On November 6, 2022, two thousand players were trapped in the virtual reality game known as Sword Art Online. The game master, Akahiko Kayaba, removed the log-out feature from the game menu, preventing the players from escaping. The only way to leave the game now is to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad Castle.

Kazuto Kirigaya, better known as Kirito, was determined to become as strong as he possibly could in order to clear the game. Players in Sword Art Online, or SAO for short, can form cooperative groups with other players known as guilds. Playing in a guild has many advantages because players can pool their resources together and protect each other from danger. Kirito, who doesn’t make friends easily, has chosen to play the game solo. These kinds of players are aptly called “solo-players”. Even though Kirito has chosen to play solo, he has still managed to form parties with other players.

One month into the game’s launch, Kirito formed a party with a lonely girl name Asuna. Together, they joined a crowd of other players to raid the first floor boss. Kirito manages to deal the final blow and acquires a rare item known as “The Cloak of Midnight”. The other players in the boss raid accuse Kirito of being a beta tester and withholding information about the boss’s attack patterns. Kirito dawns his newly acquired Cloak of Midnight and disbands his party with Asuna, as he realizes the more he tries to from friendships with people, the more they end in disaster. Ever since then, Kirito has accepted his fate as being an eternal solo-player, but before he leaves, Kirito tells Asuna that she has skills with a blade and if she ever gets invited to join a guild, she should accept.

It has now been 16 months since Sword Art Online first launched. The date is March 6, 2024.

Fifteen months after Kirito and Asuna separated, they finally reunited with each other. Asuna had taken Kirito’s advice and joined a guild known as The Knights of the Blood Oath, the highest-ranked guild in SAO. Not only has she joined the guild, but she is also second in command to the leader himself. Now, Kirito and Asuna are in a meeting with the other members of the Assault Team – a collection of the highest ranked guilds (and solo-players) who take the initiative in advancing to the next floor. They are discussing plans on how to defeat the Floor 56 boss, but will Asuna and Kirito be able to let go of past conflicts and work together?

Reuniting with an Old Friend

Asuna wants to lure the boss into a village of NPC characters, but Kirito objects. He is worried that the battle will bring harm to the villagers.

“They’re only objects,” asserts Asuna, “Even if they’re killed, they’ll just respawn.”

Asuna reminds Kirito that she is in charge and expects him to obey her orders.

Kirito meets up with Agil outside the cave where the meeting was being held. He asks Kirito why he and Asuna always seem to be going at each other. Kirito says it’s just because they don’t have good chemistry.

Shortly after the meeting, Kirito rests under a tree. Asuna finds him and is not happy to see him slacking off.

“Everyone on the Assault Team is going out to clear the dungeon,” rebukes Asuna, “So what are you doing taking a nap?”

“Not only is this Aincrad’s nicest season, but today’s weather is at its optimum settings,” explains Kirito.

“Do you even understand what is going on here?” confronts Asuna, “Every day we waste here is one more we’ve lost in the real world.”

“But right now, the place where we’re alive is Aincrad. The wind and sunlight feel so good.”

“Isn’t the weather always the same?”

“If you were to lie down like me, you’d understand.”

Asuna slowly decides to lay down and rest on the grass. A few minutes later, Kirito opens his eyes to find Asuna completely asleep. He doesn’t want to disturb her, but he also doesn’t want to leave her defenseless, so he just keeps an eye on her until she finishes her nap. (He’s not watching her, he’s watching over her.)

Asuna eventually wakes up. Feeling embarrassed, she draws her sword. Kirito cowers behind a stone fence. Asuna sheaths her sword and says, “One meal…I’ll treat you one time to anything you want. Then we’ll be even! Deal?”

Asuna and Kirito go to a nearby restaurant where Asuna thanks Kirito for watching over her. Lately, there have been a rising number of “Sleep PK’s”. This is where a player killer will move a sleeping player’s finger and force them into a duel. Normally, players don’t lose life points in safe zones – places such as towns and villages – but players can lose life points in a duel, even if they are in a safe zone. After the player killer forces the sleeping player into a duel, the former kills the later in their sleep.

Suddenly, Kirito and Asuna hear a blood-curdling scream coming from outside. Instinctively, both players rush out to see what happened. To their horror, a player is hanging from a building window with a sword stabbed through his armor.

“Hurry and pull it out!” cries Kirito. The player tries, but is unsuccessful. Asuna runs up the building while Kirito runs to catch the player if he falls, but before our heroes manage to rescue the player in distress, he disintegrates into a thousand sparkling polygons.

