The Return of the 8th Class Mage Review

Summary:

    Ian has retired from being the archmage after helping the fifth prince ascend to the throne. However, one day, Emperor Ragnar visits Ian, only to poison him in fear of Ian's power and influence. To save himself, he stabs himself with a dagger with time magic to go back in time, waking up 30 years as his 12-year-old self before he becomes the archmage and allies with Ragnar.

Other Titles: 

• The Return of the 8th Class Magician

Story Info:

Original Creator / Author: Ryu Song

Illustrator: Tess

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Revenge

Status: Complete

Chapter Length: 81  

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Blood, Murder, Swears, Dark Magic

Personal Rating: 6/10

• Pros:  I like how we learn more about new characters alongside Ian, as there are some with whom he barely interacts and gets to know better. Some relationships are sweet and wholesome, like those with his mom, stepbrother, stepdad, and future love interest. Also, I like Ian's new relationship with the Crown Prince, whom he did not know well in his previous timeline. The characters' color palettes are appealing and pleasant to look at. Overall, Ian's character development was well done with him being more self aware about his surroundings and being able to interact with more people.

• Cons: There is a lack of moments when Ian fails to achieve some of his goals, which makes everything go too easy for Ian. Like, I want to see a moment where one of Ian's plans has severe consequences for his actions, and Ian struggles and learns from his mistake. There was a moment around the end where I thought that would be the case, but nope. Also, there are little moments for Ian and us as readers to view more information about Ian's past life, like the depth of his relationship with Ragnar and his journey on how he becomes an 8th-class mage in his previous timeline. In the final arc, the pace feels rushed as the last Dragonian, Evantus does not feel like a threat, and there is a lack of foreshadowing to reveal how dangerous he is, and the end of Ragnar felt rushed. Ultimately, I do not feel a significant impact from reading this manhwa due to lack of nuance and attention in other characters that have potential in making the story great with their development and drive the story alongside with Ian.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Regression Mechanism:

    Ian did a regression only once as he traveled back in time to 30 years in the past, possessing his 12-year-old self.

    In Chapter 1, when Ian was slowly dying from the poison, Ian resorted to using a dagger with time magic engraved in Dragonian by stabbing himself before he died from the poison. It was introduced later as an ancient language used by the Dragonians, who were closely tied to the dragons and were mighty beings who could wield magic well. Later, after he finds the dagger again in the new timeline, there is no Dragonian impeded on the dagger, which shows that time magic like this can only be used once.

Dagger with Time Magic in Dragonian (ch1)

    Ian realized he had regressed and saw his mother, who was supposed to be deceased in his previous timeline, now alive. Also, he noticed how many people were gathering in his town, Mogrian, to do a test to see if they were capable of being raised into capable mages for the Greenriver Empire.

Regressor Analysis:

    The protagonist, Ian Paige, is the regressor, an archmage, and the closest aide to the fifth prince, known in the previous timeline as Emperor Ragnar Greenriver. Ian's goal before regressing is to support his friend, Ragnar, in becoming the next ruling emperor. Another goal is to learn more about the Dragon Tongue and the mysteries surrounding it, and this goal continues after he regresses. He mentions that the reason for studying Dragonian before regressing was to atone for his past sins and do what he could to set things right. However, after witnessing the threats that could hurt his loved ones, he realized he still might have to get his hands dirty to protect the people he cared for. After he is poisoned by his "close friend," Ian's new goal after regressing is to take revenge on Ragnar and others who wronged him.

Ian as his 12-year-old self (ch 2)

    From the being, Ian realizes, being back in his 12-year-old body, that he does not have the same amount of mana as he did in his previous timeline, so Ian keeps training his use of magic and increasing his mana pool in order to be ready for the disaster that lies ahead. This time, he achieved the status of 8th class mage much earlier in his early adulthood than his previous timeline. It should also be noted that throughout his journey, he figures out more about Dragonian as he gains access to special locations that allow him to get the magic artifacts first before anyone else can get them. He can discover the truth about the lore behind his biological father and his history with the Dragonians. These findings help Ian beat the powerful enemy in the finale, who happens to be also a Dragonian. Finally, Ian became aware of the politics going on in his world, which became useful when he got rid of the Coldwood spies earlier on and helped Crowned Prince Hayden lead the peace treaty between the Greenriver Empithe re, Coldwood Empire, and the Duchy of Lo. Not only is Ian able to shift the tides in politics, but he is also able to expose the crimes of Ivory Tower Master, Master Herbert, the Coldwood spies, the Order of the Dragon, Ragnar, and those who are associated with these criminal cases.

