REVIEW: ‘Fire Force’ Season 3 Episode 6 — “Beyond Prayer’s End”

Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6, “Beyond Prayer’s End,” shifts its focus to Shinra (Gakuto Kajiwara, Blue Lock) and Burns (Taiten Kurunoki, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls) as the two battle. The narrative explores their motivations and goals as the flames grow hotter, leaving both to sizzle in the other’s relentless assaults.

Burns is at the center of Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6. Always a pillar of strength and tenacity throughout the series, we get a deeper look into the commanding captain of Station One as he faces the fires thrown at him by Shinra. And truth be told, who he ultimately is combines the worst elements of religion and a generational change mentality.

Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6 opens with a flashback to when both Burns and Joker were young. We learn that Burns has always focused on prayer and belief. This informs his decision to side with the White Clad, even as they try to destroy the empire he has spent his life protecting.

His reasoning is as painfully simple as it is frustrating. He is a man of God. His recent experience has convinced him that God wishes the world to be destroyed; ergo, he will seek the world’s destruction. That he is willing to blindly follow a path that threatens millions of lives because he believes God wishes him to is rage-inducing, and sadly, believable.

Burns takes centerstage in Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6.

His indoctrination into his belief system is so complete that his free will is not a relevant consideration to him. One doesn’t have to look far to see people doing things in the name of gods or religious institutions, even when they go against the core tenets of what they supposedly believe.

Burns doubles down on his willingness to relinquish control of his life by further excusing himself of choice as he battles Shinra. Compounding his need to follow his faith blindly, he feels that doggedly marching forward on the set path is all an old man like him can do. He openly acknowledges Shinra’s need to challenge Burns’ path and sees it as the right thing for Shinra to do.

This feels like a shallow passing of the buck that further plunges the character into an unforgivable space of moral cowardice. Burns has been sold as one of, if not the most powerful, pyrokinetics on the planet. Yet he cannot change things. Oh no. That’s the duty of the young to do. This is the final nail in the coffin that Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6 buries Burns’ moral center with.

Conceptually, I’m fine with a character once viewed as a hero falling from grace. Burns’s path in this season is a great cautionary tale about putting your whole being into a cause, to the point where one even surrenders their free will. What fails at this moment is that, even as he falls, the episode sends Burns out like a hero, as if we should care about the character. Shinra has to be carried away by Joker (Kenjirô Tsuda, Jujutsu Kaisen) so the two can go save Obi, someone who deserves saving, with Shinra struggling to aid Burns as a surprise combatant drags him off.

Unfortunately, the writing attempts to make Burns a hero despite the obvious choices made.

This attempt to sentimentalize the fall of a character who not only pursued the deaths of millions simply because he was told to by “God” is poorly thought out. That Shinra would have mixed feelings towards the former mentor, sure, but that he wouldn’t be willing to leave the man to save an actual innocent person is ridiculous—a shot at pulling heartstrings that doesn’t even come close to hitting the mark.

Stepping beyond the ideological elements of Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6, we have the physical confrontation between Burns and Shinra. Some gorgeous animation brings the inferno that ignites with every strike between the combatants to gorgeous life. As the battle intensifies, the animators at David Production (Cells at Work) deliver on the evolving methods the two combatants use.

As Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6 draws close, we briefly return to the rest of Station 8’s members as they come face-to-face with a new crop of opponents. Even as death seems imminent, the group is saved by a pair of unlikely sources. Both of which promise intriguing paths for the coming battles to take. One in particular raises deep questions about the nature of the metaphysical aspects of the series.

Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6 delivers many great elements. The visuals pop off satisfyingly, and much of the narrative lands nicely as the series continues to charge forward in the ever-changing battle. However, one significant failing kneecaps the proceedings, leaving the episode far less than what it might’ve been.

Fire Force Season 3 Episode 6 is streaming now on Crunchyroll

Previous Episode | Next Episode