REVIEW: ‘To Your Eternity,’ Season 2 Episode 16 – “Three Eternal Warroirs”

With Fushi having recovered from his exhaustion to discover many of his new allies had perished in his absence from the battlefield, Fushi has redoubled his efforts to protect the city against the Nokkers’ attack. But Fushi is about to discover he isn’t the only immortal on the battlefield in To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16. Though, this discovery comes with a lie.

What is the value of life without death? If we knew we would return infinitely, would there be any value in preserving what we are? Would life become cheap and pointless? Is what makes our lives worth fighting for the fact that they are doomed to end? This question is right at the heart of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16, as it sees Fushi’s newest allies returned to the battlefield over and over again. Being told that they are immortals like him, Fushi is initially thankful for their eternal presence with him in his fight. But as the fight goes on, things begin to take a disturbing turn where his friends and where their growing disregard for death leads them.

When the trio of “Eternals” is caught in an out-of-the-way place, they realize it will be quicker for them to kill themselves and let Fushi bring them back than to navigate their way out of their situation. This is soon followed by the characters taking their own lives repeatedly—in fairly grizzly fashion by this show’s standards—every time they need to get somewhere that is beyond convenient walking distance. Even in front of crowds, much to the terror of those around them, the three take for granted Fushi’s ability to restore them. And even as they all work together to preserve Renril, the three of them, along with Bon, manipulate Fushi for Bon’s selfish ends.

While how the trio comes to disregard life and death calls things into question about their rapidly changing morality, To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16 sees one act that leaves no space for debate in how Bon strives to keep Fushi in the dark about the extent of his powers. By having the three allies tell Fushi they are special, and the only ones that can be restored to life, Bon continues to hide the fact that he can resurrect his fallen friends from him. This breach of trust is manipulative and horrible. Given everything Fushi does, that Bon can present such a fallacy to his friend as truth is shameful.

While I love the themes surrounding these new “Eternals” and Bon’s manipulation, this focus leaves the battle that rages around it feeling more like a vehicle for that discussion than a momentous event in and of itself. This series has never really been about the action, so perhaps it’s to be expected, but with so much build-up leading to the battle, it feels weird that now that it is here, it feels like less of a focal point of the narrative than it deserves.

To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16 delivers a great emotional story while doing some exploration of life without death. While these elements are fascinating, they feel like they are overwhelming the narrative so much of this season has been spent building up.

To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.