Solo Leveling Season 2 Episode 3 Reveals a Hidden Detail Manhwa Readers Probably Missed

The dungeon, the gates, the beasts… they’re just the tip of the iceberg. The power capable of bringing forth the ultimate catastrophe has awakened.

• Sung Ilhwan

While Ilhwan is initially able to reach a bit of middle ground with Dongsoo due to their shared Korean origins, things take a drastic turn when Dongsoo comes to the startling realization that he’s talking to Sung Jinwoo’s father. After Songsoo threatens Jinwoo’s life, the conversation essentially ends, as the two engage in a battle which nearly levels an entire city. Although this is only the first time fans get to see Ilhwan in action, it’s immediately clear that he'll fight to defend his son’s honor. Ilhwan wouldn’t have had a choice but to fight anyway, but the fact that the person who finally beats up Jinwoo’s bully is also his dad is truly poetic.

The most important plot thread that emerges from Ilhwan’s interrogation scene is his experience with the Gates. During their conversation, Ilhwan asks Dongsoo how much he knows about Gates and Magic Beasts. It’s clear he wishes to divulge important information to Dongsoo, but Dongsoo’s immaturity leads to his caring more about settling his grudge with Jinwoo than about the bigger picture. Above all, this scene makes it apparent that Ilhwan’s time in the Gates granted him unique insight into the truth of how they came to be – insight even more intriguing given the emerging theme of fatherhood in this arc. In short, what’s most important about Ilhwan’s knowledge of the Gates and Magic Beasts is how that knowledge could potentially affect Jinwoo.

In just the episode prior, Jinwoo learned he had a special connection with Magic Beasts due to the System, as he was able to intuitively understand the language of the Ice Elves. Even more shocking was that the “voice” in Magic Beasts’ heads that tells them to kill humans didn’t tell the Ice Elves to kill Jinwoo, inferring that he has already become something other than a human being. Unfortunately, Barca was unable to tell Jinwoo anything else before the System interfered, leaving Jinwoo with more questions than answers. It turns out, the one person who may hold the answers to all of Jinwoo’s questions is his father. Sadly, without his dad there, Jinwoo is left having to find those answers on his own. Even though Jinwoo turned out to be a strong, kind-hearted person without his dad around, Episode 15 makes it more obvious than ever Jinwoo would've had a much easier time with his father there to teach and guide him.

Yoo Jinho Also Makes Headway With His Father in Episode 3

Yoo Myunghan Accepts His Son’s Business Proposition

Season 2, Episode 3 also serves as an important moment for another major character’s relationship with his father: Yoo Jinho. After finally completing the necessary number of raids and receiving his Guild Master’s License, Jinho approaches his father, Yoo Myunghan, to convince him to let him take over the family Guild. Notably in the manhwa, this is the first time Jinho’s father is formally introduced in the series, though the anime had already introduced him back in Episode 8 of Season 1.

Jinwoo’s father being introduced in the same arc as Jinho’s dad in the manga is obviously more than coincidence, but the audience’s prior familiarity with this character arguably adds more to the anime. While Jinho doesn’t expect much to come of his request to his father, he’s pleasantly surprised to find that his dad accepts his proposition to become the head of the family Guild under the pretense that he scouts Jinwoo to join them. Considering his father’s stern and stubborn attitude, Jinho is shocked that his father would be willing to see things his way.

In reality, it’s Jinho’s passion and perseverance his father likely respects. Myunghan recognizes the great effort Jinho has put into proving himself. The fact Jinho approaches his father with a well-thought-out business proposal instead of asking his father for a favor says a lot about their relationship. Myunghan is not the type to give hand-outs when it comes to livelihood, even for his children. Every decision he makes is pre-calculated, so for him to change his mind & accept Jinho’s proposition is a show of recognition for his son’s unique talents, and a sign of belief in what his son can accomplish.

Even The Problems of Patriarchy Are Present in Episode 3

Cha Haein Encounters the Opposite End of the Spectrum

The theme of fatherhood is explored in nuanced ways through both Sung Ilhwan Yoo Myunghan’s introductions in Season 2, Episode 3, but Episode 15 doesn't just focus on the positive properties of paternal relationships. As Cha Haein’s brief scene in the episode emphasizes, patriarchal power structures can come with their own struggles to be overcome for women in a male-dominated society.

