Heroic Legend of Arslan

Episode 20

The opening of this episode of The Heroic Legend of Arslan unnerved me. The show had demonstrated a trend toward realism recently, showing the consequences of leadership styles it previously idealized. Now it's suggesting that after Arslan outlawed slavery—something core to the culture of Pars—leaders would flock to him, rather than run away? That didn't make any sense. Luckily, that was not the case. Like so many character interactions in this show, it was a farce.

Narsus explains that these advisors are likely getting closer to Arslan in order to exert some control over him. That means they hope to dissuade him from outlawing slavery, once he succeeds in regaining control of Pars and deposing Hermes. At the same time, Narsus suggests that some of them could be resentful of how he's filled his council with greenhorns, and maybe Narsus should abdicate his position to make room for a lord. All of this fills Arslan with stress, and he starts to wonder if the throne is even worth it.

With all this, The Heroic Legend of Arslan finally acknowledges that our prince has some problems. Yes, he's very nice and understanding and compassionate, but he's a little too much of those things sometimes. Right now, that's causing him to consider if he shouldn't just let Hermes become king after all. Hermes is the rightful heir, after all. (It's interesting that he's questioned so many things about his society's rules, but not the idea that blood has anything to do with what makes a good ruler.) Hermes has a sympathetic reason for his cause, given that Andragoras likely did murder his father for the throne, depriving the prince of his birthright. Meanwhile, Arslan isn't even related to Andragoras or Tahamine. Who is he to take from Hermes what he's fought for all this time? The answer is obvious to viewers who know Hermes's character and how selfish he is (which we saw even more of this week with Hermes's actions in the Lusitanian temple), but it's not that simple for our naïve and good-natured hero. For once, Arslan's advisors are frustrated with this side of him, wondering how he can find some motivation for his destiny.

Luckily, that motivation comes from an unlikely source: a Lusitanian. Specifically, Étoile, the boy Arslan met in the first episode, has re-entered the story. We already knew that Étoile had joined the army and become an officer, but here we learn even more about him—or her, since this episode includes the reveal that Étoile is a girl. She disguises herself as a maiden to spy on the Peshawar Citadel, where Arslan and his army are located. Étoile mostly succeeds in getting hit on by drunk Parsian solders, but then Arslan finds her and they have a thoughtful conversation about the war. Recognizing him as the Parsian boy she saw before, but not realizing that he's the Crown Prince, Étoile at first discourages Arslan by telling him that he's not strong enough to go to war, and he should fight to improve his country even if he's not the king. This actually gives Arslan the motivation to take his place on the throne, since unlike Hermes, he does actually want to make Pars better--not simply rule the kind of land that it already is now.

Étoile's reappearance to motivate Arslan is an inspired choice. She was the spark for his drive to outlaw slavery, and now she's given him the push he needs to retake the throne. I hope that she'll have an arc beyond just being Arslan's unintentional cheerleader, and that we get to explore her past in more than just a few flashbacks. Her relationship with Arslan has a lot of potential to change and motivate them both. She's still among the main cast's most mysterious characters, so she's the one I want to learn about the most. Étoile also adds to the strong female presence in this series, being so driven to protect her country and family that she'd pretend to be a man at a young age, and even end up leading a regiment.

Now that Arslan has accepted both prongs of his destiny, it feels like the show is finally moving into its last act. All he has left to do is retake the capital city and defeat Hermes. That shouldn't be too hard to accomplish in a handful of episodes without too much plot stalling or animation problems, right? After all, The Heroic Legend of Arslan has been on the up and up for the past several weeks.

This week's episode isn't the single strongest one, but it does show a lot of promise going forward. It reintroduces us to one of the show's most fascinating characters, in a conversation where viewers can hang on every word. Arslan's realization may have come unrealistically quickly, but I'm fine with that if it means we're getting to the meat of the story a little faster. That's great, because if the last several episodes have proven anything, it's that there is an epic story underneath this anime. The show just needs to handle it in a way where it can shine.

Rating: A-

Heroic Legend of Arslan is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn.