Aahana Swrup
The Netflix anime show ‘Record of Ragnarok‘ presents the story of an epic tournament between the best of the Gods and mortals, which will determine the future of humanity. After the Gods’ Council had made their decision to decimate the human race, Valkyrie Brunhilde managed to convince them to give humankind a chance by holding Ragnarok, a thirteen-round match where great individuals from humanity’s history will get the chance to best a God in an effort to spare the race for another thousand years. Thanks to Buddha’s interference, who chooses to fight on the side of humans, the latter group manages to secure a tie in the tournament.
However, with each immortal that falls, the Gods grow more desperate to put out the best of their warriors. As a result, Brunhilde’s chosen fighters and their Valkyrie companions find themselves facing off against daunting new challenges. Simultaneously, an important development happens behind the scenes, as Buddha unearths certain well-kept secrets about the competition. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Record of Ragnarok Season 3 Recap
In the aftermath of Ragnarok’s round six, Buddha, the God fighting on humanity’s side, is rushed to recovery. The blows he had taken during his fight against Zerofuku, who was later overtaken by Papiya the demon, have taken a toll on his being, leaving his survival uncertain. Still, as the tournament continues, Brunhilde and Goll find themselves getting back to work, choosing humanity’s next warrior. This time around, they seem to have their work cut out for them since Hades, the King of Helheim, has chosen to take the arena for the seventh round. After the death of his dear young brother Posiedon, at the hands of the great mortal swordsman Kojiro Sasaki, the Greek God is prepared to exact his revenge by sealing the fate of the human race. Given their dangerous royal opponent, Brunhilde chooses an equally kingly match for the next round: The King of Beginnings, Qin Shi Huang.
As the match begins, the Great Chinese Emperor makes an entrance worthy of his title, paving his own path into the arena on a red carpet held on top of the shoulders of every other Emperor of China that came after him. Although Huang’s cocky nature and his blindfolded deposition may suggest his arrogance, the King’s past is actually full of hardships and achievements that earn him his confidence. Huang was born as a cursed Prince of the Qin dynasty, abandoned by his parents. He grew up as a hostage inside the Zhao territory, where he was hated by everyone. However, the boy was born with a rare condition, Mirror Touch Synthesia, which turned the hatred and pain of those around him into actual physical wounds on his body. Initially, he learned to bear everyone’s hatred with a smile on his face. However, eventually, thanks to the guidance of his bodyguard, Chun Ya, he learned to become unapologetic about his own feelings. Unfortunately, Chun Ya died protecting Huang during an assassination attempt.
As a result, Huang vowed to become the greatest King and bring fortune and prosperity to his subjects. As he grew up and learned to hone his abilities to his advantage, he did just that, defeating even the demon God Chi Yu. Therefore, as he faces off against the vengeful Hades, this same ambition for greatness moves him forward. The battle between the two is grand and heart-stopping, and eventually ends with the death of the King of Helheim. As such, humanity secures a pleasant lead in the tournament, while Huang finds himself on a hospital bed fighting for his life. For the second round, something unexpected happens when Beelzebub throws his hat in the ring as the next fighter for the Gods. The young God has previously been holed up in his lair, attempting to create new horrors that could be strong enough to kill him. In his young years, Beelzebub was a solitary soul, surrounded by fearful rumors of his connection to Satan. Even so, despite his reputation, Lucifer extended him a hand of friendship, alongside his other angel friends, Azazel and Samael.
However, it wasn’t long before a brutal attack by an unseen foe took the trio of friends out. As a result, Beelzebub grew obsessed with finding Satan and making him pay for his crimes. Eventually, he gained another ally in Lilith, Lucifer’s childhood friend, who also seeks revenge. Nonetheless, once he gets close to the angel, she meets her bitter end as well. However, this time around, Beelzebub witnesses her last few moments and realizes he’s the one who has been killing his loved ones all this time. As it turns out, God has an uncontrollable dual personality, where he manifests fertility and destruction all at once. In the aftermath of the discovery, Beelzebub sought death but ended up finding a distant ally in Hades, who helped him grow as a warrior. Therefore, he now enters the Ragnarok arena in an attempt to make humanity suffer or just seal his own fate. His opponent is the great human mind, Nikola Tesla. The battle, though nail-biting, ends in favor of the Gods. Thus, the ninth round commences, pitting the Sun God Apollo against the Spartan King Leonidas.
Record of Ragnarok Season 3 Ending: What Does Odin Want From Ragnarok?
While Ragnarok continues in all its glory, putting the fate of humanity on a precarious balance, Buddha finds himself engaged in a different adventure. Never one to play by the rules, the God easily slips out of the charge of the medics, choosing to spend his time healing in nature. However, he also has other things on his mind, particularly one name who has the potential to shake up the entire Ragnarok tournament: Siegfried. As a result, he asks his trusted friend Kintoki to look into the immortal being for him. Once he learns about his connection to Brunhilde, who is apparently Siegfried’s former lover, he decides to take the conversation directly to her. Although she’s of little help, the Valkyrie lets slip a crucial detail about the nature of her relationship with the other being, and how it potentially never ended.
