SAND LAND: THE SERIES

Episode 10

This week's episode of Sand Land has one main purpose: backstory. While we've known about the coup d'état since the first episode of this arc, this episode lets us see those events from several different points of view—greatly developing our villains for the season in the process.

Take Bred for example. He was a general at odds with his peace-loving king. In a border skirmish with Sand Land, he was injured to the point that he had to become a cyborg. He believed that only military power would be capable of staving off his country's aggressive neighbor. So when he was given the perfect excuse to take the throne, he did so.

From how he acts, it's clear that he sees himself as a hero—the one person willing to do what is needed to protect his country (unlike his foolish former king). While he likely doesn't believe that Lilith is evil (no more than he believes that Muniel is good), he's willing to use anyone and everyone to achieve his goal of gaining unparalleled military might.

Then, on the other side of things, we get Muniel's story. Unsurprisingly given what we've seen of him so far, he is a rogue angel—a nobody who stole weapons from heaven to make a name for himself on Earth. Of course, the ego he has to make him believe that was a good idea is the same ego that drives him to pick a fight with Lucifer—getting his wing literally clipped in the first place.

When it comes down to it, Muniel is an idiot—the kind that is easy to manipulate as long as you tell him exactly what he wants to hear. He is so sure he is the good guy that he believes all his actions are justified no matter how objectively evil they may be. When confronted with his actions, he either passes the blame or claims it's not his fault because he “didn't know.”

And as we learn about our villains, we also get another big revelation: that Ann's mother was Lilith, Princess of the Demons. This, of course, makes Beelzebub her uncle but it also implies that she too can absorb darkness in addition to her natural strength and healing factor. Unfortunately for our heroes, there's little time to delve into the implications as Bred and Muniel attack the demons in Sand Land—capturing Lucifer the same way they captured Lilith.

You know how I said last week that our heroes were at their lowest point? I was wrong. Now they're at their lowest point and all I can think is one thing, “It's time to get the tank.”

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SAND LAND: THE SERIES is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.