Overlord Season 4 Episode 1 Review: A Stage For Betrayal

 

Overlord Season 4 Episode 1

And they said madhouse only did one season, glad to see them back for Overlord season 4's first episode. 

Programming vs programming

The very first scene of episode one does two things firstly it reestablishes how Ains is revered by Albedo. Albedo says "Sorceror Kingdom Ains Ooal Gown" "I wonder what kind of kingdom Lord Ains plans to create. By referring to Ains as Sorceror Kingdom Ains Ooal Gown Albedo displayed her pride in Ains for becoming the Sorcerer kingdom ruler she's thinking about who he is to other people outside of Nazarick. The next line about the kind of kingdom Lord Ains plans to create seems less formal but in actuality, it is more personal by referring to him as Lord Ains she's thinking about who he is to her. 

And this is where I think it gets interesting her very next line and the action that follows

Line

''Either way, my duty is to follow his orders without question". My beloved.

Action 

Call her ms flintstone cause she can make your bedrock.

Albedo's line is her admitting inadvertently that she herself expects that she will give her orders that she will not agree with that's how smart she is, she is expecting to know better than Ain's and follow his orders anyway.

Her action of immediately rocking the bed thinking about Ains after the last line is the writer reinforcing how much Albedo loves Ains but keep in mind that's only because of Ains programming her in the first episode.

Through Overlord the Members of Nazarick have been shown to grow beyond their programming the thing that is reinforcing Albedo following orders she may not agree with is not her love of Ains but her programming to the supreme being and her programmed love of Ains.

In the very next scene Albedo is in with Ains she immediately illustrates the point of the last paragraphs. If Albedo were to turn on Ains I think it would it would be because of contradictions in her programming and innate hatred of humans. When Ains want  Pestonyand Nigredo to be released from house arrest to handle the orphanage issue Albedo is quick to remind him that they went against orders to kill the captured humans they went against orders and sheltered infants. She thinks they should be beheaded. as soon as Ains looks at her and calls her name Albedo flips straight into the part of her programming that loves Ains and says "Lord Ains please don't look at me like that. Your words are absolute." Not even seven minutes in and Albedo is already following an order she does not agree with as she said she would.

Will Albedo Stop Following Ains Orders ?

I think a culmination of things will may stop Albedo from following Ain's orders. Number one competence.

The books Albedo had Ains look at had notes meaning Albedo understands the details and Ains cannot even understand the language. Albedo is more competent than Ains  in some regards but she does not know it, yet. Albedo and the members of Nazarick often assume Ains's reasoning is superior to what it actually is and what happens if a scenario occurs that the members of Nazarick are able to reason through and Ains cannot bluff his way into looking far less competent? Will they still revere him as a supreme being as they grow or start to see him for what he really is which is only human?

Two 

Albedo's view of humans has already and will in the future clash with Ain's view on humans. Putting her in charge of social law concerning humans she regards as pigs is a recipe for disaster a massive error on Ain's part in my view.

As a side note Ains admitting not to know much about social law could be a call back to the human he once was. The type of person to be the very last person on an online game is probably seeking the social interactions they are not getting in real life.

3

Ultimately if enough of Albedo's increasingly emerging growth and programming were to combine against Ain's wishes I think she could oust him. For example, say Ains favours training a human that may become a threat to Nazarick Albedo's programmed loyalty to Nazarick and personal feelings may override her love for Ains if she believes he is wrong.

Ains Can Win Some People But What About The Others

Ains has shown throughout the series to be the type of leader that leads through growth. The people are scared of Ains and when he first interacts with the guild master (Ainzach) acts respectfully but is clearly bothered by Ain's military might is far stronger than any adventurer. As the guild master he has been primarily concerned with the protection of human beings, in their conversation he asks if Ains would attack other nations thy may encounter but to be more specific I think he was concerned with how Ains would treat other human nations. According to Ainzach, the guild exist to protect humans that's why they never before allowed themselves to be absorbed into government. In other words, guilds avoid human vs human situations.

After hearing Ains's answers to his questions and vision for adventures to be more than exterminators and instead go into the unknown Ainzach responds with a strong desire to aid Ains. Ainzach cares about the good name of human adventurers and for the first time submitted to Ains under respect rather than logical submission.  

Ains wants a world where people wish to be under Ains's rule forever a Utopia. As we all know it won't be sunshine and rainbow on the way to Utopia. So the question is where will the opposition come from?