Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero - Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Kairin]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Tate no Yuusha/Shield Hero, Episode 9.

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[FlareKnight]

This kind of covers things I both like and hate about Naofumi. He has a few good moments like focusing on getting the sacred water and taking up more watch duties while traveling. Even trying to avoid trouble and being attacked out of nowhere is something you can feel for. And then we have the end of the episode. Why bother going all the way to the shop to have a discussion if you are going to throw a tantrum and cut if off a few sentences in? Is this guy an idiot? Nothing she said was surprising or worth making a fuss about. Already knew she was part of the royal family and the sister of that idiot from her appearing at the scene. Naofumi is stupidly wasting his own time, the time of the shop owner, Melty's time, and his companions. All so he can be grumpy and childish.

The rest of the episode was good though. Nice for Filo getting a new friend. They got the sacred water without much issue. Not without any issue, but it went alright. And hey the stupid spear hero got a much deserved hit for causing destruction in town. What an unlikable idiot. I do wish the story tried a bit harder to give the antagonistic characters some redeeming qualities and not just making them pure evil.

[Dengar]

They talked at the shop, she introduced herself. He understood who she was and once she started making a request he decided that she wasn't worth his time based on who she is.

It's not really the sensible thing to do but surely you remember how much he's been screwed over by the royal family before, right?

If you wanted to know why he bothered taking her to the shop in the first place, maybe he was curious about who she was and what she had to say, or why her authority surpassed that of the bitch princess?

There's also the fact that he is a human being with emotions. Maybe he was still giving her the benefit of the doubt at the time? The mind works in weird ways. Don't tell me you've never made a dumb decision before. Probably something even dumber than trying to hear someone out and then deciding you don't need to hear more halfway through.

[BWTraveller]

Yeah, it's sort of like if a relative of the person who mugged you said they wanted to talk. You may be willing to listen for a bit to understand more clearly who they are, but it's at least a little understandable that he'd not want to take the discussion any further than a small explanation.

Anyway, this episode explains a few things. For instance, Mein's behavior makes a bit more sense with this new information. It's a rather big deal to be moved out of one's rightful place as first in line to an inheritance, especially when you're talking about succession to the throne. Mein's screwed up pretty badly and she's been disgraced. Given that her behavior and liberties taken are noted as the reason she was usurped I can't help but wonder just how much actual authority she has. So not only is she prone to the behavior she demonstrates but she has this situation where technically she shouldn't be allowed to do what she does and is required to bow her head to her younger sister. Gotta be a lot of bitterness in her.

The city's (or at least nobles') view of the Shield is also a little clearer considering that the apparently official church harbors three steeples and a three-sign emblem representing sword, bow and spear, but has no shield. Their very religion separates him and casts him out.

[blakstealth]

Oh my god, I can't even imagine how soft and fluffy Filo is. Raphtalia literally sunk into her fur lol.

And I'm not surprised with Naofumi's coldness towards Melty. She seems like the better sister, but it's sad to see that she's getting the mean side of him. She's got no idea the shit he went through with her family.

And also, I wonder who has more power in the royal family? The king or whoever from the first episode mentioned how the kingdom was a matriarchy. We haven't seen much of the Queen, but she's clearly got some agenda with the Shield Hero. She's also got spies looking after the group.

[The Green One]

A wild Melty has appeared!

Nafoumi says Fuck this I'm out! I learned my lesson from last time.

Be a little tough to take what a member of the Royal Family that's been tormenting him saying seriously. Can't really blame him for being hyper paranoid. Looks like the Spear Hero's reputation is going to get even worse, people are going to talk about how he started a fight in town and started wrecking the place by firing off skills everywhere. The Nobles will try to cover it up and blame it on Nafoumi but I imagine the truth is going to spread through the common folk.

So looks like the Queen's minions are aware of Melty's presence with Nafoumi but they lack of interference seems to imply approval, at least for now. That's an interesting thing considering Melty is the official Heir since Myne seems to have been passed over due to her rotten personality. One would think Melty would be under much more careful guard. Still Melty must be on her way back to the Capital for some reason, we haven't got her goal yet but I suppose that's going to be explored next week.

Man Filo is a bit scary. She's even a cannibal. After hearing something like that the thought she might of eaten Melty seemed almost real there for a second. That was a rather funny part as Nafoumi is all immediately, "Welp better destroy the evidence!" Does sound like Filo is also a warm bundle of fluff and feathers. Nice and soft.

[orion]

But you don't expect that the family member is going to do something against you. Melty saved his butt from that duel. That should have counted for something. He could hear her out imo.

Hopefully, we get more Melty time with Naofumi so he can see what females in authority can act like when they don't abuse their authority. Having the majority of his interactions with females with slave brands on them is not healthy imo.

[The Green One]

Maybe, but hasn't he already been tricked once before by a Princess with a facade of kindness and helpfulness when he was ignorant of the ways of the world and couldn't know better?

Maybe his paranoia of Melty might end up wrong, but can you blame him for instantly raising his guard when he realizes who he's dealing with?

