I’ve got no time to write a nice introduction, but here are the recaps and responses for the nxt three episodes of Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts!
Episode 16: Invasion and the Wolf without a Kingdom
Sariphi, Leo, Lante, and a small force from Ozmargo set out on a voyage to a vassal kingdom for some kind of important duty. However, on the way there, the King receives an urgent message to return to the palace. Rebels have launched a plan to take over Ozmargo. Rumors say they are heading to the capital city. Leo flies away on his Holy Beast, reluctantly leaving Sariphi behind after she insisted on continuing the voyage herself.
Unfortunately, the leader of the rebellion and his right-hand man just happen to be in that area. They capture Sariphi’s ship. The leader introduces himself as Fenrir the Wolf, and threatens to kill everyone on board if they do not surrender their highest ranking officer as a political sacrifice. Sari steps forward of her own volition to prevent violence. She is able to save Lante and the other guards from being massacred. Thus, Sariphi is now the prisoner of Fenrir and his dangerous advisor Nir.
Back at the palace, the people of the capital city are mobbing around the castle gates, concerned about the rebellion. When the King hears that Sari was captured, he tries to go after her at once. Anubis convinces him to stay by saying he will literally die by the King’s hand rather than let him leave. The little Cyclopian servant, who brought the news, gives Leo a message from Sariphi. She asked the King not to save her, but to protect the kingdom first. Leo agrees and gives an encouraging speech to the people of the capital. He vows to rescue Sariphi as soon as he can.
My first thought about this episode is related to Fenrir. I’m disappointed that the ultimate antagonist of the series is a wolf. As someone with a degree in wildlife biology, I know a lot about wolves – at least the American species – and the Gray Wolf is my favorite large animal. Wolves get a bad rep in fiction, being villains more often than not. This reflects the pervasive and deep-seated hatred that midwest and western Americans have toward wolves. In order to help combat the unfair hatred and widespread misinformation, I wish there were more wolf characters who were “good.”
Besides that personal pet peeve, I liked the character of Fenrir. He seems like a very “classic” villain: bloodthirsty, reckless, and bent on gaining power. He seems to be motivated by revenge, having some kind of history with King Leo. Fenrir’s second-in-command, Nir, is also very cool. As a furry, I do find his character design attractive. In addition, the way he uses magic to manipulate swords is impressive. We don’t hear a lot about magic being used in fighting in this series. Most beasts just use weapons, so magical abilities must be fairly rare.
One of the most interesting parts of the episode was when Fenrir degraded Sari and said she was even more worthless by giving herself up. Sari then paused for a moment, thinking about whether she was actually worthless. Her answer – which she courageously gave to Fenrir – was that she has great worth. Despite being impressed by Sari’s bravery, I also felt disappointed about the logic behind her words. “If I have value,” she said, “then it’s because the King loves me more than anyone else.” In other words, she believes her worth comes from Leo and not herself.
Now, Sari might have been referring to her value as a political hostage. That makes sense. But part of me is afraid Sariphi has very little self-worth in general. I hope she develops more of it as she grows up. With the way she was raised, knowing what she knew, it’s not a surprise that she would undervalue herself. Stay strong, Sari! On a final note, I also love Anubis and how dedicated he was in this episode. That’s all for episode 16.
Episode 17: Pursuit and the Vassals’ Battle
With Sariphi as his hostage, Fenrir tells of his history with King Leo. When the two were young, they were forced to fight a magic duel with each other in front of their fathers. Both pups were desperate to prove themselves to their fathers. Young Leo won the fight, effortlessly defeating Fenrir. As a result of his embarrassing loss, Fenrir was disowned by his father and had his ear cut off as a sign of having his royalty stripped. One day, the wolf vowed, he would fight Leo again – and this time, he would win.
This episode also showed us how Nir came to be Fenrir’s dedicated slave. Fenrir saved the young, nameless pup from a cruel master and brought him to the wolf kingdom palace as his personal servant. Speaking of Nir, he attacked Anubis and would have killed him of Jor hadn’t stepped in to save him. The lizard captain manages to seriously wound Nir, making him retreat. Anubis and Jor decide to pursue the enemy back to Fenrir’s lair.
