#The Seven Deadly Sins: Seasons 1-3 Recap

The Seven Deadly Sins’ war against the Ten Commandments continues in The Seven Deadly Sins: Imperial Wrath of the Gods (Season 4), which aired in Japan last fall as the first entry produced by Studio DEEN instead of A-1 Pictures. With Imperial Wrath of the Gods now available on Netflix and The Seven Deadly Sins: Judgement of Fury to conclude the series in 2021, here’s a look back at what Elizabeth and the titular Seven Deadly Sins have been through so far. 

About The Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins is a manga and anime series known for its action, comedy, and romance. It’s set in a world resembling the European Medieval Ages and features a group of powerful knights known as the Seven Deadly Sins. Powerful magic, nonhumans, and talking animals exist in the main setting of Britannia and its kingdoms. The story takes place ten years after the Holy War and follows Princess Elizabeth as she searches for the now-missing Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to retake her kingdom, which is ruled by the corrupt Holy Knights. Disbanded, exiled, and labeled as traitors for plotting to overthrow the Kingdom of Liones, the Seven Deadly Sins are rumored to still be wandering the lands of Britannia. After locating and teaming up with all the Sins, the consequent battles lead to devastating outcomes as the ties between the Sins, Elizabeth, the Holy Knights, Fairies, Goddesses, and the Demon Clan are tested in a seemingly endless battle for peace and justice.

The Seven Deadly Sins (Season 1)

Elizabeth, the third princess of the Kingdom of Liones, sets out on a journey to search for the Seven Deadly Sins. Ravaged by hunger and exhaustion, she stumbles into the Boar Hat tavern and meets its owner, Melodias, and the talking pig Hawk. To her surprise, Meliodas turns out to be the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins who agrees to help her search for the other six Sins. 

In the thick, foggy forest of White Dreams, they encounter the first sin, the Serpent’s Sin of Envy, Diane, along with the Holy Knight Gilthunder. During the two Sins’ fight with Gilthunder, they mislead him to believe that the other Sins are dead, when instead they believe the opposite and are on a journey to find the rest. Overjoyed and enamored with Meliodas’s return, Diane decides to follow along to release Ban, the Fox’s Sin of Greed, who is kept in Baste Prison. 

After a skirmish against the Holy Knights’ Weird Fangs unit, Meliodas is left unconscious from his injuries and is treated at Dalmary Town. Left on their own without Meliodas’ help, Diane takes on the Weird Fangs’ Holy Knights by herself to get to the prison, leaving Elizabeth to take care of Meliodas who suddenly wakes up when the Weird Fangs’ Golgius grabs his sword. Around the same time, Ban breaks out of his prison cell when he catches wind of Meliodas’ name. He easily disposes of the prison guards and reunites with Meliodas and the group. 

Next, the characters arrive in a town of ruins near the Necropolis where King, the Grizzly’s Sin of Sloth, is rumored to be. The group enters the Necropolis thanks to Ban’s memory of Elaine, King’s late sister, while Guila, a Holy Knight, secretly follows closely behind. King appears and begins to fight Ban for killing Elaine and for destroying their home, the Fairy Forest. This prompts Ban to remember his past meeting with Elaine while trying to gain immortality from the Fountain of Youth, only to fall in love with her instead. Elaine’s spirit lies in the Necropolis, and she finally reveals herself to King to ask him to protect Ban.

After King reconciles with Ban, the group sets out to find Diane’s Sacred Treasure, powerful weapons wielded by the Seven Sins but ends up participating in the Vaizel fighting festival. They encounter Holy Knights like Jericho and Guila, along with the powerful Helbram. 

The Sins discover the truth behind the New Generation of Holy Knights after they pick up Gowther, the Goat’s Sin of Lust, on their journey. The Seven Deadly Sins’ Merlin, the Boar’s Sin of Gluttony, also appears, revealing herself to be the mentor of Arthur, the young king of the Kingdom of Camelot. In the final battle, the Great Holy Knight Hendrickson reveals that he obtained demonic powers by studying the gray and red demons of the land. Another Great Holy Knight, Dreyfus, switches sides after and aids the Sins against Hendrickson, only to be killed. Elizabeth is revealed to be a goddess’s apostle, with her healing powers lying dormant this entire time. Hawk sacrifices himself to protect both Elizabeth and Meliodas but manages to survive, albeit with a now-shrunken form. In the end, Meliodas, with the help of Gowther and the Holy Knights, manages to prevail against Hendrickson.

Hendrickson disappears from the battle, and with this threat to Liones gone, King Bartra thanks the Sins for saving the kingdom and protecting Elizabeth. He absolves the Sins of their status as traitors, and the group spends time rebuilding Liones before planning to embark on new adventures. 

