Goblin Slayer II (Episode 5) – Beard-cutter, to the Southern River
High Elf Archer’s sister is finally getting married at the age of 8,000, so they’ve all been invited to attend. Of course, the route there may have an issue with goblins, much to Goblin Slayer’s delight!
Goblin Slayer II (Episode 5) – Beard-cutter, to the Southern River
What did you watch?
No matter how crazy my life gets, I can pretty much guarantee that I’m not going to be jumped by goblins at every turn. Sadly, Goblin Slayer doesn’t have that luxury. He goes to a church – goblins. He goes to work – goblins. He goes home – goblins. Now, he’s going to a wedding and you better believe they’re going to run into some goblins on the way. I know killing goblins is kind of his thing, but after hearing how he wanted to be a great hero who saved princesses and slayed dragons, I’m feeling a little sorry for him. Anyhow, let’s get down to business.
What happened?
High Elf Archer received a letter from home announcing a marriage. At first, her choice of words made it sound like she was the one getting married when it was actually her older sister. Anyhow, with that confusion out of the way, she made a point of inviting everyone, including Goblin Slayer who would rather be slaying goblins. The entire party was going, including Guild Girl and Cow Girl (I really wish they’d give some of these characters names already). But first, they needed to clear out a couple of goblin nests before they could go. At one, they discovered several stone tablets with ancient text on them that the goblins seemed to be protecting. They would need to be delivered to Water Town and the Sword Maiden.
Sword Maiden was delighted to see Goblin Slayer again, although she couldn’t help but feel a little let down by his reaction to her. He was pleased that she had been sleeping since his last visit, but when he learned that the tablets didn’t have anything relating to goblins, he headed out to meet with the party before heading to the wedding. Sword Maiden warned Goblin Slayer that many boats had been sunk on that route. It might be goblins! The next morning, they set sail and upon clearing a lock, they entered a narrow gorge. Goblin Slayer could tell something was about to happen. He wasn’t wrong as rocks came tumbling down the side of the gorge.
What did you think?
On one hand, I love how stoic and single-minded Goblin Slayer is. On the other hand, I can’t believe he’s not aware of or doesn’t care that Sword Maiden clearly has a thing for him. Or that Guild Girl and Cow Girl are in the same boat. Cow Girl pretty much told him she wanted to get married and gave him an easy way for it to happen. Unfortunately, there was no way to kill a goblin with this information so it slipped past his consciousness. Otherwise, it was another good episode that will no doubt lead to more goblin-slaying mayhem in the next episode. My gut is telling me that those tablets somehow opened a gate to somewhere. Maybe, they’ll find a way to bring back the Demon Lord!
What was your favourite moment?
I was pleased to see Sword Maiden again and I’m quite certain that she will be integral to the final arc of the season. My reasoning stems from those tablets and the brief glimpse of Dai Katana in the OP. It’s not much to go on, but that’s my guess. I do wish he’d shown her a tiny amount of warmth, but I figure there must be something in his training that makes him this way. Having seen his sister attacked and murdered by goblins, he may have had to shut off his emotions in order to keep going. We saw how impacted he was when he learnt that the Red-Haired Mage’s sister was one of the adventurers he couldn’t save. I feel like it’s a self-preservation mechanism that he’s developed. Still, he could have given her a hug!
Who was the most impactful character?
So, Priestess has a new miracle and you can bet that Goblin Slayer is currently thinking of ways to turn a spell that heals a group into a way to kill goblins. That said, it seems fairly obvious to me that Priestess is the answer to the current predicament that they found themselves in at the end of the episode. One of her miracles puts a protective wall between them and danger. That will frustrate the goblins who are getting more and more organised. In the last episode, we saw them sitting in trees throwing rocks at the young adventurers. Now, they are rolling boulders off cliffs. This is all bad news for Goblin Slayer who noted that killing twenty-three of them took a long time. Longer than normal, I’d bet!
What have you learned?
One thing that I really like about this series is that at no point has it decided that goblins aren’t really that scary. Too often, a story will start with these big bad monsters and then they kind of become insignificant as humans were the real problem all along. Obviously, I’m simplifying it, but that’s the essence of so many zombie/monster movies. By making goblins able to adapt and change, they’ve been pretty much horrible from the beginning and will probably continue to be. We know that some can evolve into higher forms, but it hasn’t made the rest of them any easier to deal with. If they could get a nest big enough, they would be a disaster waiting to happen.
Other posts in the series
Series Information
| English Title | Goblin Slayer |
| Japanese Title | Goblin Slayer |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Anime
Season One
Movie
| English Title | Goblin’s Crown |
| Japanese Title | Goblin’s Crown |
| Released | Winter 2020 |
| Animation Studios | White Fox |
Season Two
Manga
| Series | Side Story II: Dai Katana |
| Author | Kumo Kagyu |
| Artist | Shougo Aoki |
| Volumes | Ongoing |
| 1 | The Fortress City |
| 2 | There’s Always Tomorrow! |
| 3 | Help and Help Alike! |
| 4 | I Can Smell Blood! |
| 5 | If You Let Your Guard Down, You Die! |
| 6 | Be Thankful to Everything! |
“Unfortunately, there was no way to kill a goblin with this information so it slipped past his consciousness.”
LOL
Thanks