“Everyone, look for the ‘Duel Winner’ icon,” Kirito calls to the witnesses, realizing the only way the player could have died in a safe zone is if he were defeated in a duel. Kirito looks, but cannot find one. He makes his way up the building to where Asuna is observing the crime scene. No one was in the building, so the murderer wasn’t there.

Asuna and Kirito agree that they can’t let this problem rest, as it reveals that someone has managed to murder players in a safe zone without challenging them to a duel. If this continues, it will cause wide-spread panic and put the players’ lives in danger. Kirito and Asuna agree to work together until this case is resolved.

The Mystery of the Safe-Zone Murder

Kirito and Asuna ask the crowd of witnesses if anyone saw what happened. A girl with purple hair and a turquoise shirt steps forward. She introduces herself as Yolko and explains that she came to have dinner with the man who was killed.

“His name is Kains,” says Yolko, “We used to be in the same guild.”

Asuna asks Yolko if she saw anyone. Yolko thought she saw someone standing behind Kains, but they didn’t look familiar. Kirito asks if anyone comes to mind, or anything as to a reason why someone might kill Kains. Yolko shakes her head.

Asuna and Kirito escort Yolko back to the inn, after which they review what they know so far. Asuna says if they find where the sword came from, the one that was used to stab Kains, it might give them a lead. Kirito says they’ll need someone with an appraisal skill and points out that Asuna doesn’t have one. A bit put off by Kirito’s bluntness, Asuna demands that Kirito not speak to her so curtly. Kirito replies by asking if she would rather be called “Miss Asuna.” Here is an example of Kirito’s inability to read social cues.

Kirito says he knows a guy who can appraise the sword. He leads Asuna to Agil’s shop, who happily greats Kirito, but is surprised to see him accompanied by Asuna, as he was under the impression they weren’t getting along. Kirito and Asuna present the sword to Agil. He identifies the name of the sword to be Guilty Thorn, and it was made by a player named Grimlock. Kirito tries to test the sword by stabbing his own hand, but Asuna stops him from doing something so stupid and reckless. She requests that Agil hold onto the sword until they solve the mystery.

The following day, Kirito and Asuna meet up with Yolko in the café. Asuna asks Yolko if the name Grimlock sounds familiar. Yolko explains that Grimlock was a member of the guild she and Kains once belonged to. Kirito informs Yolko that the sword that killed Kains was made by Grimlock. Yolko gasps and covers her mouth.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you yesterday,” says Yolko, “I wanted to forget. It’s something I don’t really want to remember, but I’m going to tell you. That was what destroyed our guild.”

Yolko explains that she used to be a member of a guild known as the Golden Apple. Six months ago, a rare monster dropped a powerful ring that had the ability to raise agility by 20. The guild members voted on whether to keep the ring or to sell it. The vote was 5-3 in favor of selling it. The guild leader, Griselda, set out to sell the ring, but she never returned. Later, they learned that Griselda had died, but to this day, they don’t know how it happened.

“Whoever attacked her must have been a player who knew about the ring.” analyzes Kirito, “In other words…”

“One of the other seven members of the Golden Apple…,” continues Yolko. She wasn’t able to finish her sentence, but they all knew what she was going to say.

“The most obvious suspects would be those who opposed selling it,” says Kirito.

Yolko continues to explain that Grimlock was Griselda’s husband, but just in the game. They begin to suspect Grimlock was behind Kains’s murder, because Grimlock suspets that Kains murdered his wife.

“Two of the three who opposed to sell the ring were myself and Kains,” says Yolko.

“Then who’s the other?” asks Kirito.

“A tank named Schmitt. I’ve heard he’s now on the front lines with the Holy Dragon Alliance.”

Being fighters on the front lines as well, Kirito and Asuna are both familiar with Schmidt. Yolko asks if she can meet with him.

The First Suspect

Yolko, Asuna, and Kirito meet with Schmidt in the HQ of the Holy Dragon Alliance. Yolko tells Schmidt what happened to Kains.

“Does Grimlock plan to kill the three of us who opposed selling the ring?” asks Schmidt.

“It could be another member, for whom Grimlock made the spear,” explains Yolko, “Or perhaps it may be Griselda’s revenge…because no one could kill someone inside a safe zone unless they were a ghost.”

Kirito and Asuna give each other a startled look. They had never considered that a ghost might have murdered Kains, let alone that ghosts might actually exist.

