Post — Aaron Ngo

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

On September 18, 2020, I started and finished Tower of God Volume 2: The Hell Train’s ninth story arc: “Wangnan”. Picking up where we left off with Wangnan, he and his team have gone after Cassano to steal back the “Devil of the Right Arm” that he took from Horyang. As a reminder since it’s been awhile, Wangnan and Team Sweet and Sour are trying to wake Horyang up from his coma by getting that “Devil of the Right Arm” back.

However, the story takes a dark and unexpected turn when Rachel kills Arkraptor and Hoaqin eats Prince. The look on Wangnan’s face cried out desperation—I could hear his screams through the pages. Killing off major characters—and making sure the audience knew they were dead—destroyed Wangnan and Miseng, the only two survivors taken hostage by Rachel and her team.

This story arc paralleled devastatingly well with Baam and what his team lost—Rak, Yihwa, and a few other side-characters were presumed dead—after they made their escape back to The Hell Train. Baam and Wangnan have been addressed as similar characters, so seeing how they respond in the wake of tragedy was thought-provoking and compelling for their character development. These deaths also added to the mystery of Ja Wangnan’s identity as the Prince of the Red-light District.

The dark tone eclipsed most of the episodes regarding Wangnan, as he was left bloody and broken in chains alongside Miseng—who didn’t say a word until Wangnan made a deal to save her from death. The twists kept coming in this episode, as Wangnan chose to join Rachel’s team in exchange for Miseng’s freedom and Cassano willingly giving up the “Devil of the Right Arm” to Horyang.

Baam, Khun, and Androssi were training—for months, there was a time skip—in the meantime with the “God” of the Guardians, Evan, and Yuri respectively. Everyone was preparing for what’s to come on the Floor of Death. Baam was finally ready to become a God. Unfortunately, “God” of the Guardians was only a nickname, but Baam took the training seriously nonetheless.

Androssi and Yuri’s dynamic was pretty hilarious and harem-like regarding Baam—it reminded me of the female characters loving Kirito on Sword Art Online. Khun is the number 1 for Baam though, with how he finally understood Baam’s feelings for Rachel because he has the same feelings for Baam now regarding his commitment to climb the Tower with him. Khun is a real loyalist to Baam—best friends forever.

I hope Yihwa is still alive with Rak somewhere in the Tower. I’m assuming—based on how most off-screen deaths are fake-outs—that they will return at some point. I mean, Baam and Khun cheated death once before too. Maybe it’s Rak’s turn now.

Rachel was somewhat humanized in this arc. The deaths she caused took a toll on her—her body wouldn’t stop trembling—but that doesn’t make me hate her any less. The humanization is supposed to show that she is sympathetic and not totally heartless and the self-aware comment about Rachel “being used to the hate” was much appreciated, but I still despise her for everything she’s done. She’s the reason Tower of God is sometimes called Tower of Betrayal.

Sachi Faker and Boro were also involved in this arc, as they recruited a new character named Hockney, who left the Station he was protecting to board The Hell Train. He was looking for a piece of his art—and Emile said it was on The Hell Train. Since Team Rachel have some control over Emile, they lured this new character in for their own nefarious purpose.

Overall, there was a lot of table-setting and death that occurred in this arc. The next arc is called “The Floor of Death”, so I’m assuming that this is where things are going to get even darker. Team Rachel and Team Baam-Khun are about to clash again! Let’s see who makes it to the top first on The Floor of Death. Thanks for reading this Webtoon Review, everyone! Like I’ve been saying for the last few months, let’s keep it climbing up the Tower!

back to blog