English Dub Review: Ragna Crimson “The Beginning of the Story”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Temruogtaf must be stopped. But Ragna loses interest in the dragon and turns his attention to one of his maids. Thanks to his new old memories, he knows who she really is.

Our Take:
With the Silverine powers from his future self at his disposal, Ragna’s journey to slay every dragon on Earth has begun. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to wait long to battle the next dragon, Temruogtaf. Temruogtaf is responsible for the trees attacking the city, but he’s not alone. The first episode’s conclusion introduced us to the mysterious red-haired person standing in front of the older version of Ragna, who is now relying on his past self to save the world. From the looks of it, the red-haired person had some connection to Future-Ragna.
This episode immediately unravels this mystery, as the incident involving Temruogtaf is when the two first met. The red-haired God is known as Crimson, a Dragon Monarch posing as Temruogtaf’s maid named Elise. It’s also revealed that Crimson betrayed the Dragon God in the future, resulting in him having his powers sealed away. This explains why Crimson cooperated with Ragna in the future: to exact revenge against the dragon bloodlines he betrayed. Fortunately, the young Ragna immediately recognizes Crimson through the memories of his older self, although the young Crimson denies his true identity. So, the only way to get through to him is for Ragna to become Crimson’s servant, but with a deadly catch.
But, of course, Ragna’s choice comes with the cost of driving Leonica away from him for her safety. It’s heartbreaking to see this duo separate, but at the same time, it’s the only solution Ragna has to protect her despite her vast strength. However, with Ragna’s newfound powers, those roles switched, with the Silverine master being more powerful than Leonica. On the bright side, Ragna does gain a new partner in the form of Crimson, which might be enough to accomplish what their future selves failed to do.
Overall, “The Beginning of the Story” offers what I expect based on the episode’s title: the beginning of a journey for the unlikely pair with a common enemy. Cat Thomas as Leonica is still hit-and-miss regarding her vocal performance, and it’s uncertain when we’ll see the young dragon slayer again. Otherwise, it’s another solid chapter to a promising fantasy series filled with dragons, magic, and blood.