Consequently, previously hidden motives begin to become clearer, compelling Buddha to confront Odin in the aftermath of the ninth round. Buddha has realized that while Brunhilde started Ragnarok in an effort to save humanity, there was also an added benefit of saving her beloved Siegfried, who is currently in Tartarus serving a punishment at Odin’s hands. However, Buddha also knows that Odin would never allow his prisoner to be emancipated. Therefore, he concludes that the Norse God must have an ulterior motive of some kind. Once faced with these accusations, Odin’s temper quickly rises, and he attacks the other God. Surprisingly enough, a third party, Beelzebub, decides to intervene at that moment.
Despite his participation in the tournament, Beelzebub’s involvement with Ragnarok has always been fairly distant. His priorities are more self-centered, and the destruction of humanity doesn’t seem to be an important and eternal goal of his. However, even he is interested in unraveling the puzzle around Odin, especially after previously learning about his ambiguous “long-cherished ambition.” As it turns out, the King of the Flies has his own theories about what this ambition could mean. He seems to think that Odin wants to revive the Primordial being Gods and access Arche, the beginning of the Cosmos. While the details of what this could mean for the world remain unexplained, Buddha’s scandalized reaction to the news confirms that whatever the Norse Allfather is after will lead to decidedly unpleasant ends. Although it’s unclear how this revelation would affect Brunhilde, it’s clear that for now her priorities lie in ensuring humanity can take back their lead on the scoreboard, a feat which might be accomplished with the help of her next fighter, Soji Okita.
Who Wins: Apollo or Leonidas?
While the hidden motives behind Ragnarok remain intriguing, the tournament itself is also not without interest. After the round between Beelzebub and Tesla, the Gods have once again taken the lead against humanity with a 4-3 score. In an effort to keep the moment, Zeus decides to bring out the big guns with his next fighter: Apollo. Fortunately, Burnhilde has the ideal opponent for this match. The Valkyrie has been saving up this warrior for some time, knowing he would never pass up on a chance to take on the Sun God. Her fighter is none other than Leonidas, the Spartan King who led an army of three hundred against thirty thousand of the Persians. As it turns out, the latter has a long-standing grudge against Apollo, one that he is eager to settle on the battlefield. Leonidas has always been a non-nonsense fighter who knew conflict and violence couldn’t be avoided.
However, when his kingdom faced the threat of the Persian army at their doorstep, the Spartan council attempted to put a hold on their army’s ability to defend themselves. As per tradition, all acts of war, in defense or attack, must be halted during the Carneia Festival. The decree was believed to have come directly from their patron God: Apollo. Consequently, the council was more concerned with appealing to the Sun God than defending their own borders. Even so, Leonidas decided to forgo superstitious tradition and set out to fight the Persian army with nothing but three hundred of his men behind him. For the same reason, even after years in the afterlife, the King continued to detest Apollo and other smug individuals like him. Alternatively, Apollo has his own reasons for partaking in the competition. Unlike the other Olympians, he started off as a mediocre God who had to fight for every title and earn his place among the best of the best.
Apollo has always been a big believer in knowing one’s worth and acting according to it. Additionally, he is also closely associated with the virtues of beauty and passion. However, many mistake his appreciation of beauty for vanity when, in fact, he recognizes the true beauty in individuals as manifested through their dedication and passion. For the same reason, when he enters the battlefield, he is committed to giving his all to the match. Initially, the round seems even-footed as Leonidas manages to deflect one of his opponent’s sun arrows back onto his own body by pure luck. In the end, the King turns his Divine Weapon, Valkyrie Geirölul, into a traditional Spartan shield while the Sun God uses the thread of Artemis as a giant bow with himself as the arrow. Thus, Apollo’s ability to pierce his opponent and Leonidas’ ability to withstand the other become the determining factors of the match. Ultimately, even though Leonidas puts up a great fight, Apollo wins, securing another victory for the Gods.
Who is Siegfried? Why is He Held Captive in Tartarus?
One of the bigger mysteries that season 3 introduces is Siegfried, Brunhilde’s apparent lover and Odin’s nemesis. Although we only get a glimpse at this new character, we learns a few things about him. First, it seems evident that the immortal being is invested in the future of Ragnarok. However, it isn’t clear which side he’s rooting for. Secondly, as revealed by Buddha, it seems like the tournament might be a key to his emancipation from Tartarus. This is also a contributing factor in Bunhilde’s decision to suggest the tournament to save humanity. Siegfried was a God who was accused of stealing Odin’s magical sword, Gram.
Afterward, he is believed to have used the weapon to murder the God’s beloved dragon, Fafnir. As a result, Odin decided to punish Siegfried by making him a prisoner in Tartarus, exposed to violent torture and isolation. However, as noted by Buddha, this is an unusual method of punishment by the Allfather’s standards. The Norse God tends to simply execute simple justice and vengeance. As a result, it would have made more sense for him to punish the dragon-killer by taking his life. Nonetheless, he chose to imprison him for reasons unknown. Still, the fact that Beelzebub reveals Odin’s intentions lie in reviving the Primordial Gods implies that there is likely a connection between the latter and Siegfried. It is possible that his suffering and imprisonment are somehow directly connected to the Primordial Gods and their potential for return.
Read More: Record of Ragnarok Season 2 Part 2 Recap: Who Wins the Sixth Round?
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