[BWTraveller]

Exactly. Her sister acted nice and even admiring and then stripped him bare and destroyed him to the very core. He's still struggling with trust issues, so it only figures that the sister of that witch would be met with extreme suspicion.

And yeah, Filo kind of reminds me of that northern white-faced owl from YouTube and Sound of the Sky: about 90% feather and 10% bird. Not to mention that she's just about the most literal OMNIVORE I've seen.

[Kanon]

Rise of the cannibal bird loli. Filo completely stole the show in this episode. She keeps getting funnier (and kinda scary...), and her concerns for Raphtalia were cute.

Motayasu finally dropped the facade of self-righteousness and admitted he just wanted to free Filo because he thinks she's cute and he wants her. It obviously was the same with Raphtalia back then, at least he's being honest about his motives now so I guess that's an improvement? Still a total dick who fully deserved that kick and more.

Glad to see Myne being put back in her place. Must have really hurt her pride. I hope Melty somehow has more authority than even the King and will set things right.

[The Green One]

Also Melty managed to "get lost" in an out of the way spot where Nafoumi and crew happened to come across her? Oddly convenient......

[frodonk]

Don't forget that the Queen's secret service didn't lose track of her at all, they were with them all the way.

Y'all also got what we wanted all along, Filo kicking that idiot's gonads the second time!

He notes that even the church doesn't "worship" the shield hero, maybe all this shield hero hate has something to do with that, the dominant religion not really liking the shield for some reason.

And lastly, the way Melty was introduced and by what was shown in the OP it's guaranteed that she isn't like Myne.

Of course Nao's suspicion of whatever she was about to propose is justified, since all the members of the royal family Nao has met has been royal assholes so far, so Nao assumes Melty is one of them as well, Nao even takes her to where Myne has betrayed her before when he spent all his money buying Myne's gear!

[Kinematics]

I came across a comment on Filo's design a while back, and they confirm it this episode, from Motoyasu's gushing over her: "Freon-chan from Hellworld". Or rather, "Flonne-chan (an angel) from Disgaea (video game set in hell)", who looks just like Filo.

Images

Filo and Flonne

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

And yes, Flonne was absolutely wonderful, and I can't blame Motoyasu for that at all.

(I think there was a second character Filo was patterned off of, but I can't remember what it was right now.)

[grecefar]

Filo will make him listen I bet, so I wonder how much melty have heard of the shield hero or how much she believed in the beginning before meeting him, as much as she knows how her sister is, she didn't mention the king.

[Frontier]

Wait a second...

Malty - Sarah Emi Bridcutt

Melty - Maaya Uchida

The Yamai Twins got Isekai'd .

(Although Yuzuru is still more stacked then Kaguya ).

Originally Posted by blakstealth

And also, I wonder who has more power in the royal family? The king or whoever from the first episode mentioned how the kingdom was a matriarchy. We haven't seen much of the Queen, but she's clearly got some agenda with the Shield Hero. She's also got spies looking after the group.

I wonder if the matriarchy is how Malty got passed over for the throne, since the queen has control and knew she wasn't cut out for ruling the kingdom. The king seems to do whatever Malty tells him to, or at least supports her decisions, so I don't really see him denying her anything, so it was probably the queen's decision.

I'm curious if the king dotes on Melty as much or if each of the parents supports only one of the daughters .

[Kuroageha]

King fucks you over.
Princess Malty fucks you over.
Another princess might not be bad.

Naofumi: What possibly could go wrong? Yeah no, fuck this shit, I'm out.

[Ichinotachi]

Melty is finally here, nice to see firo getting a friend, is something quite different from her relationship with raphtalia.

As for Naofumi, nobody can blame him for being paranoid about Melty, her own sister screw him really bad to the point of making him act that way with everyone. If it wasn't for Raphtalia and Firo he wouldn't be able to recover from all that.

And as always Motoyasu being a complete and absolute moron, same goes for Mein. It was nice to see her getting stomped by Melty using as weapon the power of their own Mother. Naofumi might be paranoid about this situation but he's not that stupid, I bet that things with Melty will be alright in the future, I mean, she's an ally and he can't just throw her help away like that.

[Twi]

That look he gave Motoyatsu when he basically admitted he was a lolicon... priceless.

[Magewolf]

Actually this episode brings up something I have thought of for a while. It seems like the heroes were chosen for their natures. Spear is all straight forward, full out offense. Sword is more balanced offense. Bow is calculating and fast moving.

The Shield hero however seems to have a bit of a problem. On the one hand you would think that the Shield would need to be protective , resilient, and enduring. To fulfill his job as defense and support. However someone like that would never get the curse shield. They actually needed someone with the potential for those qualities while having the emotional fortitude of a wet paper sack. So they would crumble in the most nihilistic teenage way possible but not break completely. That would make picking a Shield hero out a lot more trouble.

[Dark Wing]

I admit I got a little worried when they made it look like Filo ate the princess...