Following an action-packed episode 2, episode 3 of The Rising of The Shield Hero’s third season focuses more on introducing new characters and giving us a glimpse of life in Lurolona Village. Naofumi has returned, and now the former slaves are reunited with their loved ones.
White Tiger Siblings
A great part of the story deals with Naofumi’s adventures together with demihumans. In fact, the Shield Hero is worshipped in Silvelt by demihumans.
It is no surprise, then, when Naofumi buys not just one but two White Tigers, Fohl and Atla. This is partially to strengthen his party, as White Tigers are some of the strongest fighters in the world.
And yet we all know Naofumi; despite his pragmatism, he still has a soft heart. This is shown when he buys Atla, Fohl’s sickly little sister, and begins healing her. Of course, Fohl has to work hard to pay for the potions Naofumi used on his sister, which are quite rare.
Naofumi’s relationship with Atla in this episode is interesting and familiar; Raphtalia, once a sickly demihuman herself, received much the same treatment. But one notable difference is Naofumi’s gentleness toward Atla. While he had been quite harsh with Raphtalia, there’s none of that attitude during his interactions with the White Tiger girl.
Of course, Naofumi was a different person back then. Still, he feels much more like an older brother or even a father to Atla than he did to Raphtalia, and it will be fun to see where this relationship goes.
Village Daily Life
Much of this episode is set in Lurolona Village, showing us a side of Naofumi that we rarely see: ruling a village. Throughout most of the first and second seasons, we only saw brief snippets of what he is as a lord.
With the recent additions of the former slaves, a new life is breathed into Lurolona. It’s fun to see Sadeena being the big sister to Raphtalia, while the White Tiger siblings and other demihumans integrate back into society.
Of course, being a leader means a lot of responsibilities. And Naofumi is also the Shield Hero, so he has more duties than just ruling a small village. Thankfully, Melty is a capable substitute and vice-leader on her own. We can even say that she and Naofumi both rule Lurolona, dealing with issues like their defenses.
However, there are still a lot of improvements needed, particularly in securing the village. This proves to be a major weakness when Naofumi and all fighters go away for a trip, leaving Lurolona vulnerable to a raid. An oversight on Naofumi’s part, though it is resolved rather easily, but it does show that he still has much to learn when it comes to leadership.
Lost and Found
With the village secured again, we finally return to the main plot. Or rather, a plot point that ties into the overall narrative. As mentioned in the previous episode, the Three Heroes are missing… until now. Motayasu is finally located.
But while that is an interesting plot development, we also get to learn quite a bit about a certain former king.
We’ve always known that Aultcray hates demihumans with a passion, but for the first time ever in this episode, we see him being surprisingly gentle and curious when he meets Atla. The mystery deepens when Mirilla reveals that Aultcray’s sister was kidnapped by Siltvelt, which was probably why he hated demihumans in the first place. However, the story is interrupted by news of Motayasu.
And yet it begs the question: why did Aultcray acted that way toward Atla?
Final Thoughts
For an episode that is less on the fight scenes, episode 3 has too much going on for me to focus on, making its pacing somewhat rushed. Nevertheless, the character interactions are really great, and we finally got some insight on an antagonist’s motivation, which also hints his future role in the story.
Episode score: 7.5/10