Pieces move around the board while My Hero Academia‘s trio of boys nurse their wounds. A powerful piece, the Hero Killer: Stain (Go Inoue), has been removed from the board, but the outcome is not pleasing Shigaraki (Koki Uchiyama). As the public leader of the League of Villains, he hoped the Nomus would rampage through Hosu City before killing Stain and replacing him as the chief menace in the public eye.
Instead, Stain is in police custody and all of the Nomus have been killed or captured. Stain is off the street, but his ideology is spreading like wildfire. The Nomus, on the other hand, are a footnote in the story; but being part of the story is more than enough. Shigaraki is only the hand-covered-face of the League, and as such is fairly inept when it comes to strategy. The mysterious voice coming through the TV (Akio Otsuka) at their hideout — the person capable of creating the Nomus — definitely envisioned this series of events.
With Stain gone, his doctrine of wiping out the “fake” Heroes (who pursue the career for personal gain) is free to spread without the guidance of his violent hand. Though hateful and gruesome, Stain’s method got results. Wherever he struck, crime would plummet. His reasoning was kept to himself and his victims. Now, he’s gone viral, with fans and aspiring villains projecting a broader interpretation onto Stain’s enraged diatribe. Once a crusader against incorporated heroism, the Hero Killer is now simply that: a justification for villains to kill Heroes.
Shigaraki doesn’t see the grand scale of the game, but experienced hands like Gran Torino (Kenichi Ogata) and All Might (Kenta Miyake) figure that this was the League’s plan. They know how serious things are about to get, because they know who’s really pulling the strings: All For One. Though All Might once blamed his debilitating injury on a fight with the villain Toxic Chainsaw, blame for that wound is now laid on this person who is known only by his Quirk’s name. Capable of gravely injuring All Might, creator of the Nomus, true leader of the League of Villains, and murderer of the previous bearer of One For All, this guy is more than a scary ideologue. He has a power to counter One For All, and now (through Stain) he has a symbol to counter the Symbol of Peace.
While the game of death plays out in the shadows, the trio of UA teens recover at the Hosu General Hospital. Hosu City’s dog-headed Chief of Police (Ryouta Takeuchi) shows up and things take a turn for the irritating. The Chief offers both possible reactions to the boys’ actions, but starts off with the crappier version. First, he admonishes them for acting above their station and using their Quirks in combat without proper guidance and certification. Once the mood is properly dulled and Todoroki (Yuki Kaji) is properly infuriated, the Chief shifts to congratulating them on accomplishing what so many certified Heroes couldn’t.
The strictures of Hero bureaucracy are already showing, and these kids are still interns. It’s always been clear that Heroes aren’t police, but it’s never been clear how police would deal with villains like Stain without Heroes. The whole system seems more like a patronizing method for apportioning blame when something goes wrong than a framework by which Heroes can better protect people from villains. Still, the dogman ends on a positive note and leaves the boys to ponder their futures and their trauma.
The trauma is the important part here, as their injuries are the major justification for accepting the Chief’s harsh words. Covered in casts and bandages, they all know their fight with the Hero Killer could have ended with their deaths. With the rage of his quest for revenge far behind him, Tenya (Kaito Ishikawa) accepts responsibility for their circumstances. They all agree the risk was ultimately worth the lives saved, they share in a solemn vow. Detailing the extent of the nerve damage in his right arm, Tenya promises to bear that injury as a reminder of his mistakes, and as inspiration to achieve true heroism. With a similarly damaged arm, Izuku (Daiki Yamashita) joins him in this vow. On the sideline, a somewhat oblivious Todoroki feels personally responsible for his involvement in their arm injuries.
Next Week! Everyone else gets some screen time! While Izuku, Iida and Todoroki recover, we’ll get to see how their classmates’ internships are going.
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