Warning: The following contains spoilers for Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 4 and Manhwa chapter #78!!
Solo LevelingSeason 2, episode #4, titled “I Need to Stop Faking,” is the slowest episode of the season, covering chapters #62 to #66 of the manhwa, which, unlike the action focus of the rest of the series, highlight many conversations and insights that serve to improve the worldbuilding of the series. Because of this, many of the dialogues were cut or replaced to shorten them and cover more content in the episode. However, inthelatest episode ofSolo LevelingSeason 2, a core fact about the S-Rank hunters' power levels has been left out.
While it’s only natural that it is impossible to adapt every panel of the manhwa inSolo Leveling Season 2,the anime just got rid of a key scene that hints at the power scale of the S-Rank hunters and serves as a foreshadowing of strong charactersthat will appear in the series, way before their introduction.
Solo Leveling Season 2 Cuts a Scene that Confirms There’s a Level Above the S-Rank Hunters
The Anime Shortened Jinwoo’s Assessment of the Power of Other S-Rank Hunters
Even though it is implied that even S-Rank hunters can have an overwhelming difference in power with others, through the way that Hwan Dongsoo was easily defeated by Jinwoo’s father, Sung Il Hwan,Solo LevelingSeason 2 skipped a scene of the manhwa in chapter #64 where the chairman Go Gunhee highlights that not all S-Rank hunters are equally powerful. In the anime, Gunhee only says that with his current evaluation, Jinwoo is indirectly confirmed as an S-Rank hunter, while in the manhwa, he states that the Mana Measuring machine can’t rate hunters that surpass the S-Rank.
If the meter were capable of measuring the full range, your results would’ve shown up as ‘SS-rank” or ‘SSS-rank.” However, no matter how many S’s are added, the results still won’t be an accurate measure of your power. - Go Gunhee
Also, when Jinwoo sees Chae Hae In for the first time leaving the A-Rank gate, he assesses her power, saying that she might be stronger than Choi Jong In and could be even at the same level as Chairman Go Gunhee. This way, similar to how it works with other ranks, as Jinwoo himself was considered the weakest E-Rank,the manhwa confirms there is a large gap in power between hunters despite being grouped at the same level, which was omitted in the anime, probably due to time, but could be to reveal it later in a more impactful way.
The Anime Avoids Foreshadowing the Strongest Hunters of the Series
Solo Leveling Season 2 is Purposely Leaving Out Moments that Hints at Future Events to Maintain the Mystery
SinceChairman Gunhee said there could be SS or SSS ranks, he is teasing the most powerful hunters that will appear in the series, the “National Level Hunters,”who are named for the first time inSolo Levelingchapter #78. The anime also left out other scenes in the episode, like the subdirector of the American Bureau showing Dongsoo how Sung Il Hwan saved some civilians after they destroyed the building, which teases Jinwoo’s father not having bad intentions, or how Jinwoo reveals to Woo Jinchul that he wasn’t the one who defeated the monsters in the double dungeon.
Solo Leveling Makes a Big Change From the Manhwa, Leaving Jinwoo a Much Stronger Character
Solo Leveling Season 2 made a significant change in a major event in the Demon Castle to give more meaning to Sung Jinwoo’s journey from the start.
Whilethesecuts don’t affectSolo Leveling’s story, the original helps to get more contextof how the power is distributed between hunters and confirms to viewers that there is a higher level that Sung Jinwoo can aim for as he continues to level up.
Solo Leveling
Cast
Solo Leveling follows Sung Jin-woo, the world’s weakest hunter, who gains extraordinary powers through a mysterious program after surviving a brutal monster attack. As he navigates his newfound abilities, Jinwoo embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets of his powers and the dungeon that altered his fate.
