Highlights
- Tensions in the Aoi Cosmos are high, but the crew of Edens Zero has time to pursue their goal of finding Mother's relics.
- Xenolith trains the crew, unlocking Shiki's potential by posing as Ziggy and challenging his mindset.
- The crew discovers two relics, including a bottle cap and a building, which suggests Mother's presence or the remnants of those who encountered her. Meanwhile, chaos brews in the cosmos as Ziggy and Poseidon Shura clash.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Edens Zero Season 2, Episode 23, "Judgment Day," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After a long streak of chaos and conflict within the Aoi Cosmos, matters seem to have cooled off a bit for the Edens Zero crew. With the battle of Foresta now over, the crew has time to train for the treacherous path that lies ahead. Considering the sheer scale of this now-concluded conflict, it’s easy to forget that this was simply a detour to the crew’s primary purpose of finding Mother’s relics.
While the crew now has time to pursue its original goal, tensions within the Aoi Cosmos are at an all-time high, and it’s only a matter of time before the cosmos descends into chaos. Until then, the crew has enough time to resume its goal of finding Mother’s long-last relics. These relics may not aid Shiki in battle, but their existence alone cements the crew’s goal as a tangible and achievable objective.
Training Under Xenolith
Xenolith is one of the newest additions to Edens Zero’s character roster, and his role in the series is intertwined with the main narrative. As the original founder of the Magimech Arts, Xenolith is Ziggy’s mentor and arguably the strongest user of Gravity Ether Gear. He was initially presumed to be dead, though Shiki stumbled upon his android body during the crew’s expedition to Foresta.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead for the crew, Xenolith agrees to train Shiki and the rest to aid them in their journey. Through a virtual training program, Xenolith’s primary goal is to teach the crew to bypass the restriction on using Ether Gear while being restrained. While he considers this to be basic training, the crew struggles with simply grasping the concept of this regimen.
To unlock Shiki’s potential, the Magimech founder takes a daring approach and disguises himself as Ziggy in the VR system, posing as an infiltrator. He plays with Shiki’s mind through a false image of crushing Rebecca’s body through sheer gravity. The extreme method pays off as Shiki instantly tears through his restraints and activates his Ether Gear. The initial training may have been a success, though Shiki and the rest have ways to go before they can truly fend off any threat in their journey to find Mother’s relics.
The Crew’s Second Relic
The Edens Zero crew became embroiled in the conflict on Foresta unknowingly, sidelining their initial purpose of finding Mother’s relics on the Verdant Planet. With the conflict now over, the crew finally gets an opportunity to discuss their plan of action for their actual goal. After finding out the crew’s objective, Xenolith interjects that he has a relic – a bottle cap from Foresta.
The crew is initially skeptical of the odd relic, deeming it nothing more than trash. However, Mother’s Ether within Shiki’s orb starts reacting to it, indicating that the bottle cap is indeed a relic. The orb absorbs the Ether emanating from the relic and becomes more potent. While the Ether within the bottle cap was quite minimal, it still served as a step in the right direction for the crew.
The crew gets its hands on another relic soon after on Planet Mud Roll, a place where it rains mud instead of water. An entire building turns out to be a relic, and Shiki’s orb absorbs the Ether from within it. The odd nature of these relics further make the entire concept quite peculiar, since all these items belong to human beings. This opens up the possibility that either Mother roamed through these planets or the people that came into contact with her left these objects throughout the cosmos.
The Calm Before the Storm
While the Edens Zero crew is busy training and finding Mother’s relics, chaos within the Aoi Cosmos is brewing once more, albeit this time on a much bigger scale. On one side, Ziggy has vowed to take down Poseidon Nero’s empire and claim it as his own. His plans of revolt are underway as several other planets within Nero’s dominion have been infected with the virus. Ziggy is also planning on disposing of Shiki as he believes his former student is a danger to the entire universe.
On the other side, Poseidon Shura has taken the helm and has given out orders to quell the imminent chaos. However, his methods are rather extreme and deranged as he has given out orders for all androids within the Aoi Cosmos to be destroyed. While little is known about the details of this robotic cleansing, it’s certainly bound to plunge the entirety of Nero’s Kingdom into utter chaos and dissent.
The Edens Zero’s next move is currently unknown, as the crew is torn between leaving the cosmos for its own safety or staying back to protect the helpless androids. Considering Shiki’s disposition, however, it’s more than likely that the crew will pause its quest of finding Mother’s relics for the sake of helping the defenseless androids of the Aoi Cosmos.