Recap / The Rising Of The Shield Hero S 1 E 5 "Filo"

Naofumi and Raphtalia spend their earnings from defeat the wave on two things; a new Slave Crest for Raphtalia as a show of loyalty, and a monster egg.

The egg hatches in the filolial that Naofumi names "Filo", and she is quickly tested when he is challenged to a race by the Spear hero for the fate of a small town.

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Tropes for this episode include:

• The Big Race: When Malty is forbidden to take the village by force by the Queen's decree, she challenges Naofumi for the right to rule the village against Motoyasu and his dragon. In-spite of their attempts at cheating, Naofumi and Filo win.
• Black Comedy: Naofumi jokingly marvels at how much Raphtalia would be worth if he sold her, especially since virgins are worth more.
• Breather Episode: Compared to the previous four episodes where Naofumi had to put up with the negative attitudes of the nobles and the wild rumors that had been circulating about him, with the only conflict-of-note in the episode being the aforementioned and relatively low-stakes Race between him and Motoyasu.
• Cheaters Never Prosper: Happens to Malty twice. Firstly, she tries to back up her father when he tries to rescind the Shield Hero's payment, only for Ren and Itsuki to call her out on her own cheating. Secondly, after Motoyasu loses the race, she calls for Naofumi to be disqualified, claiming that he cheated. Naofumi immediately counters that she is the real cheater and when the Princess demands proof, the Queen's Shadows confirm it in such detail that even she cannot refute it.
• Deus ex Machina: Just as Malty was going to have the knights execute the villagers for defying her decrees, her mother's Shadow guard appear to stop them, leaving a message from the Queen that forbids her from this.
• Didn't Think This Through: The episode has several examples.
  • Aultcray clearly did not expect Ren and Itsuki to back Naofumi up again when the former tried to rescind the Shield Hero's payment on unfair grounds. He is forced to give in, just to save face.
  • Motoyasu clearly doesn't understand just how important money is to the peasantry. Naofumi calls him out on this, by explaining just what his actions will do to the village.
  • Not long afterwards, the Spear Hero openly mocks Filo. Whilst his words are considerably toned down compared to both the Light Novel and the Manga, he should have known better than to insult a creature that can not only hear him but understand every word that he is saying. Then again, it is not clear if he knew before hand that filolials could understand human talk.
  • Did Malty really expect her mother to have not gotten word of what she had done and was preparing to do? Did the Princess really think that the Queen would let her exercise her authority over innocent people, who were already suffering? More importantly, did she really think that she could openly cheat in front of her mother's secret agents and get away with it?
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
  • After giving the Shield Hero his money, King Aultcray tells him to get lost. Before Naofumi can say anything, Raphtalia stops him and counters with some carefully selected words of her own.
    Raphtalia: Isn't it great, Naofumi-sama? We don't have to waste our time in this place anymore.
  • The best part about this is that Raphtalia is glaring straight at Malty and Aultcray as she says this. Their reactions show that the meaning of her statement is not lost on them.
• Disproportionate Reward: King Aultcray once again demonstrates his blatant favouritism, when he names Motoyasu the new territorial Lord of Riyute/Lute Village, for his "valiant" service during the most recent Wave of Calamity. Bear in mind that it was Naofumi and Raphtalia who saved the village and many of its residents. Motoyasu (along with Ren and Itsuki) completely neglected the village and ignored the people, leaving them to die to the Wave Monsters whilst he went off to fight the Wave Boss. The Queen, i.e. the true ruler of the nation, sees things very differently and quickly intercedes.
• Enlightened Self-Interest: When the villagers thank Naofumi for saving their village from Malty's taxes, he declines their gratitude and demands payment. He then explains that he has no interest in their money because they need it to help repair the village, so he takes an unused Filolial carriage as his payment. It's a win-win for his party and the village; especially after the Village Lord gives Naofumi a Merchants Pass as a bonus which exempts Naofumi from paying at Tollgates when entering townships throughout the country.
• Extremely Short Timespan: The Good-Times Montage where Filo grows from a newly-hatched chick to a fully grown Filolial takes place over the course of two days.
  Naofumi: My Growth-Boost Skill probably helped.
• Happiness in Slavery: Raphtalia willingly has her slave crest reapplied as a sign of loyalty to Naofumi.
• Hypocrite:
  • Malty tries claiming victory by accusing Naofumi of cheating when Filo transforms, despite the fact that she and her royal knights did everything they could to illegally obstruct him.
  • Her actions in the previous episode are also brought to light, when she tries to back up her father. Malty claims that Aultcray is not giving Naofumi his reward, because he cheated during the duel against Motoyasu by using monsters. Itsuki, immediately points out that she fired a magic spell into the arena to help Motoyasu win, which is considerably worse than anything Naofumi did. Ren also points out that despite what the royals claim, Naofumi upheld his side of the deal by fighting in the wave.
