The Rising of the Shield Hero (Episodes 17-20) – Strategy and Tactics 101!

Naofumi finds out who has been behind all the problems he’s faced and it was the Three Heroes Church. Well, it would appear that they’ve had enough of the other heroes and the monarchy, so it’s time to rise up!
The Rising of the Shield Hero (Episodes 17-20)
Episode 17 – A Promise Made
Fitoria reiterates her stance that if the Four Cardinal Heroes cannot work together then she will kill them all so more can be summoned. Naofumi, however, doubles down on his belief that they can’t become friends. Too much has happened. Fitoria gives him a chance to prove that his party is strong enough to defeat the waves alone by fighting Filo one on one and in human form. Filo tries everything but cannot even get close to Fitoria. Naofumi uses the duel as a chance to rescue Melty from Fitoria’s wind prison, but she stops him. That drives Filo on, forcing her to pull on energy she never knew she had. She lands a blow on Fitoria and proves her worth to the party, and her ability to succeed Fitoria one day.

Episode 18 – A Conspiracy Linked
Fitoria transports Naofumi’s party to a location near the border. She also confirmed that one of the other Cardinal Heroes will be there and she hopes that Naofumi will keep his promise. After surveying the scene Naofumi decides to head straight to the checkpoint and try to cross. If it’s Ren or Itsuki, he may be able to reason with them. Unfortunately, it’s not. Motoyasu attacks Naofumi without listening to a single word. He seems extra mad and is babbling about avenging Ren and Itsuki. Eventually, he outright accuses Naofumi of killing them. That’s when Filo and Raphtalia sense that something is wrong. Naofumi encases them all in a shield prison and deflects a monstrous attack from above. It would appear that there is another that they should worry about.

Episode 19 – The Four Cardinal Heroes
The Pope admonishes Motoyasu as the False Spear Hero and Naofumi as the Devil of the Shield. His goal is to wipe out the Four Cardinal Heroes and the monarchy that has led Melromarc to this disastrous position. They will finally run the country under the watch of the Three Hero Chruch. Unfortunately for the Pope, Ren and Itsuki survived the trap the church set for them thanks to the Shadows who also informed them that the Queen was on her way with reinforcements. They just have to survive long enough to see her, which is going to be tricky since the Pope has a legendary weapon with the power of all four Cardinal Weapons.

Episode 20 – Battle of Good and Evil
The Pope continues to power up his weapon and deploys Cathedral, the ultimate defensive magic. Naofumi blocks another of his attacks but wonders how many more they can take. If they want to survive they will need to work together. After setting them straight about how they have been manipulated and lied to, Naofumi finally agrees to work with the other Cardinal Heroes. He also decides that Curse Shield is the only way to win. However, when he activates it, the dragon attempts to take control. As Noafumi tries to resist, the dragon tells him it’s Noafumi’s fury and not the dragon. Raphtalia, Filo, and Melty manage to get through to him and pull him back. With time running out, Naofumi uses Blood Sacrifice and creates a terrifying weapon that devours the Pope.

Strategy and Tactics 101!
Let me first say that I love this series and even rewatching it is giving me as much enjoyment as the first time. However, I feel like I need to address the contents of these episodes as this has to be one of the most ridiculous battles I’ve seen in a long time. It began incredibly well with the Pope attempting to destroy the heroes in two traps, attacking from range with his Judgement skill.
It almost worked too. Had Ren and Itsuki not been saved by the Shadows, the Queen’s secret force, they would have almost certainly died in that attack. In fact, the smartest thing they did was to keep the fact that they survived a secret until this point. Sure, it didn’t work out for Naofumi who was blamed for their deaths, which put Motoyasu into kill first, ask questions later mode.

Everything at this point was looking great. The Pope had tried to ambush Motoyasu and Naofumi. It didn’t work, but they were now in a big fiery pit and the Pope had the high ground. Sure, he taunted them a little too much, but from where he was standing it probably looked like an easy victory. That’s when Ren and Itsuki revealed that they were still alive and managed to break through the Pope’s shields. Great job boys. Now, finish him off… no, no. Don’t go into the pit with the others…
This is where it all went wrong. I will never understand why Ren and Itsuki jumped into the pit. Now, the Pope had one target again. If they had stayed at the top and come around the edges, even better if they had split up and each gone in a separate direction, they could have easily disrupted his followers and weakened the Pope immensely. But no, they jumped in and told Naofumi they needed to work together.

