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Solo Levelingfeatures several outworldly beings like Monarchs and Rulers. In fact, by the end of the series, even Jinwoo becomes a godly entity that could exist beyond time and space. However, there was one outworldly entity that never got the much-deserved spotlight inSolo Leveling— the Absolute Being.
Of course, fans do learn a bit more about these Itarim Gods in theRagnarokseries, but there are still several unanswered questions about the Itarim race. The biggest question that everySolo Levelingasks is how exactly the Rulers were able to kill the Absolute Being. He was basically a God who created the Rulers and the Monarchs, so in what world is a creation able to kill its creator? Honestly, there’s no direct answer to this in theSolo Levelingseries yet, but there are still some strong theories.
The Rulers' Rebellion Against Their Creator, The Absolute Being
Rulers Killed The Absolute Being On His Throne InSolo Leveling
The Absolute Being created the Rulers and the Monarchs out of light and darkness, respectively. However, there’s zero evidence that the Itarim loved his creation; instead, he wanted hiscreations to fight each other for eternityso he could be entertained. When Rulers learned that they had been fighting this endless war against the Monarchs just to please the Absolute Being, they rebelled against their God. However, the Absolute Being was capable of creating and destroying life, so how did he lose againstthe Rulers, his own creation?
While it hasn’t been confirmed inSolo Leveling,there’s a possibility that the Absolute Being didn’t even fight. The manhwa shows Absolute Being dying on his throne, which means he didn’t attack the Rulers during their encounter. If this is indeed the reason for the Absolute Being’s defeat, this begs another question: why exactly didn’t he fight? Well, it’s quite plausible that the Absolute Being didn’t know how to fight.
The Absolute Being was a godly entity who only knew how to create or destroy life, but he wasn’t exactly a fighter. Rulers, on the other hand, were basically created to fight the Monarchs, and they were fighting a deadly war for eons. And the fact that they knew every small detail about the Absolute Being, and they charged together to kill their creator, gave them the upper hand.The Absolute Being didn’t know how to defend himselfagainst the combined force of all Rulers, so he was killed while sitting on his throne.
I am the record of your struggles, the evidence of your resistance, and the reward of your sufferings. I am death, I am eternal rest, I am terror. - Ashborn
But if theAbsolute Being, an Itarim, didn’t know how to fight, why isJinwoo so worried about other Itarim who want to capture Earth? If the Rulers can kill the Absolute Being, Jinwoo can certainly kill other Itarims, right? It’s not that simple, unfortunately. It was the combined efforts of all the Rulers that brought down a single Itarim being. Jinwoo, on the other hand, has been defending the Earth from not one but several Itarims. And let’s not ignore the fact thatJinwoo is not directly fighting the Itarims; instead, he has been fighting the endless forces created by the Itarim Gods — Apostles.
Since the Itarim Gods are not fighters, they have been using their creations to do the dirty work. Interestingly, Itarims using their powerful creations to fight the Rulers and Jinwoo’s Shadow Army instead of taking the fight head-on aligns pretty well with the “Itarims can’t fight” theory. However, there’s another strong, plausible explanation that suggests that Itarims can, in fact, fight. Thisexplanation implies that the Absolute Being didn’t fight against the Rulers, not because he couldn’t fight, but because he didn’t want to fight.
The Absolute Being Could Have Simply Destroyed The Rulers Using Magic
But The Mystery Behind Why He Didn’t Erase Rulers Out Of Existence Is Interesting
Even if the Absolute Being couldn’t fight, he could have easily erased the Rulers out of existence. So, why didn’t he? While the Absolute Being created these beings to make them fight for personal entertainment, the existence of both light and darkness is required to maintain the balance in the universe. So,there’s a chance that the Absolute Being didn’t destroy the Rulers to prevent the universe from going out of balance and getting destroyed.
Interestingly, before the other Rulers, it wasAshborn, the Shadow Monarch, who asked the Absolute Being to stop this war. He knew that a full-scale rebellion by other Rulers was imminent. So,he could have simply destroyed the Rulers then and there, but he didn’t. He let the rebellion unfold and let the Rulers kill him without even lifting a finger. In a way,he didn’t even care about fighting back.Either that, or the godly entity simply saw no purpose in living. In the end, he created Monarchs and Rulers out of boredom, so maybe the Itarim wanted to see what was left for him beyond death.
Finally, let’s not forget thatSolo Leveling Ragnarokis still ongoing, and it has been answering a lot of questions about Itarim. So, the reason why the Absolute Being got killed so easily could be something else entirely. We know that theGodly entity hid the power of the Shadow Monarch inside Ashborn, and there must be a reason for it. By giving Ashborn the power of both light and darkness, he made Ashborn “part Itarim.” In fact, the power he bestowed on Ashborn might have been a part of himself. If that’s the case, the entity that the Rulers killed back then may not have been the “complete Absolute Being.” Maybe the Absolute Being wanted to live through Ashborn.
This power is eventually passed on to Jinwoo, so, in a sense, a fragment of the Absolute Being is still alive. What’s fascinating is that if any of this is true,the Absolute Being must have hidden another fragment of his power somewhere else, which either Sung Jinwoo orSung Suho will possessto be able to defeat the armies of Itarims.
Solo Leveling
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A-1 Pictures' Solo Leveling is an anime based on Chugong’s popular web novel. Set in an unforgiving fantasy world where hunters explore dungeons filled with monsters, the vulnerable Sung Jinwoo gains a significant power boost after he is picked to be a solo player by the System.
