Solo Leveling season 1 ending explained: How Jinwoo's upgrade sets up season 2
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Solo Leveling season 1 finale spoilers follow.
Solo Leveling follows Sun Jinwoo, a weak hunter in a monster-plagued world where super-powered people like him can never upgrade or improve their abilities.
But when a near-death experience opens up a whole new reality to him, Jinwoo suddenly finds himself levelling up to an impossible degree, setting him on a path to become the strongest hunter this world has ever seen.
That is, assuming he survives season one. Episode twelve, the final episode of the anime's first run, continues where the previous episode left off, with Jinwoo trapped in a dungeon with an endless wave of knights who threaten to overwhelm him completely.
As fans of the original webcomic already know, Jinwoo's story isn't over just yet, though. Death is in the air, but not in the way you might think.
Solo Leveling season 1 ending explained
Jinwoo's battle against the knights isn't going well. They just won't stop coming, no matter how many he defeats, and each kill isn't adding up towards his XP total either, which means he won't be levelling up anytime soon. And that's a problem, because he needs to level up in order to heal and reduce his fatigue points.
It also doesn't help that Jinwoo lost his teleportation stone, too.
With no hope in sight, Jinwoo's inner demons come to life around him, tormenting the young hunter with his own doubts and shame.
As he fights bare-knuckled against the knights, key figures from his life whisper dark thoughts around him, and then Jinwoo comes face to face with himself, who says he's "still weak on the inside," despite how he's changed on the outside.
"You are the one who killed yourself in the end. Nothing changed."
But then, something does change.
Unable to complete his quest in time, Jinwoo is suddenly pulled into the penalty zone, another dimension where the mysterious overseers of his power take him when he's failed them.
In this desert hellscape, poison-toothed giant centipedes come for Jinwoo then, but for once, it's actually "nice timing" (as he puts it). Because here, Jinwoo can level up again through combat and thereby heal.
Potions would have worked in the penalty zone too, except Jinwoo's fatigue level has exceeded 90, which is beyond even their help.
"This pain will only make me stronger," Jinwoo says to himself as he leaps into battle, defying his exhaustion to massacre the monsters who advance his way.
Jinwoo's sister wakes up from a strange dream around that time and notices he isn't back home from "work" yet. If he doesn't return soon, he's going to miss an important teacher-parent meeting, something which could come to damage their relationship next season.
But for now, Jinwoo is excited to level up and prepare his equipment after killing all the centipedes in the desert.
With ten minutes to spare, he buys a "Knight Killer" sword that is 25% more effective against armoured types, and he also procures "Ruler's Hand," a rune stone he won for killing Igiris last episode.
This magical artefact gives Jinwoo the power to physically manipulate objects without touching them, like telekinesis (as if he wasn't powerful enough already).
Thrown back into the dungeon he escaped from earlier, Jinwoo fares far better now with his new equipment and it helps that he's been fully healed too, of course. But with no end in sight, Jinwoo comes to realise that the real threat isn't these knights at all. It's the knight mages who have been summoning wave after wave of soldiers this whole time.
After killing off a few, the last three mages band together to create a giant knight golem, but it's not long before Jinwoo handles it and them as well.
With the quest finally won, Jinwoo levels up even more, to the point where he can now access a new job class.
The twist is that Jinwoo doesn't get to choose what his new job might be. Instead, the system analyses his skill set and picks one for him, which he can either accept or reject.
Bizarrely, the system ignores his assassin-style strength and skillset, instead suggesting he become a necromancer. The reasoning is that Jinwoo apparently craves great power without regard for others, which certainly doesn't bode well for his personality in the future.
Jinwoo is unsure at first – he hasn't upgraded his intelligence points much and there's a risk of losing the abilities he's worked so hard to hone – but necromancy is a hidden class, which suggests there's more to be gained by saying yes. Plus, who says necromancers can't fight at the front of the battle lines?
Despite his concerns that the system might be playing him, Jinwoo goes ahead and accepts the upgrade anyway. But because he has gained so many experience points, Jinwoo jumps a level higher and instantly transforms into a Shadow Monarch, which is even better than he could have hoped for.
At this level, Jinwoo can hear the spirits of the slain knights around him, and with just one word – "arise" – he's now gained the power to raise them up as his own personal army.
Each resurrected soldier (and each mage as well) possesses their own unique levels and skillsets. Those who were at a higher level in life remain so now, but there's a limit to the number of spirits Jinwoo can wield. Realising that the power of Commander Igris could now be at his disposal, Jinwoo releases some of the soldiers and focuses all his attention on his slain foe instead.
Jinwoo only has three shots at this, and when the first two fail, he realises that he must barter with Igris, promising his warrior spirit a new opportunity for the violence he so sorely craves.
"Do you want your sword to rot in this desolate place?" asks Jinwoo. It works, and with that, Igris rises and bows before his new master.
Jinwoo smiles then, his eyes glowing with newfound power, and honestly, it's not a good look for our once adorable hero. By accepting the darkness of this necromancer role, Jinwoo is going down a dangerous path that his soul might not be able to come back from.
At least he's not weak anymore though. Sure, villainy might await, but with what's coming, Jinwoo will need all the strength he can find.
Without spoiling too much, the brief post-credits scene at the end of this episode begins to hint at this upcoming danger with a helicopter scene where powerful S-rank hunters encroach on Jeju Island. Since the very first episode of Solo Leveling, this area has been a concerning one, but things are about to get a lot worse as the hunters discover that the monsters here "have evolved".
That should be impossible – but as anyone who's already read the Jeju Island Arc knows, there are plenty more twists to come.
Solo Leveling is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
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