Sentenced to be a Hero Ep 12 Review
I normally don’t regret learning about spoilers. When I’m really into something, I want to learn as much about it as possible, not caring if it ruins the journey. But there are some instances where even I acknowledge that spoiling myself is going to ruin how I’ll react to it. And in this case, the season finale of Sentenced to be a Hero is making me regret looking up what happens on TV Tropes. Because I was barely able to watch what happened to Kivia.
Also, I just want to say that this was the only episode of the season that failed to be simul-dubbed, and I feel disappointed by that fact. So close!
The Fight is Over…
So, the fight for Ioff has ended, with the Hero Unit once again managing to pull off a successful suicide mission. And while Teoritta is feeling great about herself, that good feeling is soon squashed when she and Xylo come back and run into Iri, AKA Spriggan. Using their human disguise, Spriggan comes dangerously close to killing Teoritta, and while they drive the demon lord off, it leaves the goddess and Xylo shaken. She only made it out because she blocked the attack with a dagger Xylo bought her; dumb luck! And while she immediately goes back to her cheerful self afterwards, I think she’s just putting on a front. She asks Xylo to train her to fight after this, and I don’t think Xylo will object. He won’t always be there to protect her, so it’s better that she can handle herself.
The good news is that Spriggan isn’t coming back again. Rhyno makes certain of this by killing them himself. But while doing so, he proceeds to monologue about who he really is: the Demon Lord, Puck Puca. Like Spriggan, he’s possessing Rhyno’s body and is using it hunt his own kind.
Full disclosure: I already knew this. But even if I didn’t, I would say it explains a lot. He acts so unethically because he’s having to learn what ethics are from scratch. And while the idealist in me makes me think that this is proof that the Demon Blight can be good, I’m not getting my hopes up. Rhyno/Puck all but admit that they’re killing their own kind for the love of the game. That doesn’t make him a good person, just a psycho who’s conveniently on the protagonist’s side. In all honesty, I think I would trust Boojum more than Rhyno.
Speaking of Boojum, he turns out to be alive, having swapped himself out for a double. Which means that we’re likely going to see him again in the future.
…But the Victory is Hollow
In the present, though, this victory turns out to be very hollow. As the Hero Unit is resting, Frenci comes to them and drops a bombshell: the capital city of the kingdom has fallen. The attack on Ioff was just a diversion! And this is soul crushing to hear. After spending an entire season watching the protagonists make small, but meaningful, wins, they’re all undone by this gut punch. It’s enough to make someone want to give up and throw in the towel, like Kivia’s uncle.
Like i said at the start, I already knew going into this episode what was about to happen. I made the mistake of reading the files on TV Tropes and regret it. Because it made watching the parts of the episode about Kivia almost unbearable to watch.
Kivia…
Just as Kivia feared, her beloved uncle is a Coexister. He gives this whole spiel about how humanity will lose the war, and how their only way to survive is to become the Demon Blight’s slaves. I have heard all those arguments before in other works, and I didn’t buy them then, and neither does Kivia. So he kills her lieutenant, and then she kills him. And then she gets arrested and accused of being a traitor and everything else that her uncle was doing.
This is the sad part about Kivia, in my opinion: she’s too nice for her own good. She only told one other person what she knew and then brought them as a witness, which got him killed and deprived her of the evidence she needed to show she was justified. Had she been a bit more savvy, she should have told as many of her men as possible and had them spread the word in case this happened. At least that way she would get the benefit of the doubt. Instead, she’s hauled off as a traitor and doesn’t even get the chance to defend herself in a trial.
I feel so bad seeing what happens to Kivia, but I also can’t help but note the irony. When we first met her, she automatically assumed the worst about Xylo without giving him the benefit of the doubt . She eventually learned and acknowledged that she was wrong, but she never wrapped her mind about how not everyone on her side was working in the best interests of mankind. That led her to this moment, and now she has a choice to make: death…or death.
Wait…That’s how they Become Heroes?
The final third of this episode is devoted to Kivia being visited by the priest Kafzen in her cell, where she’s offered a choice: she can be executed as a traitor, or…she can become a Hero. This is where we learn something very disturbing. It turns out that the Heroes are not people sentenced to die and be revived forever. They are people who have already died and then revived by the First Goddess. She then holds onto all of their memories for as long as she can, but whenever they die, she loses some of those memories!
This is honestly messed up, in my opinion. I have seen anime where people can come back from the dead before, but the implication that Xylo and the others may not even remember that they’re already dead is sickening. Not to mention how it makes Frenci’s efforts to get Xylo a pardon might be pointless. For all we know, removing whatever spell that makes him a Hero could mean he’ll die for good!
If that wasn’t bad enough, we then learn that the First Goddess’ power is finite. She only has room to revive one more person, and that’s it. Which means that the trump card of humanity is already being strained to the breaking point.
The episode, and the season, end with Kivia making her choice: she will become a Hero and keep fighting. No positive ending for anyone involved. But what an ending!
I must admit, I did start to get a little bored with the show at some point, but I never truly stopped loving it. It’s just too compelling a story for me to want to quit. And the fact that it was animated by the people who gave us the best parts of Mushoku Tensei was the best part. I’m glad to know that we’re getting a second season in the future, and if I’m still here, I look forward to reviewing it.
D&A Anime Blog 