Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Eminence in Shadow, Episode 24, "Mask of Falsehood," now available to stream on HIDIVE.

After the conclusion of the Red Moon incident, Shadow and Shadow Garden have left Lawless City and returned to the capital of Midgar Kingdom in The Eminence in Shadow. Now, in the capital, a new mystery unfolds as Shadow dons a new disguise. Going by the alias Mr. John Smith, Shadow schemes in the dark.

Meanwhile, Alpha and the upper echelon of Shadow Garden run the company, Mitsugoshi. Stealing the competition from other companies and franchises, Mitsugoshi has become public enemy number one, with the Major Corporate Alliance being their biggest rival. Moreover, it seems the Major Corporate Alliance and the Cult of Diablos have ties. However, as the The Eminence in Shadow episode progresses, Shadow doesn’t seem to want to help Mitsugoshi; rather, he wants to destroy everything and then build it up again.

Related

The Eminence in Shadow: Who is No. 666?

This member of Shadow Garden is one big mystery. Here's a closer look at No. 666.

John Smith And A Ruler Of Lawless City

Alpha and the members of Shadow Garden have formed the company Mitsugoshi. Using the knowledge Shadow imparted to them from his former world, Mitsugoshi has become a major company, stealing the competition from all others. Meanwhile, thinking of his own pockets, Shadow believes they’re stealing business from him and sets out to reclaim what’s ‘his.’

In doing so, Shadow forsakes his Shadow persona and becomes the super-elite secret agent, Mr. John Smith. He then enters an alliance with one of the three rulers of Lawless City, Yukime, the spirit fox. The purpose of this alliance is to allow Mitsugoshi and the Major Corporate Alliance to battle it out while they claim profit from the shadows. Garter, an executive of the Major Corporate Alliance, already talks about strengthening their defenses against Mitsugoshi. Behind the Major Corporate Alliance is an underworld swordsman whom Yukime seems to have a bit of history with.

Mitsugoshi - Public Enemy Number One

While Mr. John Smith and Yukime scheme in the shadows, the Major Corporate Alliance does what it can to put Mitsugoshi down. And they aren’t the only ones. Apart from the Major Corporate Alliance, all shopping districts have major sales ongoing, with even major corporations and downtown shopping districts participating. After earning the loathing of the entire shopping industry, Mitsugoshi may not last much longer. As the major corporations plan to crush Mitsugoshi, John Smith plans to crush them by using the remaining amount of capital to move to a new market and set up a new corporation. He then plans to have Alpha and the rest come over as upper management, and essentially, Mitsugoshi will be reborn but under a different name.

Meanwhile, Cid discovers that the Major Corporate Alliance just put out some new bills that can be used in place of the ones from the Mitsugoshi bank. While it seems like commonplace knowledge, Cid seems very surprised that Alpha and the rest even have their own bank. He remembers talking to them about banks and credit creation, but it was such superficial information that he has no idea how they managed to establish not only their own bank but even their own currency. In thinking about these things, Cid comes up with the idea to make counterfeit bills.

John Smith The Economist?

Running with his idea, Cid, in his Mr. John Smith persona, goes to tell Yukime about how they can make copies of the Major Corporate Alliance’s bills due to their crude printing, simple design, and lack of a watermark. John Smith then explains the nature of credit creation and how paper money, which on its own is worthless, began to replace the use of gold coins, which bear true worth. Taking advantage of the Major Corporate Alliance’s rough and crude nature, John Smith proposes to create fake versions of it and make a ton of money in counterfeit bills. However, Yukime quickly points out the weaknesses of that plan and how they would be easily found. John Smith, in disbelief, confronts Yukime and asks if that is what she truly believes. However, Yukime, like the rest of Shadow Garden, misunderstands his intentions and babbles on about how the public discovering the fake bills will make them run to the bank to exchange them for gold, as the credit given to the paper will be lost. Meanwhile, as Yukime babbles on about Mr. Smith’s ’grand’ plan for how they can monopolize the profits, Mr. John Smith stands there lost and unaware of what she’s talking about. Unknown to Yukime, John Smith only puts on a brave face but barely knows what she’s talking about. He then proceeds to walk away dejected, seeing as he cannot make money by printing fake bills, but Yukime is oblivious to it all, thinking of it as him testing her sincerity.

Shadow Goes Hunting

After his run-in with Yukime, Cid goes to eat and comes across Delta. Unlike the other members of Shadow Garden, while Delta seems to revere and respect Cid, she is much freer around him. After pestering him to go hunting with her, Cid agrees, and the duo goes hunting. On their hunting trip, while Cid laments about Delta taking all the fun, Delta comes across her brother Zabra, who is among the workers of Gettan, the man behind the Major Corporate Alliance. While many think a plot will play out, Delta promptly kills him. She then explains how her dad has over a thousand children, and weaklings only bring shame to the family.

Meanwhile, Gettan, the man behind the Major Corporate Alliance, talks to Garter, the face of the alliance. He tells him to strengthen their offense against Mitsugoshi and expresses that he underestimated Mitsugoshi. Moreover, it seems that Gettan is working with the Cult of Diablos, and they have labeled Mitsugoshi as a threat.

MORE: The Eminence in Shadow: Shadow's Piggy Bank