THEM Anime Reviews
Home Reviews Extras Forums
[The Faraway Paladin: Lord of the Rust Mountains (series Season Two)]
AKA: 最果てのパラディン 鉄錆の山の王
Genre: D&D Style Fantasy
Length: Television series, 12 episodes, 24 minutes each
Distributor: Currently available streaming on crunchyroll.
Content Rating: TV-14 (Violence)
Related Series: Season One
Also Recommended: Record of Lodoss War
Notes: Based on manga by Kanata Yanagino and Kususaga Rin, published by Overlap
Rating:

The Faraway Paladin: Lord of the Rust Mountains (series Season Two)

Synopsis

Will's efforts have made the city of Whitesails a prosperous place, but there are rumors of a darkness spreading in the countryside, and after meeting with some refugee dwarves, Will resolves to take on the source of that trouble, The Evil Dragon Valacirca.


Review

Well, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I guess you'd say that this Season Two of The Faraway Paladin is utterly worshipful of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Now, as I've said before (e.g., the Delicious in Dungeon review), most modern fantasy of the D&D sort owes a greater or lesser debt to Tolkien. Record of Lodoss War (which I'm Rec'ing here), as I recall, started out slavishly following Tolkien, but eventually did find its own path. But FP2- well, I'd use George Takei's tagline, "Oh, My!", if I could find a way to convey in print the sardonic way he says it.

I'll grant that the dwarves here are not refugees from Erebor, the Lonely Mountain- but they ARE refugees from the (former) Iron Mountains, which are a named place in The Hobbit. Will treats the heir-apparent to the Dwarf Kingdom with quite a bit less respect than Gandalf showed to Thorin Oakenshield; following Paul Simon's advice, he shortens the dwarf's name, Vindalfr, to "Al", and takes him as his "squire." (To be fair, "Al" has some self-esteem issues, and certainly isn't arrogant like Thorin was.)

Along the way to their showdown with the dragon, Will and his party encounter a tsundere elf girl, who Meneldor (Will's half-elven pal) greets with Tolkien's own standard Elvish greeting, "The stars shine on our meeting!". Said elf girl leads them to "Lothdor", an Elvish land, formerly a land of flowers. (The Elvish stronghold LothLORIEN, in Tolkien, while mostly known for its giant trees, was AKA "The Dreamflower.") Not having 3 rings to fight back with I suppose, "Lothdor" has fallen into ruin, its people physically ill; Will must heal them. (Will is both a warrior, AND Jesus, here; he even gets tempted in the wilderness, though here by Stagnate, this show's Satan stand-in.)

I'll get to The Evil Dragon Valacirca shortly; but Valacirca is kind of a hard name, so I'll just use the initials of the title he's invariably given, and just call him TED. (Hey, if Will can have casual familiarity with Vindalfr, I can with his adversary.) A couple of Will-related comments first: One, Will's chief problem isn't his magical strength (he's OP to the max), but remains his own psychological weaknesses. I noted this in Season One as well. And Two, if you've got a spell that wipes out a horde of enemies all at once, why not use it to start with?

Only one of the triumvirate who raised Will shows up to advise him this season. This is a shame, as he obviously still needs lots of good advice.

Anyway, Will & Co. arrive in the former stronghold of the Dwarves, in those former Iron Mountains (decayed by the Depredations of the Dragon, so now the "Rust Mountains"- get it?), and they encounter a battalion of spectral dwarf warriors who don't realize that they are, in fact, deceased. (Apparently, important clues, like the fact they never have to eat anymore, whizzed right past them. Personally, I might not have told them- they might fight better if they thought they still had lives to defend.)

So it takes a village- or at least Will, Meneldor, "Al", a mercenary named Reystov (we met him last season), and a passel of dead dwarves- to defeat a dragon, if even they can manage it. TED, our dragon, is awfully loquacious- and is kept in the shadows during his long speeches, to give the animators a break I suppose. Still I must grant that TED is, in some ways, more impressive than Smaug- in addition to the Standard Dragon Equipment of flaming breath, long claws, and sheer mass (for trampling), TED also knows both offensive and defensive magic. Is there a Dragonworts Magic Academy?

Will's bromance with Mendeldor may finally be breaking up- Meneldor seems rather taken with the prevously mentioned elf lady. (Before I go on, one MORE steal from Tolkien: Mendeldor talks about "going across the sea" near the end; Tolkien's Elves always aspired to finally cross the Sea, to return to the Undying Lands.) The subject of a girlfriend for Will also comes up at one point. I gather that in the manga he did confess to someone, but they were of too high station even for HIM. Maybe he should stick to "Bee", the halfling motormouth bard who shows up at the beginning of this season, but who thankfully disappears when the story actually gets going.

Back in Season One I liked the mixing of gods into the show's medieval fantasy setting; it was at least a little different. Season Two, however, is such a blatant ripoff of Mr. Tolkien that I just couldn't enjoy it. (To use a movie analogy, it's like Mac and Me was to E.T.). If you aren't familiar with Tolkien- I suppose that IS possible, even now- feel free to go another star.Allen Moody

Recommended Audience: Crunchy says 14+. The only issue here that I can see is the violence.



Version(s) Viewed: Crunchyroll video stream
Review Status: Full (12/12)
The Faraway Paladin: Lord of the Rust Mountains (series Season Two) © 2023 Kanata Yanagino, OVERLAP/The Faraway Paladin Production Committee
 
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved.