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Edens Zero Chapter 267 Review/Recap

Edens Zero has been full of moments that have shocked readers (IE me) several times over. Shiki’s death in the first timeline; Witch’s death in the Aoi War; the reveal that Ziggy was an alternate, future version of Shiki. All of it is insane and it only seems to get crazier. Instead of being a generic, evil AI, this chapter reveals the bizarre connection he has to Shiki and Rebecca. The bond between a mother and child can work in strange ways.

That will make sense in a moment.

Recap

Even as he proceeds to trade blows with the likes of Void, everyone’s shocked at Ziggy’s surprise return (again.) However, Ziggy reminds them of how the King of Granbell told them he invented that Ether Recycling machine, meaning he never went offline. Universe Zero is one where everyone can be happy, it seems.

Ziggy says that none of that will matter, though, if Shiki doesn’t reach Mother. Even if Void doesn’t get to her, Mother’s life is already fading away, and with it, all life in existence. Despite wanting to fight alongside his adoptive grandpa/himself, Shiki and the others get a move on to Mother. Ziggy remains behind to face Void, or rather…his son?!

As it turns out, Void is more than a mere AI. He’s the unborn son of Shiki from the future who came back in time to kill Mother and used the power of the Edens One to create himself a body to do so. As for how he did so, it’s because he got gravity ether from his father…and time ether from his mother, Rebecca.

Review

I don’t know how to say this, so I’m using this clip of Cell from DBZ Abridged.

Firstly, that was a nice touch of Mashima, using the altered fate of Granbell Park to change the initial fate of Ziggy. In hindsight, it makes sense that if Granbell Park wasn’t about to run out of Ether, then Ziggy wouldn’t have gone offline the first time around. However, if that’s true, then why didn’t he say anything when Shiki left Granbell with Happy and Rebecca this time around? Some might argue it was to preserve the timeline, but it still feels like a bit of a plot hole. That, and it also doesn’t explain how Ziggy showed up 20,000 years in the past…or does it?

This chapter re-affirms the fact that Mother’s already dying, with or without Void’s attempts to kill her. What does that have to do with the flashbacks, though? Here’s where that theory I mentioned comes into play: when Hermit and Killer’s past counterparts proposed having their dying world Overdrive, Mother could’ve been the end result. It’s not certain, but enough hints have dropped that imply it. Or, I could be wrong about all this.

How Was Void Created?

The big thing, though, is about Void, the (apparent) future son of Rebecca and Shiki. According to Ziggy, when the events that flung him and Rebecca into the future took place, Rebecca was carrying their child within her. That child, despite having no body, inherited his parent’s powerful Ether, letting him return to the past and create a body for himself. 

That, though, raises a lot more questions. If what Ziggy and Void’s saying is true, then when could he have been conceived? And why was this never brought up before? Rebecca being pregnant with her and Shiki’s child is a big deal that everyone would mention. It’s possible that Ziggy’s timeline diverged from the main one earlier than originally depicted, but I’m just speculating.

Fans also seem to be divided as to how Void could’ve been concieved. On the one hand, there’s the idea that Rebecca and Shiki got together in one timeline, which many shippers would love. However, one fan theory on Reddit speculates that Void wasn’t made the natural way. Instead, he was created from the merger of their ether when they got flung into the future. That would explain why he could live without a physical body. As a being of ether, he wouldn’t necessarily need one. It doesn’t explain why he’s determined to kill Mother and end all life, though!

Regardless of how this came about, I’m more curious than ever as to what Mashima has up his sleeve. This connection of mother and child could either be his most audacious idea ever…or his craziest. Either way, Shicca shippers just won.

I Give “Mother and Child” a 3/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 264 Review/Recap

At this point, Edens Zero plot is confusing more and more readers. The flashbacks to 20,000 years ago have been revealing what fans can assume were the past lives of the Shining and Dark Stars but with little to no context. There’s a theory that these flashbacks are leading to the creation or discovery of Mother, but there’s little evidence to support it. Now, those flashbacks have introduced Ziggy. This is despite the fact that Ziggy was revealed to be an alternate, future version of Shiki. 

There’s a lot we don’t understand, and fans are starting to demand answers. 

