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Towards the end of episode 17 (of the second season of SAO), after extricating
Excaliber from the dais in the lowest level of Thrymheim, Kirito makes a
comment about the sword "still being too heavy" for him. He then throws
Excaliber away before jumping onto the flying tentacle-elephant.

Why did he do that? He doesn't seem averse to accepting the sword from Sinon a
few minutes later (after she grabs the sword out of the air with one of her
arrows), so it didn't seem like a "I am unworthy to wield this sword" type of
thing.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-02T22:01:25.303
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2017-02-12T04:14:54.297
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question
sword-art-online
Why did Kirito toss the sword away in episode 17 of the second season?


It's because the sword was overburdening Kirito and since he can't put it into
his inventory, he had to make a choice of either letting it go so he can make
the jump onto Tonkii or going down with it:

From the (previously translated) light novel ( _Sword Art Online_ Volume 8,
Early and Late, Caliber, page 308):

> At that point, I noticed one terrible fact.
>
> I couldn't jump.
>
> To be more exact, in my arms was a heavy load the «Holy Sword Excaliber», so
> jumping five meters wouldn't be possible. Just by standing, my boots already
> bit into the ice.


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2014-11-02T22:30:05.313
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2014-11-02T22:30:05.313
2020-06-17T09:17:53.303
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answer


The reason why kirito through the holy sword was because if he were to take it
he would have to throw away the other items in his iventory. Though it had
seemed that he was able to get it in season 2 mother's rosario he was
eventually able to get the holy sword because in the first episode of mother's
rosario he had a chest if you were paying attention. He was rewareded with the
sword as well as a hammer at the of the episode excalibur.


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2015-10-21T16:29:06.883
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2015-10-21T16:29:06.883
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answer


It could be that he was still bearing the fact that he first met the sword
during his first days in ALO when to him it was still not just a game but a
reality so when he had the sword in hand during the 17th episode he began to
remember certain unpleasant memories and thought to himself the weight of it
all is still to heavy for him to bear its quite possible Sinon saw this (from
the sideline) and retrieved the sword for him as a form of gratitude for
helping to deal with her traumatic past once again possible kirito saw this in
her eyes and accepted the sword as a gift from Sinon.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-31T20:29:09.643
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2016-01-31T20:29:09.643
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answer


It is a very simple answer. He has no ability to use the sword unless he
carries it forever because he cannot claim it. He cannot claim until
Jötunheimr is restored, hence the end of the quest. Also he cannot jump with
it because he would fall like a rock. He blames the Cardinal system because it
will not let him have it because he has not completed the quest at hand. He
has no ability to claim the sword therefore he throws it away because he
cannot jump with it. Once on Tonky, sinon retrieves the sword with an arrow,
but since Kirito is on Tonky and his handed the sword he can find out what he
has to do to claim it without having to jump and fall to his death.


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2017-02-12T04:14:54.297
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answer