Sentenced to Be a Hero

Episode 12

Where to begin? It's almost like 99% of the thoughts, concerns, and observations that I've had throughout the past few months have been addressed in one form or another. The scale of the violence, making humanity's plight seem hopeless, the internecine struggles between various factions, the way that flashbacks have been handled - it all gets tackled head-on. And best of all, I think the resolutions were super satisfying, nearly across the board.

All of the season's plot threads and concepts click perfectly into place in this final week. The coexisters are a strange and desperate lot, though now to hear it plainly from Kivia's uncle, that is because the war is a failed effort. Within the span of this episode, another major city collapses to the faerie hordes, even as individual collaborators or monster pockets are taken out. The tonal shift from the last episode that I said felt out of place? Well, turns out that was a pyrrhic victory, and not only did the Second Capital fall while all this was happening, but Teorrita nearly died in the aftermath. The weird way Boojum looked in last week's battle and the strange superhero-esque style of fighting? Turns out that was a blood puppet he set up to buy himself time to escape and bide his time while his strength grows in the shadows. It's very seldom that I find myself nodding in agreement with every plot point as it happens, but I suppose there's a first time for everything.

We get heaps of intrigue thrown in as well. Rhyno is secretly a demon lord and working within the penal legion! Another clergyman stood in the church and watched Kivia be carted away to be interrogated by investigators who wanted everything except a fair trial and the truth! And despite the constant revelations being dropped on the audience, the pacing was handled with deft care and kept us pinging back and forth with current events or action scenes to allow time to absorb new information.

Best of all, this week's direction is the best of the whole season. The confrontation scene between Kivia and her uncle was absolute dynamite, particularly when the sound cuts out, and the rain turns to sketchy pencil lines once the violence begins in earnest. Even little notes like her sword - a gift from her uncle that started her knightly career - breaking at the exact moment that he dies were handled pitch-perfect. The sense of despair and grim finality when Kivia takes her own life at the end in the jail cell - mwah. And now we realize that the title, which we assumed could have been about Xylo or any generic hero, has a new reading in Kivia herself? Top shelf stuff.

Everyone involved in this first season of Sentenced to Be a Hero deserves a round of applause. I'm already champing at the bit for season two.

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Sentenced to Be a Hero is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.