Scum of the Brave 1×24 Review: “A Brave’s Lie”

Scum of the Brave season 1 episode 24, titled ‘A Brave’s Lie’, brought the series to a very surprising conclusion that highlighted how certain types of evil were (arguably) necessary to keep society running.

With Yashiro confronting Arthur during the closing moments of the previous episode, I was looking forward to seeing how Yashiro would decide to fight someone so influential. Not only did people look up to Arthur, but Jogamine, Indo, and especially Sara, would have a lot to say about Yashiro going up against such a Brave.

Unexpectedly, though Yashiro did fight Arthur, he used Talk No-Jutsu. I mean, yes, the moment made me roll my eyes, having anticipated Yashiro vs Arthur. However, I have to say that using Talk No-Jutsu was the more sensible route to opt for considering the circumstances. No amount of E3 was going to allow Yashiro to get away scratch-free from such a battle. Also, Yashiro realizing that Arthur was more powerful than him didn’t help matters.

Yashiro might be hot-headed, but he was a survivor and smart under pressure. If he could get answers about Ishino’s murder while also sharing his own two cents about Arthur’s involvement with Half-Dragon without picking up a sword, well, then Yashiro was going to go with the verbal option. So, yay to that, in a narrative sense. But still a bit of a bummer because I wanted an intense fight sequence in the finale.

During his conversation with Arthur, Yashiro learned a lot about why Arthur was made the head of Half-Dragon. Turns out, Arthur had been secretly maintaining control over the Demon Lords for years. In Arthur’s opinion, Demon Lords and the Braves shared a somewhat symbiotic relationship. Demon Lords needed to continue operating to give Braves something to do. It was a way to prevent Braves from turning to committing crimes. On the other hand, Braves were necessary to help keep Demon Lords contained to their territories. And of course, Arthur had managed everything from the shadows for the “betterment” of society.

As for Coffin Court’s involvement with Half-Dragon and what she got up to during the previous episode, Arthur was glad Yashiro and his students managed to prevent Coffin Court from kidnapping Jogamine. According to Arthur, Coffin Court would have used Jogamine to influence the members of Half-Dragon to achieve her goal of reigning over the Demon Lords. While Arthur had a strict rule against negotiating with Demon Lords, the other members weren’t like him.

I liked how cold Arthur was when he told Yashiro that Coffin Court didn’t consider kidnapping Sara instead of Jogamine because she knew Arthur wouldn’t have budged from his stubbornness even if the life of his daughter was at stake. I did feel sorry for Sara. But then again, I was also (kind of) impressed by Arthur’s resolve when dealing with Demon Lords. I think Arthur’s the type of character who would sacrifice himself without question if it meant stopping a Demon Lord from winning.

As for Ishino’s death, apparently, Arthur wanted to recruit Ishino for Half-Dragon, but Ishino refused. One thing led to another, and Ishino was considered an acceptable loss to keep the status quo of Braves vs Demon Lords.

Being someone who was quite sure Ishino had somehow managed to fake his death, I have to say I was a bit sad to accept that Ishino had indeed been killed. I found Ishino quite interesting, even though he only got a couple of minutes of screentime throughout the season. I would have liked for him to stick around on the chessboard longer.

Talking about the entire E4 situation with Jogamine and other subjects, from my understanding, that experiment was deemed a failure. So, Jogamine was safe to live life as a “normal” young girl under Arthur’s watchful eye.

Even though Arthur was doing so much to keep Braves and Demon Lords in check, I liked how the writers portrayed him as a man who disliked his mission. Arthur found himself operating as the leader of Half-Dragon because no one else was suited for such a job. His disdain also involved thinking of Braves, including himself, as scum. While Braves were portrayed as heroes by some in the community, Arthur didn’t think of his kind as any better than the Demon Lords.

I liked how Yashiro handled Arthur’s answers. It was kind of funny to see how Yashiro had spent the entire season claiming Braves to be scum. However, he couldn’t allow someone like Arthur to say those words out loud. In Yashiro’s mind, people like Arthur needed to keep up the ruse of portraying Braves as heroes to inspire the next generation. Such men were peddling lies. But these lies were necessary due to the sliver of hope that someone from the next generation might prove themselves to be a Brave that was actually a Hero. Students like Jogamine, Indo, and Sara didn’t need to learn what Arthur had been doing. Such students needed to believe in the existence of a better world.

I was not expecting such a conversation from Scum of the Brave. But I’m here for it. Yashiro and Arthur sharing their opinions did a lot to bring the entire season together and explain why Yashiro continued to operate as a Brave.

As for the closing moments, we got introduced to a new character, a young Brave named Kazuma. Yashiro immediately warmed up to him, much to Jogamine, Indo, and Sara’s annoyance. Willingly taking on another student set the stage for the next chapter in Yashiro’s life. And while I would like the show to return for a sophomore season, especially because I think Jogamine’s interactions with Kazuma would be hilarious due to Jogamine being prone to jealousy, I will also be okay with Scum of the Brave concluding on such a high note. At this point, you can assume that Yashiro and the girls will teach Kazuma to become a better Brave while working together to keep Demon Lords under control, while Arthur and Half-Dragon keep an eye on things.

Before I finish my review, I have to say I was surprised to see Coffin Court working as an errand-runner at Ed’s Bar. Jogamine had managed to make Yashiro change his ways when it came to showing mercy to his foes.

Did you watch Scum of the Brave anime season 1 episode 24, ‘A Brave’s Lie’? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary