I’ve been comfortably doing my Rising of the Shield Hero posts in threes, but this time I’m switching it up a bit because 16/17 and 18/19 go together pretty well.
Remember the giant armored t-rex monster that chased our heroes out of town during the last episode? Yeah, he’s gone now. The Filolial Queen (which is apparently something that exists!) showed up and wrecked him in two seconds, which is pretty telling considering the shield hero’s party couldn’t so much as dent him. The obvious conclusion here was to show how far above them in regards to strength she is. She also mentions that she must kill the heroes so they can be respawned since they refuse to work together.
Wait, what was that last thing.
Because of a promise she made to the last shield hero long ago, she seeks to ensure that the four cardinal heroes work together to help defend the land against the waves. Naturally, Naofumi basically said “Fuck that.” Can’t say I blame him either when I observe what a tool the other three cardinal heroes are, they are barely fit to properly clean a bathroom floor as it is. Unfortunately for Naofumi, his obstinance costs him – Not only does the Filolial queen threaten his life, but she reconsiders under the condition that she can face Filo one on one. It’s very clear that Filo will stand no chance against her as well. Has to be a test, right?
Thankfully – it was. Otherwise this could have very well been Filo’s last stand. The filolial queen makes it clear that had Filo not impressed her thoroughly, she would have killed all of them (a threat she is very capable of carrying out). Pretty rude considering he fed your entire flock, but hey, who’s asking me anyway.
Why doesn’t the filolial queen fend off the waves herself? She’s definitely capable of destroying almost anything – I think the only thing that prevents her from doing this is her complete indifference to humanity in general. If it wasn’t for the influence of the previous shield hero, she wouldn’t even be meddling in the first place. You can tell based on the context that Naofumi isn’t the first shield hero who had a hard lot in this world. It would appear his predecessor was equally gifted in connecting with others on a more personal level beyond his hero moniker.
But, it’s not all fun and games. Now Naofumi must make good on his promise to attempt to reconcile with the previous heroes. Speaking of, the filolial queen brings up a great point – not clearing up his misunderstanding is as good as admitting guilt. I’m pretty sure he did try and nobody listened though? I believe he spent most of the first episode praying that someone would believe him after making his case. So who will be the first hero he finds to reconcile with?
Of course, it’s the lunkheaded, dense Motoyasu, the spear warrior, who is such a tool he’s had a monument erected to him at the top of tool mountain. So bad he made me comma splice not once, but twice in the previous sentence just to fully qualify the inelegant dullardry he embodies. Of course, he isn’t interested in hearing anything Naofumi has to say, despite the fact that Naofumi approaches him not looking to fight and doesn’t fight back. Myne, nearly orgasming at the chance to make Naofumi fight someone against his will (this is like the fourth time she has done this, she needs a new idea), traps them in an arena.
Naofumi is starting to feel the effects of getting left in the dust a bit unfortunately – he hasn’t been able to class up due to the interference of the royal family so he no longer holds a clear power advantage over his other heroes as he is level capped. He learns about combination attacks and unduly wastes Motoyasu and his crew due to his teamwork with Filo, Melty, and Raphtalia.
Winning isn’t quite enough however. The church of the three heroes make their move and, big surprise, Naofumi is the only reason anyone survived the first blow. The pope reveals that he believes the cardinal heroes to be true evil, and he’s here to “purge” them as all anime catholics are wont to do. Thankfully, Ren and Itsuki are alive and well and appear to save the crew. This in turns robs Motoyasu of his indulgent drivel of “avenging their deaths”.
Episode 19 is dedicated entirely to Naofumi taking a giant verbal shit on the other three heroes for almost 75% of the episode, something that they not only greatly deserve but is incredibly gratifying to watch. Strangely enough, apparently humility is amongst the traits that the spear warrior possesses as he recognizes that he was duped and that Naofumi was set up. Now there’s the greatest reveal of this entire show – the other three heroes actually possess humility and self-reflection! The only one to even show an iota of this was Ren previously.
After observing that Myne took Motoyasu for a ride, the heroes steel themselves and understand that they need to present a united front against the church of the three heroes if they want a chance to survive. It won’t be long until the queen’s troops close in to intervene, thankfully, but they’ll have to hang on until then. The key will be separating the pope from his large mana pool (Read: actual fucking people).
Things are about to get even more interesting. Get ready for the rest of the show to be Naofumi: Vindication, the series.
