WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 27 ofThe Rising of the Shield Hero, “Footprints of the Spirit Tortoise,” now streaming onFunimation,Crunchyroll&Hulu.
The new season ofThe Rising of the Shield Herointroduced a newand interesting narrative to the story. Episode 26 unfurled a new saga in the aspect of theSpirit Tortoise saga, a legendary monster popularly known for wreaking havoc and destruction after its awakening.
The episode highlighted the Cardinal Heroes' lack of responsibility and consideration, excluding Naofumi for people who need their aid. Then, episode 26 ended on a cliffhanger after revealing a mysterious woman who requested Naofumi to kill her.
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A New Revelation
In the latest episode, after Naofumi reels from the effects of using the most powerful shield at his disposal and a mysterious woman appears, an unknown pressure descends on Naofumi and the surrounding area, presumably from theSpirit Tortoise. After the pressure dissipated, Naofumi raises his head to find the mysterious woman, but she is already gone.
The Rising of the Shield Herothen changes the setting to a meeting among the Allied Forces, a group consisting of leaders from different countries. The goal of the Allied Forces’ meeting was to devise a strategy for eliminating theSpirit Tortoise. At the start of the meeting, a member of the council revealed that theSpirit Tortoisehad already laid waste totheSpirit Tortoise kingdom, massacring both nobles and civilians alike and that it was currently hibernating.
Afterward, the Queen of Melromarc reveals a piece of crucial information regarding theSpirit Tortoise: It attacks largely populated cities. The reason for this creature’s actions was soon revealed. In the meeting’s discussion, a member boasted of possessing military might that could easily get rid of theSpirit Tortoise; however, his optimism is reduced when a member of theSpirit Tortoise Kingdomrevealed that they tried using the usualsoldier-based attackson the monstrous creature, but their attacks were ineffective.
This leads to the council’s admittance that they needThe Cardinal Heroes. Naofunmi understands the situation and tells them not to make any sacrifices involving unnecessary deaths, revealing his kind-hearted nature. Episode 27 also revealed another crucial piece of information;The Cardinal Heroesweren’t the only individuals summoned from a different world.
Who is the Mysterious Woman?
These heroes were referredto as the “Seven Star Heroes", which included individuals summoned from another world, and some members of the current world, that use Vassal weapons, similar to what people from the Waves used in Season 1. However, the Queen tells Naofumi that these individuals are currently weaker than the Four Cardinal Heroes, dulling Naofunmi’s hopes for defeating theSpirit Tortoiseusing their collective efforts.
Another shocking revelation is made when the suspicious mysterious woman reappears in the meeting, and is referred to as the Concubine of the deceased king of theSpirit Tortoise Kingdom. Ost Hourai, the mystery woman, agrees to be the Concubine and Regent, but she confesses thatshe is a familiar of theSpirit Tortoise, similar to the magical beasts ravaging the kingdom, shocking the Allied Forces leaders.
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Hourai also reveals that theSpirit Tortoisecreates human familiars to harness souls to stop the waves from occurring. Its seal is only meant to be broken as a last resort and by the Cardinal Heroes when there is no more hope of stopping the waves. So, theSpirit Tortoiseseal was broken too early by a foreign individual. Afterward, Ost Hourai requested the Shield Hero to slay the Tortoise, which finally connects the dots concerning what she meant by asking the Shield Hero to kill her in Episode 26.
After the meeting ends, Rapthalia convinces Naofunmi to fight theSpirit Tortoisenot just for his town’s sake but for the people whose homes are about to be destroyed. This revealed Raphtalia’s intelligence and maturity and how she influences Naofunmi’s decisions, despite their Master-Servant relationship. After listening to Raphtalia, Naofumi leads the members of the Allied Forces by proposing sound strategies forcutting off theSpirit Tortoise’shead.
Episode 27 ends on a cliffhanger when theSpirit Tortoiseapproaches. So questions like, Are Naofunmi’s plans going to work out successfully? Is Ost Hourai a pretend ally? These questions will most likely be answered in the next episode.
