Tempest Joins the Council — Now Comes the Interrogation
Episode 79 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4, titled "Kuromaku no Shōtai" (黒幕の正体 — The Mastermind's True Identity), moves past the political brinkmanship that defined the Western Nations Council arc. According to the synopsis published by Animate Times, Rimuru and company successfully foil the assassination attempt on Elric amid the council's chaos, and Tempest's membership in the council is confirmed without further incident.
Back home in Tempest, the focus shifts to answers. Rimuru begins the interrogation of Grenda, the person who carried out the assassination attempt. The episode title strongly suggests that whatever Grenda reveals will pull back the curtain on whoever has been orchestrating events from behind the scenes — a thread the season has been building since the Granbell and Mariabel Rozzo plotline kicked into gear.
Ten new scene stills were released alongside the synopsis, though character and plot specifics in the images haven't been detailed beyond what the synopsis covers.
Episode 79 Staff
The episode is scripted by Akiko Waba, with storyboard and direction by Mai Suzuki. Chief animation directors for the episode are Hideki Yamazaki, Masayori Komine, and Serika Yamada.
The series overall is directed by Naokatsu Tsuda at studio 8bit, the team that has handled every season of the franchise. Hitomi Ogawa handles series composition, and the opening theme "Esoragoto" is performed by Eir Aoi, with the ending theme "Katsubō" by CiON.
Season 4's Scope
For anyone who fell off the TenSura train and is wondering how we're already at Episode 79 — Season 4 is an ambitious five-cour run, the longest single season in the franchise's history. The first two cours are airing back-to-back through the Spring and Summer 2026 windows, with the remaining three cours expected to continue into 2027.
Season 4 adapts the stretch of Fuse's light novel series where Tempest's growing power draws enemies out of the woodwork. The Siltrozzos — former Hero Granbell Rozzo (voiced by Daisuke Ono) and his granddaughter Mariabel (Inori Minase) — have been the season's primary antagonists so far, waging a shadow campaign against Demon Lord Rimuru under the banner of protecting humanity. Meanwhile, Demon Lord Leon has been pursuing his own agenda in Eldorado, and a new Hero is on the verge of awakening.
Looking Ahead
Episode 79, "The Mastermind's True Identity," airs on Nippon TV and BS11 on its regular Friday slot. International viewers can catch it on Crunchyroll the same day — new episodes drop Fridays at 7:00 a.m. PT / 10:00 a.m. ET with both subtitles and an English dub available. The series is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Japan.
The source light novels by Fuse are published in English by Yen Press, and the manga adaptation by Taiki Kawakami is available from Kodansha USA. Both are well ahead of where the anime currently sits, for anyone who can't wait to find out who the mastermind actually is.