S2 - Ep 10: AFO versus The Golden Guard - Part 2
Luz and the Golden Guard's fight continues and it seems our hero has bitten off more than she can chew until she gets a unique power-up. As battle reaches its climax, the Golden Guard brings out his trump card.
This chapter contains examples of:
- Ability Mixing: To a lesser extend than Luz, but Hunter has some tricks.
- Combing his Lightbringer and Overclock Quirks he can create a Flash Step and Speed Echoes.
- By using his Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever trump card with his Super-Speed Quirk he can ignore the Square-Cube Law and attack at high-speed with a much larger mass.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the show, Hunter has Blind Obedience towards his Evil Uncle until near the end of Season 2. Here he recognises him as someone the Boiling Isles needs to saved from and is plotting against him.
- Always a Bigger Fish: Tyler sees Belos as this to him, especially as he's stuck in his home turf. He was a peasant compared to him being The Emperor, and so he wasn’t going to push his luck by getting on his bad side.
- An Arm and a Leg: Taking back the "Vines" Quirk proves to be not a good idea as Luz is about to attack again, her arm explodes! She grows it back though.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Using 10 seconds he had in this form and using it conjunction with his Super-Speed, Hunter throws a punch so fast that it was a blur and Luz can't dodge it, shattering all 80 of her massive barriers.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Hunter remarks he only uses his "Selective-Gigantism" Quirk on giant enemies, the most of powerful foes and... giraffes. Those foul creatures...
- Astral Checkerboard Decor: After Luz's Quirk Awakening, the ground of the Vestige World becomes this.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: At the climax of the fight, the Golden Guard sucks in a massive gulp of air and activates his Selective-Gigantism enlarged his entire body. He became so large, that people from across the state of Connecticut could see him!
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Hunter deduces that his Healing Factor was inferior to Luz’s. It took longer for him to heal than she did, and it hurt. For her, it didn’t. He figures out that she must’ve a "Pain Nullification" Quirk.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: As Luz starts to break down into tears, she laments how in just a single month her life has turned to hell. She once thought that the Mass Super-Empowering Event was a dream come true that would vindicate her worldview only for to turn into a nightmare as she suffers a long Trauma Conga Line as her life keeps getting worse.Life didn’t get better, it got worse! Because of it, she lost her mother, lost her faith in humanity as a whole, and lost her innocence! She had to kill to survive because people kept trying to kill her, and it robbed her of her chance at a normal childhood! Anger, mixed with pain, mixed with regret, mixed with sadness flowed all through her body as she clasped her forehead, weeping. Her life had taken a turn for the absolute worst, and it was all thanks to this stupid power!
- Blood from the Mouth: When Luz tries to get back in the fight, activating her two flight Quirks, she collapses and starts vomiting blood due to Quirk Overload.
- Broken Faceplate: Luz shatters Hunter's completely.
- The Bus Came Back: Luz regains the "Vines" Quirk from the corpse of the boy she gave it to.
- Call-Back: Luz notes having just two extra Quirks is hampering her more than when she had 18 over the limit. She reasoned that she hadn’t felt this before back at the Death Camp was because of all of the adrenaline at the time.
- Calling Your Attacks: Luz does this with her Super Special Move.Luz: CHAOS VOLLEY!
- Clothing Damage: Both Luz and Hunter suffer this by the end.
- Collateral Damage: Exaggerated Trope. Gravesfield gets outright annihilated by the end of the fight.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Golden Guard at the climax of the fight uses his Awakened "Selective-Gigantism" to turn himself into the size of an actual Titan! It only lasts 10 seconds and leaves him completely drained afterwards.
- Despair Event Horizon: Luz hits hers before her Quirk Awakening.
- Destructive Saviour: The Golden Guard notes throughout their fight that Luz is accidently destroying the town she's trying to protect with her Quirks.
- Disease Bleach: Luz's hair has turned completely white now that her Quirk has awakened.
