Ester (エステル Esuteru? ) is is one of the secondary characters of the anime series "The Heroic Legend of Arslan". She uses the name Etoile (エトワール Etowāru? ) to pose as a male soldier. She is a soldier from Lusitania. She was captured after a battle between Pars and Lusitania and taken hostage as a slave, but escapes by taking Arslan hostage (though he willingly helps her).
Appearance[]
In the beginning of the Anime, she poses as a male soldier with short messy blond hair and large caramel coloured eyes. Three years later, higher in rank, her outfit consists of the standard Lusitania soldier outfit, sporting a black balaclava, covering her whole head and neck, leaving her face exposed. On top of her head she wears a medieval secret helmet, much like other Lusitanians soldiers. Under the helmet and balaclava, her hair has grown out to reach the middle of her back. While wearing more feminine clothing, she appears to have more of a curvaceous body than when she was younger.
Personality[]
Etoile is a tough and stubborn girl. She is a firm believer of theFaith of Yaldabaoth. She is also shown to be gullible believing in ridiculous rumors about Prince Arslan. Despite being brash and hot-headed, she is shown to be good-mannered and kind compared to other Lusitanians.
Plot[]
Ecbatana is Burning[]
Etoile was a soldier in the Lusitanian army, after being defeated by the Pars army, she was captured as a slave. While she was sitting in a cage, three kids came to give her a good beating. However, they are defeated by Etoile. She then hears a man coming rushed towards her and knocked him unconscious with a vase before he had a chance to attack. There was also another boy nearby and he persuades Etoile to release her hostage.
After seeing that kid’s fancy clothing, Etoile threw the boy away and captured him instead. She started to run, dragging the boy with him. The Parsian soldiers started to chase him to rescue the boy, making Etoile think that Arslan is the son of a noble. The soldiers finally cornered them but Etoile managed to escape by jumping down, also dragging Arslan with her. They take the route of the rooftops until a giraffe suddenly appears in their way. Arslan saves Etoile when he was about to fall before the giraffe threw them to another roof. Etoile had never seen a giraffe before and was shocked by its long neck. After Arslan explaining what it is, they continued their run. Etoile got surprised by Pars’s richness as he was looking at the city.
Arslan and Etoile
Arslan explained to him the Parsian life and culture, and said that Etoile would live happily if she submits being a slave. The last statement made her furious. She pushed Arslan down and said that as a warrior in service of the god Yaldabaoth, she will kill all the heathens. She said that her god doesn’t support slavery and sees all men are equals. Then Pars soldiers once again cornered them. They escaped by jumping into the river and the citizens helped them get out of it. Etoile then ran and stole a horse and attempted to escape, but Marzban Daryun took out an arrow to shoot her. But thanks to Arslan rushing into Daryun’s vision, Etoile managed to escape. As she got out of Ecbatana, she promised to save her captured Lusitanian friends.
Prince Arslan Takes a Stand[]
After taking Ecbatana, she looks for her fellow comrades who were with him three years ago. Watching Kharlan's troops leave the capital, she notices a Lusitanian soldier taking a girl into an alley, she follows them to stop the man only to find him killed by the girl. Etoile is attacked by her, she flips over the girl, taking off her hood in the process to find out it was a boy in disguise. He kicks Etoile through a wooden fence where some slaves were working. The slaves begin surrounding her, asking about their promise the Lusitanians made to free them, giving the boy an advantage to escape.
Outside the capital, Etoile is in charge of her own small soldiers, finding them picking on a young Parsian woman. Riding her horse, Etoile reminds them about their faith to Yaldabaoth and tells the woman and her father to leave. Noticing a nearby boy, Etoile realizes he was the boy who helped her escape three years ago. Surprised that the boy, not realizing he was Prince Arslan, had survived. She tells him that their positions are completely switched from back then; they cannot be turned into slaves.
Arslan states that he wouldn't have turned them into slaves, Etoile informs him that even if he wouldn't, Prince Arslan and King Andragoras lll would have declaring them as demons with horns and tails. While discussing the faith of Yaldabaoth, another boy appears with a sword in her hand. Arslan quickly mentions to Elam that there is no reason to fight as she is a friend. Etoile remarks that he isn't her friend, stopping the argument as her debt from Arslan helping him escape three years ago. Before leaving, she asked about the slaves who were with her, learning about their deaths. She hands Arslan the holy book of Yaldabaoth and exits out the door.
