Overlord IV – 08 – The Dumbest Noble

The Dwarven arc is…done, I guess? Moving on, we return to the Re-Estize Kingdom, where royal siblings Zanac and Renner discuss what to do about the Sorcerer Kingdom. Renner wants Zanac to be installed as king ASAP, but also suggests that declaring themselves a vassal state like the Empire might not be the worst idea.

Meanwhile, much further down the line, Baron Phillip Montserrat is already half in the bag at a maid bar while chatting with a couple of his baron bros. Despite being cordial with Albedo, when he learns how the Sorcerer Kingdom is making bank with its agricultural exports, he proposes that something be done about it.

That something happens, a report is filed that finds itself on Albedo’s desk, and before you know it, Ainz and his Floor Guardians are all back in Nazarick. I guess with teleportation it’s not that crazy; it’s just been a while. Hilma Cygnaeus is brought before Ainz, and she does a pretty good Albedo impression.

Ainz dominates her mind and determines she wasn’t directly responsible for the attack on his merchant convoy, but learns that Montserrat was. This is when Ainz sits back and lets Albedo, Demiurge, and the others explain the situation to him (under the guise of explaining it to the other Guardians). The byproduct of his passivity is all the Guardians agree that the Kingdom should face severe punishment.

This results in Prime Minister Albedo arriving in the Kingdom to have an audience with the King, Zanac, and Renner. The King asks what she’s there for, but he already knows. Rather than give the Sorcerer Kingdom Montserrat’s head, however, he offers his own, surprising kids, court, and Albedo alike.

There’s been a lively pace to geopolitical developments throughout Overlord IV, and this episode is no different, checking in on players we hadn’t seen in a bit while giving us an always-welcome Guardian reunion at Nazarick. Through it all, Ainz is going with the flow, trusting his people to offer him sage council and continuing to let them think he’s five steps ahead when he’s actually catching up.

Overlord IV – 02 – If You Can’t Beat ‘Em…

Ainz wants to create a kingdom he can be proud to show his colleagues, regardless of whether they’ll ever return to this world (or if they are here, come out of hiding). It’s a noble desire, and one that will possibly require more than Albedo’s iron fist or Demiurge’s diamond-sharp mind. He seems to know that even if he personally isn’t up to snuff, it might just ultimately take other humans—i.e. lower life forms his subordinates despise.

Re-Estize took a lickin’ when it lost E-Rantel, but it keeps on tickin’, with Renner even opening a huge and elaborate orphanage for the children of those lost in the war. Tina and known Momon Fangrl Evil Eye accompany Renner and her beloved dog-knight Climb as she returns to the palace, where Prince Zanac is about to meet the Sorcerer Kingdom’s envoy.

Brain, on the other hand, simply trains, resigned to the long game of training some of the orphans into becoming the next Gazef; when his teacher asks why he doesn’t take on the mantle of Top Warrior, Brain intimates that he’s just not up to it. Having watched what Ainz did to Gazef, that’s no surprise.

When the envoy—our girl Lady Albedo—does arrive at Re-Estize, she carries herself with all the weight and stature such a position entails (her carriage is also pulled by a shimmering golden demon horse, which can’t hurt). Zanac doesn’t need Renner to tell him he needs to be on his best behavior.

On slightly less than his best behavior is one Philip Dayton L’Eyre Monterrat, the surviving son of a poor barony with only one village that also happens to be positioned neatly between the two kingdoms. Philip breaks etiquette and protocol by being the first of the nobles at the ball to welcome Albedo and introduce himself.

Phil later tells his dad that this is what their domain needs: to build ties with the Sorcerer Kingdom for favorable treatment when an invasion inevitably comes. To this end, he’s invited Albedo to another ball at the stately home of the rich commoner Hilma Cygnaeus.

Hilma, who has a very distinctive face, sees “potential” in Philip, and looks forward to benefiting from the power he gains in the future as a result of her financial and logistical support in the present. She even lets the brat co-host an event being held in her home. As he escorts and even puts his arm around Albedo, it’s clear how out of his league Phil is, but you can’t help but admire his ambition. At least he’s trying to do something to stem the tide of ruin for his domain!

As we learn when Albedo retires to her chambers, Hilma is in league with Albedo to secure a “puppet”, and Albedo is happy with one as stupid as Philip, despite his impropriety and stupid smirk. Perhaps a little more juicy is the fact that either behind Zanac’s back or with his tacit support, Princess Renner herself is bending the knee to Albedo, helping to smuggle goods into E-Rantel in exchange for a blue magical box Renner is confident she’ll be able to open.

While stubborn mules like Brain simply slow down what they see as an eventual turnaround in fortune somewhere far down a road he won’t be alive to see, operators like Renner and Philip are getting in early while the getting’s good. If Ainz and his ilk can’t be defeated by other individual or force in this world, they might as well make nice.