Japanese Title: Terror! BelialVamdemon
The Dark Seed-implanted children, minus Noriko, begin to gather at the bridge in Hikarigaoka, and the Chosen Children, having a stakeout there, wonder if they’re waiting for Oikawa. Koushirou reasons that they’re probably gathered because Oikawa wants to use the gate there - which, unbeknownst to him, BlackWarGreymon had recently sealed. Koushirou gets a call from his mother, who’s brought food in an attempt to help everyone.
As Koushirou goes to retrieve the food, Hikari wonders what the shadow they saw coming out of Oikawa was, and says that he must not be a normal human. She expresses doubt that they’ll be able to save the children, but Takeru reassures her that they’ll just have to believe that they can and do their best.
Oikawa looks over the gathering children over a building with Archnemon and Mummymon, who comment that it’s almost time for the harvest. Ken momentarily feels their presence, but shrugs it off. Koushirou arrives with his mother and the food, and Koushirou’s mother realizes that she can be useful to the kids by calling the families of the Dark Seed-implanted children, who are probably worried about them, so that they can see what’s happening with their own eyes.
As she departs to do this, Iori wonders if it’ll be able to do anything when the Dark Seeds don’t seem to be removable, but Takeru says that they’ll have to believe that their feelings will connect. Ken says that he believes humans can’t see the flower that had sprouted from the Dark Seed because the Dark Seed has more of a mental presence than a physical presence, remembering that his own Dark Seed had stopped growing when he realized that his parents truly loved him.
Right then, they see Oikawa meeting with the children and rush to attack, but are stopped by Archnemon and Mummymon. Oikawa reveals that, because the children have received imperfect copies of Ken’s Dark Seed, the children will turn into Dark Trees if he doesn’t harvest the Seeds from them. Oikawa brings up a laptop and begins to use it to open the gate to the Digital World. Knowing that BlackWarGreymon had already sealed up the gate, the kids decide to wait until Oikawa’s confusion over being unable to open the gate gives them an opening to save the children.
Oikawa helpfully offers to answer any questions for an Info Dump of exposition before they leave for the Digital World. Ken demands to know why he was used as the Digimon Kaiser, to which Oikawa replies that he picked him arbitrarily after having gotten a feeling that Ken was a Chosen Child at Osamu’s funeral. He then reveals that the Dark Towers were things originally in Dagomon’s ocean that have the main purpose of distorting the Digital World’s environment, and that the Dark Towers’ presence would allow an adult like himself into the Digital World since he normally cannot enter as a “tainted adult”. Ken, as the Kaiser, had been used to build them in order to let Oikawa in and not just his minions Archnemon and Mummymon, but since the Chosen had destroyed the Dark Towers, Oikawa changed his plan to instead plant the Digital World’s barrier, the Dark Seeds, inside the children.
After having a little emotional moment and wishing that Hiroki were with him to see this moment, Oikawa riles up all of the Dark Seed-implanted children to sing a song to open the Digital Gate. The singing of the children exposes the barrier to the Digital World, and Oikawa has his laptop program open the gate. Followed by the children, Archnemon, and Mummymon, Oikawa rushes into it, and as the kids express shock, knowing that BlackWarGreymon should have sealed it, the 2002 Chosen Children rush into the gate as it closes behind them, leaving the elder Chosen behind.
Oikawa is finally happy to have reached the Digital World that nobody would believe him about when he was younger, but it soon becomes clear from the children’s sudden fear that the place that, thanks to BlackWarGreymon’s seal, the world they’ve landed in is most definitely not the Digital World but a mysterious world with strange images in it. The Chosen Children’s Digimon attack Archnemon, Mummymon, and Oikawa and demand the children back.
A voice tells the anguished Oikawa to forget about the Digital World, saying that even if they’ve landed in this world by accident, it’s a much better place for “his” purposes. The voice tells Oikawa that, three years ago, after being turned into data, “he” found Oikawa, who was distressed over Hiroki’s death and feeling resentment towards him for having died before they could have gone to the Digital World together.
As Oikawa had watched the Digital World appearing in the sky three years ago, he had raised a picture of Hiroki to the sight, lamenting that Hiroki had died and left him alone. When he saw the 1999 Chosen Children rising into the sky, he begged to be taken with them, and the mysterious voice had offered to take him there if he “left his conscience behind”. Oikawa had desperately agreed to whatever would take him to the Digital World, and was soon after possessed by the owner of the voice, who then subconsciously directed Oikawa to do everything that he had done afterwards. Tailmon, hearing all of this, puts two and two together and recognizes the voice as that of her old master, Vamdemonnote .
