Highlights
- Diablo's intricate strategy drives Falmuth to a corner, with the kingdom facing a tough decision.
- The episode focuses on Diablo's protagonist-like role, setting up important events for the season.
- Rimuru's return to Tempest leads to political repercussions, with alliances shifting in the aftermath.
The following contains spoilers for That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, Season 3, Episode 1, "Demons and Strategies", available on Crunchyroll.
The first episode of the much anticipated third season of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime was a dialogue-driven affair in which Rimuru's loyal demon servant, Diablo, recounts his perspective of the defeat of the Kingdom of Falmuth after his master returns to Tempest. Having heard about the developments at Walpurgis from Veldora, who humorously leaked that kind of information for a few extra jelly desserts, Diablo is something of a main character in this episode, as he describes the various plots, ploys, schemes, and tricks he employed to force Falmuth into a dilemma.
Their collaboration, as well as Diablo's protagonist-like role in this episode are, in a sense, a continuation of their narration from last week's recap episode titled "Digression, Diablo's Journal". While not the most exciting episode, it set up some of the important cogs that will push the story forward this season.
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Rimuru Returns
Tempest Welcomes Back Its Leader
The citizens of Tempest are happy that Rimuru has returned, but none are as eager to see him as Diablo, his loyal demon butler summoned shortly after Rimuru destroyed the entire army amassed by the Kingdom of Falmuth and the Western Holy Church. Shortly after arrival, the goblin Haruna presents Rimuru and the others with matcha puddings in his image, with Veldora receiving extra portions due to the agreement he made with Diablo. Hearing that information was leaked over three desserts, Rimuru denies Veldora any further treats before asking Diablo about how he handled Falmuth, prompting a flashback to the events that took place within the Kingdom's royal palace.
Diablo collected the mangled living remains of prisoners of war, the King Edamaris of Falmuth; the royal mage Razen (in the body of the Otherworlder, Shogo); as well as the Archbishop of the Western Holy Church, and used magic to return three of them to their original forms after they were severely roughed up by Shion. Grateful and fearful, the humans quickly pledge their loyalty to Diablo, who puts them to work as he gets them to memorize a fabrication about what really happened out in the plains when Rimuru wiped out the attacking human forces. Razen realizes his dangerous position when he recognizes Diablo – who is actually Noir – one of the Seven Primordial Demons. They are escorted by a carriage carrying the human hero Youm Farmeneas; Myulan the wizard, and Grucius, the Lycanthrope, as well as Diablo lurking behind them.
Diablo's Terrifying Strategy Brings Falmuth To Its Knees
A Web of Lies and The Demon Weaver
The newly-restored Razen set out to convince the nobles that they are the only survivors of the resurrection of Storm Dragon Veldora, and saved by allies of Rimuru Tempest; Youm and his allies. The living remains of King Edamaris served as a warning, and as much as the Falmuth nobles tried using magic to return him to his original form, they couldn't undo what exposure to Veldora (actually, Shion) had done. While the majority are convinced by the story, especially when Reyheim supplemented Razen's recounting of events, one was suspicious, especially when Youm entered with his allies, claiming that he was able to calm down the incensed Rimuru. Reyheim enters the conversation, adding lore to the story of their survival of an encounter with Veldora, adding the fabrication that Rimuru stepped in to convince Veldora to let them go, although their king's exposure to Veldora's magicules caused his current condition.
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According to Youm, Falmuth's surprise attack on Tempest using Otherworlders angered Rimuru, but he pleaded for some kind of deal to protect his home country from being destroyed. At this point, the noble who had been the least cooperative reaches his last straw and yells at Youm for daring to speak of the kingdom's wellbeing as a "mere commoner", but Razen has had enough of this guy saying reckless things in the presence of Diablo, whose reactions have been like a gun to the back of everyone in the room without anyone but his allies realizing the danger. Razen freezes the noisy nameless noble with powerful magic, as the rest of the nobles consider taking up the apparent deal Youm managed to organize with Rimuru. At this point, Diablo appears, commending them for making a wise decision before using a Full Potion to return King Edamaris to his original form.
Diablo Drives Falmuth Into a Corner
The Kingdom Has Three Choices
Rimuru Tempest's Deal Offer to the Kingdom of Falmuth | |
|---|---|
1 | King Edamaris must abdicate and pay reparations. |
2 | Falmuth surrenders to Tempest, and becomes a vassal state. |
3 | War continues. |
Diablo reads out the options that Rimuru has laid out for Falmuth. This deal is actually Diablo's concoction – he knows that they'll never want to become a vassal state to a nation of monsters, nor will they continue a war because their army has been vanquished. They will make every effort to negotiate, coercing Edamaris to take responsibility for the situation, and as far as the nobles know, Edamaris will have to follow them or face death. The king would have to cooperate with Youm, therefore, become an ally of Rimuru, who will then lend his strength to Edamaris's cause – the king who has pledged loyalty to Diablo alongside Razen and Reyheim, the two most influential people in Falmuth besides the king. While the bulk of the episode was just a recap of what happened last season, the Diablo scheme was interesting to follow from start to finish, and the episode sets up for the continued strife that will follow. With the Archbishop of the Western Holy Church now also an ally of Tempest, the political consequences will be enormous.
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