That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, S4 Ep 16 Review
You know what scares me most about getting older? Well, besides the approach of death and the diminishing of my mental faculties. It’s the cynicism. The idea that I could become one of those bitter old men that the heroes in a shonen manga have to fight, like Danzo, the Five Elders, or the leaders of Jujutsu Society. But cynicism isn’t something that you’re born feeling; it’s caused by something. And in this episode of Slime Tensura, we get to see first-hand what made Granville Rozzo the cold, unfeeling jerk that he is.
The Conference is Here
So, the moment that Luminous has been waiting for is almost upon her: the musical conference brought to her by Rimuru and the citizens of Tempest. Rimuru, his students, Shion, and the musicians arrive in Lubelious a few days ahead of time to enjoy themselves before the conference. They’re all treated to this amazing feast, stuff themselves with food, and then it’s off to bed for the kids. The adults need to have a chat.
So, it goes without saying, but Luminous decides to say it anyway: she knows Granville and Yuuki are working together. She knows that they’re going to try and crash the conference, but she doesn’t know what their ultimate goal is. What she does know, though, is that Granville is not someone that Rimuru should take lightly; she’s known him for a very, very long time.
A Hero’s fall to Darkness
Hundreds of years ago, Granville was basically the protagonist of his own fantasy story. He was a young, idealistic, and powerful Hero who wanted to protect mankind from the threat of the Demon Lords, with his wife Maria, and this…person called Razul by his side. To that end, they fought Luminous for a while, but then Luminous told them “chill guys! I ain’t interested in killing humans! We can sustain ourselves on just a small amount of blood!” So Granville decided to work for her and help get the West under control. It was going fine, too…until they were betrayed. This one human got bribed by a demon to let them into a wedding they were attending, and during the fighting, Maria was killed.
Maria’s death was Granville’s cynicism catalyst. He had wanted nothing more than for humanity to be safe from beings that could destroy them, only for a human to kill his wife. He saw the best in humanity, but never considered that we can be just as evil as any monster or demon. So that twisted his goal from protecting humanity to “controlling it from the shadows and terminating any threats with prejudice.” Threats like Rimuru.
Honestly, though, the reason why Granville is so against Rimuru isn’t because his granddaughter is dead. It’s because Rimuru’s way of doing things is proof that his way isn’t working. Even worse, it proves that his way of thinking is obsolete. So, rather than bow out, Granville is determined to bring as many down with him, even if he knows he’ll likely lose.
And his plan is nothing if not audacious.
He’s Gonna do What?
So, we already know that Yuuki and Granville plan to do something during the conference so they can steal Luminous’ most prized possession. Besides having Yuuki and the Harlequin’s fight alongside Granville against Luminious and Rimuru, they’ve lured in another party: Demon Lord Leon Cromwell. He’s still looking for Chloe, and he’s starting to piece together that she’s with Rimuru. And one of Yuuki’s agents just told him that Rimuru is planning to sell off the Otherworlder kids to Luminious.
You can see where this is going. They plan on using Leon to help distract Rimuru and Luminous so they can get away with their heist. It’s a crazy plan, and not in the “crazy brilliant” way, but the “crazy stupid” way. Stupid because all Rimuru has to do is speak to Leon with his Nat 20 speech check and explain everything. And stupid because if Leon hurts an ounce of Rimuru’s slimy self, Chloe will hate him for it. And I’m guessing that he’s the kind of big brother who will die from shock if his little sister hates him.
I know that Granville hasn’t had the easiest life, and you can understand why he would turn into such a cynical jerk. But being cynical and not having faith in others is how the world gets worse, not better. And we have enough of that in our world as it is, so I would rather not see it in fiction. Do what you have to do, Rimuru!
I Give “Granville, the Hero of Dawn” a 4/5
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Thanks for reading: Title-Kun Nailed this Episode Perfectly, Sorry, my English is bad:)