Goblin Slayer Episode 3

Introduction

Another episode of Goblin Slayer, another episode I wish he wasn’t animated in CG half the time. Seriously, how hard is it to animate him the same way all the other characters are animated? It’s not even like CG is being used for complex motion, just standing, sitting, and walking.

Like I mentioned last week, I get that it probably saves time to animate him in this way, but I still don’t think it should be done. Since he’s the only one animated in this way, he stands out too much compared to the rest of the cast.

Also, are the animators really proud of putting out a final product that looks like that? He’s the main character, not some background character we might see once per season.

Unexpected Visitors

This week we meet the next three members of Goblin Slayer’s party, although it’s not clear if they’ll actually be permanent members. At the very least though, it’s likely that they’ll be sticking around for the remainder of the season.

In previous posts on this series I had been using the names of characters found on MAL, but since we haven’t actually learned the names of any characters yet, from this point on I’ll just be referring to them with physical descriptions.

The three new party members are a female high elf, a male dwarf, and a male lizardman. As we learn, the high elf uses a bow, but we can also make some assumptions about the other two. The lizardman is likely a shaman of some sort due to his outfit, and the dwarf probably uses an ax because that’s the stereotype.

We also learn that the high elf is 2,000 years old, and the dwarf is 107 years old. It’s then implied that the lizardman has a lifespan comparable to that of a human, as he mentions that their talk of age is rude to those of them who don’t live as long. This may also mean his lifespan is shorter than that of a human.

These three silver adventurers have traveled from their respective homelands in search of Goblin Slayer, whom they all have different names for. To the high elves, he’s known as Orcbolg, and to the dwarves, he’s Beard Cutter. Goblin Slayer himself says he’s never heard of these names, and so they likely come from legends of him rather than people who have actually met him.

The rag-tag threesome of adventurers was apparently set out by the leaders of their various races on a special mission. A demon lord has been resurrected (of course), but since this is Goblin Slayer, that’s not what really matters. Instead, the allied armies are unable to go after the armies of the demon lord because their villages will then be left unprotected from goblins.

Specifically, the villages of the elves are in danger due to a large goblin nest nearby. Despite this being a real threat to the security of the elves’ nation, they’re unable to convince the human military commanders to help, which is why they’ve instead asked for adventurers.

However, as we learn from the discussion of the quest being given to Goblin Slayer, adventurers from the various races mean nothing if a human adventurer doesn’t accompany them as well. Without a human, it seems that their party will be seen as simply the rag-tag team which they are.

From this interaction, we learn the humans’ place in the world. It’s clear that they’re the military powerhouse, and they (or at least their government/military) look down on the other races. We also learn that despite “only” being a silver-ranked adventurer, Goblin Slayer’s name and exploits have traveled far and wide.

Initially Goblin Slayer takes on this quest alone, but our female lead, the priestess, informs him that she’ll be going on this adventure with him. The other three party members also accompany them, as they had always intended, though they’re probably not really needed.

Before heading out on their journey, the priestess is confronted by two porcelain adventurers, as well as a silver adventurer mage (who we’ve seen in the background of the guild hall previously) who all try to convince her to leave Goblin Slayer’s party.

While the two porcelain adventurers try to scare her away by saying that he’s using her as bait, the silver adventurer simply tells her there’s something wrong with Goblin Slayer. Apparently she had previously worked with him in some capacity dealing with magic scrolls, but other than that she doesn’t say much.

After that brief encounter, the priestess doesn’t play a very important role for the remainder of the episode. Instead, we learn a lot about both Goblin Slayer and the three new party members through their interactions with one another.

The lizardman and dwarf seem to be more experienced adventurers like Goblin Slayer, as they understand why he does some of the things which the other adventurers in the guild look down on him for. The high elf, however, is more like the rest of the adventurers and thinks Goblin Slayer appears weak. Needless to say, she’s the newbie of the group.

Some of these “quirks” which the other adventurers look down on Goblin Slayer for are his armor and weapons, the state of his armor, and the fact that he never removes his helmet, even when eating. So, let’s go through these three things one by one, as Goblin Slayer and the other two experienced adventurers explain them.

As for his armor and gear, the dwarf explains that it’s perfectly suited for the kind of environments and work Goblin Slayer deals with. His leather armor gives him more mobility, his chainmail is effective for stopping slashing attacks, and his short sword and small shield can be used in tight spaces.

As for the state of his armor, Goblin Slayer explains this himself, and the dwarf and lizardman seem to understand his reasoning. He doesn’t keep his armor clean like most adventurers of his rank because he doesn’t want the metal smell to give away his presence to the goblins.

Finally, later on in the episode Goblin Slayer tells the other adventurers, mainly the high elf who’s drunk at this point, that the reason he never removes his helmet is so he won’t get knocked out in the event of a surprise attack. Clearly this is something he’s witnessed before and is now cautious of.

As for the other adventurers, we learn that the high elf is still relatively young, despite her age in years, and that she’s also a vegetarian, which makes sense as far as stereotypes go. As for the other two, we learn less about them individually, but more about their respective races as a whole.

For the dwarves, we learn that their women are “voluptuous,” unlike those of the high elf race. As for the lizardmen, we learn that they hunt animals rather than domesticate them. Due to this, the lizardman has never eaten cheese before, and was unsure as to what it was when Goblin Slayer shared it with the group.

We also learn the reasons each of the party became adventurers in the first place, although the priestess is skipped, probably because nobody cares about her. The dwarf wants to eat good food, the high elf wants to see the world, and the lizardman wants to ascend to a dragon somehow.

When Goblin Slayer is about to mention why he became an adventurer, he gets cut off because everyone already knows he’s going to say he became an adventurer in order to slay goblins.

At the end of the episode, the party finally make their way to the entrance of the goblin hideout, and the high elf shows off her bow skills. With what appeared to be a single arrow, she takes out at least two goblins and a wolf which were guarding the entrance.

Next Episode

While I felt that episode 2 was fairly slow, this week’s episode was more interesting and did a lot to set up the next episode. Because of all the character and world-building done in this episode, the next episode should have plenty of time for goblin-slaying mayhem.

Our party of misfits will be entering the goblin stronghold, and will likely run into severe resistance inside. We know that there are a massive amount of goblins inside, but besides that, there could be “champion” or “lord” class goblins as well.

In an easily overlooked comment, Goblin Slayer had mentioned that champion or lord goblins are effectively the goblin equivalents of platinum-ranked adventurers. Since this was brought up at all, and the other adventurers didn’t know if any existed within the stronghold, I think it’s likely they’ll run into at least one inside.

While a platinum-ranked enemy should be a bit of an issue for four silver and one porcelain-ranked adventurers, Goblin Slayer is probably going to show off exactly why there are so many legends about him. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, he’s likely stronger than a silver-rank, but due to him only going after goblins, he hasn’t been upgraded.

Conclusion

So what did you think of this week’s episode of Goblin Slayer? And which of the three new party members is your favorite? I think the dwarf is my favorite so far simply because he seems to be the most experienced adventurer among the group.

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My review of the next episode is available here.