Why did Wangnan join Rachel in Tower of God? Explained

Modified Jan 01, 2025 13:38 GMT

Why did Wangnan join Rachel in Tower of God? Explained (Image via The Answer Studio)

With the conclusion of the second season of the Tower of God television anime series, many anime-only audiences are flocking to the original manhwa series to continue the story. Such fans are likewise diving into The Hell Train arc, which is the starting point those coming from the anime series should be reading from.

Likewise, the question of “why did Wangnan join Rachel in Tower of God” is one of the most common popping up, if only for how shocking of a development this becomes. Wangnan Ja joins Rachel’s team in order to avenge the death of two of his teammates by killing her, unsuccessfully plotting to do so during their time on the Floor of Death, or the 43rd Floor.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the manhwa.

Wangnan’s journey with Rachel in Tower of God

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While the above briefly answers the question of “why did Wangnan join Rachel in Tower of God,” the full explanation is a bit more in-depth. As seen during The Hell Train arc, Wangnan Ja and Yeon Yihwa are the first two members from Team Sweet N Sour to board the eponymous locomotive. They do so thanks to Khun Aguero Agnes launching them aboard with the White Heavenly Mirror, and eventually reunite with their full team and Bam’s team.

However, their team and Bam’s go their separate ways at the Name Hunt Station, with Wangnan’s team save for Yihwa staying onboard the Hell Train. They do so because their primary goal is capturing Beniamino Cassano and forcing him to bring Kang Horyang to life. They attempt to do so by splitting into two groups; Wangnan and Arkraptor will attack Cassano and the other members while Prince and Miseng distracted Hoaqin after befriending him.

Wangnan joins Rachel's team for the explicit purpose of avenging his late allies (Image via The Answer Studio)

At first, the plan was working successfully. Unfortunately, Rachel and Yura Ha eventually intercepted Wangnan and Arkraptor. This led to Arkraptor sacrificing himself for Wangnan’s sake, with Hoaqin subsequently arriving with Miseng in hand and revealing he killed Prince, who sacrificed himself for Miseng’s sake. Wangnan fell into despair and was captured, but eventually approached by Rachel to join her team in exchange for Cassano saving Horyang.

In reality, Wangnan planned to join Rachel’s team and immediately kill her on the Floor of Death after. However, he didn’t end up getting the chance, and ended up getting back on the train with Karaka. Since then, he hasn’t traveled with Rachel’s team at all, and also hasn’t had an opportunity to kill her and avenge Arkraptor and Prince.

Where Wangnan is currently, explained

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Although the above fully answers the question of “why did Wangnan join Rachel,” it doesn’t explain where he is currently and what he’s up to. After the above events, Wangnan primarily sticks with Karaka for the rest of Part 2 of the Tower of God manhwa. He goes to the Hidden Floor technically, but is largely uninvolved until the ending events, where he receives a seemingly powerful sword.

In Part 2’s final chapters, Wangnan is seen being chased by Miseng as he runs away from a reunion with Bam, cursing his own weakness all the while. However, Karaka approached him and said to come with him, and that he’d tell him where to go. Wangnan’s next appearance was his last, seeing him return to the 20th floor to reunite with Goseng and Casano, who intended to honor his promise about restoring Horyang.

In summation

Rachel only gets more despicable as Tower of God's story progresses (Image via Telecom Animation Film)

Wangnan briefly joins Rachel’s team in Tower of God for the sole purpose of avenging the deaths of Arkraptor and Prince at her team’s hands. While he unfortunately has yet to do so by killing her, it will presumably be one of his main motivations once he returns to the series’ focus.