#bnha traitor reveal

[dafuq-i-did-not-sign-up-for-this]

Publishing the traitor reveal in the anime and the conclusion of the final fight in the manga in the span of two to three weeks is such a fucking move.

The fandom, currently:

Horikoshi, somewhere:

Me, waiting for confirmation of my theories or lack thereof:

[delawaredetroit]

Okay this is a funny bit of foreshadowing

In the volume titled "All for One", Aoyama, the All for One spy, is shown shooting his laser at Izuku a la the traitor reveal scene in the table of contents.

[kickbutts-singsongs]

Okay, not that I’m not totally stoked for season 7, but I have to admit that I’m a little bit nervous. Because the anime’s coming out pretty soon, and it’ll be going into the final arc.

Which.

Horikoshi’s not done with yet.

Soooooooo ummmmm I have a pretty good feeling we’re getting like an AoT final season type of thing. You know…

Separated. Into parts.

Which, I mean, I guess I can handle cuz I read the manga updates, but likeeeeeee

Where are they gonna end the season?????

[waywardsou2]

SPOILERS FOR MHA SEASON 7

I just finished episode 2 of season 7.

I didn't think I would like Star and Stripe but damn, she was powerful, and not just physically. She is another piece of living proof of all the All Might has managed to accomplish. It's amazing.

...but, to have her die so soon. It feels like an injustice...I can't believe it. Just when I was starting to like her too

AND THE ENDING. ARE WE GOING TO FINALLY CONFIRM WHO THE UA TRAITOR WAS

I remember when that was a whole thing but it was before season 5 had even aired and I had no clue what people's theories were and all that. But the two I heard were Aoyama and Hagakure. I am so hyped that will be such a mad reveal.

I cannot wait, but I also don't want it to be over. I hate series endings, they really break my heart.

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

tonight I go to bed grateful not to be in my bnha phase right now

[theetwinkleboy]

ohhhh man

ohhhhhh man her FACE we see her FACE

oh nooooo minaaaa she's soooo upset I"M so upset!!!

i just! they are leaning into it so hard! augh!!!!

HANDS HANDS HANDS

and! they were talking about how the battle would be on the villain's terms, but because izuku reached out a hand they're able to turn the tables! I JUST! I"M SO--

okay that was uncalled for tsukauchi

[mynameis-a]

me: maybe i should get back into my hero academia. that might be fun!

the mha fandom: everyone died so we're counting how many days they've been dead

me: ok maybe not

[tinyshinysylveon]

Hello! At what part of the my hero academia manga do you think the anime is going to end the season on? I keep going back and forth on whether the entire vigilante arc is going to get animated. I’m just curious about your thoughts!

hi anon! hmm.. i'll give my two cents here and say that it could go on up until around the time Star and Stripe sacrifices herself. what i did was took into account how many chapters each episode could hold (3-4 from what i've seen so far) and just did an estimate of where the season finishes. of course, i'm not 100% sure and it could finish later (reveal of the traitor) or earlier (just Star being introduced), but i have a feeling it could be Star's sacrifice so that they'll end the season with a climax _(:3」∠)_

[aoyamasprimogem]

how ironic, the fact that some aoyamacentric accounts and blogs post spoilers and leaks without any warning or censorship or adding the "more" button beforehand when aoyama literally loves surprises

(look at the tags for more things I gotta say)

also THIS is the "more" button.

is it THAT hard to add it and add the spoilers after it?

[five-rivers]

Listed in order of nomination. Descriptions of each fic are under the cut. Feel free to reblog and include propaganda!

Snow and Song - Danny has to participate in the school musical to graduate on time, while coping with new vocal powers. DP.

The Caterpillar Does Not Know - Due to his unique biology, Danny's body needs help from Clockwork to take on the form it was always meant to have. DP.

Pilgrimage - Sam, Tucker, and Jazz travel across the Infinite Realms to achieve enlightenment complete a rite that will ensure they become ghosts when they die. Sequel to Mortified. DP.

Cult Division - In which Danny is kidnapped by a cult for the purpose of sacrificing him to... himself. Yeah. His life is stupid. Also, his body's been stolen. Part of my Exhumed series. Corpse AU. DP.

Doorways - After a run-in with a monster posing as one of Jack and Maddie's college occult club buddies reveals Danny and his interesting relationship with the portal, the family goes on a road trip to check in on other former club members. DP.

Ancestral - Maddie is a memeber of the royal family of Avlynys. A family whose members are being murdered. Danny will need all the help he can get from family both living and dead to keep everyone safe. DP.

Danger First - What if the first quirk Izuku got from One for All wasn't super strength but Danger Sense? Featuring the undead peanut gallery. BNHA.

Long Night in the Valley sequel - Izuku and Toshinori are on the run after an ill-advised attempt by the Hero Commission to reveal Izuku as the traitor. Featuring alternate early One for All users because they weren’t all revealed when I started it. BNHA.

