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The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 2 Review – Quick Summary
In The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 episode 2, “Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise,” Naofumi Iwatani, Raphtalia, and Queen Mirellia Q Melromarc met with the leaders of Haikazuya, Lowhirot, and Mideus to formulate a strategy against the Spirit Tortoise. But Naofumi became increasingly frustrated at the posturing from the other country’s leaders. Can he maintain his temper and patience long enough to steer the conversation in the right direction? Or is he doomed to take his small band into combat, alone, against the Spirit Tortoise?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 2
I gotta admire her candor! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I think I’m really going to like Ost Horai. She has the most delightful way of delivering even catastrophic news. And she’s so earnest about it!
Take, for example, what happened after she walked into the council of war. The general from the Spirit Tortoise kingdom recognized her immediately. He knew she was the King’s concubine as well as the nation’s regent. So he was more shocked than anyone when she said that nah, she was actually a human-form familiar of the Spirit Tortoise.
Naofumi and Raphtalia were shocked. They had just fought and defeated Spirit Tortoise familiars, back in the first episode of the season.
The general from the Spirit Tortoise kingdom tried to get his head around the situation. “What are you saying, my lady?”
“Sorry,” she said (07:47). “Everything you knew was a lie.”
I like her no-nonsense answer!
Best in Show Moment for The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 2
Naofumi’s just about had it with stupid people. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Naofumi and I Have Something in Common
One of the things I like about this show is how often I can sympathize with Naofumi. For example, in the previous season, his dedication to treating Raphtalia as well as he knew how (which, admittedly, left some room for improvement!) struck the right tone with me.
In this episode, he something something very different, but every bit as relatable. Naofumi and I really, really don’t like posturing.
Let me set the scene. Naofumi sat in a council of war with the leaders of the major nations. Each nation had a specialty: one for armored knights, one for siege weapons, one for mages, and one for capital (as in cash).
At one point, Raphtalia asked Naofumi to take it a little easier on the bickering generals. She might have been right; but I get where Naofumi was coming from. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The most talkative were the four generals, who were men. And each wanted to take advantage of the moment to shine. That meant there were a lot of disagreements, right from the very start.
Mirellia managed to keep the discussion moving forward. That is, until the subject came up of who would lead the assault. Of course, each of the generals wanted their people to be in the front. To be fair, the general who represented the country of mages suggested that maybe Mirellia should lead, since she had provided the most funding and the Shield Hero. But the other generals continued to bicker until finally, Naofumi had had enough. He slammed his hand down on the table.
Delivery: Naofumi’s Patience Snapped
Now, before I actually tell you my favorite moment, I want to draw your attention to something. It’s happened in this scene, and I’ve seen play out way, way too many times in real life. Each of the generals wanted to attain glory, revenge, political advantage, or some combination of all three, for themselves. So the question each appeared to ask himself was, “How can I turn this to my advantage?”
The question they should have been asking is, “Given our combined assets, what method of attack would yield the highest probability of victory with the least loss of life and property?”
The Queen felt every bit as frustrated and angry as Naofumi. But her experience, and frankly her grace, allowed her to express it more subtly. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen this play out. I’ve seen people like Mirellia in the real world try to gently move the conversation in the right direction, only to have other louder and less team-minded individuals rule the day. I have lost count of the number of sub-optimal deployments and projects and plans I’ve seen pushed through that way.
Which is why my favorite moment in the episode is when Naofumi slammed his hand down on the table and said (13:03), “Enough! I could not give less of a shit! You can talk about crap when you’re fighting other humans.”
When one of the generals tried to interrupt him, he plunged forward, saying, “If you’ve got a plan that will take down the Spirit Tortoise with minimal casualties, I’ll take anybody’s orders, or if you need me to, I’ll give the orders myself. But if you’re going to sit here thinking about who gets the credit instead, I’m out.”
Gotta say, that’s a sentiment I can get behind!
What did you think of Ost Horai’s attitude? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 2: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 – Episode 2 discussion
- RABUJOI: The Rising of the Shield Hero S2 – 02 – Do It, Then Think Later
- Random Curiosity: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Season 2 – 02
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 1: A New Roar
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 2: Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 3: Shaking Land
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 4: Ruins in the Fog
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 5: Ost Hourai
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 6: Racing to Catch Up
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 7: Infinite Labyrinth
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 8: A Parting in the Snow
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 9: Humming Fairy
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 10: Katana Hero
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 11: Kizuna
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 12: Reason to Fight
- The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2 Episode 13: Flowers Offered in Recollection