Yolko stands up and screams as she recounts her realization that Griselda’s ghost is out to get them. She backs up, making her way to the window, and continues to convey her fright. Suddenly, Yolko turns around and reveals that a dagger has been stabbed into her back. Kirito rushes to grab her, but Yolko falls out the window before he can make it. Kirito watches in horror as Yolko falls to the ground and disintegrates into dozens of diamonds.

Kirito looks up and sees a hooded figure on the rooftops. He darts out the window and begins chasing the figure on foot. Kirito reaches for his sword, but the suspect pulls out a teleport crystal. Kirito throws some needles at him, but they get blocked. The hooded figure manages to teleport before Kirito can make any more attacks.

Kirito returns to Asuna and Schmidt, the later of whom is currently having a panic attack. Schmidt has realized that Griselda’s ghost will come after him next. Kirito says he doesn’t believe in ghosts and that there has to be some sort of explanation for these murders.

Seeing Things from Another Perspective

After their meeting with Schmidt, Kirito and Asuna sit outside and discuss who they think is really behind the murders. Asuna begins to wonder if there really is a ghost, but Kirito still disagrees because if a ghost did kill Yolko, it wouldn’t need to use a teleport crystal.

Asuna pulls out a sandwich and gives it to Kirito. He takes a bite and finds it scrumptious. Asuna explains that she made the sandwich herself and packed it in case they got hungry. Kirito jokes that Asuna should go into business and make a fortune selling her sandwiches. Asuna stamps her foot, causing Kirito to drop his sandwich. He watches in horror as the sandwich falls to the ground and disintegrates into a dozen polygons. Kirito drops to the floor as if devastated at losing his meal, but to Asuna’s surprise, Kirito shouts something unexpected.

“That’s it!” Kirito cries, “We never actually saw a thing. We just thought we did, but we really just saw something else. Inside a safe zone, player HP basically never drops, but and object’s durability will. Like with that baguette sandwich just now.”

Kirito explains that the spear that killed Kains was actually draining his armor. When the armor disintegrated, Kains used a crystal to teleport away. And with Yolko, the dagger was already stabbing her while she was sitting on the chair. As Kirito recalls, Yolko never turned her back to them. He concludes that she must have been keeping an eye on the dagger’s durability, and when it got low, she went to the window and faked her own death. Kirito also bets the hooded figure they saw was Kains, not Grimlock. Kirito realizes this was all part of Yolko and Kains’s elaborate plan to lure Schmidt and convict him for the murder of Griselda.

Kirito reminds Asuna that she and Yolko are still registered as friends, and asks her to check if Yolko is still alive. Asuna checks and sees that Yolko is on Floor 19, and indeed alive. Kirito decides it would be best to let Yolko and Kains handle the rest. And with that, the case of the safe-zone murder is finally closed…or so they think.

Kirito and Asuna return to the restaurant and continue to talk about the case. Asuna asks Kirito what he would have done if a rare item like that had dropped.

“Part of the reason I play solo is to avoid those situations,” explains Kirito.

“In our guild, it would belong to the person who got the drop,” explains Asuna, “Those are the rules we play by.”

Asuna continues to explain that a player’s item storage is usually kept a secret, unless that player gets married, then the item storage between the two players becomes shared. Those are the rules of SAO.

“Shared storage is quite a pragmatic system, but at the same time, I think it’s very romantic as well.”

Kirito thinks for a moment and asks, “If your spouse dies, what happens to the items?”

“Are you talking about Griselda and Grimlock?” asks Asuna, “Let’s see, if one of them died…”

“Wouldn’t everything go to the other?” answers Kirito.

“Which would mean the rare ring in Griselda’s storage…”

“It should still be in her spouse Grimlock’s storage, not in the killer’s.”

“The ring wasn’t stolen?”

“No, it was stolen. It should still be considered stolen. Grimlock stole the ring from his own storage.”

Laying it to Rest

Feeling panicked, Schmidt has gone to Griselda’s grave in the middle of a dark forest on Floor 19 to ask for her forgiveness.

“I never imagined that something like that would happen!” pleads Schmidt.

“Really?” says a feminine voice.

Schmidt looks up and is startled to see a hooded figure standing behind Griselda’s grave.

“What did you do to me, Schmidt?” asks the hooded figure.

Schmidt explains that a note and a crystal suddenly appeared in his belt pouch the day they chose to sell the ring.

“From who, Schmidt?” asks another hooded figure, this time with a masculine voice.

“I don’t know,” responds Schmidt, “The note just said to bind the crystal to the room where Griselda was staying so they could enter, and then put the crystal in the guild’s shared storage…I never meant to help them with the murder.”

