Before Goblin Slayer’s party heads out to rescue the Princess, Sword Maiden gives them a detailed map of the nearest dungeon as well as a magic ribbon that can guide the team through the dungeon. Sword Maiden also advises the team not to travel below the fourth floor of the dungeon as anything past is too dangerous. I suppose it’s a gamble to assume that Princess is held prisoner at this exact dungeon but sure enough, any clues the team finds leads them there. Neither the ribbon nor the tidbit about going below the fourth floor really factor into the quest so I’m not sure what the point is for the episode to bring those up. Maybe they’re supposed to establish the dungeon as something too high level for Goblin Slayer’s party but if the team doesn’t need to use the ribbon and they don’t need to venture past the fourth floor, there isn’t much point to either of these elements.
After the team leaves, we get a little exchange between Noble Fencer and Sword Maiden. Funnily enough, this is their first real scene together. Noble Fencer asks Sword Maiden if she’d return to adventuring. Sword Maiden admits to her friend that she’s too scared to do so, due to the trauma the goblins inflicted upon her. It’s an interesting response considering that Sword Maiden is a former high-ranking adventurer and presumably one of the most powerful people in the world. She probably can handle all sorts of encounters but her scars run so deep that it doesn’t matter. That said, I’d be surprised if Goblin Slayer never involves her in a fight. It’d need a very good reason but I can’t imagine this show restraining itself in this regard. That Noble Fencer completely understands where Sword Maiden is coming from is to be expected. She survived a very similar experience during GOBLIN’S CROWN so she’s in the same boat as the archbishop.
We then see Goblin Slayer’s party fight some goblins and make their way to the fourth level of the dungeon. Definitely the highlight here is Goblin Slayer using a magic scroll to teleport some goblins to somewhere high up, causing them to fall their deaths. Goblin Slayer rarely resorts to his scrolls, presumably because they’re so rare and powerful, so it’s exciting when he finally busts one out. Plus, it’s funny seeing those goblins get sucked into the portal, as if the scroll is some sort of vacuum cleaner.
Parallel to the goblin slaying, we see Hero and her team investigate a meteor strike somewhere else in the area, on behalf of the King. Coincidentally, this is where all the falling goblins ended up. The girls encounter an alien monster that grows intelligent with each lifeform it consumes but since the alien’s only source of food are the dead goblins, it’s still a mindless and weak creature so the girls have an easy time defeating it. It is a little amusing how Goblin Slayer keeps indirectly helping the actual saviors of the world with their quests but I don’t know if I’m that enamored with these scenes. They mostly feel disconnected from the main storyline of the show and not a lot of time is spent exploring the characters of Hero’s party so I kind of zone out whenever the show cuts to them (though to be fair, this episode does provide some insight into their characters).
Back at the dungeon, Goblin Slayer’s party reaches the fourth floor and they see a Goblin Priest attempt to use Princess as the last sacrifice for a blood ritual. Unless there’s some implication and I missed it, I’m honestly shocked that getting kidnapped and getting used for a ritual is all that happens to the Princess. Knowing GOBLIN SLAYER, there was a good chance that it’d indulge in more egregious stuff with the character. Fortunately, the ritual is thwarted by Priestess’s purification spell. So once again, Princess is the MVP and no, I will not stop bringing that up. Blame the Adventurer’s Guild and their initial reluctance to promote Priestess for making me pay more attention to this girl’s contributions. Believe or not, the fight ends with Goblin Slayer kicking the priest in the nuts. It is as stupid as it sounds. That said, Goblin Slayer would fight dirty against a goblin so I’m more shocked that it’s taken this long for him to do this than him actually doing it.
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