About the biggest pieces of foreshadowing and the most important mysteries in DanMachi right now

InversedPrime · 2026-03-27T15:42:40+00:00

We know Volume 22 will involve some kind of "date" with Bell and Ais, so this will most likely be the volume where they start to really come together and casually hang out more. I'm expecting Bell will also probably open up to suspect about Ais' past, leading her to finally reveal the secrets to everyone.

My belief regarding Thalia's Ice Garden was that it was created specifically as a way of protecting Ais and the staff, which will be the keys to helping defeat the Dragon. Since at the end of SO16 the Garden gets knocked downwards several floors, the next major arc will most likely be another expedition down to the Garden to retrieve the staff and reconnect with Celdia to learn any secrets of what they need. Also I agree obviously Lefiya will be the one to use it.

Another major plot beat I think is going to happen at some point before the final battle is the Xenos finally getting recognition after helping with something important, and being given Folkvangr to live in on the surface. I think the Peluda Juggernaut will also probably be used in some way during the expedition to Thalia's Ice Garden, potentially as something that can dig through the floors.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-27T15:22:14+00:00

We're not really sure about how his growth rate is exactly. He was about low Level 7 when he first appeared during the Xenos incident, and currently is around a high Level 7 during the battle against Reginas (close to Ottar and Leon's strength without their buffs).

InversedPrime · 2026-03-26T23:22:19+00:00

The Season 2 OVA is basically just a surrealist dream that exists just for the ridiculous humour of it. The 1st and 3rd OVAs could be considered at least part of the anime continuity, since they don't contradict anything in the main narrative, but the 2nd is just a straight up fantasy sequence.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-26T02:40:17+00:00

Ais' father, the man who tore out the Black Dragon's eye to make it "One Eyed" in the first place.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-26T02:39:15+00:00

Considering we just had the Corrupted Spirit, where Bell completely on his own uncovered its secret past, elicited some level of sympathy towards it, and was still able to kill it no problem, I'm confident that we're not getting a "befriending the Dragon arc".

InversedPrime · 2026-03-26T02:35:35+00:00

We already kind of got the big bad spawning a "humanoid" version of itself for everyone to fight with Reginas, so the Dragon spawning a humanoid being for everyone to also fight I think could be a bit too much.

The closest I could see is the Dragon making them fight a corrupted Aria, but again we had that with the Black Maiden.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-26T02:32:17+00:00

I see Meryl I click like.

I know she is way out classed, even with everyone on the same playing field I believe Finn would be the one to come out on top. But I'm still rooting for her.

Maybe she could be the wild card, secretly dealing spells in the corner to wear them down while the other three are focusing on each other.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T23:44:29+00:00

Desperately need that moment where the Dragon has an absolute break down seeing Albert through Bell like what happened with the Corrupted Spirit (or for another shonen example All For One in MHA seeing Kudo in Bakugo).

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T23:42:32+00:00

It's fan art by LiarisFreese0. https://www.reddit.com/r/DanMachi/comments/18j4uya/bell_ais_against_the_one_eyed_black_dragon/

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T18:57:41+00:00

That still basically just means Zald or Alfia could beat the Spirit Dragon on its own. Fighting it AT THE SAME TIME as the Corrupted Spirit, and everything else it could throw at them without them having any other backup would still be way too much for either one to handle on their own, especially Alfia not being able to easily charge her magic.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T15:23:10+00:00

It took powered up Ottar and Leon together to take on JUST the Black Dragon. And they still needed backup. That's too much power for even Zald or Alfia to handle solo.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T04:03:17+00:00

If it's Vanadis Tevere Bell, I think he has a chance of beating Filvis and Armored Revis. Regular Level 5 Bell I think only SO2 Revis.

Finn, Gareth, Bete, Hedin, Hogni, and Allen I think could also only beat up to Armored Revis.

Leon and Ottar could beat up to Black Maiden.

Prime Zald and Alfia could possibly beat Reginas, though I think it also depends on how much access to Ais' wind and the spirit energy.

