Did 'Black Clover' Just Kill [SPOILER]?

Warning! Spoilers for Black Clover Episode 9 below!

Black Clover seems like another shonen story where the hero will always be victorious no matter what, but things have suddenly taken a violent turn.

During Asta and Noelle's first mission as members of the Black Bull Magic Knights, the two happen upon where a powerful ice wizard and his cronies have covered the entire town in mist. Breaking their way through the mist, their first mission took a turn for the worst when they find Seyhe, the town mayor, had been murdered.

The first eight episodes of the series were spent setting up the world, and had yet to plunge into the dark tone Episode 9 has. Seyhe's death officially sets the series on a darker path, making Black Clover a series where death is even possible.

In fact, Asta is only able to take in the situation with a simple "How can someone just die like that?"

Though there have been life-threatening spells and enemies in previous episodes, this violent turn establishes the ice wizard as a more threatening foe than Asta has faced in the past.

What was supposed to be a routine mission, though off-the-books officially, of clearing out a few boars outside the borders of Sosshi Village with Asta, Noelle, and the most senior knight Magna Swing, has turned into a far darker affair with the still unnamed ice wizard threatening to quickly execute the rest of the village citizens with a hail of ice spikes.

Magna Swing is deplected of magic, Asta takes the brunt of the attacks with his ability to dispel magic, and Noelle's still not able to fully control their magical power, so there might even be more deaths on Black Clover if the situation doesn't shift into their favor soon.

If you are unfamiliar with Black Clover, the series debuted in Shonen Jump back in 2015 from creator Yuki Tabata. The since popular series follows two young boys named Asta and Yuno who are growing up in a world where magic is everything. Asta, unfortunately, seems to have been born without magical powers while Yuno is a young prodigy whose magical powers rival that of the strongest magic users in the Clover Kingdom, the Magic Knights. The story then follows the two young boys as they strive to become the strongest wizard in the Clover Kingdom, The Wizard King.

Studio Pierrot's Black Clover adaptation premiered in Japan on October 3 and is currently slated for a hefty 51 episodes. You can currently find the Japanese language version with English subtitles on Crunchyroll, and the English language dub on FunimationNow if you want to give it a test drive before its official broadcast.

What did you think of this character death on Black Clover? Talk to me @Valdezology.