My Hero AcadeKaren Season 7 – Episode 143

© 堀越耕平／集英社・僕のヒーローアカデミア製作委員会

MHA really loves the “calm before the storm” episodes. That's been both a help and a hindrance over the years, allowing the show to do a lot of important setup before the game starts so we're clear on sentiment and theme, but also front-loading each Parts with lots of slow and sometimes tense plot twists. Spinning the wheel is tedious. The good news for those who are tired of this is that “Let You Down” is definitely the final set-up in this entire story. The better news is that this is probably the best the show has ever delivered.

On paper, arranging these ducks in a row is quite simple. We reiterate where all of our characters are with their various backstories, set up the stakes for the world at large, and end with both sides going into the final battle. The strength of the episode lies in its details and how effectively it weaves together the story's many disparate threads.

Deku and Uraraka's cliffside conversation is the key to all of that, as they both contemplate what they want to happen in this coming war. Obviously, they want to win and stop the villains from harming the rest of the world, but what then? Uraraka insisted there was something wrong with her for asking that question. She witnessed the hurt that Toga and her compatriots caused to so many innocent people, but she still could not ease the pain in her heart from the other girl's tears. Deku knows Shigaraki is a walking disaster, but he also witnesses the fragile humanity within Shigaraki. So what the heck can they do with all that? Is returning to the past by force the right answer? The only answer? Is it even an answer that “the way things are” gave rise to this conflict in the first place? Neither character can articulate those questions, but something within their own morality forces them to continue searching for a new solution.

Meanwhile, the rest of our villains are actively denying difficult and complicated questions or doing their best to bury those questions. the humanity our heroes see in themselves. Spinner finds himself becoming the leader of a disaffected and marginalized community of heroes, taking on the revolutionary role that Stain accidentally created. In many ways, he's becoming exactly what he wanted to be when he entered the league, but now he's barely self-aware enough to realize he's not cut out for it. He may have sympathetic motives for rebelling against the status quo. However, Spinner is also a lonely teenager who has followed everyone else's motivations throughout this entire show and hasn't thought about what he would do with so much power and influence, let alone talking about what kind of world he wants to build if they win. So he defaults back to watching the others again, focusing on his desire to help his friend and ignoring all the complicated burdens of what he chooses to become.

Toga and Dabi, by comparison, are ready for their respective routes, but even as they steel themselves for this final conflict, you can see the human weaknesses Their peaks peak through the cracks. On the eve of destruction, Toga cannot help but revisit her origins, weaving through the vandalized and abandoned house she fled, reminiscing about the literally bloody dreams that marked her as an abnormal person. She never said it, but you could tell that she came here to reaffirm the choices she had made, push back her uncertain emotions, and see revenge on Twice as his motivation. Dabi was completely dedicated to that path and I think that commonality is what made him burn down Toga's old house. He insists this isn't kindness and that it's just more destruction he can lay at his father's feet, but I suspect part of him simply wants a companion when enter hell. It's a short paragraph without much left unsaid, but as brief as possible.

None of this is exactly new information, but here it helps crystallize who these characters are and what each of them hopes to get out of this battle. We know what's at stake not just for the world but for each of these characters, and that the answers to their questions can't be solved by fighting alone. The rich character writing makes this episode not only rewarding for longtime viewers, but also incredibly important for what's to come.

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My Hero AcadeKaren is now streaming on Crunchyroll.