Sword Art Online Episode 02

Beater (ビーター) is the second episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation. It aired on July 14, 2012.

Plot
A month has passed since the tutorial of Kayaba Akihiko; 2000 players have already died in the game and the 1st floor is still not cleared.

On December 2nd of 2022; a self-claim knight name «Diabel» held a meeting at the town centre. It was announced that the boss’s room in the dungeon have been located. When all the attending players were ask to form into groups, Kirito have to partner with the only other player left behind name «Asuna».

The meeting was later interrupted by the aggressive male player name «Kibaou» who started demanding the apologies of the «Beta Testers». However a tall man name «Agil» intervene, and defended the called out Beta Testers, stating that they should not be fully blame as they had also help by distributing knowledge around the game. When the commotion has ended, Diabel continue his speech and present the recent release guide that would describe the up-coming boss battle. At the end of the meeting, Kirito and Asuna were tasked to protect the rear.

The next day, the boss raiding army face off against the 1st floor boss: «llfang the Kobold Lord» along with his re-spawning minions: «Ruin Kobold Sentinels». When the boss’s health was nearly completely depleted, Diabel tries to engage the «Last Attack». However, the boss’ change battle style was different from its beta version, and it resulted with Diabel receiving a deadly 3-hit combo from the boss and dies in front of Kirito. In his last moment, he reveals to Kirito that he was also one of the «Beta Testers», and was trying to hinder Kirito since he knew him by his name as the one who perform many «Last Attacks» against the bosses from the beta version.

With Asuna’s help and everyone’s cooperation, Kirito perform Diabel’s last wish in defeating the boss and therefore obtaining the rare boss item. Everyone was celebrating their victory until the atmosphere changed when Kibaou and his group reminded everyone that their leader Diabel had died; stating that Kirito let him die by withholding information. To deal with the growing anger against the «Beta Testers», Kirito made the bold decision to direct all the anger onto him by announcing himself as belonging to a new category known as «Beater» (Beta Tester + Cheater); a player who uses future knowledge to benefit himself in the SAO game from its previous version.

After flashing the boss item: «Coat of Midnight» to everyone, Kirito soon left them all behind and proceeds to the gate of the next floor; with only Asuna and Agil fully understanding his act. Before he passes through, Asuna quickly met with him to show her gratitude. Afterwards, Kirito passes through the gate once he part ways with Asuna and cancels their partnership.

New Characters

 * Diabel
 * Asuna
 * Agil
 * Kibaou

Named Monsters

 * Illfang the Kobold Lord
 * Ruin Kobold Sentinel

Inventory

 * Kirito
 * Coat of Midnight
 * Anneal Blade +6
 * Leather Coat
 * Leather Shirt
 * Leather Band
 * Leather Ankles
 * Healing Potion
 * Illfang the Kobold Lord
 * Axe
 * Buckler
 * Nodachi
 * Ruin Kobold Sentinel
 * Pole Axe

Sword Skills

 * Linear - Asuna
 * Tsumujiguruma - Illfang the Kobold Lord
 * Rage Spike - Kirito
 * Tsujikaze - Illfang the Kobold Lord
 * Slant - Kirito
 * Horizontal - Kirito
 * Vertical - Kirito
 * Gengetsu - Illfang the Kobold Lord
 * Whirlwind - Agil
 * Sonic Leap - Kirito
 * Vertical Arc - Kirito (Last Attack)

Locations

 * Town of Torubana
 * First Floor Boss Room

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted from the side story Aria in the Starless Night


 * The First Day side story was skipped entirely.
 * Kirito originally met Asuna at the 18th of 20 levels of the 1st floor dungeon.
 * Asuna’s past life before borrowing her brother’s console to play the game was omitted. As well as her 1 month character development from a kidnap damsel in distress to a near-suicidal player who constantly grinds her levels.
 * «Argo the Rat» was not introduced; the second player of Kirito’s friend list and the publisher of the SAO guide books.
 * The meeting for the boss raid took place after Kirito have lunch with Asuna.
 * No Kirito monologues about the danger of being known as a Beta Player; their life will be targeted as the one who helps release the death game. Also hurting other players is possible outside the safe boundary of the town and city.
 * Asuna actually regains her desire for life after speaking to Kirito; who frequently taught her the beauty of the virtual world.
 * No slice of life scenes of Kirito’s rented house, Asuna borrowing his bath and the visit from Argo.
 * Diabel was now portrayed as a selfless «Beta Tester» who was looking out for everyone.
 * In the side story, Asuna voluntarily removes her hooded cloak herself and this help recaptures everyone’s morale after their leader’s death.
 * No mention of Kirito's habit of Last Attacking the boss.
 * No mention of Diabel and Kibaou being cohorts. Kibaou tries to purchase Kirito’s «Anneal Blade +6» at an outrageous price.
 * No demonstration of Kirito’s leadership as he directs the 7 raiding parties against the boss’s actions.
 * It was originally a player of Diabel’s group who accuses Kirito of allowing his death by withholding information.
 * No display of the in-game messaging feature; where players can send and receive messages to their known acquaintances.
 * The opening scenery of the 2nd floor was not shown.