Raphtalia (episode)


 * This article is about the anime episode titled "Raphtalia." You may be looking for the character.

Raphtalia (ラフタリア) is the fifteenth episode of The Rising of the Shield Hero anime.

Synopsis
Raphtalia corners Rabier with vengeance in her eyes, her bloodthirsty blade reaching for his throat. Naofumi's words bring her back to her senses momentarily, and then they decide to go into the tyrant's underground torture chambers in search for possible surviving demi-humans. Returning into this horrible place after so long brings back Raphtalia's most painful memories as a slave child...

Plot
In the past, while some demi-human children are having some fun time in their village, a younger Raphtalia and Rifana are discussing people that they have a crush on, with Rifana stating that she wishes to meet and marry the Shield Hero. However, at that moment, a huge Catastrophe Wave opens up. Back to the present, the infuriated Raphtalia is holding her blade to Idol Rabier's throat, with the noble begging for his life. Raphtalia, however, will have none of it and intends to take revenge for her people then and there.

Rabier isn't really doing a very good job of begging for his life though, as he continues to layer insults upon Raphtalia. After some talking down from Naofumi, Raphtalia calms down, simply stating that she won't lower herself to the level of striking an unarmed man. Angered, Rabier stops "begging" and draws his sword, intending to attack; in the ensuing skirmish, he presses an advantage from Raphtalia's injured arm, disarms her and gains an edge over her, but she rapidly counterattacks by "impaling" through him with her Mana Sword. As he steps back trying to recover from the magic wound, he starts yelling frantically that demi-humans do not deserve to live; ironically, right after this nasty statement, he trips on his own whip and falls through his window onto the courtyard below.

Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, Melty, and Van Reichnott venture into Rabier's underground dungeon, where Raphtalia goes ahead of the group. Flashing back once again, Raphtalia promises on her parents' graves that she will never cry again. While speaking to her surviving fellow villagers, encouraging them to work hard to rebuild their village, Melromarc soldiers march into the village, as the demi-humans thought they came from the capital to help them. Unfortunately for them, the soldiers proceed to round the survivors and cage them to sell off their children as slaves. Raphtalia and Rifana had made themselves and the other demi-human children an oath of always keeping smiling and having hopes of returning home, no matter how rough the times will be.

Raphtalia and a handful of her fellow villagers ended up under Rabier's "care". Raphtalia was the only one who escaped alive due to her inability to cry (actually, she had clung firmly to her smile oath) in face of Rabier's torture, and thus he sent her back to Beloukas' store out of pure boredom. Before being broken apart from Raphtalia, Rifana had told her that she wanted to see her village flag again. Back to the present, Reichnott and Melty revealed they've found at least three demi-human survivors in the dungeon, one Raphtalia recognizes as Keel, a boy from her village.

Due to the dramatic change in her appearance, Keel initially doesn't recognize Raphtalia, but her reminiscence on their memories together eventually makes him remember. Naofumi uses magic to heal Keel's injuries while Raphtalia goes to search for Rifana in her cell - only to audibly cry in sadness and despair as she finds out that Rifana was long dead, only her decayed skeleton had remained. Shocked by such a gruesome scene, Melty cannot believe that such cruelty had been happening as if it was normal in Melromarc, and swears Raphtalia that she'll make sure to personally bring the captors to justice once the situation dies down. Reichnott explains her that it had happened across the entire country and that the deceased Seaetto Lord was necessary to help them terminate all this horror. Melty recalls that her mother had entrusted her with the mission of returning to the capital to admonish her father and whoever else was engaged into this savagery, but now she feels completely powerless against this and believes that she had failed her mother.

Raphtalia, feeling angry and ashamed, starts weeping on the verge of an emotional breakdown, blaming herself for not being able to save Rifana in time, claiming self-hatred and even considering herself unworthy of walking aside the Shield Hero; Naofumi, however, calms her down by assuring her that she once pulled him off from his own darkness, and together they faced and survived many things together, growing stronger ever after, they are alive so far because of her unshakable emotional support, and the demi-human children found in the dungeon only survived because of the hopes for freedom she gave off to them. Feeling truly reinvigorated by Naofumi's kind words, Raphtalia collects Rifana's skeletal remains for a proper burial - she even has a kind of spiritual vision of Rifana in Heavens, wishing for the best for Raphtalia's life as she now walks with her beloved Shield Hero.

Outside, Naofumi asks Reichnott to calm down the raging demi-humans who went to his rescue. Unfortunately, Rabier is revealed to be near the obelisk of the courtyard, badly injured and bleeding heavily, but still alive. Holding his Church's rosary, he fanatically calls for his "God" for power and dispels the powerful magic seal placed around the obelisk. Reichnott explains about the Tyrant Dragon Rex, a dinosaur-like ancient beast which the past Heroes had sealed away inside the obelisk because it was too powerful to be destroyed. The monster now released, an insanity-driven Rabier commands it to destroy the "Shield Devil", hoping that this will grant him eternal heavenly blessings - however, this had proved to be his own demise, as he is fatally crushed under the monster's stomp. Naofumi and his friends watch in horror as the creature starts rampaging uncontrollably around the town.

Trivia

 * This is the third episode of the anime (after episodes 5 and 9) to be named after a character - however, while the previous episodes were the debut of their respective characters, this episode shows more of the title character's backstory.
 * Melty is shown to be shocked by the horrid conditions the demi-humans had been living in Melromarc.
 * The monster which was sealed by the past Heroes is revealed.

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