Anirban Bhattacharya
‘Nanatsu no Taizai’ is one of the most popular action/adventure, fantasy anime of all time. So far, there have been two seasons and an OVA in this anime series. In this article, we are going to consider the first season and the second one, which is the ‘Revival of The Commandments’. So, here’s the list of top ‘Nanatsu no Taizai’ episodes. Don’t forget to mention your favorite episode in the comments.
6. Season 2 Episode 23, The Hero Rises!!
In this episode, we get to witness the revival of Meliodas. He comes back and starts touching Elizabeth. She is too happy to notice this and asks him to touch her however he wants. She takes a moment to realize what she had said and is embarrassed about it. Zaratas appears and Meliodas tells him that he is surprised that both of them can meet again in this world. Suddenly, Derieri attacks Hawk Mam and the latter falls down, destroying the Boar Hat Tavern. Hawk, too, falls over. Meliodas, Elizabeth and Zaratas jump to the ground. Hawk tries to kick Derieri but gets kicked out of the way herself. Meliodas catches Derieri by the neck and sends her flying towards Monspeet who had already launched a magic attack. Meliodas uses full counter and sends the attack back to them, seemingly disintegrating them.
Meanwhile, Fraudrin in the body of Dreyfus and Grayroad attacks the castle. Grayroad has humans captured in egg-like structures. The Knights learn it the hard way that if the eggs are detached from Grayroad, they mature fast and the humans hatch as demons. Also, when Dogedo smashes the demons, he ages and dies. This is because Grayroad is the Commandment of Pacifism and one who murders in front of him ages and dies due to the curse. Gustav tries to freeze the eggs Jericho and Zeal are in but they soon melt.
Soon, Merlin arrives and reveals to the demons that she is the daughter of Belaluin, which freaks them out. They decide to make a run for it but Merlin captures Grayroad. Fraudrin is able to escape but Hendrickson chases him and finds him. He tries to fight the demon but it’s extremely difficult. Zaratas joins him in his fight and together, they are somehow able to defeat him and release Dreyfus. But their happiness is short-lived as Fraudrin wakes up in his true form and attacks Hendrickson. Thankfully, Meliodas makes it in time and ends up saving Hendrickson. Later, Ban, Merlin, and Howzer arrive and soon, Merlin checks out the power level of Meliodas. She sees that it is 60000, which is much more than that of Fraudrin. But there is something different about him: his eyes are black and he has a symbol on his forehead.
5. Season 1 Episode 24, The Heroes
Up next is the last episode of the first season. Here, we see the sins clash with Hendrickson for the last time. The seven deadly sins are fighting with Hendrickson while the Holy Knights stand and watch. Meliodas asks Gowther to transmit instructions to the people’s mind. Meliodas fights Hendrickson one on one while the others attack from the sidelines. But they stay at a safe distance and all the attacks by Hendrickson are taken by Meliodas. It seems as though Meliodas is willing to sacrifice his life as long as it defeats Hendrickson. But Meliodas has been taking all attacks because he is charging up for a revenge counter. But such huge amounts of power might not be something he can control. Meliodas launches his attack as Hendrickson tries to get to a distance but is trapped by Griamore in a sphere and by the time he breaks free the attack, it reaches him and he disintegrates.
Meliodas falls to the ground and Elizabeth rushes to him, after which the king approaches and the knights ask him to punish them as they have been party to various wrongdoings. But the king forgives them and asks them to rebuild the city. The war is finally over and the sins are commended for their contribution. Elizabeth is sad that she was not able to revive Hawk, but then a small Hawk emerges from the body of the dead Hawk, which delights Meliodas and Elizabeth. Later, we see Diane ask the King to go to the festival with her. Guila and Gowther hit it off and the latter retains her magical powers. But Jericho loses her powers and feels a bit bad. Ban tells Meliodas that he is leaving the group and maybe at some point of time, he might come back. Elizabeth learns that the sins are going to leave and her father asks her not to see them off. But Meliodas is the one who comes to see her, and he tells her that they still have not found the last sin and also asks her if she would like to resume her mission, to which she agrees.
