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With the smash-hit anime’s third season having concluded earlier this month, fans are now excitedly questioning what’s set to occur in The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4. This is an especially significant question due to the revelations the third season finale brought regarding Raphtalia’s character and the series’ worldbuilding at large.
Moreover, there’s still the Phoenix to deal with since the next Guardian Beast didn’t quite make its appearance within the confines of season 3’s events. While it’s unclear if The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 will deal with the threat of the Phoenix at the time of this article’s writing, it’s still clearly an unresolved plot point for the series.
There’s also the issue that The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 has only been teased so far, and not officially confirmed with a trailer or other promotional material. Even with this lack of setup, it’s fairly clear and obvious where the series is going in the currently teased fourth season.
The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 set to thrust Raphtalia into protagonistic role, given her unveiled origins
As mentioned above, the final episodes of the third season seemingly set up The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 to focus on Raphtalia and her origins as foreign royalty. Likewise, with Naofumi and co having already begun preparing for their journey to Q’ten Lo by way of a Siltvelt ferry, it’s clear that this will be the focus of the next season’s events.
The third season's final episode also heavily focused on Naofumi’s training with and use of the Dragon Vein. It also set up the rest of his party using the Vein. In their journey to Q’ten Lo, which will clearly be laid with assassins and traps galore, fans can expect Naofumi to eventually decide to share the Dragon Vein powers with his party.
This journey to Q’ten Lo being set up as the main overarching plot of The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 also seemingly sets up Raphtalia for a protagonist-like role within the season. While Naofumi is still the central and clear protagonist of the series overall, the fourth season seems set to focus largely on Raphtalia and her origins.
While this isn’t necessarily a bad choice, it may prove divisive for fans who aren’t the biggest fans of Raphtalia. A majority of the series’ fanbase seemingly enjoys her as a character. Still, at least a portion of audience members will undoubtedly be less than thrilled about season 4’s focus on her.
Thankfully, The Rising of the Shield Hero season 4 is unlikely to spend its entire run focused on Raphtalia’s origins as royalty, thanks to the threat of the Phoenix still lurking overhead. After spending a few episodes on Raphtalia and the Q’ten Lo threat, fans should see Naofumi and co’s focus return to preparing for the Phoenix’s eventual arrival and defeating it.
Likewise, it’s assumed that the fourth season will end with the defeat of the Phoenix, setting up whatever Guardian Beast is next for Naofumi’s party to deal with in season 5. While these are predictions, it seems to be a fairly logical progression for the series, given what fans have seen from season 3’s final episode(s).
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