In a brief flashback accompanied by a scene that seems to be particularly crafted for the male gaze, Cha Haein solemnly recalls a conversation she had with the Guild Master of her own Hunter’s Guild, Choi Jongin. It’s actually a continuation of a conversation first hinted at in Season 1 between the two, which is fleshed out ever-so-slightly in this flashback. In it, Haein asks Jongin why the Guild hasn’t yet publicized the mutating ants on Jeju Island since they’ve clearly begun to pose an immediate threat to the surrounding areas. To this, Jongin just explains that it’s the Association’s orders, and he assures her not to “worry”.

The scene very much gives the impression that Jongin is talking down to Haein, as though she’s being overly emotional. What’s worse, Haein has no say in the inner workings of the Guild she’s not only a part of, but is the strongest member of. Seeing her be turned down and written off by a man who is the same rank as her and actually weaker is a bit shocking. Even in a society where pure power reigns, a woman who stands at the pinnacle of strength in her country still has little say in how things are run at her own Guild.

The Theme of Fatherhood During the Demon’s Castle Arc is Less Obvious in The Manhwa

Splitting the Story Into Chapters Inadvertently Splits Up the Message

The three most important characters in Solo Leveling having interactions with father-figures in the same episode is far from coincidental. It would be easy to write it off as such in the manhwa, though. While the events of the Demon’s Castle Arc are largely the same in the manhwa as in the anime, the events of the Demon’s Castle Arc occur over the course of five chapters. This makes the story feel slightly more disconnected, at least as far as in how they relate to one another thematically.

For example, in the manhwa, Sung Ilhwan is introduced in Chapter 56, but his name isn’t actually revealed until Chapter 58. Additionally, Jinho’s conversation with his own father is in an entirely separate chapter from either of those events, in Chapter 57. And of course, Cha Haein's own encounter with "fatherhood" isn't in the manhwa at all. In a vacuum, all these isolated scenes would be important, but converging them in a single anime episode makes the message far clearer. Of course, moving at this pace comes with the caveat of having to skip pieces of dialogue and minor scenes. Still, the anime does a great job of pulling this major theme of the arc back into the forefront in a way that the manhwa couldn’t.

Why Fatherhood is Important in The Demon’s Castle Arc

Everything Jinwoo Does is For His Family

While Jinwoo grows and becomes strong enough to enact real change of his own accord, the fact he didn’t have a father figure around during his most difficult years was a major setback for him, especially as his mother’s condition worsened. In fact, Jinwoo’s major goal in tackling the Demon’s Castle dungeon is to finally create the Holy Water of Life which Jinwoo hopes will cure his mother and wake her from her coma. This arc is all about Jinwoo attempting to bring his family back together again, as family is vitally important to Jinwoo. Jinwoo was forced to become the head of the household at a young age due to losing both of his parents (though neither loss was permanent, thankfully), and Jinwoo ends up taking on the parental role for Ahjin in many ways.

This repeated motif of family even arises for Jinwoo in other ways during the Demon’s Castle Arc. In a great scene early in Episode 3, Jinwoo and Jinho meet for a celebratory meal at a restaurant. While there, Jinho reveals his great admiration for Jinwoo, even divulging in him that he sees him as the big brother he wishes his real brother could’ve been. Likewise, Jinwoo agrees that Jinho is like a little brother for him as well, securing their bond beyond just their mutually beneficial work relationship. This sense of brotherhood is important to someone like Jinwoo, who constantly lays everything on the line for the family he has left. It's potentially that lack of family that makes Jinwoo fight so hard for them, and gaining a new member of his family in Jinho is an important moment for Jinwoo, even if he doesn't show it.

Jinwoo’s relationship with his father – or lack thereof – plays a major role in who he is, but the payoff of that plot thread never really hit as hard as it could have in the manhwa. With the anime having more room to expand on the characters, it can potentially make Jinwoo’s relationship with his dad a more central aspect of the story, expanding on the theme of fatherhood and making one of the manhwa’s most emotional moments actually land in the way it was always intended. If and when that does occur, Episode 15 will be a major point of interest for fans to return to, as it encompasses the full spectrum of fatherhood, from its most favorable features to its fatal flaws.

Solo Leveling is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.