens the odds for the other hunters who are swarmed by the orcs that have caught the Hunters team by surprise. With stealth, though, comes the weird pitying language thrown at E-rank hunters—something we haven’t heard much of since Season 1.

After Captain Son Ki-hoon makes the decision to turn back and exit out of the gate, the team is met with the impossible. The entrance has been sealed off, and the three mage hunters are unable to dispel it. The magic that had been hidden all episode spikes then, revealing the trickery that’s keeping them here.

The expectation is set that there will be a slaughterhouse of a battle. This becomes more clear as a wall of musclebound orcs emerge from the darkness, their eyes gleaming. Ki-hoon meets an orc desginated as a spokesperson, who twitches and flails as it attempts to adjust its speech to the human tongue. Upon speaking, the voice refers to itself as Kargalgan, though, it did take two or three play throughs to understand that the orc speaking in this scene was not actually Kargalgan.

A human/orc negotiation opens new doors and questions.

This brings us to the title of the episode, “This Is What We’re Trained to Do.” After the orcs walk away, Ki-hoon and the rest of the team give Jin-woo the order to survive. They will stay behind because it is “what we’re trained to do.” It’s so odd hearing how Jin-woo is treated as an E-rank. It is a more blatant reminder of how the ranks shape hierarchy and behavior, with the team entrusting Jin-woo with their final wills and parting words because they will do everything to ensure his survival.

Without the knowledge that Jin-woo is actually an S-rank Hunter and one who continues to evolve beyond imagination, they treat him as someone worthy of being saved. And that’s something that, while left unexplored in Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5, remains relevant. However, as the Hunters team and Jin-woo are brought to an impressively shot and designed throne room, the question of how their perception of him will change next episode rises up.

With orcs thronging each side of the throne room and the casually sitting Kargalan on its throne, it’s set up to be a confrontation unlike any other. Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5 serves as a farewell to a life that is so distantly separated from who Jin-woo is now. For Jin-woo, his decisions next episode are likely to set the stage for the remainder of the season as he bids the last remnants of his E-rank status goodbye. The end of a chapter, and the start of a whole new level of chaos.

Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 5 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.

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