The Heroic Legend of Arslan vol. 17

This is a volume of table-setting as we see lots of different factions getting their affairs in order before the fighting starts.  We check in with Duke Guiscard first as he delights in having found a way to get rid of his brother, the king:  Have the newly captured Princess Irina do it as she takes revenge for the death of her father.  Unfortunately for him, his plans are complicated by the (individual) arrivals of Etoile, Merlin, and Hilmes once word gets out about the princess’ capture.  Meanwhile, Kishward is having to deal with unrest in Peshwar Castle as more and more officers start to chafe under the rule of Andragoras.  He may be the Shah of Pars, but his merciless handling of an insubordinate office may have alienated more of his followers than put them in their place.  We also can’t forget the supernatural shenanigans of the series, which are worming their way closer to the main story as they’ve finally found an easily led participant in their plans:  Bodin the Mad Priest.

The lack of a major battle in this volume doesn’t mean that it’s any harder to predict how things are going to turn out for the characters involved.  While I like Guiscard, the story does not, and that means his plans are destined to go awry here.  This could make for interesting future storylines as if the Lusitanians are taken out, then we could see a three-way struggle between Arslan, Hilmes, and Bodin for ultimate power in the land.  I’d like to see that… or any more development of the tensions between Andragoras and his wife Tahemany.  Despite introducing these tensions in spectacular fashion, the story seems determined to ignore them and leave the shah as a generic authoritative villain.

Which is a shame because that leaves the storytelling here feeling just “okay” as mangaka Hiromu Arakawa goes through the motions in setting things up for next time.  The thought of multiple battles does sound interesting; though, my interest is significantly tempered by having a good idea about how things are going to turn out even before they start.  Really, the biggest drama in this series for me is coming from whether or not I decide to sell it all back to Book-Off once it wraps up.