WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 32 of The Rising of the Shield Hero, "Infinite Labyrinth," now streaming on Funimation, Crunchyroll & Hulu.
Episode 31 of The Rising of the Shield Heroconcluded the Spirit Tortoise Arc, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of viewers, triggered by the saddening death of Ost Hourai. The Spirit Tortoise saga laced itself with different thrilling events starting from the Spirit Tortoise’s wide-scale assault on humanity to the reveal of the villainous Book Hero behind the creature’s unnatural awakening.
The saga ended with the arc‘s antagonist, Kyo Ethnina, escaping to his original world and the Shield Hero's party quickly following suit. Noticeably, contrary to the last six episodes of The Rising of the Shield Hero, the 32nd episode offers comic relief from the constant battles and sad developments by presenting a new, refreshing narrative. In the episode, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Rishia discover a new, strange world, a strong-willed friend, and more.
A Strange Turn of Events
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The 32nd episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero starts with Rishia waking Naofumi from his unintended slumber. Apparently, the party's attempt to chase the fleeing Book Hero fell through as the Naofumi awoke to a new, shocking discovery: his level had been reduced to level 1. In the world hosting Melromarc and the rest of the Naofumi's Cardinal Hero counterparts, his level was over 70 due to the collaborative efforts of Filo and Raphtalia. Unfortunately, the hard-earned skills and abilities Naofumi acquired were gone, leaving him with a weird-looking shield and a confused Rishia. The new, unwelcome change also applied to Rishia and Raphtalia in a harsher way.
Rishia, like Naofumi, experienced a level reset; however, Raphtalia's body & her level regressed significantly. The child-like Raphtalia in the episode answers fans' questions regarding the mystery of Raphtalia's age. The demi-human's quick growth in season one was linked to her quick level increase, and episode 32 of the recent season ascertained that fact. After the trio moved past their initial surprise, they realized that Filo was missing. With the filolial in mind, Naofumi, Rishia, and Rapthalia set out to explore their bizarre new world. As every minute passed, the party discovered new, shocking events. For instance, the beach they found sported waves without wind, and the blurry coastline's questionable appearance hinted that their newly-discovered world might be a prison of some sort.
As the trio explored their new surroundings, a strange creature emerged, and the show once again showed the nostalgic Naofumi-Raphtalia combo, which was the highlight of the first few episodes of season one. Even the creature’s attributes hinted at its possible similarity to Orange Balloon – the first creature Naofumi used as a level-up factor at the start of the series. The following events starred Raphtalia and her laughable movements with a sword her size. However, despite Raphtalia's awkward movements, Rishia backed her up, and together they slew a few low-level monsters for a decent level-up. Unfortunately, their fragile and somewhat unproductive hunting streak ended with the appearance of a monster, "Kappa," the party couldn't handle. The Kappa dealt heavy damage to Noafumi until a savior emerged in the form of a young-looking girl.
A Hero Trapped In the Infinite Labyrinth
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After what seemed like a losing battle, a young girl appeared and ended the Kappa’s life with a single move, saving the Shield Hero from imminent death. She introduces herself as Kazayama Kizuna - the Hunting Hero, a member of the Four Cardinal Heroes. Kizuna’s statement puzzled Naofumi because he wasn’t familiar with the “Hunting Hero” title. Likewise, Kizuna stated her unfamiliarity with the Shield Hero title. However, regardless of the conflicting discoveries, Kizuna and Naofumi established a rapport due to their similar Japanese origins. Later, Naofumi shared the details of his identity, and the brief misunderstanding cleared up after they discover that they were both Cardinal Heroes from different worlds. Soon, Glass and L'Arc became the center of their discussion and surprisingly, Kizuna declared her best-friendship with Glass. This new discovery puts the ever-paranoid Naofumi on the alert to avoid any possible betrayal.
Thankfully, Kizuna proved her loyalty to Naofumi by showing him her vassal weapon weakness – the hunting hero's weapon can only attack people, not hurt them. So, Kizuna’s brief narration settled Naofumi’s frayed nerves, and after a hearty meal, he shared his plan to leave. After hearing Naofumi’s objective, Kizuna told the group that they were trapped in the “Infinite Labyrinth,” a temporal prison without any escape means after entry. The temporal prison appeared to be even more formidable after Kizuna shared her experience. Apparently, she was trapped inside the isolated space in the form of an island for years. For years, even after trying hard to find an escape route, her actions were fruitless, pushing her to almost commit suicide.
Surprisingly, even after years lined with disappointing events, Kizuna still stayed true to her belief and hardened determination to escape from the Infinite Labyrinth, allowing viewers to see the character’s doggedness and strong will. Even though her efforts were mostly unfruitful, she managed to find a glitch in the prison system, which she showed to Naofumi. So, her constant search was not totally in vain. Lucky for everyone, the Shield Hero devised a genius plan using the glitch and broke all four of them out of the Infinite Labyrinth. Although the breakout may have been a relief for the Shield Hero party, for Kizuna, who was trapped within the prison for years, it was the dawn of a new day after experiencing a horrific nightmare.
The 32nd episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero may have ended in happy tears and relief, but Filo being missing, chasing Kyo Ethnina, and the navigation of a new, strange world still looms in the background.