One always wonders the extent to which great battles really were centered on the roles of individuals. Not to the extent that it’s portrayed in dramas like Kingdom surely. Focusing on individuals is a powerful dramatic device – it makes the epic human, and easier to grasp. But above and beyond dramatic license, there seems little doubt that individuals have often been the difference between defeat and victory, and not always the highest-ranking generals either (Gettysburg and Chamberlain come to mind). A great general is nothing without an army – but what is an army without a great general?
The arrival of Yang Duan He certainly didn’t come a moment too soon. Though in Changwen’s terms it came a day too soon, and his “intuition” as I called it turned out to be something much more than that. A desperation envoy sent to beg the mountain king for help, only to be met with the news that she was off fighting elsewhere. A secret that only Zheng and Changwen (and eventually Xin) knew. Were they wrong not to share this with their own leaders – their own strategists? It’s hard to take issue with the results – Li Mu was taken completely off guard, which was the plan all along. Who knows whether that secret could have been contained – and what impact the knowledge might have had on the besieged defenders of Zui.
For Li Mu to be strategically outflanked is rare, to the extent that this is basically the first time we’ve seen it happen. As Changwen notes, the desperate attempt to keep the earlier palace coup a secret has paid off, because Li Mu has no idea that Zheng has such strong ties with the mountain tribes. He’s really caught with his pants down here – 30,000 fresh (and scary) savages sweeping down on his tired men (and Kaine), with almost any possible result looming as a disaster for Li. But if he withdraws, he fears it will effectively put an end to the invasion. For once, Li Mu loses his composure – for more than a moment, he’s frozen like a deer in the headlights.
Fu Di does his part to try and halt the onslaught, though he is taken aback at catching a glimpse of Yang Duan He and realizing she’s a woman (and a bijin at that). But the turning point here is the arrival of Pang Nuan, for whom the mountain tribes’ attack is apparently sufficient incentive to actually do some fighting. In fact it seems as if Li Mu was in the process of ordering a retreat when Pang Nuan took to the field, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake. This isn’t something the Mountain King can let go, so she heads off to engage this newcomer, presumably unaware of his fearsome reputation.
Then, it’s Xin time. While it can be incredibly frustrating sometimes, Xin is nothing if not consistent. Even as his own men plead with him to stay on the ramparts and let the newbies take care of business, Xin can’t allow Yang Duan He to face Pang Nuan in his absence. This man has taken a lot from Xin – two mentors and even father figures (at least in the case of Lord Biao). By any objective measure Xin is wrong here – Tian Yong reminds him of what happened the last time Xin faced Pang Nuan – that it was only with the lives of several of the Fei Xin force that Xin’s own life was spared. But he’s Xin, and if he did anything but face Pang Nuan here, he wouldn’t be.
The odds here obviously don’t look good, especially with Xin injured and utterly exhausted. In a bit of dramatic license his horse Jun sacrifices itself to get both combatants on the ground, but this still looks like a mismatch. Would an entire battle just stop like this, to give space to two generals to have at it? Frankly I rather doubt it (even in this time period) but it does make for splendid drama. It’s a rare man who faces Pang Nunan thrice in battle, the great general notes – but will the third time be the charm?
Duke of Earls
September 28, 2021 at 4:11 amTo your point about the dramatized role of individuals: that’s why this show is so incredible. It captures a lot of the real history and the spirit of the events and injects a bit of anime/superhero-esque fun to really juice up the power of individuals you can follow as the story progresses.
There are examples of almost superhuman feats by warriors in history, though. The berserker viking at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in English history would fall under that category. Far more common than changing history through physical feats, as you mentioned, are those nexus points where the decisions of individuals changed the course of events forever.
I would love if there were more shows like this covering history from all around the world. There’s nothing else like it.
Derrick
September 28, 2021 at 8:41 amWars do tell poignant tales.
Suikoden , Kingdom, GoT, and a slew of WW 2 movies.
They force us to be more of us, for better or worse
Marty
September 29, 2021 at 7:46 amSomething I appreciate from Kingdom is that it strikes a very precarious balance between personal martial prowess and tactics on the battlefield. While both sides in a conflict generally have their fair share of monsters, both in fighting ability and thinking ability, no one is an overwhelming enough force to completely overwhelm an army on their own. Even great Generals need capable subordinates, and even powerhouses that mow down enemies relentlessly need some mindfulness behind the madness if they are to win.
That’s one of the things that eternally frustrated me with the mech genre, whether it be standard Gundam shows or something like Code Geass; they would portray certain characters as master tacticians, but the tactics would eventually become meaningless if a single mech can Solo a whole damn army. Idk, this is just a little tangent on mine.
I feel like Kingdom and Altair: Records of Battle (specially the manga) struck this balance pretty well.
Guardian Enzo
September 29, 2021 at 8:57 amAltair deserved better on the anime side. But then, maybe Kingdom did too in the big picture.
Kinai
September 29, 2021 at 8:04 pmPeople ever forget Legend of the Galactic Heroes and, in my opinion, is the best epic anime.
Arslan Senki has interesting battles and tactics too, but it is a little less realistic.
Not a fan of Altair, though.
Juan Carrillo
October 1, 2021 at 8:32 amThis is my personal opinion, but as much as I loved Arslan, I feel that Altair did a better job at showing a competent opponent in the Balt-Reim empire. Narsus seemed a little too overpowered to me, if memory serves me right, he never took a serious loss in the entire anime.
I think Kingdom and Arslan did a better job at showing that both the protagonists and antagonists have a deep pool of capable Generals and commanders (specially in the manga versions) and show the lethality of war by having significant characters die in the heat of combat.
That being said, I still really enjoy Arslan, except for the rumors I’ve been hearing that the original author of the novels got tired of writing the story and gave it a slapped-togethet ending. If that’s true that would kind of Undermine the whole story for me, I’m not gonna lie.
Kinai
October 1, 2021 at 5:17 pmI understand your point.
Well, we will see.
Kinai
September 29, 2021 at 8:07 pmHow many episodes are left? One or two?
More importantly, when is the next season? We aren’t going to wait five years, are we?
There is a gory scene later on in the manga that is going to be very difficult to show in an anime though.
Guardian Enzo
September 30, 2021 at 3:45 pm2 more as far as I know. MAL says 25.
Who knows? It’s kind of odd it took this long this time. Kingdom isn’t the sort of series that’s going to make anyone rich with an anime. But the manga is popular enough that it won’t lose money, either (especially at Pierrot). You’d think it’s either worth doing or it isn’t, and there’s plenty of source material unless I’m mistaken.
Kinai
September 30, 2021 at 6:34 pmOh, no. You are right. There is a lot of material.
The Coallition Invasion Arc ends on chapter 356, and this week chapter is 694. So… yeah. 🙂
Thanks for telling the number of episodes. It looks right: one to wrap it and one for the aftermath.