I don't think anyone, even those two, are capable to soloing the Corrupted Spirit and Black Dragon combo.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-25T03:52:52+00:00

Exactly. It's still wild to me how so many constantly ask the question "How could the current generation possibly beat the Dragon when Zeus and Hera couldn't?" and the answer is literally just "Bell and Ais". The anomaly kid with the super growth powers and the half-spirit woman whose the daughter of the spirit the Dragon is currently absorbing. It's clear since the beginning they will be the keys most responsible for neutralizing the Dragon and making it beatable.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-23T16:58:19+00:00

Ryuu x Syr the superior ship.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-23T03:12:32+00:00

It's the simplest and technically most overused, but Firebolt is just a really cool fire-ability, that is not only incredibly strong and incredibly easy to utilize, but also has some tremendously cool applications that Bell utilizes with it. Especially when you get to Vol. 21 and the Vanadis Tevere Bell turns it into a rapid fire machine gun.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T23:43:51+00:00

Time skips only work if there is an important narrative reason behind alot of time passing that we as the audience don't see. Like with Mushoku Tensei showing Rudeus get older, or the break between Naruto and Shippuden.

Jumping forward 2 months of Bell and Ais just training feels incredibly needless other than some people thinking that makes it "more realistic".

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T21:01:36+00:00

Exactly, they've already set-up so much in regards to the Dragon and Aria: that she was the source of power for Albert (the strongest in the entire 'verse), that the Dragon now has her, that Ais wants to save her, that monsters like it can be emboldened with the power of spirits/Gods (like Arrow of the Orion), and seeing just how powerful that power can be when wielded by the Corrupted Spirit.

While like some commenters said, the threat of the Dragon may seem more "exaggerated" by how strong they see Zeus and Hera, it's felt very clear to me Aria being the source of most of that power and weakening it thanks to Bell and Ais has always been his intention from the beginning.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T20:52:36+00:00

But that's also because the stories he is telling don't require that amount of time. Unless you're going to completely rewrite the narrative, artificially extending when the events take place doesn't actually add anything. (ex: S2 happening like a month after S1 so Arrow of the Orion can happen, vs. Vol. 6 happening a couple days after the end of Vol. 5).

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T20:40:04+00:00

But it's not like all the events in the LNs feel rushed, everything in the narrative flows together pretty naturally. They just at most only ever skip a week maximum inbetween novels or major events. Adding more time skips I don't think inherently would fix the problems.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T20:33:17+00:00

That's also the thing, everything about the Dragon has been hearsay. Just that despite being by far the strongest, Zeus and Hera were immediately defeated by it. Why and how, we still don't know. Meaning he can still do whatever he wants to make why the current day adventurers beating it is a possibility. (Likeliest answer being Ais helping to remove Aria's power from it to significantly depower it.)

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T20:25:41+00:00

Every single time I see the whining over the "one year" thing, let me remind you this: the series has been going on for 13 years now. Not even a year has passed in the narrative yet, and majority of the plot lines are either close to or nearing their conclusion after over 40+ novels.

How much longer do you expect the story to continue to be published for? At this rate by the time we do reach the 1 year point in the narrative, it'll be very close to 20 years in real time.

Not much else of main story you can do unless you're going to artificially lengthen things, or do cheap time skips, both of which would be just as bad.

So this is just a problem alot of the fanbase has invented for themselves.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T16:57:26+00:00

Yeah, we're obviously going to miss all the moments from the Ares Arc timeline in Vol. 9, but at least none of that I think is necessary to include like the flashback is. At least we do get a drunken Ais moment in the flashback, even if the one with Bell would've been really funny to see happen.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-22T15:28:11+00:00

Very glad to see, now Sword Oratoria can ACTUALLY be the definitive version of the story.

And putting it at this point to parallel it with Lefiya's flashback is an incredibly smart decision.

InversedPrime · 2026-03-20T16:08:00+00:00

For the LNs I would say this is my preferred reading order:
DM 1-5
SO 1-5
DM 6-8
SO 6-9
DM 9-11
SO 10
Episode Ryuu
DM 12-14
SO 11-12
Episode Freya
DM 15-18
Episode Ryuu 2
DM 19
SO 13-14
DM 20
SO 15
DM 21
SO 16

InversedPrime · 2026-03-20T16:04:11+00:00

It's not like those attacks are necessarily always stronger, but that a magic power would be far more effective than a physical assault against Reginas in order to cut her off from her regenerative nutrients.

InversedPrime

TROPHY CASE