Episode 4 of The World's Strongest Rearguard is a step backward. The party meeting and Elitia's confession are genuinely good, but the bathhouse scene feels like a concession to genre expectations rather than a natural part of the story. The animation is still weak, and the episode doesn't do anything to make you care about the characters beyond surface-level curiosity. If you're watching for the plot, this episode advances it. If you're watching for anything else, you'll be disappointed.