Naofumi who had promised Fitoria that he would attempt to work things out instantly began to bash them for their ridiculous decisions to this point. To be fair, Motoyasu still had a lot coming his way, but it was just him retelling them off when he could be working out a plan. Of course, all this arguing was getting them nowhere fast and allowed the Pope to power up without any concern.
Even more concerning was how Raphtalia and Ren both managed to get to the Pope’s level and attack one on one, but then jumped back in the pit as soon as they’d finished attacking. There were so many bizarre decisions from just about everyone that it kind of spoiled what should have been a very entertaining moment. If they really wanted it to go this way, they should have come up with a plausible reason as to why everyone kept falling back in.

There were undoubtedly some very cool and heartfelt moments in the fight, but the way it was structured left little to the imagination. The Pope pretty much stood in the same spot the entire fight. If he had so many powerful shields, why did no one target the rock face beneath him? Surely falling into the pit would have made his life that much harder.
I like to think of myself as something of a strategist and when I write battle scenes, I’m very careful to ensure that things make sense. It’s all right for characters to make dumb choices that make things harder for themselves. Ren and Itsuki jumping in the pit could be viewed in this light, although I feel like it’s more of a Motoyasu sort of decision. However, the characters just kept making poor choices, dragging the fight out unnecessarily.

I did have to laugh about the number of references to the time-wasting going on with the Four Cardinal Heroes. The Pope thanked them at one point, saying he didn’t know quite what they were doing but it allowed him to charge up his weapon. Even Melty made a point of telling Naofumi to get on with it as they were in the middle of a battle. I understand that the heroes range from fifteen to twenty-one in terms of age so maybe that’s why they’re such a bunch of idiots.
Come to think of it, a series with a group of heroes that are all established in their fields would be a lot of fun. Where is the isekai with a group of thirty-somethings who aren’t shut-in NEETS? I’d watch the hell out of that. Anyhow, I still love The Rising of the Shield Hero but I needed to get this off my chest as few things annoy me as much as poorly executed fight scenes.

Other Posts in the Series
Series Information
English Title | The Rising of the Shield Hero |
Japanese Title | Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari |
Genres | Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Isekai, |
Anime
Season One
Season | Season One |
Released | Winter 2019, Spring 2019 |
Animation Studios | Kinema Citrus |
Episodes | 25 |
1-4 | The Fall of the Shield Hero! |
5-8 | It’s Definitely Not a Game! |
9-12 | The Making of a Hero! |
13-16 | Lies, Disinformation, and Deception! |
17-20 | Strategy and Tactics 101! |
21-25 | Heroes from Another World! |
Season Two
Season | Season Two |
Released | Spring 2022 |
Animation Studios | Kinema Citrus, DR Movie |
Episodes | 13 |

To be honest, I wish they had fleshed out the antipope’s (I refuse to call him as the Pope for obv reasons lol) role more clearly than before, but I had to say nonetheless this was my favourite part of the series to analyze on account of its very apocalyptic religious undertones. But it’s interesting to see your post from a tactician side of things. Surprisingly despite how whack the Heroes’ relationship was they acted like a pretty good unit when they put their minds to it.
Agreed, he appeared in it only a couple of times before this point so it could have easily been a “who are you” moment. Would love to know more behind his motivations and why they all hate the Shield so much. It’s got to be more than just his approach to the demi-humans.
I agree. Some more lore about how the anti-church rose to power and brainwashed the populace, whatever tricks they might have used, and that kind of thing would have helped set the stage and make them more loathsome than they actually are depicted. Only thing we know of them is that they showed up after Queen Mirellia left town.
Btw, have you read the original light novels yet?
No. It’s on my list of things to get to. Have you read it, does it go into more detail about? I’m sure it probably does. You can always count on the books to give us more.
I’ve only read brief excerpts but from what I’ve seen it’s very verbose and does good at describing the scenes. I’ll have to snipe back at it when I can. Ditto for the Konosuba light novel.
I’ve read the first couple of KonoSuba light novels and they were fun. Goblin Slayer was probably the one I’ve enjoyed the most lately even with it’s fairly loose adherence to POV.