Arslan Senki (TV): Fuujin Ranbu Episode 3 Discussion

CC9ers said:


How so? Are you saying you would just mindlessly obey Andragoras if it were you? Daryun is honestly the only one who has any kind of obligation to him, and even then he has more of an obligation to Arslan.

Farangis is there for Arslan and Arslan alone, by what she believes to be the wishes of her god. Gieve is simply following Farangis (so he says, but I feel he has some feeling of devotion to Arslan after all they've been through). Narsus has been banished by Andragoras before, so he has no reason to serve him. Elam serves Narsus directly. Alfreed owes Arslan and his company, plus the fact she is in love with Narsus. And Jaswant directly owes Arslan a debt as he said himself.

tl;dr- nobody is being "pampered". It makes perfect sense why all these characters would follow Arslan contrasted to why it makes no sense why they would follow Andragoras. Sounds like somebody just doesn't like Arslan and is bitching.

MoeGod said:


Which really makes sense rather than following some asshole king. A true leader is someone that people are willing to follow because they truly believe in him. You call Arslan pampered but what about that asshole king who just simply marched in and literally stole what Arlan built?

You're talking about Arslan growing but the question is did you really watch (and understand) the series from season 1? there have been many instances where the gang let Arslan made his own decisions and grow by himself. Not too long ago (1 or 2 eps maybe) Narsus forbade Daryun from stopping Arslan from confronting the barbarians who slaughtered innocent people in front of the fortress. That was only one small instance and there have been many, especially during the Sindhura arc where they simply let Arslan learned to make his own decision and grow as a potential king. Nurturing and protecting are not the same as spoiling. It's not exactly a king's job to fight on the frontline or repel people who are trying to kill him. That's what knights and guards are for.

MoeGod said:


They aren't unrealistically loyal to Arslan. They are loyal to him because they believe he's the person most suited to the king. Daryun did it out of obligation at first but as he said in this episode, he came to do it in his own will. As for the rest CC9ers have already explained it. They all have legit enough reasons to side with Arsland instead of Andragoras. I mean really, you may question their motives but between serving Andragoras and Arslan I think the choice is obvious for them. It's not simply about sticking to Arslan like a glue, I'm pretty sure their dislike towards Andragoras also played a huge part in their decision. What would you do if you were in their position? serve the man you don't like? abandon the war altogether? or stick to the person you were loyal to from the beginning?

I think you're also forgetting Arslan is like what, 14-15 years old? when has kids on his age never not influenced by people around him? you may think that Narsus shaped Arslan to his ideals but Arslan's no different than most teenagers growing up whose ideals tend to be shaped by people they look up to. Even Andragoras wasn't born an asshole and become the asshole king that he is now without some sort of influence. Your ideals were pretty much shaped by people around you. That being said, from the very beginning of the series Arslan has always been portrayed as a noble person who cares for the slaves. Whether you're willing to accept that is your problem but the way I see it, rather than Narsus forcibly forcing Arslan to agree with his ideals it was simply them agreeing on the same ideals. What Narsus did do was influence Arslan to have the courage to actually change the system. Whether that can be seen as pouring his ideals onto Arslan is debatable but it won't change the fact that Arslan was a noble person to begin with and that's why Narsus followed him.

You also seem to have problems with Arslan relying on his generals but what about Andragoras winning the battle that made him famous thanks to Narsus' works? Rewatch the beginning of the series, Andragoras barely even broke a sweat thanks to Narsus' strategies yet ultimately it was Andragoras who got the reputation as a war king due to the underdog victory. The truth is no king, leader, or any president in this world can run a country on their own. They always have generals, aides, or ministers who do the dirty work for them. Genghis Khan was known as a fearsome king who conquered continents but most of it was actually thanks to his brilliant strategist Subutai that he managed to win those wars.

Despite what you want to believe, it's clear that we see Arslan's character in a different way. You're biased towards hating him so what Arslan said or do, you construed it as something he has to say because he has to say it instead of accepting that's how his actual believe is. Take the part where he honored the bald general for doing the dirty work to confuse one of the barbarian generals. Narsus acknowledged that it was wise of Arslan to appreciate the lesser known generals, do you still think of it as Narsus influencing Arslan (which he clearly did not) or would you accept that Arslan has grown exponentially wiser from the naive prince that he was when he left Ecbatana (which I doubt you would). What about Jaswant? do you also think Narsus somehow influenced Arslan to save his life not once but three times? with so many of these generals and soldiers, they all have legitimate reasons to be thankful or admire the person that Arslan is without outside influences. It just seems to me you chose to nitpick all the parts where Narsus consul Arslan while at the same time ignoring all the time Arslan made many decisions on his own. You talk about having luck that he isn't killed yet but luck favors the brave, just look at Portugal's recent Euro victory. Call it luck if you will but the fact is that doesn't matter because they won, just like it won't matter for Arslan when he becomes king. You also seem to have not notice that many of the kings in this anime aren't bright to begin with. Andragoras lost his kingdom because he relied on brute force rather than experience and strategy. Rajendra would have lost the succession battle had Narsus not intervened and made him join forces with Arslan. The Lustanian's were so easily manipulated by Hilmes, their king is a useless fat blob while his brother is a wimp. Is it really surprising that the Turan king lost when all he did was show up with brute force just like every "experienced" king in this anime?

The thing with Arslan's story is about making a change from old traditions. If he can abolish the slave system then he sure as hell can become king without having to kill a lion. His followers understand this, they know that what the country needs is a noble ruler who cares for his people not just a simple brute with a simple mind like Andragoras.