WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season 3, Episode 3, "Xenos | Outliers," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Wiene’s appearance in Orario has the entire town and its citizens in a panic as they demand action from the overwhelmed Guild in the latest episode of DanMachi. But while Wiene might be safe for the time being, the Hestia Familia soon discover something in the dungeon that could change Orario forever.
The action kicks off when Bell receives a letter from Eina addressing the entire Hestia Familia, revealing that the Guild knows about Wiene’s existence, and tasks the Hestia Familia members with bringing her to the Dungeon’s 20th floor. Interestingly, while reading the letter, Hestia notices a secret message addressed to her but doesn’t tell Bell and the others about it.
Bell and his party make their way into the 20th Dungeon and once they’re on their way, Hestia sneaks off and meets with a cloaked figure who -- after revealing their identity to her -- leads the goddess down a secret path where Ouranos, the head of the Guild is waiting where the two of them discuss the truth behind Wiene’s identity.
Bell and the rest of the party, meanwhile, discover a secret passage inside the dungeon and are shocked to find a myriad of monsters wielding weapons. The pack of monsters attack the group and manages to overpower the Hestia Familia, focusing specifically on Wiene with their attacks. An opening pops up and one of the monsters moves in to attack Wiene. Both Lili and Haruhime try to shield her from the attack but Bell lands a blow before anyone can get hurt.
The monsters suddenly stop attacking and the Lizardman leading them begins to speak, shocking everyone even more. This is when Ray, the mysterious monster that approached Bell and Welf in the 19th Dungeon, reveals herself. The Lizardman, named Lyd, explains that they were testing the Hestia Familia in order to see if they were willing to protect Weine in a live or die situation. He explains that the monsters dwelling in the secret caverns of the 20th Dungeon are called Xenos, and that like Weine, are intelligent and are capable of human speech. Lyd offers to shake Bell’s hand, and after some hesitation Bell accepts, causing the rest of the Zenos to erupt in a cheerful uproar while welcoming him.
As Ouranos explains the situation to Hestia he reveals that he has a role he believes only her familia can play in the upcoming events revolving around the Xenos. When she inquires as to what that is, he tells her that he wishes for the Hestia Familia and its members to serve as a bridge between humanity and the Xenos.
This turn of events finally gets Ouranos involved in this season properly after watching things play out from the sidelines the last couple of weeks. The Xenos’ reveal, coupled with their new camaraderie with Bell and the rest of the Hestia Familia, should make for some interesting conflict when the rest of Orario inevitably finds out about them. How this will affect each of the Hestia Familia members’ relationships with other characters remains to be seen, but one thing to keep an eye on in the coming episode is what role Dix and the rest of the Ikelos Familia will play in pushing the upcoming conflict forward.
