‘Mushoku Tensei’ Labyrinth Arc Explained

Call me a minotaur, but there ain’t nothing I love more than a good labyrinth. What some see as a crushingly difficult maze where survival is slim and death is all around, I see possibility. So many choices to make! That must be how the Mushoku Tensei cast feels, right?

The Labyrinth Arc of Mushoku Tensei sure begs the question: Why would Rudeus go in there? Labyrinths are dangerous! But indeed, Rudeus’ intentions are made clear at the beginning of the arc, when his father Paul asks him to brave the labyrinth in order to help find not treasure, nor exp points, but his own mother who is trapped inside.

The Labyrinth Arc is essential a rogue-like gamer’s dream. It’s a real life dungeon crawl! Normally Rudeus would be down to clown until he’s dead in the ground, but the clowning is made complicated by the fact that his fantasy world wife Sylphie is pregnant, and a journey to the Labyrinth is gonna take a full two years. That’s a long time to be away from your newlywed partner and your literal child. With some encouragement from his sisters (and a teleportation circle) Rudeus plans to make the trip in only a few months.

The Labyrinth, like all labyrinths, proves frustratingly difficult to navigate. Thankfully, Rudeus has just the book in his possession to help the gang navigate through the bowels of the dungeon. In classic Dark Souls fashion, Rudeus discovers a hidden door within the Labyrinth revealing… a magical amnesic horny woman? On the other side of the door is Rudeus’ old mentor Roxy, who doesn’t recognize him, but does want to jump his bones inexplicably.

At the end of the dungeon they find the boss, a hydra with the ability to negate magic. Bummer for the mages. The party gets its collective ass handed to itself, and the gang retreats in order to come up with a new plan. They pull a page out of Greek mythology’s book and decide to defeat the beast by cutting off the heads and having their powerful mage incinerate the stumps. It works! But at a cost. Rudeus gets distracted by visions of victory, and nearly gets mauled by the hydra. His father manages to push the kid out of the way and take the hit… which cuts him in half. Paul dies. Rudeus is devastated. He does ends up rescuing his mother Zenith, but she has lost all her memories of her son. Ouch.

So what does Rudeus do to cope? Confesses his love for Roxy and asks if she’ll marry him. His newlywed wife will be totally fine with that, right?