- Don't Make Me Destroy You: When Luz is at the mercy of her foe, the Golden Guard offers the choice of death or being brought to her enemies as a prisoner.Hunter: This is the end of the road for you, Luz Noceda, Wielder of The Quirk All For One. Come quietly, or perish.
- Doomed Hometown: The results in the Golden Guard's Finishing Move result in the total annihilation of Gravesfield leaving few, if any, survivors.
- Downer Ending: The ending of Season 2 is this. While she managed to kill all the superhuman assassins sent to kill her, Luz has yet to track down the Wittebanes to avenge Julia and Camila. On top of that, his fights with her enemies eventually lead to the total destruction of Gravesfield when it could've been avoided. Even with the silver-lining of her enemies thinking she's dead to give her an edge and a fresh start in the Boiling Isles, this is All According to Plan for Shigaraki in his Evil Plan who is more likely now to pull a Villain Override on her now that she's awaken their Quirk.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Luz tells Hunter that she knows that he didn’t want to kill her, because if he did, you would’ve used a powerful light attack instead. She believes The Dragon gave her a chance to escape using "Warping". Unbeknownst to her, Hunter really was trying to put her down in the end.
- Hunter believes that now that Luz Noceda was here, The Boiling Isles wasn’t doomed to his Belos's plans... completely unware that the previous All For One user is piggy backing in her mind.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Emperor had ordered the Golden Guard to kill All For One, and while he's plotting to take him down, The Dragon isn’t exactly against it considering what the previous version of the man had done.
- Evil Laugh: All For One does one that borderlines Laughing Mad when Luz awakens her Quirk.
- Fantastic Nuke: The Golden's Guard's last attack is described as this from his gigantic punch.
- Flash Step: Its because this and Nerves of Steel that allows the Golden Guard to avoid the worst of Luz's attacks.
- Giant Hands of Doom: Not on does Luz have this power but so does her opponent. Hunter's "Selective-Gigantism" Quirk allows him to grow his arms, making them stronger. He fights primarily using her enlarged hands.
- Green Thumb: After achieving "Quirk Awakening", Luz's "Vines" can grow to the size and thickness of tree trunks and can grow from the ground, as well.
- Godzilla Threshold: Hunter, now getting tired from using Overclock, desperate from how much more dangerous his opponent has become and only has 10 minutes to finish the fight before his portal closes, decides to use his Finishing Move to destroy what's left of Gravesfield along with the All For One user. Even this fails to kill her.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Once again the Golden Guard cuts Luz in half. Nothing her enhanced Healing Factor can't fix though, not even leaving scars now.
- Heroic RRoD: Luz goes through this after she steals two quirk too many and the Golden Guard takes full advantage of this. Eventually, her body is no longer responding to her from the toll of her battles and too many Quirks, in agony as her Pain Nullification fails her, struggling to breathe, and heart rate slowing down. Shigaraki reprimands her stealing the extra Quirks and insists on expelling them to a bystander immediately. When she tries to argue, her Evil Mentor in all seriousness that she will die if she doesn't.
- Heroic Second Wind: After she achieves "Quirk Awakening", Luz gains this.
- Homing Projectile: Luz's "Chaos Volley" is this as Hunter finds out.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Hunter didn't want to use his Limit Break to (seemingly) kill Luz and obliterate her hometown but he believed he had no choice as it was a Race Against the Clock to get back to the Demon Realm and it looked like the All For One user was trying to kill him
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: As the fight continues, Luz gets this by Hunter's light spears through her shoulder, stomach, and knees as if she were made of butter. But once again she heals from it.
- Impoverished Patrician: With the destruction of Gravesfield, the Wittebanes are now homeless and most likely broke with all their local followers dead, being forced to live under the roof of Belos and must indulge him. Tyler is NOT happy at all with this and promises his wife they'll get out of this predicament.
- In the Back: Just when looks like Luz has claimed victory... Hunter stabs her from behind with his light sword.
- Internal Reveal: Luz reveals to the Golden Guard she knew that their was a Secret Test for her, much to his surprise, as she should have no way of knowing.
