Goblin Slayer Episode 12 (FINAL) Review: The Fate of an Adventurer

This is it. After thirteen weeks of blood, sweat, and tears (cliche aside), we’ve hit the end of Goblin Slayer. Last week’s episode left us as the adventurer’s guild faced off against a goblin horde. Goblin Slayer went off on his own mission to take down the lord, so how did he go? And more importantly, did he get his happy ending?

Episode Twelve Violence Levels – Low

Japanese Original Episode Title: ある冒険者の結末

Plot

The goblin lord tries to escape from battle back to his cave where he plans to breed and train a new army. He’s stopped by Goblin Slayer who has other plans in mind. During this, the adventurers are cleaning up the battlefield, absolutely decimating the remaining goblins. Guts, Claymore girl, and Lancer look-a-likes have a chance to shine as they face off against two goblin champions.

Episode Highlights

Protection: Another ingenious move on Goblin Slayer’s part, switching up Priestess’ spell from one of defense to attack. Priestess ended up squashing the goblin lord between the two barriers, momentarily incapacitating him.

Please Don’t Kill Me: Seeing Priestess’ unshaking resolve was a major character development moment in the series. From the first episode where she wanted to save the goblin babies to not hesitating to take down a pleading enemy – she’s truly gotten used to traveling with Goblin Slayer.

Face reveal: I seriously expected Goblin Slayer to pull a Kakashi and have another helmet under his helmet. While the adventurer’s guild got a great look at Goblin Slayer’s mug, the audience only saw half of it, but from all reports, it seems Goblin Slayer is quite a good-looking guy! Although, it was interesting when Lancer mentioned he recognizes his face; perhaps something that will be explored later?

Smiles all around: The last few episodes just keep on dishing out heartwarming moments. It was great to see Goblin Slayer smile in that final scene as he realized he had a family with the guild and he had the choice to be an adventurer while also killing goblins.

Themes & Trivia

Final Credit Song: Switching it up, this week’s end credit song is by Mili, who also do the opening song (‘Rightfully’), the final ending song is called ‘Within’.

Post Credit Scene: Wait until the end of the credits to see a short scene and the announcement that Goblin Slayer will return.

Comments

What an ending! This week’s episode had me on the edge of my seat as I waited to see the fate of Goblin Slayer and his friends. The battle and having a warm gathering / ending in one episode worked surprisingly well, almost reflecting the duality of our hero. The part of him which is slash and dash, and the other half which seeks friendship. The episode also gave other characters the chance to shine, notably the other silver ranked heroes AKA the anime lookalikes. The episode also featured some great character development moments, like that of Priestess and Goblin Slayer (both mentioned above), it was great to see their personalities grow and their outlook on life change.

Besides the episode’s story and characters, I noticed this week had some incredible animation. Priestess’ spells usually just end up looking like walls or bright balls, but when she was healing Goblin Slayer the soft light that surrounded them and the glitter was beautiful. Another standout was the fluidity of the animation, especially in fight scenes like Spearman running up the goblin’s chain. Finally, gosh I don’t think I’ve ever praised a Goblin Slayer episode this much(!), the music was wonderful, from the tense notes of Goblin Slayer’s fight with the lord to the soft piano used as Priestess heals Goblin Slayer. Overall, this was a beautiful crafted final.

The End?

While Goblin Slayer will return, this episode was still a wonderful way to close the series. The animation, music and characters all came together to create a tense and heartwarming conclusion to thirteen weeks of viewing. I am ridiculously excited to see what will happen next season, what stories of Goblin Slayer will be picked up, and will Goblin Slayer finally choose his best girl? Or will he be content with his harem? But most importantly, I want to see his face! Just show me the ikemen!!!

That’s it for Goblin Slayer, as the team finishes up their Fall reviews, make sure to check out what we’ll be watching during Winter 2019 https://manga.tokyo/otaku-articles/winter-2019-our-anime-reviews/