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Be advised: This article contains spoilers for the manhwa Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.
Solo Leveling has soared to incredible heights in the anime world, capturing the hearts of fans worldwide. Yet, despite its accolades and record-breaking achievements, the series isn’t without its flaws. Critics have pointed out its somewhat shallow side characters and its reliance on familiar isekai fantasy tropes. While these critiques are valid to some extent, they largely fade into the background when it comes to its sequel, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok.
In Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, the narrative follows Sung Suho and addresses many of the criticisms leveled at the original series. Although it may never fully surpass the original in terms of groundbreaking novelty and the unmatched artistic prowess of DUBU—a talent that is hard to rival—Ragnarok offers a storyline that, in many respects, surpasses its predecessor. Its ability to enhance and expand upon the original’s themes makes it a standout continuation.
Sung Suho’s story in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok often directly addresses many of the most commonly cited flaws of the original series. There are still ways Solo Leveling: Ragnarok can never outdo the original, especially in terms of novelty and art quality (DUBU was a generational talent whose talents are difficult to match), but as an overall story, Ragnarok continues to outclass the original in very noticeable ways.
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Makes Popular Side Characters From The Original Series Actually Matter
Solo Leveling’s side characters are beloved by the fandom, even if they didn’t really do much in the grand scheme of the series. That’s undoubtedly a large part of the reason why Solo Leveling: Ragnarok brought back many of those characters, from Esil to Baek Yoonho. However, most of the character reintroductions in Ragnarok extended far beyond fan service.
Characters like Esil and Lee Minsung, who played passing but notable roles in singular arcs only to never be seen again in the OG series, are catapulted to leading positions in Ragnarok. Likewise, characters who did play prominent roles but who nonetheless got less love than they should’ve, like Yoo Jinho and Woo Jinchul, return as recurring members of the cast, helping to flesh out their personalities even more. In recent chapters of Ragnarok, Choi Jongin and Baek Yoonho have also returned to prominence, playing roles that are arguably even more substantial than in the original story.
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Makes Readers Care About Characters Other Than The MC
Aside from the popular characters from the original story who get way more love in Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, there are plenty of newer side characters who are more interesting than most in the original. These include the new Monarch successors, who are actually Players of a new System (presumably controlled by the Architect) in the Ragnarok manhwa. These new Monarchs are way more interesting than their original counterparts, with personalities and motivations that endear them to the reader.
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok‘s new Monarch successors are all a lot of fun. Ammut and Gray have been true standouts in the early chapters of the series, though a new member of the Snowfolk tribe who was just introduced in the S-Rank Raid Arc has already made a great first impression as well. Even setting aside the named side characters, Solo Leveling: Ragnarok has also introduced a means of uplifting side characters to a place that actually matters in the narrative.
It all comes down to Suho’s Shadow Creation skill. With Shadow Creation, Suho can make weapons out of Shadows that he can not only give to other Hunters, but which level up the more that Hunters fight with those weapons. A central theme of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok is that Suho is more willing to rely on others than his father was. That theme translates to other characters fighting alongside Suho, leveling up with him, and growing as individuals in the process.
Ragnarok’s Villains Are More Interesting as Individual Characters Than Solo Leveling’s Were
Most of Solo Leveling’s rogues gallery consisted of Magic Beasts with little autonomy. They were merely monsters whose personal feelings and motivations didn’t matter as much. Ragnarok introduces its overarching villains much sooner, making for a more intriguing storyline to follow from the outset. While it lacks much of the mystery aspect that made the System interesting, it sacrifices that for more fleshed out villains.
By far, the best new villain of Ragnarok is the Apostle of Itarim, Tiel. Tiel is a unique character in that he begins the series as a mindless follower of his Universe’s Absolute Being, but as he gains power, he also develops a more human-like free will of his own. It’s interesting to see how his mindset changes over time, as he gains more autonomy and starts to develop more selfish motivations.
Ragnarok Expands Solo Leveling’s Lore Considerably From the Outset
Solo Leveling: Ragnarok’s opening pages introduce readers to the Itarim: powerful outer gods who serve as the Absolute Beings of their universes. This single move expanded SL‘s universe substantially. It introduced an entire power dynamic within the mutliverse whose balance was offset by the death of the Absolute Being in the original series.
Another area where Solo Leveling‘s lore is expanded is in the powers and history of the Monarchs. The whole idea of the Monarchs having “successors” brings with it a whole host of implications which the manhwa has only begun to flesh out, and which the light novel took in intriguing new directions. Suddenly, Ashborn passing his power on to Jinwoo isn’t just a one-off deal anymore.
Solo Leveling’s Scales of Power Are Increased Dramatically in Ragnarok
A byproduct of the increased size of the Solo Leveling Universe at the start of Ragnarok is a far greater level of power. From the start of Solo Leveling: Ragnarok, when the Itarim are introduced in the manhwa’s first few panel, the power levels hit heights beyond anything in the original series. The Itarim are the creators and destroyers of innumerable universes, and they’re the beings Jinwoo is locked in a battle with at the start of the series.
When taking into consideration the final chapters of the Solo Leveling: Ragnarok light novel, the levels of power become even more inconceivable. While the manhwa has diverged from the light novel’s storyline, it’s highly likely it’ll eventually end at a comparably similar spot, with Suho achieving a godly level of power akin to that of his father.
Sung Suho is a Deeper Character Than His Father Was
One of the biggest criticisms Solo Leveling faced was that Sung Jinwoo – despite being the only character of real importance in the series – was still fairly shallow compared to other anime MCs. While the hate towards Jinwoo is usually overblown, there’s no denying that his personal development arc in the manhwa is pretty all over the place.
That’s simply not a criticism that can be directed at Sung Suho, whose own motivations are clear from the outset, and whose development is well-defined. Suho’s entire early arc is about his desire to be a person his parents can be proud of, only to discover that simply following the paths they walked isn’t the way for him to become the best version of himself. It’s only by discovering his own strengths and turning them into alternative routes to power that Suho becomes a strong enough warrior to stand alongside his father in the War of the Outer Gods.
Ragnarok Redefined the “Canon” of the Franchise – For the Better
One of the most interesting moves Solo Leveling: Ragnarok makes is its introduction of an interconnected multiverse. This seems to make all the separate spin-off media of the series canon, at least insofar as it relates to Solo Leveling: Ragnarok. It did this by introducing the light novel version of Sung Suho into the manhwa, thereby establishing the light novel and manhwa as two seperate but interconnected timelines.
This new Solo Leveling: Ragnarok multiverse could potentially make every peice of SL media fair game, including the Solo Leveling: Arise game series. There’s some great crossover potential that comes out of this decision. It also helps address some of the inconsistencies between mediums, making the entire franchise feel more cohesive despite its quirks.
The Solo Leveling: Ragnarok manhwa is available to read in English via Tapas.
- Release Date
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2024 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV
- Directors
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Tatsuya Sasaki, Toru Hamasaki
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Genta Nakamura
Yoo Jin-ho