- Irony:
- At the beginning of the chapter, Hunter notes Luz is accidently destroying the town with she more powerful attacks, seeing all of the panicking civilians and aims to stop her before that happens. By the climax he's the one that destroys Gravesfield after he deems It Is Beyond Saving.
- When first met the Golden Guard, his appearance made Tyler think of him as a holy warrior who was taking him and his wife to heaven for his deeds. Instead, he was bringing him to the Demon Realm, which he saw as a curse. Now, the Wittebanes are trapped here in a world that was filled with the very creatures his family was made to hunt in the 1600s. It was their own personal hell.
- Killed Offscreen: The Governor, Millie and the Spiderman fanboy.
- Lack of Empathy: Tyler Wittebane doesn't seem too upset about the loss of his ancestral hometown, unlike his wife, considering it to be Worth It for killing Luz (not he knows she's still alive).
- Magic Pants: Whenever the Golden Guard uses his "Selective-Gigantism" Quirk, it also enlarged the clothing on his body so that it didn’t break.
- Mental World: After Luz's "Quirk Awakening" it transforms, resembling a more regal throne room with a firepit much to All For One's delight.
- Mythology Gag:
- Hunter's Flash Step via "Overclock" sounds a lot like his Super-Speed via Flapjack.
- Luz's "Flamethrower" Quirk turns blue after her awakening, much like Dabi's.
- Never My Fault:
- Averted. After she punches him in the face and chews him out for destroying her home, Luz acknowledges her role in the tragedy and states she has no reason to fight him anymore. She decides to let him leave and fly off.
- Played Straight with Tyler. He doesn't show any remorse for his role in the destruction of his ancestral home or the lives lost; only that (he thinks) Luz is dead and done "God's work".
- Not Quite Dead: As Hunter returns to the Boiling Isles, he believes he had killed Luz, until he suddenly vomits Ominous Obsidian Ooze from which Luz crawls out of the small puddle of the goo. With her "Warping"" Quirk has been boosted too, it allowed her to escape his Finishing Move just in time.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Hunter also awaken his "Selective-Gigantism" Quirk, too.
- Ominous Walk: As The Golden Guard gently lands in the classroom where Luz crashed into, he approaches the down superhuman with each step carrying more and more weight as he moved.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally calm and in control Shigaraki demands Luz to get rid of the extra Quirks with genuine worry and concern. He also sounds to be panicking as it appears the Golden Guard is going to kill his protege and she's helpless.
- Outside-Context Problem: Hunter wants Luz as an ally to liberate his people from his Evil Uncle. However, he's completely unaware of All For One's presence in her with his own agenda.
- Person of Mass Destruction:
- If Luz wasn't this before, she certainly is now that she's "Awakened" All For One.
- The Golden Guard's Finishing Move turns what's left of Gravesfield in a giant crater.
The resulting blast could’ve been felt from the nearest city all the way to the edges of New York. It physically shook the southern part of The United States of America and left destruction for hundreds of thousands of kilometres. - Poor Communication Kills: The tragedy of this chapter is just how avoidable all this was. Luz never wanted the fight at all since the beginning and Hunter just wanted to carry out a Secret Test (and to turn her into the Boiling Isles saviour), but unfortunately they both just kept getting pushed to the point where they couldn't hold back anymore. Had either been more willing to talk things out and get on the same page, perhaps Gravesfield would still be standing.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Played With. The Golden does this at the end of his fight with luz, though its more of a draw than anything else.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Despite seeing him as a filthy magical beast, Tyler decides to play nice with Emperor Belos as he as his pregnant wife are now homeless in an alien world with only him as protection.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Mary Wittebane considers killing Luz at the cost of their empire in Gravesfield. Tyler disagrees but its really All for Nothing as the All For One user survivor.
- The Reveal: Hunter's loyalties are revealed to be not with Belos or Shigaraki (seeing them both as the horrible people they really are) but to the citizens of the Boiling Isles. He plans on moulding Luz to be the liberator of his homeland. He also notes he won't and can't kill her. The Emperor also has his own portal to the Human Realm.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Golden Guard tries to pull this to get back to the Demon Realm he remembers its a Race Against the Clock.
