Highlights
- John Smith effortlessly defeats three members of Shadow Garden, causing the numbers to report their findings to Alpha.
- Delta is sent to deal with John Smith, but he easily overpowers her and reveals his true identity as Shadow.
- Alpha confronts John Smith and attacks him, but he discovers her weakness and blows her off the train they are battling on.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Eminence in Shadow, Episode 26, "John Smith," now available to stream on HIDIVE.
At the climax of episode five of the second season of the Eminence in Shadow anime series, John Smith effortlessly defeated three numbers of Shadow Garden. After being made aware of how strong the man named John Smith is, the numbers decide to report their findings to Alpha, as they are powerless to face the masked man.
Perplexed by thinking about who could force back three of the numbers at once, Shadow Garden moves into action, and a confrontation with the man called John Smith begins. As the Eminence in Shadow anime series shows how John Smith, the man formerly known as Shadow, confronts the members of his own organization, a web of intrigue that has fans excited to see play out.
The Eminence in Shadow: John Smith Makes His Move
Now getting the best out of his new identity, Shadow has plans for the commercial district.
John Smith vs. Delta
The numbers 664, 665, and 666 report their findings of John Smith and his power to Alpha and Gamma. As Alpha and Gamma ponder who the skilled combatant is, number 666 has an outburst and proclaims John Smith to be more skilled than most fighters. After her outburst, Alpha and Gamma decide to send Delta to deal with John Smith. Meanwhile, Gamma mentions that Zeta has been assigned to a search and that the cult seems to be resisting heavily. While fans wonder what Shadow Garden has going on in the background, Delta moves in to deal with John Smith.
John Smith and Delta’s fight starts off intense. As a member of the Seven Shadows and a therianthrope, Delta is undoubtedly a powerful combatant, but how does she fare against John Smith? As Delta aggressively attacks John Smith, the latter calmly blocks her attacks with his magic-imbued threads. Delta then destroys the train cart they are in to remove John Smith's overhead defense. Quickly noticing the point of the attack, John Smith uses the rubble to tie Delta down.
Constrained by metal and debris, Delta frantically struggled to break free. However, as she struggles, she can sniff John Smith and knows that it’s none other than her master, Shadow. Realizing this, Delta promptly breaks free and hugs Shadow. Exasperated, John Smith reverts to using his Cid voice and convinces Delta to keep his identity a secret as it must not be revealed. After convincing Delta that his orders carry more importance than Alpha’s, he tells her to head to Lawless City and defeat Juggernaut. Moreover, he promises to do whatever she wants as long as it’s something he’s capable of, and that doesn’t take too much effort.
The Death Of Delta?
After John Smith (Cid) sends Delta to Lawless City, the therianthrope happily goes. However, Gamma reports that the aftermath of an intense battle was found, and a piece of Delta’s tail hair was recovered. Believing it unthinkable that Delta would ever abandon a mission given by Alpha, Gamma concludes that Delta lost the fight and her life. Alpha calmly responds to Gamma to continue the search; however, the de-facto leader of Shadow Garden is in no way calm as she surges with energy. Meanwhile, as Alpha and Gamma talk about the true nature of John Smith’s plans, messengers from the cult also talk to Gettan about how the cult will suffer if a credit collapse happens. Caring not, Gettan promptly kills them in a show of power to Garter. He then tells Garter to set up checkpoints, inspecting what goes in and out of the royal capital. Despite being a forceful method that will put the royal capital on their tail, Garter has no choice but to obey.
Meanwhile, Beta reports the current happenings to Shadow, who seems to be scribbling down something. Unknown to Beta, Shadow is only scribbling down random things, and he tells her to proceed. Beta then reports Delta’s ‘death.’ An anxious Shadow then mentions that Delta simply went to a far-off place. Misinterpreting his words, Beta thinks he is trying to cheer her up and lets out a smile. Afterward, Beta asks Shadow for help against John Smith, but Shadow promptly declines, stating that he has matters to attend to. However, he does give her what he has been scribbling and tells her she will understand everything after she decodes it.
John Smith Vs. Alpha
Later at night, John Smith transfers the counterfeit bills by train and is attacked by Alpha. The de-facto leader of Shadow Garden is no small threat and manages to fight against John Smith. However, after seeing how he moves and the dexterity and precision of the attacks, Alpha quickly realizes that John Smith is none other than Shadow. She then confronts him on why he would do such a thing and what he did to Delta.
John Smith mentions that he has forsaken his name of Shadow and sent Delta to a far-off place. Misunderstanding because of his misleading words, Alpha attacks in full force despite getting emotional about how she only wants to help Shadow and would be willing to cast everything away from him. Alpha then unleashes her full power and transforms into a mist form that makes her invulnerable to attacks.
While she does manage to injure Shadow, Shadow quickly finds the weakness of her ability —- she needs to solidify to attack, and mist lacks mass. After coming to this conclusion, Shadow decides to blow her away, but Alpha solidifies to avoid scattering in the air like particles; however, she ends up blown off the train they were battling on.
Yukime’s Tragic Past
After Alpha's loss, John Smith meets up with Yukime as their plan begins to enter the final phase. Yukime also tells Shadow about her tragic past, which involved her clan getting destroyed alongside Gettan’s clan. Moreover, Gettan killed her mother because she refused to accept the pills from the cult. Yukime then mentions how Gettan became an arch nemesis and how she built up power and wealth and climbed to the top of Lawless City, all so she could take everything from Gettan and get her revenge.