One way to see how structurally sound a story is is when the hero is absent. Will the supporting cast be able to handle things on their own, or will everything devolve into antipathy and boredom without them?

Now I’ll be the first to admit it I Will Become a History-Making Villain doesn’t have the most memorable supporting cast. Duke is still shrouded in mystery, Henri has the personality of soggy bread, and Jill is hyper-focused on being useful to Alicia. None of them can hold a candle to Alicia, who naturally steals every scene she’s in. So while this episode is devoid of Alicia until the last few minutes, it doesn’t really focus on the supporting characters. Rather, it focuses on the void left in their lives without him.

Jill decides to be better than she is by becoming the ideal everyman. She is not someone chosen by the gods and given magical powers like Liz, but rather the pinnacle that an ordinary person can reach with the right environment and training. The fact that he is from Roan (born to criminals in the worst part of the Kingdom) and has gotten to this point shows how important nurture is over nature.

Meanwhile, things are looking up in Roana thanks to Alicia’s efforts. Despite his self-imposed seclusion, the knowledge and hope he brought to the village allowed them to feed their population. Metaphorically, instead of giving them fish, he taught them how to fish, and that’s something much more valuable than just spouting ideals or throwing money at the problem.

Later, at the top of the Kingdom, Alicia’s absence left the King without the most valuable member of his brain trust, the only person who could take Liz’s big ideas and turn them into something doable. Both Liz and Alicia are already shaping the future of the kingdom, and the King, who has greatly consolidated his power, finds himself in the bag. Luckily, Duke is there to lighten the load.

However, the place where Alicia’s absence is felt the most is in academia. Somehow, even though he’s gone, he remains front and center in students’ minds. Everything that doesn’t fit is blamed on him. Does Duke look sad? It must be because of Alicia. Are Liz’s romantic desires for Duke not working out? Probably because he dishonored Alicia.

The mood at school has an almost supernatural quality. Anti-Alicia rumors seem to be sprouting up. There’s no malevolent gang leader, it just seems to happen. Likewise, Liz’s popularity is on the rise, with even her former bullies becoming her most ardent supporters. The interesting side effect of all this is that it allows us to see who is under Liz’s “spell” and who is not. Of course, Duke and Henri are normal, but surprisingly so are Curtis and Finn; it looks like Curtis and Finn are content to sit back and watch the chaos unfold alongside Liz.

Now that we’ve gotten all the good stuff out of the way, we can wrap up by talking about the elephant in the room: animation. This episode is a huge step up from the relatively average best of the series. It has it all: distorted faces, distorted body proportions, and stilted, unnatural movements. It looks bad from start to finish. Hopefully this is a one-time miss rather than the new normal; Because if it’s normal then I wouldn’t be surprised if people stopped watching.

Evaluation:

Random Thoughts:

• I love this Alicia’s Father He finally gave in and decided to let her return to the Academy, but she refused because she wasn’t ready yet.

• Something tells me Alicia doesn’t stop at level 90. He doesn’t have to be less than level 99 to be the best villain (to properly oppose the hero).

• I’m so excited that we finally get to see Alicia’s mom. I wonder if he’s the villain of his generation.

• The king talks about his brother, a lost royal portrait… something tells me it’s a foreshadowing.

I Will Become a History-Making Villain currently airing
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