Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

On September 11, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 2: The Hell Train’s third story arc: “Hoaqin”. Picking up where we left off in the previous arc—“The Revolution Road”—Team Rachel and their captive Hwa Ryun had successfully boarded The Hell Train, with Team Baam being left behind to play catch up.

There was also a one-month time jump in addition to fallout regarding Team Rachel stealing the train and deceiving everyone with the fake tournament. At least Wangnan and Yihwa were able to sneak onto The Hell Train without Team Rachel noticing them.

Team Baam, on the other hand, needed to figure out to catch up with The Hell Train effectively. They either had to find a way to slow it down or pass the floor tests more quickly before the train departs that floor’s station. Baam was also losing consciousness frequently throughout this arc for losing control of the Thorn when he used it against Rachel and her cronies.

Ha Jinsung also made his return in this arc to discourage Team Baam from pursuing The Hell Train, believing Baam wasn’t strong enough to take on the first Slayer nominee Hoaqin. The buildup to Hoaqin’s awakening—and what he done to Wangnan to display his power—on The Hell Train had set the tone for the next arc. Hoaqin is terrifying!

The character design and dialogue made Hoaqin feel sinister and bloodthirsty. Tower of God did a great job on establishing the huge threat coming for Team Baam—and everyone else trying to climb the Tower—with this character introduction. I was legit terrified when Wangnan and Yihwa immediately encountered him.

The flashback sequence with Boro, Daniel Hatchid, and the rest of their allies was also needed to establish why Daniel would go so far to free and serve Hoaqin. The flashback also helped me gather sympathy and understanding for these new characters. With so many characters running around in this series, the story becomes difficult to follow at times when you’re trying to remember who’s who. Honestly, Tower of God has a slight character soup issue, but it’s also a strength in the overarching narrative.

Based on how this arc ended—with Baam going to the next floor where The Hell Train is and Hoaqin declaring he will kill Jue Viole Grace—I’m excited and terrified to see the two Slayer nominees fight each other. The odds don’t look good in Baam’s favor, given how powerful Hoaqin is, but when have the odds ever favored him?

Thanks for reading my Webtoon review, everyone! Let’s keep it climbing up the Tower! I need to see where this Hell Train goes next!

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