tsob posted:

I think this episode was the first time I've haven't particularly liked something Murph has done in the story. I don't like the twist that Ilsed isn't actually Ilsed, and Akarot is the real evil all along, having used his body while Ilsed's ghost is just a cool guy floating around trying to get out. I'm not even opposed to the actual concept of that, so much as the fact we're only finding out the episode before they fight Akarot as Ilsed. It just feels pointlessly rushed. I can see Murph's reasoning from the Short Rest, that the Band of Boobs had no connection with Ilsed and Ilsed had no defined personality, but the obvious solution there is: actually inject him in to the story at some point and build him up, rather than just swapping him out with a character they do know at the last minute. What's even more egregious really is that Murph sounds like he wanted to have a twist of some kind all along, and deliberately refrained from characterizing Ilsed so he could pull a twist with him. I hate twists for the sake of twists and with little to no foreshadowing or build up. I'm sure I'll still enjoy the next episode, but it's just a little dollop of disappointment about an otherwise really strong story.