[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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

And not for the Zi-O II stuff, although I imagine that?s what most people are going to want to talk about. I think it?s a neat costume, the designers just doubling everything up: two sets of watch-hand antennae, two sets of watchbands forming a tabard, all of it. I like how it feels like a step towards Oma Zi-O?s design, this slightly more regal appearance of Sougo?s. I mostly like how it?s Sougo himself becoming more powerful, since this isn?t some other Rider?s power he?s stacking onto his own. It?s just him, getting more unstoppable.

Zi-O II is a real game changer though, it's not merely Sougo becoming more powerful, it's something that is outright horrific. Firstly, Zi-O II has a look that resembles Ohma Zi-O, by how Sougo now accepts his evil impulses inside that he was denial about. Then even holding it in his hand allows Sougo to casually reset the timeline to rewind it so Geiz survives. That's how Sougo becomes more powerful now, it creates a situation that was unthinkable before in others; Tsukuyomi, someone who previously is compassionate enough to had faith in Sougo (also claims it in this episode) and helped him from the start, freaks out at seeing this, and is the opposite one to what she said regarding good influence Sougo had to Geiz, she's now the one suggesting to kill Sougo here. And then White Woz, who is even more unfazed and unflappable than Black Woz in a more sinister way in his more ruthless schemes, had his composure broken here, he's outright livid to shake Black Woz for answers and then retreats leaving Geiz behind, losing his absolute control of the future and likely he just gave the dictator he's trying to stop even greater power.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Ryuki was a show about how difficult it can be to truly know other people, but how necessary it was to try anyway. We become better versions of ourselves by seeing things from other perspectives, and trying to understand other people. Learning why someone else values something can have us examining our own value system. Discovering someone?s hidden traumas can help us to understand our own unresolved issues. Asking questions is more important than getting answers, because there are always more questions to ask. It was a show that never wanted people to settle for certainty, because there?s no such thing as being absolutely certain.

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

It's the opposite, Geiz has grown as person thanks to Sougo... but Tsukuyomi takes turn to be more drastic here thanks to Sougo. But this also has a part of miscommunication that Sougo claims he has accepts his dark side, but that creates a misunderstanding that Sougo really is tampering in people?s lives and with time on a whim and has accepted that he?ll become Oma Zi-O. It's good to seeing things from other perspectives and understanding others better, but it can be misused too by instead justifying other people who had gone bad due to the hidden traumas, while ignoring those who are wronged due to that. The asking questions part is sometimes just used as a weakness for people like Shinji who'd want the best outcome for anyone that it'd make them hesitate more, the hard choices that can put others at disadvantage. There are compromises, but the important thing should be not deliberately harming the unlucky few to achieve something or in the name of priority, if there are those that are unlucky it should only happen due to already taking care of someone else and not being biased.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

This addresses on how someone like Sougo can turn into genocidal warlord like Ohma Zi-O, because Sougo has a hidden dark side that he's in denial about, of which it grows bigger and bigger until that side fully consumes him. While everyone may have hidden darker impulses, moral fortitude is something that decides if they can hold onto their moral principles more strongly than others, and Sougo would have weaker one than some other KR characters, to lose into his dark side eventually as Ohma Zi-O. Now though Sougo accepts it's a part of himself, it's probably a work on him strengthening his moral fortitude, so he'd know he had the dark side but he'd try harder to not let himself succumb to it. Working on moral fortitude is likely the key to prevent Ohma Zi-O's rule.

Otherwise, while people can be complicated or having multiple sides, there can be still those who are more good, more evil, or more neutral than others, it's a mistake to only cherry-pick an action like a single moral act and use that as an argument to equalize everyone's moral spectrum of 'everyone has good and bad', usually used to talk down heroes in favor of the villains they justify. Someone should be looked at bigger picture to evaluate if they're doing more good or more bad (not good/bad outcome for here, like villainous organizations creating the birth of heroic Kamen Riders with its invention). For Sougo here, he had the capacity of evil but his goods far outweigh the bad more, but that's the root of his rise to Ohma Zi-O which still should be taken into account.