Goblin Slayer II (Episode 9) – Once There Was Youth, Now There Is Nothing but Ash
After completing a quest that didn’t involve goblins, Goblin Slayer was relieved to get back to what he knew when Sword Maiden hired him to accompany her to the Capital since there had been numerous goblin attacks on the road!
Goblin Slayer II (Episode 9) – Once There Was Youth, Now There Is Nothing but Ash
What happened?
They had taken on a quest to kill sea goblins, however, all they found were Gill-men and they weren’t the cause of the problem. A sea serpent had come into shore and was depleting the fish. When he discovered there were no goblins, Goblin Slayer almost walked away. However, when the others wanted to continue, he begrudgingly came along. Surprisingly, the sea serpent was a far easier opponent to fight than hordes of goblins. All they had to do was cast a spell that made it able to walk on water and the sea serpent suffocated. They acquired some interesting items from the Gill-men although there were no goblins and Goblin Slayer was keen to tell Guild Girl all about the lack of goblins.
Thankfully, a new quest became available and Goblin Slayer was asked for specifically. Sword Maiden needed to visit the Capital and there had been reports of goblins riding wolves attacking carriages. She wanted him to be her bodyguard and since it was goblins, he agreed without hesitation. On the way, they ran into the goblins and quickly killed them, however, they believed that there must be more since there wasn’t enough evidence to suggest that they had killed everyone they attacked. Goblin Slayer also skinned the back of one goblin to get a copy of the tattoo they all wore. Something else is going on here!
What did you think?
There was a lot to get excited about in this episode. It opened with a scene from Sword Maiden’s quest into the Dungeon of the Dead with Dai Katana and his team. That was awesome and I hope we get more of that. Of course, that set things up for Sword Maiden to return which is always a good thing. I am a little surprised that she hasn’t realised that she can’t be coy with Goblin Slayer. She has to say exactly what she wants, although I suspect she must realise that he’s not interested. His focus is solely on killing goblins and anything else is just going to slow him down. These poor ladies, lusting over Goblin Slayer!
What was your favourite moment?
My favourite moment was the opening scene with Sword Maiden and Dai Katana. As much as I enjoy watching Goblin Slayer slaughtering goblins, I also enjoy a good fantasy adventure and fighting through a dungeon is one of the classic fantasy adventures. Of course, there is far too much to cover in the remaining three episodes, which makes me wonder if they are testing the waters for a Dai Katana series. I also think that it will become relevant if Dai Katana is in the Capital and at the meeting Sword Maiden is attending. It’ll be interesting to see how Dai Katana and Goblin Slayer get along. They’re fairly similar.
Who was the most impactful character?
Goblin Slayer went above and beyond when he started hacking through the dead goblin bodies. My guess is he was checking their stomachs for the remains of other adventurers/travellers. I’m also glad we didn’t have to watch that because there were easily more than twenty goblins. I also laughed when I saw him examining the skin with the tattoo that he had removed from one goblin. You’d think the others would be used to stuff like this after he made them cover themselves in goblin remains several times before. Another thing that I find funny is how Goblin Slayer can never remember the names of anything other than goblins. He did it in the first season when he told the ogre that he wasn’t a goblin. We should all have such single-minded focus!
What have you learned?
Goblin Slayer mentioned how he would have liked to take his sister to the Capital and Priestess said that one day he may get the chance… I’ve noticed a couple of times where others have casually talked about him doing something with his sister in the future. Now, I thought that she was dead. Isn’t that what drove Goblin Slayer to become what he has become? He witnessed his sister being attacked and murdered from under the floorboards. Are they saying that she’s not dead or has he just not told anyone the full story? Hopefully, we’ll get some sort of explanation as to what’s going on there, because it feels needlessly cruel for them to keep saying things like that if she did die. I’m not blaming them if they don’t know, but you’d think Goblin Slayer wouldn’t want them to keep bringing up such a painful memory.
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! |
