The Archmage's Restaurant - Ch. 70

[win746]

Not sure if it was a conscious decision by both scan groups but I'm thankful they mass release the chapters to chapter 70, so we didn't have to wait to see it get resolved. Its still another cliffhanger, but its a good one since Ellison arrived to kick ass.

 

[ZoronCraft]

tbh I can understand it somewhat. in the past El has once decided to be selfish (lazing around in the academy) and he had to learn the hard lesson that this cost the lives of many, including a bunch of his friends. so he attoned by fighting for the greater good (and becoming a war hero).

Welcome to tallentless author tropes 101. Today, we will introduce you to a trick I call "Desired Lens" - when the author wants you to view events from a perspective that makes absolutely no fucking sense in the given context. For a better explanation, read further.

now he was once again faced with the same decision: being selfish or the greater good (of the black dragons).
ptsd induced undecisiveness basically.
it maybe wasn't written / presented in the best way possible, but I have no problem with the events itself.

Let’s break down my response to this shit into a few points:
1. The whole thing about not going to war out of selfishness happened quite a while ago. Since then, the MC has already met and grown close to Rurin, learned what the Black Dragon Tribe did to her mother (and to her personally), and understood her connection to all of this. And yet, after all of that, some fucker—who quite literally treated her like a disposable tool—shows up and directly states that they want to use her again as a fucking tool. Not only that, but they also reveal that the story about Rurin and her mother is even worse than the MC originally knew.
And for some incomprehensible reason, our dumbass MC just lets her go with the very people who will, at best, cause her immense suffering. How the fuck does this make any sense?
2. Why the fuck does our MC care about the Black Dragon Tribe at all? Like, genuinely—Rurin is the only dragon from that tribe he has a good relationship with, and they treated her like absolute shit. They literally caused her mother years of suffering and, ultimately, her death. As for all the other acquaintances he has from that tribe... let’s just say there’s no reason he should have a good impression of them. So why does he give a fuck about the greater good of the Black Dragon Tribe when it comes at the expense of the only person from that tribe he actually cares about?

I DO however have a problem with Rurins reaction. She was like a deer in the headlights, just letting everything happen to her. No black dragon except her mother ever treated her gently, even her grandfather turned cold (outwardly, due to a wrong sense of protection). Why did she even let them take her? She may be young by dragon standards, but by now she should know what she wants from her life and stand up for it. but no, just like a doll she lets herself get dragged back.

You're right about Rurin’s moronic passivity in this arc, but there's a major issue that you’re not accounting for in your analysis: The MC already knows Rurin’s perspective on all of this shit—and yet, for some fucking reason, he just accepts everything that’s happening. Why? Because the author wanted to set up a dramatic scene where the MC interrupts a wedding and kidnaps the bride.

So: his reaction: weak and unlikeable, but somewhat understandable in regards to internal story logic.
her reaction: weak and unlikeable, but NOT understandable in regards to story logic.

conclusion: author needs to get better

(everything imho of course)

Again, I would expect this kind of nonsense from absolute garbage (like, I’d gladly trade the last seven volumes of Mushoku Tensei for this kind of trash). But seeing this in an actually decently written story crash and burn so hard in its last few dozen chapters is honestly tragic...

 

[lowarctic]

don’t mind the angst emo bit honestly

 

[MadSargeant]

Lol the grandpa internal monologue make me laugh 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

[Brok3NJays]

Damn it I can’t believe I’ve caught up💀I need more

 

[Zeesnowflower2002]

tbh I can understand it somewhat. in the past El has once decided to be selfish (lazing around in the academy) and he had to learn the hard lesson that this cost the lives of many, including a bunch of his friends. so he attoned by fighting for the greater good (and becoming a war hero).

now he was once again faced with the same decision: being selfish or the greater good (of the black dragons).
ptsd induced undecisiveness basically.
it maybe wasn't written / presented in the best way possible, but I have no problem with the events itself.

I DO however have a problem with Rurins reaction. She was like a deer in the headlights, just letting everything happen to her. No black dragon except her mother ever treated her gently, even her grandfather turned cold (outwardly, due to a wrong sense of protection). Why did she even let them take her? She may be young by dragon standards, but by now she should know what she wants from her life and stand up for it. but no, just like a doll she lets herself get dragged back.

So: his reaction: weak and unlikeable, but somewhat understandable in regards to internal story logic.
her reaction: weak and unlikeable, but NOT understandable in regards to story logic.

conclusion: author needs to get better

(everything imho of course)

I assume she went without a fuss because she finally learned the truth about her mother still written very poorly the conflict is fine based purely on the premise especially when we zoom out and recognize that we are talking about the survival of a species that was nearly wiped out and when you dig in to the motivations it makes sense but it was executed so poorly that it's just annoying that and I just don't really like Ell and Rurin together like as a couple