Ian Defeated the Last Dragonian (ch 75)

    In Ian's previous timeline, he is always loyal to Ragnar, which causes him to be isolated from others around him. That naive loyalty to the empire cost him his time with his mom, who died a year after Ian started to train as a mage, and his lack of awareness of the political party. After the betrayal, Ian becomes more cautious about who he allies. He considers people's thoughts on who should become the next emperor. For example, he recognizes Douglas, the alchemist who is responsible for making the poison that killed Ian. Despite the past, Ian later learns the circumstance that Douglas's father was killed and he was sold as a slave to the empire. Douglas's father was killed by mana poisoning, and Douglas was looking for the Landeor flower to cure his father. Ian considers killing Douglas but decides that allying with him and his father is always an option. Ian does his best to get the flower to cure Douglas's father, ensuring Douglas's loyalty and gratitude to Ian. Ian was obident without question, but now he operated as an independent person capable of protecting the people he loved. Another flaw that Ian has is his relentless pursuit of power, which causes him to be unaware of the consequences he could have caused by using his magic. This lack of awareness costs Ian his life as Ragnar may fear his powers and other nobles and is unaware of the same thoughts. In the current timeline, whenever he uses high-level spells, he is meticulous about it. A scene that struck me even after reading The Return of the 8th Class Mage is a 6th class spell Ian created called Puppet Play, where he can create and control two avatars simultaneously. However, the downfall is that his main body is unconscious and they can only cast one class lower, which is 5th class spells. To ensure that he completes the goal of protecting his family and helping the Crowned Prince Hayden lead the negotiation between the Greenriver Empire, the Coldwood Empire, and the Duchy of Lo, he used the spell to achieve those two goals. This moment illustrates Ian's character growth from being blind to obedience to being self-aware and assertive to taking action in his own hands.

Ian using the Puppet Play Spell (ch 33)

    In this manhwa, Ian rarely interacts with anyone before the regression, except Prince Ragnar, who used to be his closest friend. As I mentioned earlier about Ian's flaws, Ian was loyal to a fault when helping Ragnar ascend the throne. Due to the lack of interaction with others, Ian becomes isolated, with Ragnar as his only friend. In Ragnar's eye in the previous timeline, he at first views Ian as a powerful ally, but as Ian demonstrates his magic capabilities, Ragnar only grows more fearful of Ian. Even more so when he discussed with other nobles after his ascension to the throne when they told Ragnar that he should eliminate Ian. This fear has been taken to a whole new level as not only does Ragnar poison Ian, but he even burns Ian's house to ensure that Ian stays dead. However, there is a moment in Ragnar when he reveals to Ian that he hopes that Ian will ever forgive him for doing this, which shows that Ragnar understands that killing Ian was a tough decision and kwell that Ian would react very negatively towards him. Fast forward to the new timeline, when Ian and Ragnar first meet, Ian has a panic attack from seeing Ragnr's face when first meeting him. Ian swore to never side with Ragnar at any cost, which leads to Ian avoiding Ragnar and dismissing every chance Ragnar offers Ian to team up with him. These dismissive actions cause Ragnar to despise Ian as Ian foils all of Ragnar's plans. In the final, where Ragnar is about to be killed by Ian after all he did to become emperor, Ragnar questions why Ian does not like him, so Ian shows Ragnar his memories of their relationship in the previous timeline. In the final scene, Ragnar poisons Ian and tells him about not forgiving him. Ragnar, however, does not react to this information negatively; instead, he smiles happily before the end of his demise.

Ian's Loyalty to Ragnar Before Betrayal (ch 1)

Evaluation of Regression:

    The regression in this manhwa is good because Ian can become more insightful as he only has a chance to set things right. Since this type of magic that Ian used with the dagger has the Dragonian language disappear after using it only once, this pushes Ian to be even more cautious. However, my only gripe is that I wish there were more involvement with Ian being affected by the regression. I like having more self-reflection on his past and for us, as readers, to see more memories of his previous timeline between Ragnar and Ian.

    

Final Thoughts:

    If you prefer a light, quick read, and the story is filled with wholesome moments, I recommend this manhwa as there are fewer tense moments. There are moments to breathe where we explore Ian's changed relationship with people he knew and forming new relationships with people he barely interacted with. Also, I would recommend this if you like smart, powerful, and somewhat OP protagonists who use their wits and powers to achieve their goals. You can see what Ian can achieve by being back at the start and ascending to higher planes of magic as if he were more than an 8th-class mage in his previous timeline. Not only did Ian grow in magic, but in his character as well. This manhwa has a solid, minimum foundation of worldbuilding, magic lore, and history to make The Return of the 8th Class Mage into a story that is easy to read through and intrigues to learn more about the world this manhwa.

    However, if you want to read this manhwa for depth, a serious dive into the characters, and looking for stories that leave a significant impact with more than just the protagonist, I would not recommend you read this manhwa. There have been times when some important characters, like Ragnar, have not gone more into depth. For example, Ragnar, his father, has not always liked him for being cunning and capable of being the next emperor. However, he favored the Crowned Prince, who is shown to be too relaxed and nonchalant in politics. I get that Ragnar views people as pawns sometimes. There is more to Ragnar as a character than that, but it has never been heavily explored. There is Ragnar's sudden change after Ian reveals the memories feel rushed, and he does not have time to process what just happened and how this affects Ragnar and Ian as characters. There was little justice for the other characters and their growth, so be aware of itu still wish to continue reading this manhwa.

    Whether you want to read this manhwa or not is up to you.

Note:

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