4. Season 1 Episode 23, Despair Descends
The last two episodes are the best among the ones in the first season. I have put both of them on this list. Let’s start with the penultimate episode, i.e., ‘Despair Descends’. Hendrickson is running from the sins when he stumbles upon the corpse of a red demon. The sins are baffled by this discovery. Hendrickson explains to them how he had made this discovery and has used it. Gowther senses similar magic from the corpse as he did from the new generation. Hendrickson then attacks Ban who tells him that he has killed the red demon before and smashes him to the ground. He then uses his nunchucks to destroy the corpse. Hendrickson had fallen down the hole that Ban had created when he smashed him to the ground.
After a while, the sins decide to go down the hole and follow Hendrickson. Diane stays out to act as a lookout. When they reach down, they find a trail of blood and upon following it, they encounter Hendrickson behind who is the corpse of the grey demon. Hendrickson injects himself with the grey demon blood and starts to transform. His new appearance is closer to that of a demon with horns and wings. His skin turns grey and his powers are now on another level and the sins are outmatched. Outside, as the holy knights and Diane are waiting for the sins, a blast occurs which sends Diane flying. Hendrickson comes out and starts attacking the sins and the holy knights.
The attacks of the sins and the knights have no effect on Hendrickson. Elizabeth urges everyone to run away since Hendrickson is too strong for them, after which Hendrickson launches an attack which kills anything it touches. He hurls it towards Meliodas but Hawk jumps in and shields him, after which Hawk dies and Elizabeth begins to cry. Her body glows and the power of the druid blood within her awakens. This power starts restoring the lives of the dead soldiers. Hendrickson hurls a dark nebula attack towards Elizabeth but her own ball of light cancels the attacks and hurts him. The sins and knights prepare themselves for another round with Hendrickson.
3. Season 2 Episode 11, Father and Son
This is the episode where Meliodas gets his powers back. We also get to get a glimpse of Ban’s past life as he reunites with an old acquaintance of his. We also see King distrusting Meliodas and accusing him of having conflicting interests. Zhivago, the werewolf whom Ban catches, turns out to be Ban’s foster father. Ban asks him why he did not tell him before that he is a werewolf, to which Zhivago replies by saying that he was afraid of Ban changing his attitude towards him. Zhivago asks Ban why does he look so young as he should be forty by now. Ban tells him that he has been able to find the fountain of youth and has drunk from it and so now he is immortal.
Zhivago later tells Ban that he thought that the fountain of youth is just a fairy tale. The conversation then shifts to Elaine and Ban tells Zhivago that she was the guardian of the fountain and now she is dead. He also tells Zhivago that he did not make the right choice as he had to choose between his lover and his friend but he ends up trying to kill his friend. Zhivago then asks if he did kill him, to which Ban replies no. He tells that he has not been his best self and cannot be saved. Even though he was betraying Meliodas, he just smiled and forgave him. Zhivago then advises Ban to ask Meliodas’s forgiveness and dies.
Meanwhile, we see King and Meliodas fighting while Jenna is watching them. King tells Meliodas that he does not trust him and he feels that he is connected to the Ten Commandments somehow. Meliodas and King continue their fight. He warns Meliodas that if he ever tries to betray his crew, then he will never forgive him and will be the one to take him down. King condenses his power in the form of a droplet and attacks Meliodas with it. Meliodas uses the same trick on King and it works. He then exits the training cave and goes to Jenna to restore his powers back. She complies and Meliodas gains back his power. Then, he asks Merlin to transport him to the Ten Commandments. Once there, Meliodas beats Galand to a pulp and warns the Ten Commandments. This is the first episode where we see Meliodas directly challenging the Ten Commandments.
2. Season 2 Episode 19, Meliodas vs The Ten Commandments
This is probably the most intense episode of the entire series. We again get to witness the real strength of Meliodas and also his connections to the Ten Commandments. This is the most favorite episode among many fans. We see Drole and Gloxinia being knocked out by Escanor’s attack. Instead of attacking Gowther, Escanor attacks the demon duo. Meliodas then cuts of Drole’s arms. He tells them that he has been to planning to attack them for some time and wanted to catch them off-guard, thus confirming Drole’s beliefs. He tells them that he did not tell the others since Drole would have noticed that they were playing him.
