Manga: The Heroic Legend of Arslan 11

The Heroic Legend of Arslan Vol 11
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

After Gieve leaves under fraught circumstances, Arslan and the Parsian army are finally ready to march to the capital of Ecbatana. Guiscard and the Lusitanian government have their own plans, but Pars finds victory in their first encounter thanks, once again to Narsus's brilliant foresight and strategy. However, an unexpected run-in with Lusitanian scouts forces Arslan and his allies into a bloody battle neither side is prepared for. After the prince finds himself locked in conflict with Etoile, he faces a dilemma: How does one treat an enemy who would rather die for their beliefs than receive any form of mercy? 

We open the volume with tension as Gieve picks a fight and swords are drawn. However, it ends quite devastatingly, at least for me as Gieve is my favourite, as we lose Gieve. However, we're also off to battle in this volume, so there's a lot to focus on besides being sad about the lack of Gieve. 

I have to say, some of Arslan's men/Officers really need their heads banging together and I was happy to oblige at one point in this volume! Luckily we have Narsus to teach a lesson, and make sure everything is in order. 

Throughout this volume, we go from battle to battle as Arslan and his army march to Ecbatana and we encounter fortresses along the way. As you can then imagine, we have quite a lot of action and fight scenes throughout this volume, as well as some interesting twists, a fantastic reveal and a meeting between two characters that I've been anticipating since early on in the series! There's a lot going on in this volume, and a lot to keep you occupied so it's once again a shame that it has to come to an end and we have to start the wait for the next volume! 

Alongside all of that, we have a fascinating conversation between Arslan and Etoile that lends some weight to the volume, and we get to know Etoile a lot better too which should herald Etoile having a bigger role to play in the coming volumes. I'm quite looking forward to getting to know Etoile more, and seeing more interactions between them! In addition, we also get a closer look at Luisitania, it's motivations and its faith and so on...a closer look at the enemy if you will. 

As Arslan marches to Ecbatana, we lose one character and gain another as all of our characters move around the board with plenty of action and humour to keep us invested in the story. Things are heating up once again!