The climax of the episode was when Lante arrived at Fenrir’s lair with Cy and Bennu. He meant to sacrifice his life so Sariphi could escape on Bennu, but Sari refused to leave him behind. She saved him and managed to escape the lair. However, Lante loses consciousness from his wounds, and Bennu reverts to his weak form. It’s up to Sariphi to finish the escape on her own – but Fenrir is close behind. Meanwhile, Cy sends a telepathic message to Clops, telling him where the wolf’s base is located. Clops relays the information to the King.
Despite this episode being highly entertaining and informative, I can’t think of much to write about it. My main thoughts were: 1) it was really sad what happened to Fenrir, and 2) Nir’s story was also rather sad, since he knows nothing but slavery. The comparing and contrasting of Anubis and Nir was extremely interesting and a good example of how to do character development. On a final note, I loved when Sari saved Lante and told him it’s not his job to die for her. That concludes my current thoughts on episode 17.
Episode 18: Rescue and a Fated Duel
Just when Fenrir is about to use his blue fire magic to harm Sariphi and Lante, King Leo comes to the rescue. A long, violent duel between the King and Fenrir begins. Nir watches along with Jormungand and Anubis. Sariphi, Lante, and the cyclops twins are also watching from a different position. The King was overcome in terms of magic fairly quickly. Apparently, magic is something that one needs to recharge, and the King hadn’t recovered from the huge amount of magic he put into Sariphi’s ring.
Fenrir could have finished the fight right then, but it seems he has a shred of honor left in him. He disperses the rest of his own magic so that he and the King are on equal footing. Then he proposes fighting tooth-and-claw for the rest of the battle. The King agrees, and the bloody altercation begins. It’s a savage and drawn-out battle, during which the King starts to doubt himself, thinking he is defined by weakness and has nothing to truly defend. With that circling around in his mind, Leo is brutally struck down by his wolf opponent.
At that moment, Sariphi calls out to the King using the name of Leonheart. This reminds the King that he has something to defend and a right to be proud of his identity. Leo rises up again and inflicts a mortal wound on Fenrir, knocking him prone. Thinking the battle is over, Sari jumps down into the King’s arms. However, Fenrir stands up one last time, barely alive. The King moves in for the final killing blow, but he isn’t the one to deliver it. Nir appears behind Fenrir and drives one of his blades through the wolf’s heart. Nir then grabs Fenrir’s body and flees. The fight is over.
Sariphi and company hurry back to the Ozmargo palace to treat the King’s injuries. Within a few days, he is doing better, as are Lante and Anubis. We are then shown a scene of Nir holding Fenrir’s body on the night after the duel. A flashback shows that Fenrir ordered Nir to kill him if he was defeated by the King. The servant understood the meaning of his final duty: Fenrir was giving his life to Nir, offering up the last thing he had.
The last scene after the credits shows Judge Sett exploring an ancient library in search of forbidden knowledge. Sett’s words implied that he was disappointed about the King winning against Fenrir. As a reader of mine pointed out several episodes ago, Sett might be the ultimate or final antagonist of this series. His actions were suspicious for sure. I look forward to seeing what his deal is and how good of a villain he will be.
As for other thoughts, the duel went mostly as I expected, with the exception of Nir finishing off his master. To be honest, I can’t completely wrap my head around this action, even though I somewhat understand it in theory. It doesn’t quite “click” in my mind and I’m not exactly sure why. Regardless, I thought Nir’s dedication to Fenrir was emotionally moving. I’m not sure what he will do, but at least he is a free beast from now on. I don’t have much more to say on this episode, but as usual, I’m enjoying the hell out of this anime!
Thank you for reading~
Anime Rants 
Yes, this story arc has been quite thrilling! I thought Sari was sooo brave! And though Anubis has always been a grumpy kermudgen to Sari, I did like how dedicated he was to the king these episodes. It makes me like him just a tiny bit. I still think he’s a kermudgen though! Yeah, I was a little disappointed about Fenrir being a villainous wolf too. I mean a wolf villain is very traditional in terms of folk and fairy tales and even the name Fenrir is from folk lore, but I think they could have been a bit more creative with their villain character design. A unicorn villain might have been cool and unique! Oo, or a griffin! Those can look super scary and in folk lore were ancient guardians.
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