The paintings portion of this episode is pretty obviously important lore information, even to an anime-only like me. I knew instantly that the old man (the king) was going to be important because of his VA. I know that old-man voice anywhere, it is Houchuu Ootsuka, who you might know as Jiraiya (at least that is the character I always most closely associate him with).

So, for some reason, that jester is able to recognize that Laios is not like the rest of the people in the painting world and is even able to carry through memories between the different paintings. I have consumed enough fantasy in my life and played/ran enough D&D campaigns to know that is significant. My guess is that, like our intrepid party, that Jester character (do they have a name yet?) is day-tripping in the paintings just like Laios. However, the fact that they didn’t have a rope or something to get out tells me they may have some amount of control over what happens in the paintings. Also, the other painting people acted like they belonged there, so they probably lived through the events being depicted. Perhaps they are reliving significant memories a la Dumbledore at the pensieve and our brave party leader kept hopping in and disrupting things?

The mimic part of the episode was interesting. First, I have to say that Trigger really put a lot into Chilchuck’s action sequences. They got real cartoony with how much he was squashed/stretched/smeared. Just look at how he flattens against the wall when he runs into it trying to get away from the mimic:

I hadn’t thought of mimics as hermit crabs before, but it makes a lot of sense. Also, treasure bugs are like predatory wasps to mimics. There is a whole ecosystem being built in this show. I guess something like the paintings is just magic though rather than a living thing in any way, or else it would have had substance and stayed inside Laios’s stomach.

Finally, as we are getting deeper into the dungeon, I feel like the show is starting to have a bit of a darker tone. I criticized the show in the early episodes for being so lighthearted when the adventure is ostensibly about saving Laios’s sister. However, the tone has gradually shifted as things have (literally) become darker and there are fewer other adventurers around. The threat of death has also increased a lot recently compared to the silly fun they had early in the show with the mushroom monster and Marcy getting caught up in the plants.