Highlights
- Season 3 of The Rising of The Shield Hero takes a different direction, exploring human greed and relationships instead of a fantastical journey.
- Naofumi's good deeds result in unintended consequences as rich people in Melromarc exploit the value of demi-human slaves.
- Naofumi must find a solution to rescue the scattered demi-human slaves and navigate the deceptive and treacherous underworld of the Zeltoble Coliseum.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Rising of The Shield Hero Season 3, Episode 1, “The Dark Coliseum”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Season 2 of Rising of The Shield Hero was the most eventful story arc in the series by far. From fighting against colossal mythical creatures to traveling to another dimension, so many things happened in season 2. With such an over-the-top season 2, it’ll be difficult for season 3 to present something greater than that.
That is why the third season decided to go the other way and tell a completely different kind of story instead. Rather than a hectic and fantastical journey like the one told in season 2, this new season will focus on the intricacy of human greed and relationships instead. At least that is the impression given by the first episode of the third season of The Rising of The Shield Hero.
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No Good Deeds Goes Unpunished
In the prosperous land of Melromarc, demi-humans are treated worse than second-class citizens. The humans in this country will either ignore and try to stay away from the demi-humans, or they will actively attack and enslave them.
That said, this sentiment is slowly changed by the action of Naofumi, the infamous Shield Hero. After all, he is the only hero who fights side by side with a demi-human, the sword master Raphtalia, and, these two prove to be extremely powerful combatants. Furthermore, the Royal family also agrees with Naofumi and begins to openly support the demi-humans in Melromarc. Unfortunately, Naofumi soon realizes that no good deeds go unpunished.
One of the support given by the crown was a Royal decree to ban the demi-human slave trade. While this is certainly good news for Raphtalia and the other demi-humans in the kingdom, the Rich people of Melromarc seem to have a different idea.
You see, unbeknownst to them, Naofumi and Raphtalia’s success in combat significantly increases the value of the demi-human slaves, particularly the ones that come from Raphtalia’s hometown, Lurolona village. So merchants and rich people in the Kingdom frantically purchased every demi-human slave that they could get their hands on before the Royal Decree was officially enforced. This means Naofumi's intention to free Raphtalia’s friends and families is pretty much ruined.
Doing The Right Thing Is Expensive
As the new ruler of Lurolona village and its surrounding area, Naofumi wants to rebuild the village and turn it into a safe haven for the demi-humans in Melromarc. The noble intention to end slavery and create a utopia where people from different races and species can live in harmony is a pretty common idea in the Isekai genre. The most famous examples of this idealistic dream in action are the Carne Village from Overlord and the capital city of Tempest from That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime.
However, rather than slowly but surely building that utopia by either conquering or negotiating with the other races or species like what the heroes did in Overlord and That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, The Rising of The Shield Hero takes an entirely different approach. Unlike the aforementioned isekai series, demi-humans in Melromarc are mostly slaves. That means rather than through conquest or negotiation, the fastest and most effective way to save those demi-humans is by purchasing every single one of them.
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Thanks to his previous achievements and his side gig as a wandering merchant, Naofumi managed to amass quite a large sum of money. Unfortunately, because he proves to the world how useful and powerful demi-humans like Raphtalia truly are, the price for demi-humans slaves goes through the roof, especially for those who come from Lurolona village. As a result, Naofumi is completely priced out of the market now. That is why Naofumi’s current predicament is both realistic and quite ironic at the same time. He finally realizes that doing the right thing can be expensive.
Mind Games At The Coliseum
Since abandoning the plan to rebuild and repopulate Lurolona village is not an option, Naofumi is forced to find the solutions to two problems at the same time. Finding the scattered demi-human slaves from Lurolona village, and earning enough money to purchase them. Fortunately for him, the solutions to both problems lie in the merchant country of Zeltoble, which is the main setting for the third season of this series.
Although the story of this season will focus more on how Naofumi and friends tackle the intricate and complex web of deceptions and betrayals of the greedy people around them, that doesn’t mean it will have fewer actions than the previous season. On the contrary, this first episode shows the kind of battles that we can expect from this season. A gladiator-style battle in Zeltoble’s underground Coliseum.
Based on what happened in this first episode, it’s clear that even though they will be forced to fight in such a seedy place filled with people who are trying to deceive them, Naofumi will come up with an even more cunning plan to defeat his new enemies. That means along with a string of gladiator fights in the Coliseum against all kinds of fighters, there will be lots of mind games as well, both from Naofumi and his enemies. If the first episode is any indication of what will come next, the third season of Rising of The Shield Hero will be a thrilling and treacherous journey that is entirely different from what we’ve seen in this series thus far.