Overlord II takes a deep dive into the tribal Lizardmen (and women) corner of Yggdrasil, this week, and in doing so demonstrates that even with non-human characters, the show excels at straightforward yet immersive world-building.
The Green Claw tribe has been given eight days to prepare a “desperate and futile defense” against certain doom, and considering fourth-tier magic was used to deliver the message, the tribe’s head priestess fears the worst.
Zaryusu Shasha, while a traveler and no longer a member of any tribe, is nevertheless sent by his brother and tribal chief to speak with the other four tribes about forming an alliance against their mutual enemy, believing that enemy is depending on their remaining disunited.
We get a cursory look into the Tomb of Nazarick where the confident penguin Assistant Butler Eclair enthusiastically prepares for the day he’ll rule Nazarick—by keeping it thoroughly and obsessively clean.
Zaryusu rides his trusty giant hydra to the lands of the Red Eye Tribe, where he is shocked to find their acting chief and head priestess, Crusch Lulu, is an albino lizard. He is immediately smitten with her, which catches her off guard, but they are able to find common cause with relative ease.
I feel like we spend a great deal of time in that hut with Zaryusu and Crusch, but it also feels like time well spent, as we’re able to learn a great deal about the conditions that led to her leadership.
In a dire food shortage the former chief resorted to cannibalism, which Crusch and the tribe endured for a time, but eventually there was an insurrection, and she was their leader.
Her description of the trials she and her people have endured are vivid and well-told, and Zaryusu, while initially a bit forward, treats her with the respect she’s due. I was legitimately please to hear she’s all for an alliance.
I also appreciated the very human behavior assigned to these anthropomorphic lizards; I never forgot they weren’t human but I could still easily sympathize and empathize with both of them, and there was a good portion of casual humor mixed in to keep the proceedings from getting too stodgy.
Crusch (wearing a bush to protect her pale skin from the sun) accompanies Zaryusu to the next tribe, the war-loving Dragon Tusk. Their leader, Zenberu, knows why they’re there, but Zaryusu will have to prove he is strong before they ally themselves with Green Claw and Red Eye.
Meanwhile, Cocytus prepares for battle, I’m assuming it will be against the Lizardmen tribes (I may well end up being wrong, of course). If true, the show puts us in an interesting position of rooting for the underdogs and caring about their plight, all while feeling a kind of kinship to Momonga and his cohorts.
The lines of hero and villain are blurred, despite the fact one side is fighting for survival, while Cocytus merely seeks to distinguish himself in glorious battle. I’m eager to see where this is all headed.
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