The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 21

The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 21

Naofumi’s Triumphant Return

Normally I keep my reviews pretty PG, but yesterday’s post was about dicks and today’s is going to include some profanity. But hey, at least I haven’t devolved to the point of reviewing hentai yet so at least there’s that.

Getting on with this review of The Rising of the Shield Hero episode 21, this week’s episode was almost good. Unfortunately there was one point in the episode which really ruined it for me, and that was when Naofumi saved Myne and King Aultcray.

I’ll get to why I thought that scene was so bad towards the end of this review, but just know that everything good I say about this episode up to that point doesn’t make up for it.

Treason Trial

The queen is back in town, and she explains that the reason for her absence was due to a forum with some of the neighboring countries. During this forum it was decided that each of the four major countries would summon one hero each, but the king summoned all four while his wife was away.

The queen then had to go around and make amends with the other countries who were angered by this, which is why she had been away for so long. However, now that she’s back it’s time for the king, and Myne, to pay for the crimes they committed against the kingdom and its people.

Their crimes include violating a pact with the other countries by summoning all the heroes, conspiring with the Church of the Three Heroes, framing the Shield Hero, and failing to protect the best interests of the civilians, and attempting to murder the crown princess. So are they guilty?

Well before getting to whether or not they’re innocent or guilty, it should be known that the queen had a slave seal placed on Myne so that she would be unable to lie. Even the queen knows that Myne is a pathological liar.

It turns out that the king had a part in all of the crimes other than the attempted murder of crown princess Melty. The king actually cares about his youngest daughter and is shocked when he learns that Myne tried to have her killed so that she could ascend to the throne.

Myne on the other hand is guilty of all the charges pressed against her with the exception of knowing that the Church was really up to. But, even if she didn’t know what the Church was really after, she did conspire with them to both frame and kill the Shield Hero.

The reason for Myne’s treason was her own personal gain. However, despite the king not knowing about the plot on Melty’s life, he was the true mastermind behind everything and Myne was influenced by him. We learn that he hates the Shield Hero due to something a past Shield Hero did to his family (which I predicted), but we’re never told exactly what it was.

But the best part of the trial was Myne’s slave seal shocking her every time she attempted to defend herself because she kept on lying. It was nice to see how the other three heroes, even Motoyasu after he questioned her himself, began to turn their backs on her.

Church of the Three Heroes

It was also revealed that the Church of the Three Heroes was able to manipulate the king, and through him Myne, due to his hatred of the Shield Hero. It’s unclear exactly how old this church is, so it may have arisen after whatever tragedy befell the king’s family, but it’s fairly suspicious that the one hero it doesn’t support is the one hero the king hates.

Also, the Church of the Three Heroes has been disbanded and the former followers, at least those who were in on the conspiracy, are being rounded up by the queen’s soldiers. It’s a bit strange how the Church suddenly became an antagonistic force, and then just as suddenly was defeated.

I mean, it was obvious ever since its introduction that the Church was going to be an antagonist, but there wasn’t really all that much buildup. We knew that they didn’t worship the Shield Hero, and they were prejudiced against him, but then the Pope suddenly took it to a whole new level and we never got an explanation as to why.

But who am I kidding? The real reason we knew the Church was going to be an antagonist is simply because it’s the Church. The Church is always the antagonist in anime; that’s just how it works.

The Church of the Three Heroes from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero
The Church of the Three Heroes

That aside, I never actually noticed the architecture of the physical church before this episode. Perhaps it always looked like it does here, but for some reason I thought it looked like a more traditional Gothic style church earlier on in the series.

I like how, with the exception of the dome and some rectangular walls, the church is almost entirely made up of triangles. The significance of the triangles is surely to represent the three heroes they worship. Though I must say those towers don’t appear to be all that stable.

Execution

Now we get to the part of the episode that could have been the best, but turned out to be the worst instead. And, surprisingly, it wasn’t actually the fact that Naofumi spared Myne and the king that made this part of the episode so bad.

So, yes, Myne and the king were found guilty of treason by the queen and sentenced to death by beheading. This is something Naofumi already knew was going to happen because he had a precognitive dream about it the night before.

Do I think Naofumi should have let the pair be executed? Yes. I think that would have been a great way to spice up the series because it would have created a more dynamic relationship between both he and Motoyasu and he and Melty.

Also, Myne begging Naofumi to save her in her final moments definitely should have sealed her fate. At least the king had the self respect not to beg the Shield Hero to spare his life and instead begged the queen.

Malty "Myne" Melromarc at the guillotine from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero
Malty “Myne” Melromarc at the guillotine

However, I knew these two weren’t going to get executed, and that Naofumi was going to intervene at the last second. But what made the scene so bad was exactly how he chose to intervene. Though, as we later learn, the physical way I wanted him to intervene wasn’t going to be possible because the queen never really planned to execute them in the first place.

Rather than shouting out his objection, I was really expecting, and hoping, for Naofumi to use one of his shield skills at the last moment to stop the guillotines from killing Myne and the king. But, I can still forgive that misplay.

What I can’t forgive was his altering of their sentence to merely being renamed (and having their titles stripped). At least commute their sentences to life in prison. But no, instead he declares that King Aultcray shall henceforth be known as “Trash” and Malty, AKA Myne, shall be known as “Bitch,” AKA “Slut.”

If that wasn’t the most pathetic, middle-schooler way to punish them, I don’t know what is. I’ve lost all respect for Naofumi. Even throwing away their sentences altogether would have been a more acceptable option.

Conclusion

But what did you think of this week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero? Do you think Myne and the king should have died for their crimes? Do you think Naofumi’s alternative punishment was good? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

One Reply to “The Rising of the Shield Hero Episode 21”

  1. Sparing those two from execution has its pros and cons for very important plot-related reasons that will be prominent at a much later point in the story. That, and it has to do with Naofumi unwilling to stoop to their (Myne – and to some extent, Aultcray) level of low – as well as an insight as to the kind of person Naofumi is at this point.
    It’s a sort of self-contradiction where he still is a good-natured person but refuses to let this facet of him come to the surface, thus the facade of being a harsh anti-hero persona. Yes, the PTSD he got from betrayal and all that other stuff he was put through still affects him that much after so long, that he turned out this way; let’s just say this is more or less for the best, though it does (and will) have its drawbacks much later on.

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