The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War (Season 2)

Following the rebuilding of the Liones Kingdom, Meliodas, Elizabeth, and Hawk return to Boar Hat. While talking about making a pork dish, Meliodas frightens Hawk, who disappears for a long time. In order to find Hawk, Meliodas and Elizabeth gather Diane, King, Gilthunder, and Howzer, but Hawk ends up returning to Boar Hat by himself, lured by Ban’s cooking. With Ban back at Boar Hat, he and Meliodas settle a score as Ban attempts to resolve his inner conflict between resurrecting Elaine and killing his best friend and captain. 

After the short fighting festival between Ban and Meliodas, King spends a day with Diane. King finally musters the courage to ask Diane if she regained her memories, and she replies with a kiss which King forgets about after a brick hits him while they were in the moment. Meanwhile, Hendrickson reawakens next to a Black Marked Dreyfus who gives Hendrickson the final item, Elizabeth’s blood, to revive the Demon Clan. Back at Boar Hat, Merlin joins the waitstaff and dispatches Gowther to investigate the case between Holy Knight Gilthunder and his stalker, Vivian. 

The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of the Commandments (Season 3)

As peace returns to the Kingdom of Liones, the Sins decide to pursue separate paths to continue their own individual journeys. Gowther brainwashes Guila into falling in love with him, while Diane spends time as a normal human thanks to Merlin’s Minimum Tablets, which allow her to shrink in size. Diane also slowly regains her past memories,  which include her prior encounters with King, and reunites with Matrona, her mother figure, and the giant race. Meanwhile, Ban departs for the Fairy King’s Forest with King and the Holy Knight Jericho to continue his duties as he is revealed to be the current Fairy King. Back in Liones, King Bartra’s Vision ability shows him an omen of the impending dangerous Holy War that lies ahead in Camelot. 

Under demon Fraudin’s control, Dreyfus appears with the Black Mark on his face and helps Hendrickson summon the rest of the Ten Commandments from the Demon Clan. As a result, a giant gray Albion demon appears in the Kingdom of Camelot, due to the arrival of the leaders of the Demon Clan. Meliodas and the group in Liones head to Camelot to defeat the Albion. Galand, the Demon King of Truth, also rushes to Camelot to join in on the action and turns Merlin to stone with his Commandment power. Gowther confronts him and manipulates his memory, giving Elizabeth and the others a chance to survive. Another Albion appears in the Fairy Forest, where it is revealed that Ban has been supplying his blood and leaving the fairies to take care of Elaine’s body. During the fight against the Albion, King regains his fairy family’s trust.  

Melascula, the Commandment of Faith, later resurrects vengeful souls, including Elaine. Ban encounters Melascula and Galand. Galand tries to devour Ban’s soul, but the werefox Zhivago, Ban’s father-figure and mentor, sacrifices himself to save Ban. Ban succeeds in destroying Galand and Melascula’s hearts but has to retreat due to his group’s condition and inability to continue fighting. Ban and his group happen to meet Escanor, the Lion’s Sin of Pride, who runs a bar located in a cave. Although Escanor appears skinny during his meeting with Ban, the break of dawn causes him to increase in size and strength. With his Divine Axe Sacred Treasure, he defeats both Galand and Melascula. 

In the Great Fight Festival arc, Fraudrin, the demon who had been controlling Dreyfus’ body, reveals that he conspired with Hendrickson’s help to resurrect the Demon Clan. As the Demon King of Selflessness, he holds a fighting arc where pairs of fighters square off against each other after he escapes from the Pleiades of the Azure Sky group of Holy Knights. Fraudrin reveals that Gowther is a former member of the Ten Commandments who lost his memories and emotions, due to his Commandment power of Selflessness. It is also revealed that Meliodas was the former leader of the Ten Commandments. While Meliodas attempts to battle against the Ten Commandments, Estarossa destroys all his hearts and sends him back to the Purgatory. 

One month after Meliodas’ death, the remaining Ten Commandments take over Britannia with the Demon Clan. Fearing for their lives, the citizens oust any knights or individuals with powerful souls to the Ten Commandments. 

The Sins and the Holy Knights struggle to keep the demons from taking over, but with the return of Merlin in her real form and a resurrected Meliodas, they are able to defeat Fraudrin and return Dreyfus and Hendrickson back to normal. However, it turns out that the Commandments, namely Zeldris of Piety, Gloxinia of Repose, Drole of Patience, Melascula of Faith, and Estarossa of Benevolence are still alive and pose threats to Britannia. The Sins realize that while they have lost a great deal of strength and cannot deal with the rest of the Ten Commandments in their current state, they plan to stay together.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky (Movie)

The Seven Deadly Sins: Prisoners of the Sky is a standalone movie that mostly takes place after the events of the Revival of the Commandments, but does not contribute any major plot points to The Seven Deadly Sins narrative. The movie introduces The Six Black Knights of the Demon Clan, whom Meliodas and the group have to battle against, alongside the Celestials and Goddess Race living in the Sky Castle. All the Deadly Sins appear in the movie, and it mostly serves as a side story to expand on the universe regarding the Demon Clan and the Ten Commandments.