[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 22 - ?STRONGEST ZI-O! 2019?

So we get this wonderful story about how the Time Orphans have grown as people thanks to Sougo, but still manage to get blindsided when he?s more complicated than they thought. They?ve seen his outward actions ? his generosity, his enthusiasm ? and put him up on a pedestal. Sougo?s always good. Sougo always does the right thing. Sougo?d never consider harming someone for the greater good. Geiz and Tsukuyomi can put all of their faith in Sougo, because he?s the best of them.

Which is exactly the sort of thinking that gets us, y?know, genocidal despots. When we stop seeing people as people, and start seeing them as paragons of justice, we lose perspective. We stop asking questions of their motivations, of their goals, of their limits. We stop acting as barriers to their darker impulses. The Time Orphans saw one side of Sougo, and didn?t think he could be hiding anything.

But we all hide things. Sougo?s confusion at Geiz being down on himself for contemplating killing Shinji is reasonable, you know? Defeating Ryuga seems impossible, and here?s a possible solution. Both Sougo and Geiz immediately discard it, because it?s evil, but they?re not evil for considering it. Sougo?s a three-dimensional character in this story, even if he isn?t always portrayed that way in others. He always does the right thing, but that means discarding the wrong thing first. He won?t let Geiz sacrifice himself, but he knows what stopping Geiz means as far as defeating Ryuga goes. He can be good, because he?s overcoming his own capacity for evil.

That?s a universal thing, even if it isn?t much of a Ryuki theme. (Maybe the movie? There aren't a lot of Mirror Selves in the TV show, unfortunately.) Our reflections aren?t some alternate version of ourselves; they?re just us. We?re complicated, and it?s okay to be complicated. You?re allowed to think bad thoughts, or doubt yourself, or feel like you can?t be the version of yourself that you imagine. But the point of all that is to confront it, and then choose the better outcome. Give up on grudges like Shinji does, because they?re poisonous. Be okay with how messy you are, like Sougo, because there?s value in the messiness. Take everything that?s in you, and let it help you be better tomorrow than you were today.

Great points! I'd like to add that while it's important not to ignore the capacity for evil in others by only focusing on all their good actions, that advice should be applied to the self as well. I like Sougo's interaction with Dark Sougo, as it gives another example of hostile interaction between two Sougos, like Sougo's previous interaction with Oma Zi-O. Dark Sougo is obviously a bad person and an a**hole, but he possesses a sense of self that Sougo was lacking. He does the opposite of what Tsukuyomi did, by telling Sougo how much he sucks and how he's totally going to become evil in the future. It's not what Sougo wants to hear, but it's what he needs to hear. Being told reassuring things and praise too often can make a person complacent, so I think it's important to hear constructive criticism instead of pretending those unpleasant things aren't real.

Sougo made some good progress towards becoming the greatest kindest demon king in the Shinobi arc, by deciding to have faith in his future self. But even the greatest kindest demon king is ultimately still a demon king, in which evil is an inherent trait. Having too much faith was always Sougo's weakness. To combat evil, he needed to understand evil and that it was something he was capable of. It's not even specific to Sougo, or even Geiz. That's just human nature. We're all plagued by things like sadism and selfishness, no matter how much we don't like to admit it. But we have the potential to act against those parts of ourselves, as long as we acknowledge that those things exist.

Something else I'd like to point out about Dark Sougo's Zi-O, since nobody else brought it up, is that the time on his face is different. Our Sougo's Zi-O has the time of 10:10, but due to Dark Sougo's Zi-O being mirrored, his time is 2:50 instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

-Tsukuyomi being the one to go "Oh shit, maybe letting Sougo do that was a bad idea, we might have to actually kill him?" I remember being slightly miffed at this during my inital watch. (Tsuku's been willing to hear Sougo out since Episode 1! And we've already been toying with people lives, remember we brought Another Ghost's host back to life?! etc etc etc......) But like. I *kinda* get it now? Not 100% "oh yeah that makes sense", but I get it. Seeing Zi-O II breaking the established rules through sheer power is kinda terrifying, after all, it would def scare me into considering nipping the bud early before it blooms.

This is the arc where Tsukuyomi shows her true colors. Her willingness to give Sougo the benefit of the doubt until now wasn't out of selflessness. She wanted to believe in him, as steering him away from the path of the evil Oma Zi-O was the best case scenario compared to Geiz jumping to the conclusion of killing him before he becomes a threat. But wanting to believe in someone isn't the same as actually believing in them. It's denial.

When Sougo asks Tsukuyomi if she thinks he can become a good king, she tells him exactly what he wants to hear, hoping that it'll encourage him. But everything she told him was a lie. She's scared of what he could become and all it takes is a display of Zi-O II's power to remind her of that and completely shatter any pretense of trust. Geiz sees the potential in Sougo, both good and bad. He also has that fear, he's also seen what Sougo could become, but he's always challenged Sougo's morality. That's why he actually trusts Sougo, cause he made him work to earn that trust. That's something Tsukuyomi never understood. You have to doubt someone first, before you can sincerely believe in them.