[Kamen Rider Die]

I keep thinking about that Tachibana/Hajime scene from the beginning of the episode, with the Sealing Stone. It's so absolutely crucial to Tachibana's arc in this story.

Usually, Tachibana's working off of the same information as everyone else in the story (or less!), and so when he makes his inevitable I'm Doing This For Your Own Good terrible decisions, it's mostly him opting for pessimism instead of optimism, fear instead of hope, suspicion instead of faith.

In this one, he sees the Sealing Stone. He touches it. He's the only one of the human Riders to do that, to see the shape of their destructor. Because it's not the Joker who's going to destroy the world, it's the Sealing Stone who will. It's the vessel for God's judgment. And he's touched it.

For the rest of the cast, What Happens If We Don't Seal Hajime is vague, debatable. Who really knows? Hajime's a good guy, he'll find a way to overcome it. For Tachibana, it's like he touched the atom bomb. He knows exactly what's going to happen, and he can't debate any of it. The apocalypse is at hand.

But he sides with his friends anyway. He has more reason than ever to disregard the trust they've placed in Hajime and make the hard choice, and he's still willing to side with them. It's so much more powerful, him making that decision knowing what only he and Hajime know. Such a smart scene to include.