[ShyGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

I don’t think possession is at work here, at least I don't hope it is.

Possession means they can eventually write it off as "Ark used Aruto in his weakest moment" so the majority of the blame shifts to the Ark again.

From what I've understood in this episode, Ark can never truly die because as malice exists within humans another one will be born. Doesn’t even have to be an AI, could also be a human with a belt. Just the concept of a malicious being threatening the world means "Ark" will be reborn.

So that's what why we saw Horobi "becoming" Ark at the beginning, that was the most likely scenario of a new Ark being created.

And that's what I hope is happening here, Aruto is on the verge of becoming the next being to be called Ark. I like this more because he might succumb to it fully or with the help of his friends work himself out of this mess, and I think that’ better than Fuwa and the gang pulling Ark-One's mask off, Scooby-Doo style, and being like "It was the Ark all along!".

This is how I interpreted it too, definitely seems like "Ark" is now more of a title/concept than a specific, individual character. Which is definitely much more interesting, and makes this development a lot better than if Aruto were simply being controlled or manipulated by the Ark we've known for the last several episodes. I'm hoping that when it got destroyed with the satellite, that was genuinely the end of that incarnation of it and we don't see it again. Allowing Aruto to be fully responsible for his actions here, without any direct manipulation, is a vastly more intriguing idea. This is definitely shaping up to be one of the most original endings to a season yet, and I really hope it pulls it off, because the build up to it so far is excellent.