Infiltrating Peshawar[]
Camping with her men, she receives orders to scout Peshawar, the location where the Parsian Army gather to counter-attack. She goes alone, after talking to her reluctant soldiers and understanding their doubts. During the travel, she removed her uniform, revealing her gender in the process. She dressed in proper female clothes and pose as a maiden after being told that at Peshwawar that the Parsian soldiers need maidens to serve beverages.
At the citadel, while serving wine, she is flirted by a soldier, a fact that led her to shout in rage, before serving him more wine in order to keep her disguise. During the feast, she also heard talk about the slave's freedom promise and the launch of a counter-attack. After she leave the party, she met Alfreed, who present herself a Narsus's lover and agree with Etoile that the Parsian are celebrating their victory early. After Alfreed leave, she is by the same drunk soldier, who declaring himself a Knight. However, she discriminates him of his rank and then flips him over to the ground after he became angry and try to grab her. As she began to panic, she is interrupted by Arslan and she recognizes him as the pampered boy although Arslan didn't recognize her as the slave boy. He helps her hide the unconscious soldiers near a tree and then take her to the Fortress's rampart. There, they discussed about Arslan's role in the war and the change Pars needed. She is soon taken by Arslan to the merchant wagons's location and hide in one of it in order to leave, following Arslan's instruction. Before leaving, She tells him to be careful. After that, Etoile realizes she still doesn't know the boy's name, and hope she will not meet him on the Battlefield.
Battle for the Keep of Saint-Emmanuel[]
She is garrisoned at the keep of Saint-Emmanuel under the command of Count Barcacion, when Hilmes arrives as the head of a force of 100,000. She speaks at her distant of being under the command of heathen, but Barcacion convinces her to accept it by reminding her of her duty. She listens to Hilmes's speech before the battle, and after the first hours of the battle, asks Barcacion the permission to go the frontline, and says she will go even if Barcacion ordered her to stay. When she arrives on the battlefield, she kills a number of Parsian Cavalrymen, after offering them a chance of convert to Yaldaboath before strongly mocked by them. She is shocked after killing a soldier for the first time, and is soon pursued by a big group of Parsians and is unhorsed. Rising from the ground, she sees Elam on a cliff, observing the battle. Remembering him as a Parsian, she follows him with a group of Lusitanian horsemen, tracking him to Arslan's hidden camp, located away from the battlefield. The Lusitanian force engages the Parsian guard there, and Etoile finds Arslan in his tent. Unaware of his identity, she orders Arslan to come out, but is dumbfounded when the Parsian boy comes toward her and reveals his identity as Prince Arslan. Thinking Arslan made a fool of her, she tries to kill him with her sword, but Elam blocks the strike and is injured. Elam's move allows Daryun, Alfreed and Farangis to come back at the tent. Seeing no chance to kill Arslan in charge, Etoile's men convince her to retreat after one of them sets the tent alight.
She retreats to the fortress through a hidden passage across the cliff while pondering how she unknowingly failed many times to kill Arslan. However, she was followed by Alfreed who locates the hidden passage, which later allowed the Parsian Army to enter the fortress bypassing the main gate, and ultimately leading to Pars' victory. Etoile manages to retreat from the fortress's court to the Barcacion's room. She sees Baracion fall from the balcony to his death, and Arslan in the same room holding a sword stained with blood. Etoile angrily attacks Arslan, but during the fight her helmet flies off which revealed her gender to Arslan. Arslan then realizes that she was the female servant he met at Peshawar. The fight is stopped when Farangis and two Parsians subdue Etoile. After being tied up with Baracion's aides, she learned that he committed suicide. She is later imprisoned in a cell. Arslan visits her and brings food with him. Though she refuses the food at first, she quickly changes her mind after Arslan convinces her the food is part of the Pars army supplies. Following this Arslan requests that she offer a prayer for the dead Lusitanian soldiers which she accepts.