Warning: Spoilers for Black Clover Episode 169 “The Devil-Binding Ritual”
“The Devil-Binding Ritual” has cemented that this arc cannot end with episode 170. With the amount of questions and responsibilities hanging in the air there is no way next week will wrap everything up with a neat bow. Everyone is in either a state of just starting training or right in the middle. There are still three devils out there and three people in need of rescuing. I predict one heck of a cliffhanger next week.
What Have We Learned?
- They only have three days, with two of those days being taken up by miracle training. I admit I misspoke last week saying they had a full week before the rescue.
- There is something known as “Ultimate Magic” that the elves will teach our squad out in the Heart Kingdom. Hopefully this makes for some exciting battle scenes ahead.
- The elves did not suffer complete tragedy as Tetia’s child survived.
- The devil-binding ritual is essentially a duel to the death and time is running short.
- Nacht is super judgmental. We already knew this but it was further cemented with that speech at the hideout. Give them a break!
Lingering Secrets to Be Revealed
As soon as Asta’s devil gains it’s physical form the opening sequence everything starts to make sense. My interpretation had originally been that’s the form that awaits Asta if he gives in fully to his devil. However, this is what his devil looks like and they are so similar!
While I was watching today it finally clicked that Asta’s headband and his arm pattern match. Heavy foreshadowing has been there all along, underlying his deep connection to his devil. A fact that was also pointed out by Nacht.
We also can deduce, as hinted at before, that this devil is different from the rest. They would have to be to side with Asta. More importantly, the ki doesn’t lie.
We also got a glimpse of the mysterious person we see at the end of the opening sequence this episode. Based on this brief clip we can guess that “A Faraway Future” will finally reveal the answers we have been craving behind Asta’s origins.
Not that we can’t speculate about a woman who may or may not look exactly like female Asta. Could he be a human/devil love child? The reality is probably more innocent than that but it’s fun to think about.
Until next week!