- Shadow of Impending Doom: Going after him, she activates Multiplier sprouting 25 arms from her back. Only now they're the size and width of buses, eclipsing the portion of the sky that Luz took up, covering the street below in shadow. This gives the Golden Guard a pause mid-attack.
- Shout-Out: With her awakened "Limitless", Luz can now create "Hollow Purple".
- Sizeshifter: Hunter can change the size of his limbs to the size of buildings with his "Selective-Gigantism". He later turns himself into a giant.
- Speed Echoes: The Golden Guard does this to make it look like to Luz her Finishing Move landed on him.Hunter: I was able to speed up my body to the point where it looked like I wasn’t moving. To you, it looked like I got hit. In reality, I had already moved out of the way. Your brain had no way of knowing I had moved because that was how fast I was.
- Suddenly Shouting: Luz does this as the Golden Guard tells her to give up as she achieves Quirk Awakening.Luz: You… Do not… TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
- Super Special Move: After her "Awakening", all of Luz's offensive powers are this.
- Super-Speed: Hunter's "Overclock" Quirk allows him to move incredibly fast for a few seconds before needing a cooldown. The degree to which he can speed up depends on his situation, and the faster he goes, the quicker he'll hit cooldown. He considers it his favorite Quirk.
- Technicolor Fire: The flames that were once orange/red in color for the "Flamethrower" Quirk before turning bright blue to denote how much hotter Luz's flames burn after her "Quirk Awakening".
- Teleportation with Drawbacks: Averted. After Luz's "Quirk Awakening", she can now teleport herself this way via black ooze transported inside other people and emerge from it. Without it she would've died.
- The Teaser: The beginning of the chapter takes place 15 years in the future with the newly elected president giving her speech about The Battle Of Gravesfield.President: Fear not the person who has everything left to lose, because they will hold back to save the ones they love. Fear the one who has nothing left to lose, because they are the ones who will show no mercy to anyone, or anything around them should it mean they defeat their opponents. That is why, every year, we grieve the loss of that small town, for it paid the ultimate price. We must learn from our mistakes, and I will be the one to steer this country forward to do that!
- Took a Level in Badass: Luz has Awakened the All For One Quirk!Shigaraki: And it not just All For One, but as a result, every Quirk stored within from now until forever has been Awakened!
- Unholy Matrimony: Tyler appears to mutually love his wife, Mary.
- Villain Takes an Interest: The Golden Guard sees Luz, the new All For One user, as ripe for the molding to be the liberator of The Boiling Isles.
- Wham Episode: In this chapter Luz goes through Quirk Awakening and arrives in the Boiling Isles with the Wittebanes thinking she's dead, Hunter destroys Gravesfield and is revealed to be conspiring against Belos.
- Wham Line:
- Shigaraki in his joy explains what the massive power-up Luz just got and why her Mental World just drastically changed. Now he has more of a reason to pull a Villain Override on the girl.
Shigaraki: Out of all of my years of living, I have never seen this happen! I never even thought it was possible! It happened! It finally happened!! ALL FOR ONE HAS FINALLY AWAKENED!!!!- Hunter reveals to Luz his forth and final Quirk that her Evil Mentor gave him. A Quirk he should NOT have had at the time before his death.
Hunter: (Smirks) I have four Quirks. Lightbringer, Regeneration, Selective-Gigantism, and my favourite of them all, Overclock. That last one is what saved me. - What the Hell, Hero?: Luz punches the Golden Guard in face, chewing him out for his role in her hometown's destruction before she heads off to explore the Demon Realm.
- Wolverine Claws: Following her "Quirk Awakening", the Spear Fingers turn into actual lance blades and can bend.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Luz can create "Purple" by combining the opposing forces of "Blue" and "Red", then Luz can fire a powerful orb of energy that vaporizes everything in its path.
- Shigaraki: Luz… you did it. You made it to where you need to be. Welcome… To The Boiling Isles.
