Edens Zero Chapter 271 Review/Recap
The Dark Stars and OSG are down, the Edens One isn’t going to crash into the Zero, and Ziggy is keeping Void busy. It looks like nothing is stopping Shiki, Rebecca, Pino, and Happy from making it to Mother. From an in-universe perspective, the good guys are about to win! From a reader’s perspective, though, the story still has some explaining: what are the flashbacks about? And how does Mother know about Shiki, and why does Shiki feel like he’s met Mother before? Readers want to know! However, we were not prepared for what Mother had to say in this chapter.
Recap
The Dark Stars are down, Aconella’s dragons have vanished, and the Edens One is under the Crew of Edens control. All that’s left for them is to reboot the ship and figure out what to do with the One. At Witch’s suggestion, they think it best to destroy the ship. As for Ziggy, he’s keeping Void busy while remarking on how, despite not having an actual body, he was once human. Void, though, says that doesn’t matter; he must destroy Mother.
Meanwhile, Shiki, Rebecca, Happy, and Pino reach the destination that spurred them on this adventure so long ago: they reach Mother. And much to their surprise, Mother has been expecting Shiki. Saying that they agreed 20,000 years ago (what?!?), Mother gives Shiki two choices: to save her or take back the lives he’s lost.
As Mother reveals, they misunderstood the nature of Universe Zero. None of the deaths they’ve witnessed in the previous Universes are set in stone, but they will be if Shiki chooses to save Mother. In exchange, Mother will regain full power and ensure peace from now until the end. If he chooses not to save Mother, everyone will live, but life itself might be at risk.
In other words, if Shiki chooses to save Mother, everyone who came back in Universe Zero will die again.
Review
Okay, Hiro Mashima. You again have my undivided attention, even if this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this.
Mashima’s previous manga, Rave Master and Fairy Tail, have done apparent no-win scenarios like this. In Rave Master, Haru had to sacrifice himself to stop the end of the world. Natsu had to choose whether or not to become a Demon or a Dragon and risked dying if the book containing his existence was destroyed. Yet both times, the heroes found a workaround: Haru returned, and Lucy managed to rewrite that book to save Natsu. Either way, they eventually took a third option to get out of this, and Shiki could also choose one.
That said, this isn’t the first time in Edens Zero that Mashima fooled readers regarding the outcome of events. So, what if he can’t find a way out of this? On the one hand, and to quote Spock from Star Trek, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Save everyone who came back, and life could eventually die out. On the other hand, can Shiki and the others find it in themselves to sacrifice the happiness Universe Zero has given them? I think they could, but it still feels wrong.
The manga needs to start giving us answers because it’s been teasing us about the past and Shiki’s origins for months. If Shiki and Mother are who I think they are, I want some answers soon. Well done, Mashima. You’ve managed to make the story interesting again for the umpteenth time.