Sword Art Online Arc Review

This episode is important because it shows the first real boss battle inside Aincrad and begins to define who Kirito is as a character. The tension during the raid against Illfang the Kobold Lord is very effective because the players are still learning how dangerous the game really is. The battle itself is exciting and has a lot of good action, but the most interesting part is how Kirito chooses to take the blame after things go wrong. By the end of the episode, he accepts the name “Beater,” which becomes an important part of his identity later in the series.