Farewell, Witch! The Sacrifice of the Shield of Edens!

Edens Zero Chapter 166 Review/Recap

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos spoke about how much it sucks to lose. To feel like you’re in the right, only to fail all the same. It’s a sickening feeling, yet also one we cannot avoid in life. And in this week’s chapter of Edens Zero, even though the heroes beat Shura, it feels like they still lost the war, and Witch is the one who has to make the final sacrifice.

Recap

Everyone aboard the Edens Zero is panicking with only one minute left before the anti-matter bombs go off. However, Witch calmly tells everyone that she will protect the ship no matter what. Down on Nero 66, Shura’s crawled away from his fight with Shiki, only to be confronted by Ijuna. Rather than take revenge, Princess claims the feelings of love between the two were real, and then the two embrace as the bombs go off. Stockholm. Syndrome.

As the bombs detonate, everyone on the ship watches as Witch goes outside and uses the full extent of her powers to shield the ship, even as the bombs begin to annihilate everything in their path. Even as a tearful Shiki orders her to stop, Witch refuses, vowing to protect Shiki and her family. In her last moments, Witch remembers when she and the Shining Stars first met Shiki as a baby and how she promised to look after the child. Thus, after giving everyone words of encouragement, Witch smiles as the explosion vaporizes her body, while Shiki can do nothing but cry.

Review

Hiro Mashima can be an absolute master of hitting his readers right in the feels. Every time he has an important character die, he doesn’t hold back, making sure it’s as big a tearjerker as possible. He did with Simon in Fairy Tail. He did it with Valkyrie earlier in this story. And now, he did it for Witch!

While there is the chance that Witch may not be dead, or Rebecca may deus ex machina her out of this, Mashima will probably anger people even more. After such a tear-jerking sacrifice, bringing her back will make it seem disingenuous, like it doesn’t matter. Either way, this is going to affect the plot going forward majorly.

As for Shura and Ijuna, the less said about what happened to them, the better. Everything I said about Ijuna having Stockholm Syndrome proved to be right, and that got her killed. People, if someone you know somehow goes through this, get them help. This isn’t love. It’s a perverted form of sympathy and pity. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will go try not to cry about Witch’s death.

I Give “I Love You” A 4.5/5

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