Ashram carries this whole thing, a villain who genuinely wants to save his world, not destroy it, which means you're never sure if Parn's actually fighting the right enemy. The TV series takes five years to figure out what the OVA only sketched, giving Parn and his crew actual room to become people instead of archetypes moving through a plot. It's uneven and occasionally repeats itself, but when it lands, you're watching a fantasy world where loyalty and honor have real weight because the people choosing them have something to lose.

Five years have passed since the Emperor of Marmo fell in the War of Heroes, and Parn has earned his reputation as the Free Knight of Lodoss, with his old companions just as renowned across the land. The Emperor's former right-hand man, Ashram, now seeks the Scepter of Domination so he can unite Lodoss once more under his late leader's banner. Behind this campaign of conquest, a more sinister force is quietly working toward the return of the goddess of death and destruction. The result is a high-fantasy adventure mixing sword-and-sorcery action with drama and romance.