Gowther picks up a fallen Escanor, asking him the reason for his sacrifice, to which he replies that he will not allow anyone to mess with the heart of his friends. Meliodas continues his fight with Drole and Gloxinia and is able to match their power level. Drole then captures the others and traps them beneath the ground. He threatens Meliodas that he will kill them if he resists. Meliodas cuts of the remaining arms of Drole but is shot down by Gloxinia who has healed himself. Beneath, the captives are feeling the repercussions. They get worried about Meliodas and want to help him but decide against him as they know that he is the only one strong enough to stop the Ten Commandments. Gilfrost then transports them to the Lioness Castle while Gloxinia heals Drole. Meliodas tries to attack them but Drole uses his Earth magic to stop him. He then cuts Drole but is unsuccessful since Drole turns himself into metal. Gloxinia tries to attack him but Meliodas hits him and Drole.
As Ban, Elizabeth, and the others look at the fight from the castle, the other members of the Ten Commandments appear. Among them is Zeldris the younger brother of Meliodas. Meliodas tries to attack him but the latter cuts off Meliodas’s hand. The other demons keep on attacking and pinning Meliodas down. Dreyfus then uses his magic to attack Meliodas but he still seems to be standing. As the demons are telling Meliodas that they will be killing him and it will be their first step towards revenge, Melidoas uses his sword to launch a revenge counter but Estarossa stops him and is the one to slowly push his foot through Meliodas’s sternum while telling him that he loves him so this is going to hurt him too.
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1. Season 2 Episode 14, Master of The Sun
I am sorry if this is not your number one pick when you think about the best episodes in the anime series. Many fans often put the fight between the Ten Commandments and Meliodas as their top choice. Believe me, I would have done it too if it wasn’t for the appearance of Escanor in the 14th episode of the anime. The scene with Escaneor literally gave me goosebumps. I mean, when he just raises his ax for the second strike, it was just awesome. The episode starts with Jericho trying hard to carry Ban and Elaine. They are hurt after the battle with Galand and Jericho is trying to escape with them. But Galand is not going to lose his prey and starts attacking the trio with huge boulders which he strikes with near perfect precision. The third boulder hits the trio and sends them flying over a ledge. Thanks to Elaine, who cushions their fall. It is using her magic that they survive.
Jericho later takes Elaine and Ban to a tavern. The bartender is a skinny guy wearing glasses. He is Escanor, the last sin to be introduced. Ban and Escanor recognize each other and Escanor helps them in hiding in the cellar. Galand and Melascula reach the tavern and start drinking. They like the drink and decide to keep Escanor alive when they take over the human world. Galand then tells Escanor that he knows that the former is hiding his prey. He then proposes that they play a game and if Escanor wins, he will let them go. Galand tells that the rule is simple and no one can leave the game before the finish. Escanor accepts his proposition and Galand hits him to congratulate him but the strength knocks Escanor out. It takes time for him to wake up and in the meanwhile, Galand begins to look around and finds a heavy battle ax. He tries to lift it up but is not able to do so.
After a while, Escanor wakes up and lifts the ax with just one hand. He reveals to them his true identity. Escanor’s physical appearances have changed a lot and now he is heavily built. He cuts Galand in half with his ax impressing Melascula. Galand recovers and tells him that now he is going to pay him back. He increases his power level to 40000 and hits Escanor but only manages to make a shallow cut. Escanor then raises his ax to stroke Galand down but the latter decides to flee. However, he ends up becoming a stone statue since he broke the rules of the game. Melascula later tries to consume Escanor’s soul but is burned from the inside. Escanor then tells Ban and the others to wait till nightfall, after which he agrees to accompany the group but before that, they must help him deliver this shipment of alcohol. Later, we see the group meeting up with King.
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