Goblin Slayer

Episode 11

For all its focus on pragmatic smaller-scale adventuring, Goblin Slayer's still looking to close out its season with a climactic bang. As was foreshadowed at the end of the previous episode, a huge horde of goblins is preparing to move on the farm the Slayer calls home, meaning we suddenly have a larger threat coming after our hero in an extremely personal way. It's all technically sound story construction, and despite some amateurish storytelling stumbles in the setup, part one of the big blowout mostly works.

One of the issues that does arise is Cow Girl's pointed refusal to evacuate the farm at the Slayer's request. Her reason for remaining is a sense of sentimentality, which is at least in-character for someone who's been largely defined by her steadfast insistence on waiting in this one location any time the Goblin Slayer returns, but falling back on such a simple reason to get the Slayer to defend her along with his home seems forced. Goblin Slayer as a show has always been defined by its pointed pragmatism; ordinarily its point would be that acting on this kind of shallow sentimentality is a good way to get yourself killed and not really help anyone in the long run. However, the show has made me want Goblin Slayer and Cow Girl to succeed, and of course it's easy to want a cooler final battle than Cow Girl running away and the Slayer letting himself get mowed down by goblins. However, the show had honestly trained me better by this point to expect the characters' decisions to be more survivable and reasonable.

Anyway, this is all just an excuse to set the story on the track it needs, leading into the scene where the Goblin Slayer asks for help from the entire Adventurer's Guild in dealing with the horde. This scene is undoubtedly the heart of the episode, and it's definitely a success in that regard. Despite being overwhelmingly smart and skilled and effective as an adventurer, it's nice that the Slayer never been overly prideful. His humble style of presenting himself means that when he makes his request, it actually feels in-character, rather than seeming like he's lowering himself out of desperation. His request matches his pragmatism; gathering every adventurer he can to help is the best way to take out the goblins. His offering of literally everything he has as payment adds the personal touch needed to further sell how serious this situation is to him without immediately betraying his characterization with something like a sudden burst of emotion.

The reactions of the other adventurers carry the other half of the scene. The other people who frequent the Guild have been callous and judgmental toward the Slayer in the past, but I never got the impression that they were openly hostile toward him or his friends; They may not think much of his goblin-slaying motivation, but they also don't want to see anybody die or have their home destroyed. The Cú Chulainn-looking Spearman character serves as the mouthpiece for the group, turning the whole thing into an uplifting scenario of adventurers offering to help one of their own, even recounting the various ways they appreciate Goblin Slayer before committing their assistance to him, like some fantasy-themed variation on the end of It's A Wonderful Life. Merry Christmas?

Perhaps it's the intentional arc of this season, but that uplifting affirmation of the spirit of adventure does run counter to so much of the cynicism Goblin Slayer defined itself by early on. That's not a complaint, since that kind of dour attitude would be unpleasant or unsustainable over the long run, and the turnaround of the other adventurers feels earned in a narrative sense. The audience has seen why the Slayer is worth supporting. In that respect, that tonal upswing continues even as the grisly battle commences. Even some of the show's trademark attempts at edgy excess get cut shorter than you might expect. The goblins attempt to use captive naked women tied to planks as literal meat shields, but the scene barely cuts around vague depictions of the scenario for just a few moments before that group of enemies is put to sleep and the hostages are said to be rescued. It feels like an odd reversal for a show that made a name for itself at the beginning of its season with extremely blunt depictions of sexual violence, but at least the end result is more pleasant to watch.

The various plans and preparations of the adventurer army make this battle scene interesting enough; there are lots of cool skills, spells, and traps on display. And the arrival of larger goblins near the end lends some sense of tension to what started out as a fairly simple slaughter. The promise of a one-on-one battle between the Slayer and the big boss Goblin also makes an effective tease for an exciting finale. This isn't Goblin Slayer at its most excessive or characteristically dismal, but it's an entertaining enough watch, and I don't think I could ask for much more at this point from this season's final act.

Rating: B

Goblin Slayer is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.