When Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland) first aired in the Winter 2019 season, it was praised for its shockingly dark premise and thrilling prison break storyline. Now, two years later, we pick up where we left off as the Grace Field House orphans try to navigate the outside world after successfully escaping their gilded cage. We’re only a few episodes into the new season so far, but let’s see what our favorite pre-pubescent masterminds are getting up to this time!
A Greater Mystery Outside the Orphanage
In the first season, Emma, Ray, and Norman were so laser-focused on outsmarting their “Mama” that they had precious little time to wonder about what lay outside the walls. We had Norman’s observations about the farms’ layout, a seemingly important pen that Sister Krone stole from the demons, and a few cryptic hints about a mysterious helper named William Minerva who wrote in Morse code. Now that the kids have ventured out into the uncharted wilds, they’ve deduced that the pen is an electronic device that acts as a crude map/GPS and contains instructions from William Minerva for how to find his secret underground safehouse. As for how Emma and Ray are supposed to protect themselves and their gaggle of younger siblings from a harsh, unknown world where demons hunt them at every turn... they’re on their own.
As endlessly entertaining as the first season’s 5D mind chess thriller plot was, we’re honestly glad that this arc has moved away from that somewhat. The constant “I know that you know that I know” speeches and Ray being a double-triple-quadruple agent who can remember events from when he was in the womb became gradually more ridiculous as time went on, so letting the audience figure out the slowly unfolding mystery along with the orphans is a much more satisfying dynamic. We hope that it stays that way!
Expanding the Cast with New and Familiar Faces
Along their journey, the Grace Field gang meets a pair of friendly demons who offer to shelter them in the forest and teach them how to live on their own. Towering wilderness expert Sonju and polite caretaker Mujika belong to a religion that forbids eating farm-raised humans, so they take the kids in and educate them on basic skills like cooking and hunting before sending them on their way. It’s later revealed that Sonju and Mujika’s motivations aren’t entirely pure-hearted (or at least didn’t start that way), which adds some nice depth to their characters, but they’re still kind souls whose help was essential to the orphans’ survival.
We’re also glad that the younger kids are getting some more focus this time, since they were blissfully ignorant of the orphanage’s true purpose for most of the first season. Nat is a musically talented extrovert, Anna hides true grit behind a gentle exterior, Thoma is a mischievous loudmouth, Yvette is a curious artist, and Jemima... tries her best. Instead of just being a giant burden that Emma and Ray have to worry about, they’re all contributing to the cause in their own ways!
Final Thoughts
We’re not sure exactly where the story will go from here, but the first few episodes have assured us that whatever happens next will at least be interesting. But what about you? Have you been watching The Promised Neverland Season 2? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments, and thanks so much for reading!
Author: Mary Lee Sauder
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