Goblin Slayer Episode 8: Whispers and Prayers and Chants

Our hero has fallen, but will he have the strength to get back up again? After that heart-stopping ending last week, I wrung my hands in worry as I viewed this week’s episode. I needed to make sure that my Goblin Slaying Squad was doing a-ok! So, without further ado, let’s dive in.

Episode Eight Violence Levels – Low

Japanese Original Episode Title: 囁きと祈りと詠唱

Plot

Thanks to a divine miracle, Goblin Slayer is healed by Priestess and Sword Maiden. As they recover, they go around the town, getting new armor and trying some ice cream. The episode finishes with the Goblin Slaying Squad once again entering the sewers.

Episode Highlights

Resurrection Spell: Another bit of fan service for everyone, but besides that, it was interesting to see another, very powerful spell that priestesses are able to cast. It’ll be interesting to see if Priestess will be blessed with any more interesting spells.

‘Women are Weak Creatures’: A really strangely phrased line from Sword Maiden, but it just goes to show how deep her trauma runs. As I mentioned last week, the series has done a really great job of representing trauma as this scene with Goblin Slayer reflects Sword Maiden’s feelings of helplessness and vulnerability. I hope by seeing Priestess and High Elf Archer go out and defeat goblins, Sword Maiden can slowly recover.

Scarred Body, Scared Mind: In this episode we also got a lot at Goblin Slayer’s body, and gosh does he have a lot of scars! We also got a talk about his childhood insecurities, and more information on his past – there are chinks in his armor, showing him as just a regular human with a crazy amount of willpower.

Flour Power: Another unique way Goblin Slayer has found to maximize destruction, I wonder what he’ll do with his newfound knowledge on making ice cream?

Themes & Trivia

What’s in my pocket?: Another famous reference that has snuck its way into Goblin Slayer. In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins must outwit Gollum in a game of riddles, otherwise Gollum will eat him. For a while the two are neck and neck, but when Bilbo asks Gollum ‘What’s in my pocket?’, Gollum cannot answer.

Comments

Many of you readers are probably ready for me to tear this episode a new one. As you know, I’m not a fan of daily life episodes, and pretty much condemn them. But this episode was different because there wasn’t any fluff. This episode wasn’t dedicated to a random campfire talk nor half of it filled with some random plot with unknown characters. This episode actually took the opportunity to look deeper into the thoughts and feelings of Goblin Slayer, Priestess, and Shield Maiden – and that, I can respect. I particularly enjoyed seeing the interactions between Goblin Slayer and Priestess, from her chastising him for simply answering with ‘yeah’ all the time to their heart-to-heart. It was good storytelling, and something I wish we’d seen earlier in the series.

But, I’m going to be that person again – complaining about Priestess’ fan-service. I don’t see why she had to be naked in bed with Goblin Slayer to heal him! It’s just really pitiful fan service and something that lesser series rely on. Also, like I said last week, Priestess is fifteen, it’s not just pitiful, it’s gross fan service!

Heading towards another big battle?

The episode ended on another cliffhanger, setting up next week’s episode as another big goblin slaying montage. I mused a few weeks ago on whether a certain skipped manga arc will make it into this anime and I’m wondering now if it will at all. There’s four episodes left, and I’m guessing that there will be at least one more fluff episode, possibly beach scene. So there’s not much time to set up that arc, unless they rush through. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

That’s it for this week’s Goblin Slayer review, while you wait for the next one, make sure to check out the rest of the MANGA.TOKYO team’s Fall 2018 reviews.

NEXT TIME: There and back again