Heroic Legend of Arslan

Episode 9

If previous weeks were all about exposing the issues with Pars's system, this one is about Lusitania's problems. Episode 9 provides more peeks into the inner workings of not only the Lusitanian court, but Lusitania's religion. It's every bit as corrupt and hypocritical as the Parsians believe it to be, but it's now the ruling faith of their land.

King Innocentis insists on marrying Queen Tahamenay. He flirts with her to the accompaniment of playful music, but she doesn't respond. It doesn't matter—the Lusitanians have something on her in promising to keep Andragoras alive (at Narsus's suggestion.) Wedding plans go forward. This angers the head priest Bodin, who insists that Tahamenay is an unworthy match as a heretic. While this annoys Guiscard and his company, Bodin takes it a step further. He burns important Parsian texts that he finds in the library, not even scrutinizing them to see if they're indispensable, like important medical texts. Bodin insists that anything heretics write must be worthless. It's deeply upsetting for many to see so much knowledge be destroyed, especially Narsus and Daryun when they sneak into the city. It's also a powerful testament to the dangers of religious fanaticism.

That's been a repeated theme throughout the series so far. Power corrupts. It corrupted Andragoras, and led him to make poor military decisions while dismissing those who could have guided him better. It is also corrupting Innocentis in a way. He could just be stupid, but he clearly feels emboldened enough to follow his lust with not a care for how that choice affects his kingdom. Now we see Bodin corrupted by his religious authority, feeling free to do whatever he wants with it, even if that means going against the wishes of the king! As long as Bodin can dismiss him as a friend-of-heretics, and the people listen to him, it doesn't matter. This exposes a flaw in Lusitania's system for holding onto power and building an empire. What will they do if the church and the nobility are at odds? It's also an important lesson for Arslan and Guiscard going forward, as well as Hermes, though it's unclear if he'll see it, being so blinded by potential power.

The early scenes of this episode shine more light on Hermes and his conflict. It turns out even he isn't the true "man behind the curtain." Hermes works for another mysterious masked man, who also seems to have strange powers (like spreading fog). Is this his father? Wasn't he supposed to be dead? It raises new questions, while explaining a lot about Hermes' behavior. I'm curious how far the "who is the real villain behind the villain" rabbit hole goes. Is this new masked guy working for someone else, too? Why is he doing this and where does he get his strange powers?

As Hermes gets more mysterious, Arslan becomes more saintly. He spends this episode fretting over how useless he is, refusing to accept the others' protection and insisting on doing things himself. Mostly, he just embarrasses himself and reveals how little he knows about how to do anything. Eventually, Arslan does accomplish something: he finds Etoile again. Etoile catches Arslan in another failed attempt at heroism, and the two interrogate each other about their present places in society. Etoile still fails to identify Arslan as the prince, even while recounting the wild tales he's heard about the fearsome king and prince of Pars. No one gets a chance to explain it to him either. Etoile does get to insist on his religious beliefs, and Arslan grapples with their hypocrisy. He leaves the prince with his holy text, which I'm sure will be important down the line. Even if Arslan doesn't convert to Yaldaboath, reading it will give him a better understanding of his enemies, which is essential if he's going to take back Ectabana.

Narsus and Daryun also find Hermes during a fateful battle in the city, getting his mask off but not seeing who he is. This episode is packed like a sardine can with forward plot motion. Even with all that, there's still time for comic relief, like Gieve flirting with Farangis. Now that The Heroic Legend of Arslan has fully rounded out its cast, the show has so much more to do. The show is becoming easy to follow week by week. I truly feel immersed in the story at this point, following so many colorful people with compelling backstories and conflicts. The thing I was looking forward to most at this point in the story—Arslan and Etoile meeting again—isn't even the most exciting part of the episode. The Heroic Legend of Arslan is continuously on the up and up.

The show could overexert itself at this rate. If it has too many plotlines and characters, things could get confusing. It could overemphasize weak ones, or shortchange stronger ones. That's a delicate balancing act with any story this big. Given the success of the novels and the apparent faithfulness of this adaptation, I'm optimistic. The Heroic Legend of Arslan is a better story as it turns each new page.

Rating: A-

Heroic Legend of Arslan is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a musicologist who studies film music. She writes about anime and many other topics on Autostraddle.com, her blog and her Twitter.