The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9

The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9

Ethnobalt, Wielder of the Boat Vassal Weapon

I went into Episode 9 thinking, “another day of suffering watching Shield Hero.” But, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I was anticipating. In fact, this might have been the best episode of Season 2 so far. Though, that’s not saying all that much.

Anyway, we got to meet a new Vassal Weapon wielder in this week’s episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero. Ethnobalt is the wielder of the Boat Vassal Weapon because why not? At least a boat is more of a weapon than a book — looking at you, Kyo.

But, how many Vassal Weapons does this mean we know about so far? The answer is only 5. And that’s counting the Katana Vassal Weapon wielder mentioned at the end of the episode. I thought we knew of more Vassal Weapons than that.

Boat Vassal Weapon Wielder Ethnobalt from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9
Boat Vassal Weapon Wielder Ethnobalt

So far, the Vassal Weapons we know of are the Scythe, Fan, Book, Boat, and Katana. And the known users of the first 4 are L’Arc, Glass, Kyo, and Ethnobalt. Something I didn’t realize — or forgot — is that Therese (L’arc’s and Glass’s companion) isn’t one of them.

Well, that might not be accurate. She could have a Vassal Weapon. But, so far, we haven’t actually seen her use one. From what I remember, she used gemstone magic with a bracelet or something. And at the time, I may have assumed that the bracelet was her Vassal Weapon.

We now know that there’s a race known as Jewel, though. And it seems very likely that Therese is a member of that race. So, I doubt the gemstone magic she was using was a Vassal Weapon. But, if it is a Vassal Weapon, it’s a very fitting one for her considering her (probable) race.

Raph-chan the Shikigami

I didn’t mention this when I brought up Ethnobalt earlier, but he’s a giant rabbit who can take human form. You can think of whatever race he is as being this world’s version of Filolials. And as such, he has some other magical powers (or knowledge).

One thing we see Ethnobalt do is to help Naofumi perform a shikigami summoning ritual. You can think of a shikigami as a familiar. It’s a small spirit with some mystical powers. And in this episode, we’re introduced to 2 shikigami, Chris and Raph-chan. Chris is a penguin and Raph-chan is a tanuki.

Now, there’s something I’m not quite understanding about these shikigami. As Kizuna explains, summoning a shikigami involves requires a catalyst. The shikigami will then know the location of whoever the catalyst belongs to. That’s how Raph-chan is going to help Naofumi locate Raphtalia.

Raph-chan from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9
Raph-chan

The part I’m not getting is why Chris is a penguin. Raphtalia is a tanuki demi-human. So the shikigami summoned using her hair takes the form of a tanuki. Chris is a shikigami made with a catalyst from Glass. So, shouldn’t Chris be a ghost or something since Glass is a member of the Spirit race?

Is Glass actually a penguin? Would that make her a Spirit penguin? Is that connected to the Spirit Tortoise in any way? I need answers.

Okay, so I wasn’t serious about any of those questions. But, I’d still like to know why Chris is a penguin. Glass uses a fan, so a bird makes sense, I guess. But a penguin?

I also guess that Raph-chan is here to stay. Kizuna and Chris have a close bond, so it would be weird for Naofumi to ditch Raph-chan. But this could also cause a strange dynamic once Raphtalia’s back. What will she think?

The Celestial Maiden

The one who named Raph-chan is none other than the celestial maiden who’s come down from the heavens. Of course, that title is referring to Filo. That’s the name she’s given by the noble who’s keeping her as an exotic pet and charging people to view her.

I know Filo gets this title from her captor, but it’s not a bad title. She should start insisting other people refer to her as the celestial maiden. After all, Filo is royalty. She’s a future Filolial Queen. Though, I don’t remember if that means she’s guaranteed to be the Queen or if she only has the capacity to become it.

Either way, Naofumi, Rishia, and Kizuna save Filo from a fate worse than death — enslavement. You know, because Naofumi would never enslave a young girl and force her to do things against her will. Oh, right, that’s exactly what he did with Raphtalia.

Filo being held against her will from the anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9
Filo being held against her will

I suppose something I should point out is that Filo has never been a slave before. Raphtalia and Rishia are both currently Naofumi’s slaves. But, Filo is not. If you look at Naofumi’s party on his status screen, you’ll see Filo has a different symbol next to her name.

That’s not to say that if she were a slave that she’d be okay with being this noble’s pet. Even Raphtalia, who seems to think being a slave is great, wouldn’t like that situation. Raphtalia only has a positive view of her status as a slave because she’s Naofumi’s slave.

Oh, and I should mention how it’s odd that Filo now has a different bird form since Filolials don’t exist in this world. If humans didn’t exist, would Naofumi look like a Grass, Jewel, or Spirit now? And, is Raphtalia’s appearance different?

Conclusion

What do you think of The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9? Do you like Ethnobalt? I’d say he’s pretty decent. What about Raph-chan? I don’t care about her much. And, do you think Filo’s change in race is going to matter at all? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 10 is available now.

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