Arslan Senki 10-13

Yes, you certainly have come a long way my prince.

What does it mean to be a good king? This is the question that both we and Arslan have been asking for awhile now, and nowhere is the seriousness of the question more evident than in these last few episodes. Yes, we have hit the halfway mark, and we have begun to see quite a bit of moving and growing recently, even while the plot itself hasn’t really moved that far.

After having checked on the status of the king and queen as well as the capital, it’s time for Arslan to begin to make the next move. He may have several people that have come to join him in this fight, but in the end, this is still his fight to fight. He is the prince of Pars, it is his job, his responsibility, and with his parents incapacitated, the job of leadership and freeing his people ultimately sits on his shoulders. So, what is it that he’ll do now? Narsus, Daryun, and the audience are awaiting his answer.

Well, his first plans are of course to find a way to get his kingdom back. That’s the most immediate concern, and the largest to address. But even with that simple goal, there are plenty of other new problems that arise along with it. The ugly world of politics begins to rear its head as Arslan has to begin to consider the idea of changing Pars’ entire national stance in regards certain issues that can cause huge problems with older regimes going forward.

He knows that he needs to gather allies, and possibly allies from other nearby nations, which would totally go against Pars’ current foreign relations policy. I’m going to guess that Pars was mostly isolationist in terms of its foreign mindset, with only a couple of allies here and there that they would bail out from time to time, though never the other way around. Arslan being willing to change all that in order gather support again Lusitania would be an extremely unusual path to take and one that could both help and endanger Pars in future. While it might help to solve the immediate problem, other nations might perceive this a huge weakness and betrayal and subterfuge is all too common here in this time and place.

Arslan also has seen and heard enough that he has decided to do away with slavery in his country. I have no doubt that both his time with Étoile and his cementing friendship with Elam was what eventually led to this decision, but doing away with a centuries long practice will not be easy. Change on this scale is not something that can happen overnight, especially without support. And our young prince is beginning to truly understand what a hard and narrow path he has chosen to go down. But the thing is, I don’t even think he consciously chose this path. It actually seems more like he just decided to do what he thought right and was being himself and only later realized that his thoughts and ideas would have far-reaching consequences.

Now in any other situation, this would not be wise to do. But thankfully, Arslan has plenty of world-weary, experienced, and mature adults to lean on and guide him through these choices. Sometimes they vocally advise him, but there are times when they actually let him learn through experience. Narsus, even more so than the others, has come in basically as Arslan’s mentor and teacher. While Daryun is also a supportive guide, his strong personal desire to protect the prince from any and all harm can sometimes get in the way of the boy learning the lessons that he needs to to become an effective ruler. In Episode 10, we have the group escaping from their enemies by finding refuge in the Kishan Fortress that is headed by Lord Hodir. (Please check all of your Game of Thrones one-liners by the door)

“Why would you ask if I wanted the color ‘red’ at my wedding? I was thinking more blue and gold.” 

It is here while in the company of his own countrymen  that Arslan really gets an understanding of loyalty, political agenda, and that even his most noble of intentions sometimes don’t turn out the way you assumed. Hodir right away seemed to be someone who was all talk and little results. He has an army at his beck and call, talks about  hearing what’s been going on in Pars but hasn’t done anything about it. I guess we could give him the fact that he didn’t betray his country and join the Lusitanians, but his desire to protect his own assets and way of life caused him to get too big for his own britches and cost him his life.

This all started when Arslan boldly and perhaps naively proclaimed that he was going to free the slaves of Pars. An institution that many of the noble class depend on and won’t easily give up. And it’s an endeavor that won’t be greeted with hapless joy, but with distrust and suspicion, both from masters AND slaves.

I like the look that goes through Narsus’ eyes throughout the episode. He’s been down this road before and whether he admits it, a lot of his own dreams for the future of his country rest on the prince. He has a lot riding on Arslan and he sees he trying to go down the right path, but he also knows the kinks that also exist on that road and that there are are hard lessons that Arslan must learn if he is to grow into the kind of man Narsus desires to achieve his own personal goals. He has tested the prince several times over the series, and each time the boy has passed. And at this point, though I doubt that Narsus’ loyalty will be as all-consuming as Daryun’s, I have a feeling there will come a point where there will be no more testing or threats of leaving if Arslan doesn’t turn out to be the man he thought he was. At some point, and some point soon, he will know exactly what kind of man that his future ruler will turn out to be.

Moving on from our team of heroes, back in the captured capital, there is chaos and game of musical thrones going on. Three distinct factions have arisen in Lusitania, between King Fatso, who does nothing but moon over Tahamenay, his brother Prince Guiscard, who is amassing most of the soldiers’ support and is a much better strategist, politician, and leader, and lastly, there is Archpriest Bodin, who is determined to commit his own Parsian holocaust, tiring of the both “merciful”royals, has brought in his own temple knight army that is loyal only to him and the faith. You can tell that the friction between the three groups is going to end up building to a fiery climax in the near future. But then again, that had to be Silvemask aka Prince Hermes’ plan all along.