“We recorded all of that Schmidt,” says the female voice. Schmidt looks up and sees that the true identity of the hooded figures are Yolko and Kains, and they were both alive.

Schmidt starts to understand that they were trying to expose him for the murder of Griselda. As Schmidt continues to explain himself, he suddenly gets stabbed in the arm by a dagger that causes him to become paralyzed. The three former members of the Golden Apple get ambushed by three members of the most dangerous guild in SAO – The Laughing Coffin guild. One of the members raises his knife to finish off Schmidt, but before his weapon falls, Kirito comes riding in on a horse.

“I’ve got backup on the way,” says Kirito, “You want to fight 30 people on the Assault Team?”

Feeling threatened, the Laughing Coffin members pack up the weapons and walk away. (Doesn’t take much to scare these guys, does it?)

Kirito explains to Yolko, Kains, and Schmidt what he and Asuna figured out at the restaurant. The one who was responsible for Griselda’s death was not Schmidt, or a ghost. It was Grimlock!

On cue, Asuna emerges from the trees with her sword at Grimlock’s back. Yolko asks Grimlock why he did it, and why he needed the money so badly that he would kill Griselda to get it.

“Money, did you say money?” says Grimlock,”It wasn’t for money. I had to kill her no matter what. While she was still my wife. She was my wife in the real world too. The ideal wife, the perfect wife. Pretty, submissive, we never had a single fight. But when we were both trapped in this world, she changed. Only I was scared, overcome by fear, cowered at this death game we were forced to play. She looked so much more alive, more fulfilled then she ever was in the real world. I had no choice but to accept it. That the Yuko I loved was gone. Therefore, I wanted to seal Yuko within my memories forever while we were still in this world where murder is legal. And who could blame me?”

“You killed your wife for that reason?” asks Kirito.

“It’s more than enough reason,” argues Grimlock, “Someday you’ll understand too detective. Once you’ve found love and are about to lose it, that is.”

“No, you’re the one who’s mistaken, Grimlock,” confronts Asuna, “What you felt for Griselda wasn’t love. The only feeling you had for her was possessiveness!”

Grimlock falls to the ground as he has begun to regret what he has done. Kains asks Kirito if they can deal with Grimlock themselves, and he and Schmidt carry Grimlock away. Yolko follows, but before she leaves, she turns back and bows in gratitude to Kirito and Asuna.

And with that, the case is truly closed.

“Hey,” Asuna says to Kirito, “Let’s say that after you married someone, you discovered she had a side that you didn’t know about. What would you think?”

“Maybe that I was really lucky,” answers Kirito, “Because if you marry someone, it means you already like what you know about them, right? So if you found something new about them and fell in love with that too, wouldn’t that be great?”

“Well, fine,” continues Asuna, “I’m hungry.”

The two heroes leave the forest, having solved the Mystery of the Safe-Zone Murder, and prepare to return to the front lines. Their original friendship had ended in separation, but this time, perhaps things will be different.

Thoughts

I’ve mentioned before that Sword Art Online is metaphor for life, but maybe I should explain myself. In SAO, each player has only one life. In most video games, players receive extra lives, and if they die, they respawn at the last place they saved. But in SAO, each player has only one life, much like in the real world. Also, there is no magic in Sword Art Online. Now, there are magical moments in real life, but you probably won’t go outside and see people shooting spells like in Harry Potter. This is another parallel to real life.

What I really like from these two episodes is the message about how to handle difficult times in life. In the beginning of episode 5, Asuna finds Kirito resting under a tree. Asuna is stressed and desperately wants to find a way out of SAO as quickly as possible. Kirito also wants to clear the game, but he also understands that all things take time, so he is able to pause and just enjoy the moment he is currently in. He is able to find rest and peace despite all of the looming thoughts of death hanging over him.

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Special Edition, there is a scene where Samwise Gamgee is having trouble sleeping on the ground full of rocks. Frodo tells Sam to “just shut your eyes, and imagine you’re back in your bed, with a soft mattress and lovely feather pillow.”

What I like about both of these scenes is they portray how to live life to its fullest even when we may be in the middle of hardships. Both Kirito and Frodo chose to relax and enjoy the moment, because that will help them have more endurance to face the trials of daily life.

As we journey through the story of Sword Art Online, what more connections to the ups and downs of life can we find? Well, we’ll have to wait and see.

What are your thoughts on Sword Art Online, Episodes 5-6? Leave a comment down below!