Recap

Laguna passes out after defeating Law, while the rest of the Crew of Edens is busy with their own battles. With seven minutes left before the ship explodes, Hermit resorts to desperate measures. She messages the other Shining Stars and asks for authorization to use Override. Doing this will forcibly shut down the Edens Zero, stopping the self-destruct. However, everyone save for Sister is too focused on fighting to give authorization. Rather than sit around and wait, Weisz decides to find an outlet in the hangar and jump into the digital world and beat Killer. He wants payback from what happened at Lendard. 

Meanwhile, Shiki and Rebecca make it deeper into the Edens One and find they can’t use the latter’s fighter anymore. As the two rib each other for their mutually reckless actions, though, Shiki senses a powerful and evil kind of Ether. To their horror, they both realize that it’s Void. As Wizard reveals in his fight with Witch, Void’s flying ahead to reach Mother before the others can so he can kill her.

20,000 years in the past, the world is in the throes of Armageddon. As society crumbles and the skies darken, Ziggy the Demon King steps foot onto this dying world.

…What?!?

Review

At this point, I’m even more confused than I already was. Is that android really Ziggy the Demon King? Because I was under the impression that Ziggy was a version of Shiki that got sent to the future and became a machine. How could he appear 20,000 years in the past? It doesn’t make sense! Mashima needs to start explaining things and do it now!

Lets review everything we know: 

20,000 years ago, a planet that looks like Earth was on the verge of dying. Despite the best efforts of people like Mio, P!Killer, and Yuna to make the planet Overdrive, the worst came to pass. Now, Ziggy, or a machine that looks like him, has appeared. However, it was already shown that Ziggy was an alternate version of Shiki. So either that’s no longer true, or Shiki was never the original Ziggy to begin with. Either that, or Ziggy managed to travel that far into the past and can’t remember it. Either way, this is some timey-wimey stuff going on. 

I have no clue what’s going to happen next, but Mashima is starting to frustrate me with the flashbacks. I want to know what’s going on with the past and how this has to do with Mother, the Shining and Dark Stars, Shiki, and Ziggy. Not even Eichiro Oda confuses us as much as he is with this. At least Oda drops hints that fans can follow in One Piece. 

Get your act together, Mashima, and explain this stuff. This is the final battle, and we barely understand what’s going on anymore!

I Give “Override” a 2/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 164 Review/Recap

I’m starting to see why Mashima decided to give Shiki the power of gravity manipulation. On the surface, that’s already a versatile power, allowing him to do amazing feats. However, as the series has progressed, we’ve seen Shiki and Ziggy show just what the power of the void can truly do. Among other things, the void has the power to drain the powers of others, and defy so-called destiny.

In other words, I called it with Nero’s reliance on his dice being his downfall.

Recap

Both in the space above and on the ground below, the ones fighting against Nero and Shura wage their own battles. Witch returns to the Edens Zero for treatment while Laguna’s shocked to learn that Princess somehow got away. Meanwhile, at the Temple, Ziggy gloats about how losing his head isn’t enough to kill him. When Nero retorts by saying its his destiny to win, Ziggy reveals he stole the Empire Dice, before crushing them within the void. Next, Ziggy decides to take Nero’s power for himself, using the void to draw it to him.

Back on Nero 66, Shiki tears into Shura and gives him the usual Shonen hero speech while also demonstrating what he learned from training with Xenolith. Thanks to that, he’s strengthened his resolve to fight, letting him unlock a new form of the void himself. As a result, he wipes the floor with Shura.

However, Ziggy interrupts things, revealing he’s taken Nero’s power, and uses it to prime the anti-matter bombs on Nero 66.

That is not good!

Review

I knew that that whole “destiny” stuff Nero was spewing wasn’t going to hold up. However, I did not expect Ziggy to outright destroy the Empire Dice. Those were relics left behind by Mother, making them very valuable. For Ziggy to destroy them so easily means that he’s on a level of power that few can hope to match. Now, he’s taken down Nero, and somehow, his void was able to absorb Nero’s Ether Gear. It’s like what Blackbeard can do in One Piece!

If Ziggy can somehow absorb the Ether Gear of others, then there’s no limit to what he’s capable of doing. If he got hold of Rebecca’s Cat Leaper…I don’t want to think about what he could do! He’d be unstoppable!

The big question that I got from this chapter, though, is about Shiki. Shiki’s a gravity user like his adoptive grandfather, so can he invoke that same kind of power? Let us hope he can and use it for good.

This was a good chapter, overall, as it continued the twists found in last week’s chapter. I can’t wait to see how this arc ends, as it could go many ways.

I Give “Downpour of the Black Heavens” a 3.5/5

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