© Kohei Horikoshi/Shueisha/My Hero Academia Production Committee
Repenting of past sins by sacrificing oneself is a very old and classic trope. my hero We’ve been setting this up as a potential outlet for Endeavor’s character arc for a while, but I never liked the idea of it becoming reality. Maybe it’s because a lot of what Endeavor does is surprisingly grounded, despite the superhero-inspired setting? Considering how well done Endeavor’s character arc is, I have reason to hope it can be tackled in a similarly grounded and complex way. I love how this episode sets up self-sacrifice and it looks like that’s going to be the answer, but then my hero comes in to show that solving this story can’t and shouldn’t be that simple. This episode seemed to mark the end of Darby’s story, and it was just as confusing as I hoped it would be.
As it turns out, Todoroki wasn’t able to completely defeat Dabi, and now he’s choosing the nuclear option, which is fitting. Darby has reached a point of self-destruction where he doesn’t care who he gets rid of, he just wants his family to know it was him. Darby barely sees himself as a person anymore, just an extension of Endeavor’s trauma and mistakes. Ironically, Endeavor wants to be known as a great hero like All Might, while Dabi wants people to remember Endeavor for the monster he is. But that’s what Darby is like on the surface, because when you really peel off the shell of this man (or, more accurately, burn off the shell I guess), what you really see deep down is a lost child Losing his temper. Darby is cool and dangerous, but he never really gets a chance to mature or grow beyond the lost kid left behind in those mountains. There’s a lot of truth to the fact that he wants to be thought of as Endeavor’s biggest mistake, but he also wants to be thought of as that kid who never had the chance to grow up with his family. This is proven by the fact that his speech degenerates throughout the episode into a child yelling for his siblings.
So it makes sense that if Darby is to be stopped, it has to be a family effort. While I do think the responsibility and blame falls mostly on Endeavor’s shoulders, I can understand why the rest of the family felt guilty and responsible for how Darby turned out. They also feel his loss and feel guilty because they know that maybe they have a chance to find him and stop this. I wish the show had spent a little more time exploring how the other members of the Todoroki family feel personal responsibility. We get so much monologue from Endeavor about this situation that it would be nice to get some inner monologue from someone else. It’s definitely a missed opportunity, but I like the symbolism that it takes the whole family to embrace Darby in order to finally let him go. You could say he was defeated by what he secretly wanted.
Kudos to Iida for playing a key role in the final moments to get Shoto where he needs to be. Again, how do I like my hero Mix practicality with emotional payoff. It makes sense that Iida is one of the only ones who can bring Shoto to Dabi with his speed, but it also helps complete Iida’s character arc. Shoto refers to one of the people who stopped Iida from doing dangerous things in the name of revenge for his brother. Now, Iida is returning the favor for helping Shoto stop his brother’s revenge. The fact that Stain was watching them before they took off was a nice touch.
I think the end result evokes the mood I think Horikoshi was going for in this setting. I felt bad for Darby because by the end, he was lost both practically and emotionally. Also, while I don’t like Endeavor as a person by any means, that scene where he crawls up to Dabi and says he’ll listen to all his curses and hate made me feel for this character like I haven’t in this entire series. I attribute this to voice actor A great show was put on. But now it looks like we’ve finally solved one plot; let’s see if we can finish another one next week.
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