English Dub Review: Ranking of Kings “The Queen and the Shield”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Now that King Bosse has fully taken over his son Daida’s body, it’s time to put the next step of his and Miranjo’s plan into motion. It’s time to assassinate the Queen. The only problem? King Bosse once appointed a strong and faithful guardian to serve by her side: Dorshe, a super buff and trustworthy guy. Even when the monsters come calling, he’s able to fend them off and protect Queen Hiling. But when the Queen goes crazy trying to rescue Daida, King Bosse says that she’ll be safer elsewhere.

Our Take:

This week’s episode of Ranking of Kings finds Queen Hiling in peril as her newly returned husband tries to assassinate her. The Queen and the Shield is an exciting episode that introduces a new character to the cast who, if not exceptionally bright, is a true and faithful servant of the crown in a way that Domas was not. There’s also a good bit of trippy mindbending type stuff when it comes to Daida’s whereabouts!

The main thrust of the plot this week was put into motion previously, when we learned that Miranjo has brought a gang of huge monsters together for the purpose of killing Queen Hiling. I’m still not entirely sure why she wants to kill Hiling, and why Bosse would go along with it. There does seem to be a weird sort of affection between Bosse and Miranjo that I hadn’t picked up on before this episode, so maybe the mirror just wants to be the true queen? Regardless, it says a lot about King Bosse that he’s able to not only hijack his son’s body, but also willing to murder his queen in cold blood.

Luckily, his plan isn’t able to work, because of another plan he put into movement himself many years ago. He moved one of the strongest fighters in his employ to a new assignment as his wife’s personal bodyguard. Did he always know that he’d have to kill her in the future, and wanted to make sure she had the best chance of survival possible? It’s unclear, but it is clearly a lot of fun watching Hiling and Dorshe become friends, in a weird sort of way. Neither one of them is enthusiastic about the arrangement at first, but in time they come to understand each other and he even helps her become a better mother to Bojji. This segment is honestly probably the most fun I’ve had watching Ranking of Kings, and I’m glad we’re getting to see more of Hiling beyond her initial evil stepmother stereotype.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much longer that will last. After Hiling survived, she confronts Bosse about the whereabouts of Daida. It’s honestly a little silly how quickly she jumps from accepting her dead husband is alive to looking for Daida. Like doesn’t she have serious questions about how this is all happening? Maybe she was previously aware of Bosse’s dealings with magic and mirrors—that seems like the only option that makes sense at the moment. Anyway, she hears Daida calling. He’s apparently trapped inside his own heart or something strange like that. Hiling kind of loses it and attacks Bosse/Daida with a knife, at which point the king suggests Dorshe takes her far away for now. Farewell, Hiling, I guess?

The Queen and the Shield is definitely one of the better episodes the show has produced so far in my opinion. It had intrigue, danger, and a fair bit of silliness too. Of course, Bojji and Kage are nowhere to be seen this week, but that’s okay because the show is just as good, if not better, without them around. I am still curious about what exactly Bojji’s newly completed training has taught him, though, and I’m guessing that’s where we’ll return in the next episode.