There seems to be trouble among the ranks.

The dastardly villain gets some perspective and backstory in these last few episodes and we can get an idea as to how he became the way he is. In actuality, we see that he grew up not that much differently than Arslan. He possessed a little more more self-confidence, but he too desired to become the best king he could be, and to make his father proud. And sadly, he too was betrayed and became victim to savage and brutal circumstances at much too young an age, that would change his entire life’s path. The difference however, is how each prince responded when  met with such tragedy. While Arslan kept his kind heart and pushed to overcome the problems before him, Hermes internalized all the hurt and the pain and the anger, allowing it to fester in his spirit and soul, eventually poisoning him. He was hurt, alone, and had lost everything in one night, and allowed the desire for vengeance to consume everything that had once been good about him.

Familiar circumstances

While of course much of that was probably because of subtle differences in characters, I have to wonder if perhaps Hermes hadn’t been left on his own, and had others like Daryun and Narsus to help protect and guide him like Arslan does now, if he would have turned out the same way? As I sit here writing this and listening to the soundtrack to The Count of Monte Cristo, I’m reminded of how the desire for revenge, even if justly deserved, can take the kindest of men and turn them dark and cold, without even the slightest bit of warmth. The debate between a man’s character and his blood has become a main theme in these last few episodes, with Hermes having right to throne by blood, but Arslan quickly showing that that he is the one better suited for the job. Those who have joined with Arslan are loyal to him because of the type of person he is, not because of his position, which is what puts him on opposite sides of Hermes.

Ever think of trying out for the Joker? I think you’re ruthless enough.

Hermes’ reveal to Arslan of his identity also puts the issue of his parentage that the show has been dancing around since the beginning, at the forefront. It’s been hinted for quite some time that Andragoras might not be Arslan’s real father, that there might have been a select few, like Daryun’s uncle, that knew or at least suspected the truth. There’s also the fact that for some reason, Arslan didn’t grow up as a royal, not even knowing he was crown prince until he was already an adolescent.

A meeting of two princes…

Yet, you have to wonder why, even if he is a bastard child, his parents hid him away for that long? If indeed they were going to acknowledge him as their son and heir anyway, there was really no need to hide him away for so long. They could simply have the child and declare it Andragoras’ son as they have been doing, and that would have been the end of it. If the baby was a little late or early than it should have been, they could have covered that up, but to have him stay away for that long? I have my own suspicions on what might really have happened here, but I’ll need more clues before being sure.

Unusual childhood

While Arslan is struggling with the realization that he has suddenly alive cousin that want to torture and kill him, and who happens to have a larger legal claim to the throne than he does, his entourage keeps growing. We have a few new characters that make their introduction in these last four episodes. We meet the traitor Kharlan’s son, Xandes, who decides to take up his father’s position and serve Hermes, while declaring his own personal vengeance against Daryun for his dad’s death. There’s the princess of thieves, the red-haired Alfreed, who loses her entire tribe including her father, to Silvermask’s blade. She is rescued by Narsus, and becomes part of Arslan’s group after becoming quite attached to the master tactician, to the utter annoyance of Elam.

So…how long before these two get together?

We are reintroduced to a few cavalry captains that we had met previous as Arslan forms his base at the Peshawar Fortress, including the twin-blade wielding Kishward, the stern and short-lived appearance of Bahman, and also, surprisingly, we find  out that Sam is still alive, having been saved by Hermes after being almost killed by him during the capture of the capital.

Magic and sorcery, being ever present in the background, made a full blown appearance in episode 12, just in case anyone still wasn’t quite sure there was a supernatural element to this world. It’s not widely used and seems to only be restricted to those who have studied extensively. But it does exist, so don’t be surprised if you see it again. Especially now that despite all the problems that Pars is in trying to deal with with the Lusitanian invaders and an internal conflict within the Parsian royal house, the vultures have sense weakness and chosen this moment to strike as the neighboring country of Sindhura has also chosen this moment to invade, led by our newest character, Prince Rajendra.

Now what do you want? 

Arslan’s got a lot on his plate, and the pile is only going to get higher. It’s a lot of a 14 year-old to deal with in any century, but our young prince has a lot of loyal people to back him up, and help to guide him through this. How will he deal with his cousin’s return from the dead? Or the fact that it’s through Hermes and not him that the royal bloodline supposedly continues? What will he do now that he has to split his focus between two invading countries rather than just one? Well, our young prince has stepped up to the plate every time so far. I guess, we can expect no less here. Though you can be sure that it’s going to be getting more and more difficult from here on out.