Darkness Before the Dawn (Digimon Frontier: Episode 28)

(Catch my previous Digimon Frontier episode review out HERE)

As Koji runs off chasing Duskmon who knows where, Takuya continues to search through Sakkakumon to find the final chamber and escape. He almost immediately lucks into an area of the internal matrix littered with highly polished metal mirrors wherein Mercurymon has been waiting for the final confrontation between himself and the Digidestined. However, Mercurymon has a few tricks up his sleeve in this domain. He can use any mirror or polished surface as a transfer area with which to teleport around the room. The large number of mirrors also allows him to manipulate the visuals of this domain and to throw projections of himself about the room, which Takuya qua Agunimon tries in vain to destroy.

If all of this weren’t enough, Mercurymon talks some mad shit and slays with his Elizabethan oratory at every turn making Agunimon more enraged and less in control of his rational functions. He forces the Legendary Warrior to fight on the offensive like a raging bull with a blindfold and a dead leg. And when Agunimon does land a fire attack on the correct Mercurymon apparition, he just lifts his mirror shield, absorbs the energy, and reflects it back through his Dark Reflection powers. Hitherto the Digidestined have mostly made their way about brute forcing encounters with enemies, but Mercurymon is one who suffers no fools. One with a tactical game far outpacing that of the pre-teen Digidestined team.

A portal opens in the sky, which leads to the final Area within Sakkakumon: the Light Area. The entire place is a large chapel with stained glass windows looking heavenward and a massive organ at the back of the room. Here, Mercurymon verbally prods Agunimon once again before revealing the apparition of Seraphimon bound by thorny vines: the entire sequence is littered with Christian iconography that one might think worth interpreting further, but the parallels are pretty apparent. Seraphimon is a savior/protector figure of the Digital World who has defeated and bound in ‘death’ by his own people: the Legendary Warrior of Steel and the Legendary Warriors of Darkness generally who have decided to follow the evil Dark Lord Cherubimon instead. The crown of thorns and the thorny vines. The fact that it takes place within a chapel. But here I’ll digress as it could all merely be a ploy to use interesting imagery in a vague manner like director Hideaki Anno did in his acclaimed show Neon Genesis Evangelion, which he has later stated he only used because it looked cool.

Takuya is taken aback by the image, as are his friends outside in the Dark Continent, and demands that Mercurymon free Seraphimon immediately. The request is, of course, absurd as Takuya-Agunimon cannot currently defeat Mercurymon and thereby has no way to force him to free Seraphimon. And anyway Mercurymon explains that this is merely the spectre of Seraphimon, something of a shadow, ghost, or Fractal Code copy from the data Mercurymon received when he defeated him. Mercurymon then absorbs this data and transforms into ShadowSeraphimon whose power level is beyond that of a mere Mega-level Digimon. Agunimon attacks, but finds his strength wanting, so he transitions through a Slide Evolution into BurningGreymon to hopefully match power level with a Mega-level Digimon form.

Unfortunately, he miscalculates and realizes only too late that he is no match for ShadowSeraphimon given his current Digivolution options. He is defeated and reverts back to Takuya as Mercurymon cradles his head in his hand and threatens to snuff out the kid’s life at any moment. J.P., Tommy, and Zoe Spirit Evolve and once again try to enter Sakkakumon by force, but find his defenses to be much too strong. Bokomon calls out to the DigiEgg of Seraphimon to help out his friend Takuya and the egg rises once more into the air above, releasing a stream of light energy that makes its way through Sakkakumon’s barrier without a pause. The light enters Takuya’s D-Tector and allows him to Fusion Evolve using both his H spirit and his B Spirit into the more powerful hybrid Digimon Aldamon.

Somehow this new form surpasses even a ShadowSeraphimon (a Super-Mega-level if you will) and merely shrugs off the best his enemy can throw at him before going in for the kill, taking Mercurymon’s Beast Spirit of Steel and trouncing the Light Area in the process. Mercurymon recovers just long enough to realize that his entire plan and the all work he has done in developing his strengths has failed. Aldamon crushes him totally and takes the remainder of his Fractal Code, his H Spirit of Steel, and returns him to a DigiEgg. Another result is the release of Seraphimon’s Fractal Code, which immediately exits Sakkakumon and enters the Seraphimon DigiEgg, which hatches into a Patamon with a waste-band like its ‘mother’ Bokomon who kept it warm and safe until this moment.

What’s weird is that even after Mercurymon has been defeated and all ten areas of Sakkakumon have been dealt with likewise, the giant darkened Sakkakumon edifice remains in the sky above as if some giant memorial to the battle that just took place. Also, a little theory here, but it was the power of Seraphimon’s DigiEgg that allowed Takuya and Koji to both Fusion Evolve and now that the DigiEgg has hatched, this power may no longer be attainable by any of the other Digidestined. Bummer. But hey, the series is almost 2/3 over by this episode, so it’s best they don’t spend a ton of that time grinding to gain their new abilities from episode to episode.

Finally, we learn nothing new of Koji’s situation in this episode focused solely on Takuya’s fight with Mercurymon. But we do know that there is only one more Legendary Warrior of Darkness left in THE Legendary Warrior of Darkness Duskmon. We also know that the darkness feeding on his emotions has allowed him to become as powerful as a Super-Mega in just his H Spirit form. So even if Koji catches up to him in his new Fusion Form as BeoWolfmon, Duskmon might still Slide Evolve into his more powerful, unrestrained Beast Spirit form and dominate. It will take both Koji and Takuya’s newfound powers, and maybe some teamwork with the other three Digidestined, to finally defeat this foe and figure out his deal. Namely, what exactly his relationship is to Koji.

 

Ciao for now,

The Digidestined Cody

[Continued HERE]