• I Let You Win: Said almost word for word by Motoyasu after losing the race. Naofumi shuts him up with a jab of his own.
• Irony: The King tries denying Naofumi his pay for fighting the waves by charging him for Raphtalia's slave crest to get removed. What do they spend some of the money on? A new slave crest.
• Karmic Jackpot: Itsuki and Ren point out that the slave crest removal the King is fining Naofumi over was because he and his daughter rigged their duel and that they did not even want it. They also go on to point out that it would be fairer to compensate him more since he valiantly protected the village while the rest of them were off monster hunting.
  • The Castletown Witch gives Naofumi and Raphtalia a free reading and a magic grimoire free of charge for saving her grandchild's life during the Wave.
  • The Castletown Apothecary also gives Naofumi a botany grimoire with more advanced potion recipes for free because he had family in Lute Village that wouldn't have been alive had Naofumi not been there.
  • When Naofumi calls out Motoyasu and Malty's unfair taxes, the villagers rally behind him against Motoyasu. Not only will the Spear Hero's hefty tax bankrupt every villager, but Motoyasu just showed up out of nowhere and declared himself lord whereas Naofumi actually helped and saved these people by defending them during the Wave.
• Kick the Dog: King Aultcrey tries paying Naofumi the lowest amount of reward money among the heroes for their fight against the Wave, only to then take it back as "payment" for removing the slave crest that neither Naofumi or Raphtalia wanted removed. It takes an argument from Itsuki and Ren before he concedes the minimum amount.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • King Aultcray's attempt to not pay Naofumi is foiled by Ren and Itsuki, who point out that he is being both biased and unreasonable.
  • Motoyasu mocks Naofumi by saying that Filo is no match against his dragon. Filo responds by kicking him in the balls into a hay-stack.
  • Malty accuses Naofumi of cheating after he wins, only for the Queen's shadows to back up his claims of the opposite.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Filo. Lampshaded by Raphtalia.
  You named her Filo as in Filolial. Don't you think that's a little bit obvious?
• Magikarp Power: The Village Witch cites that while learning magic from a grimoire is taxing, it will allow you to learn any spell if mastered.
• Mon: Naofumi gains Filo by buying a monster lottery egg from the Slave Merchant.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: King Aultcray tries to revoke Naofumi's reward payment for fighting in the Waves of Calamity, despite Naofumi upholding his side of the bargain. Like in the previous episode, it is clear that the King is doing this simply because he does not like Naofumi. Once again though, Ren and Itsuki's prevents this from working.
• Oh, Crap!: This is Malty's reaction when the Queen's Shadows appear. She and her guards later have the same reaction when the Shadows call her out on her cheating.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Naofumi realizes just how much he has changed when he reflexively thanks the Village Witch for giving him her grimoire and her faith that he can master it.
• Shapeshifting: It is not until after they win the race does Filo transform into her true form, becoming taller and puffier. By the end of the episode, not only can she talk, but she can take on a human form as well.
• The Un-Favourite: Naofumi at the reward ceremony. Whilst the other three heroes receive massive payouts, he is given the bare minimum, but only after Ren and Itsuki force the Royals to pay up.
  • The same also applies to Ren and Itsuki to a lesser extent. Although it was only two hundred silvers, Motoyasu still got paid more than they did. This is implied to be one of the reasons why they stood up for Naofumi again. It was to get back at the King for treating them unfavourably.
• Taxman Takes the Winnings: King Aultcrey gives Naofumi the minimum payment for his efforts in the wave... only to try and take it back as "payment" for having Raphtalia's slave crest removed.
• Translator Microbes: Averted. Naofumi tries to have his shield translate the language in his new grimoire for him, but it doesn't work, so he has Raphtalia teach him how to read their world's alphabet.
• Wham Episode:
  • Not only is Filo capable of shapeshifting, but she can talk too.
  • Naofumi's party now has a carriage and a trader's pass, allowing them free, easy passage across the country.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Motoyasu is seen walking away after losing the race. What happened to his Dragon?
• When He Smiles: After seeing Filo kick Motoyasu into a pile of hay, Naofumi starts to chuckle to himself at the sight, Raphtalia says that his smile really suits him much better than his normal scowling.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: The village witch tells Raphtalia that she possesses a natural affinity towards light and dark magic, her being a Tanuki also making her adept at illusion magic.
• Younger Than They Look: When Filo hatches, she starts out as the size of an apple. It only takes less than two days for her to grow to full-adulthood about the size of an ostrich. Naofumi thinks that his growth skill may have had something to do with it.

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