Vamdemon taunts Tailmon, telling her that he’d made the Evil Ring by inverting her Holy Ring’s data, and Tailmon is disgusted that he’d stoop this low to be causing all of this. Tailmon declares that they’ll defeat him, but he says that he’s different than he was before. Vamdemon then exits Oikawa’s body, assuming Oikawa’s form, and reveals that what he’d told Oikawa about the Dark Seeds being the Digital World’s barrier was a lie; he had planted the Dark Seeds in the children in order to produce food that would allow him to be reborn. Oikawa tries to lash back at him, but collapses.
Now free to act on his own, Vamdemon, still in Oikawa’s form, approaches the frightened children and harvests the Dark Flowers from them one by one while Mummymon and Archnemon hold the Chosen Children off. Now with the energy from the Dark Flowers, Vamdemon transforms into a new, greater form: BelialVamdemon note .
BelialVamdemon picks up Archnemon and asks her what she thinks he’s going to do to her and, with her coming to the worst conclusion, reads her mind and tortures her. He then destroys and eats her, claiming that he granted her wish of a painless death. Mummymon, enraged over the death of Archnemon, attempts to attack BelialVamdemon in a fury, not expecting to survive against BelialVamdemon but hoping to take him down with him if he’s going to die.
BelialVamdemon quickly offs Mummymon, and the kids, feeling true fear and afraid that their Digimon might be killed, refuse to let their Digimon fight. The exception is Daisuke, who’s determined to fight at all costs, and goes into battle with XV-mon faithfully by his side. Ken tries to stop him, asking him to at least come up with a plan, but Daisuke notices that Ken’s hand is shaking. Daisuke tells Ken that Jogress won’t work anyway if Ken is afraid, and reassures him that he and XV-mon will manage somehow.
With that, Daisuke and V-mon prepare to attack and charge straight into battle with BelialVamdemon.
Tropes
- Adults Are Useless: This episode is a major aversion of the trope, showing several of the Chosen Children’s families taking active roles in helping them out and Koushirou’s mother, feeling inadequate for being unable to do much, providing food and eventually deciding to contact the families of the Dark Seed children.
- Came Back Strong: After absorbing all the Dark Flowers, Vamdemon becomes BelialVamdemon, becoming more powerful than he was even as VenomVamdemonnote . Worse yet, this time, he gets to keep his intelligence.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Throughout 02's run, several mentions to Vamdemon had been made, from the Chosen Children getting together on the day they had defeated him to Tailmon remembering being his servant. It turns out that he was actually still alive and was the mastermind behind all the season's events.
- Deal with the Devil: After Vamdemon was reduced to a digital spirit following the 1999 Chosen Children defeating him, he found Oikawa and promised to take him to the Digital World if he abandoned his conscience, allowing him to possess Oikawa. Oikawa had thought it was his inner desires speaking to him, rather than a dark force.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Remember when the 1999 Chosen Children had to figure out which nine cards out of ten would open the gate between the Digital and Real Worlds? When Oikawa uses the program on his laptop to open the gate in this episode, the program noticeably loads in the Agumon card - that is, the incorrect one.
- Not Quite Dead: It's revealed that Vamdemon wasn't completely destroyed when the 1999 Chosen Children defeated him three years ago, and he inhabited Oikawa while they were leaving to fight the Dark Masters.
- Saying Too Much: Narrowly averted. When Daisuke is about to say that Oikawa's portal won't work because BlackWarGreymon sealed the gateway, the others shush him, saying they can use the moment he's shocked the portal won't open to rush him. Unfortunately, it doesn't really matter since Oikawa gets a portal open anyway.
- Take a Third Option: After Vamdemon absorbs all the Dark Flowers and transforms, Hikari and Takeru wonder if he's going to turn back into either Vamdemon or VenomVamdemon. Turns out neither, as he becomes BelialVamdemon.
- Wham Episode: A doozy. Vamdemon is revealed to be the real mastermind behind the season's events, has returned more powerful than ever, and has offed Archnemon and Mummymon.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Vamdemon wasn't planning to end up in the world Oikawa's portal led, but he was able to use it to his advantage to emerge from Oikawa and absorb the Dark Flowers.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Combined with For the Evulz, BelialVamdemon tortures Archnemon based on her fears before brutally destroying her, then doing the same to a vengeful Mummymon.