On Obsession and Free Will - How a relationship between Danny and Clockwork might look in an AU where Obsessions are absolute. DP.

Changeling - Jack and Maddie bargain with a strange Fae. Fertility, in exchange for their future second-born. They don't intend to ever have a second child. But then they do. Their attempts to get out of the deal have unintended consequences. DP.

Loved - Eldritch AU with aggressive adoption tactics. One of my few M rated fics. DP.

Take Me Higher - Danny explores the upper, rarified reaches of the Ghost Zone. Part of Kingdoms of Fish. DP.

[sapphic-agent]

Trios that would have been more compelling and less obnoxious than the "Wonder Trio":

Izuku, Tenya, Ochako: This needs no explanation

Izuku, Tenya, Shouto: Again, this really needs no champion vouching for it. The Stain arc and the subsequent character work that came with it will never be matched by any other arc in MHA.

Izuku, Denki, Yuga: These three all have self-harming quirks that can be really dangerous and inconvenient during a battle. It was truly a lost opportunity to see these three bond over their issues. Making Izuku and Yuga being close friends right off the bat would've have been really beneficial in sowing the traitor plot point early on and would've have also been far more devastating for Izuku during the reveal. And honestly, Yuga being formerly quirkless and having a self-harming quirk is a much better narrative parallel than the "Save to Win and Win to Save" bullshit that we got. Denki and Yuga just seem like they'd have really good chemistry.

Izuku, Tenya, Momo: These 3 intelligent specimens would've have been extremely overpowered if Hori actually cared enough to develop them. Also, Momo would get to shine because her quirk is powerful as hell (I actually head canon that she has the strongest/most versatile quirk in 1A and maybe enough the BNHA verse as a whole) and it's a crime that her intelligence and OP quirk went underutilized. Also, Momo and Izuku helping each other through their lack of self confidence would have been really touching and maybe have Izuku reflect on his life and how he was treated pre OFA. Momo and Tenya also seemed really no nonsense in the beginning when she ruthlessly criticized Bakugou, so this could help Izuku cut Bakugou off much earlier and allow him to grow.

Izuku, Tsuyu, Mineta: Yes I know, I know. Mineta sucks. But even so, these three were super compelling and interesting to watch during the USJ arc. The ways in which they used their quirks to escape death has way more charm and personality in their hair follicles than post season 3 ShoBakuDeku have in their entire bodies. Also, since Tsuyu was one of the first to call Bakugou out, I feel like her bluntness would be a really good reality check for Izuku to realize that the way Bakugou (and Aizawa) treat him is not okay. Also, Mineta already idolizes Izuku (which is actually sort of sweet) so this could have been used to develop his character rather than the awful and repetitive perv shtick that we're unfortunately stuck with.

Izuku, Shoji, Tokoyami: Like with the above trio, their forest camp sequence in trying to escape dark shadow has more personality and authenticity in their hair follicles than anything having to do with the stupid wonder trio. After all, the whole thing started because of Tokoyami witnessing Shoji being harmed by moonfish, which feels really raw and touching. Shoji also carrying Izuku on his back is super cute. These three also could've been used to address quirk-based discrimination, which is basically that backbone of BNHA's premise (even if it is always glossed over). Tokoyami and Shoji would've had to be victims of heteromorph discrimination (I think it was even confirmed in later chapters) which could drawn the three to each other. No offense to Shouto (and full offense of Bakugo) the two of them could never really relate to Izuku's trauma especially since Bakugou is responsible for 85% of it. They're both rich, they were both born with extremely powerful quirks. While Shouto is tragic because he was abused, he also benefits from the system of powerful quirks being favored which makes the two of them privileged. I also feel like Shoji and Tokoyami finding out about OFA and Izuku's previous quirklessness would just strengthen their bond and would motivate them to help and protect Izuku in any way they can unlike Bakugou who was a total nuisance the entire time.

Izuku, Mei, Ochako: Again, like with the last two, their admittedly limited time on screen together has more charm and personality than the stupid Wonder Trio.

These are the ones that I could think of from the top of my head. Feel free to add anymore.

These are all so cool! I especially liked Izuku, Denki, and Yuga. I always thought Izuku and Denki should have had more interactions anyway. And of course I love Izuku's scenes with Yuga. This is definitely a more unique one.

I would add Izuku, Momo, and Shoto to the list because I love the thought of Izuku being super intimidated by them only to be like, "Oh, oh no they're just isolated rich kids who have never talked to another kid their age and they're mine now" and adopts them.

Also, Izuku, Fumikage, and Shoto. I feel like they're fun.

It's not an Izuku trio but I'd also love Ochako, Tsu, and Momo just because they're best girls

[dafuq-i-did-not-sign-up-for-this]

I apologize in advance for the person I’ll become should Kaminari ever get revealed as a second traitor, or should he ever turn out to have connections to the Villain landscape.

[machiroads]

Don't look, i'm about to overthink this panel

Long post under the cut.

Notwithstanding that I can't figure out what's going on with Aizawa's legs here because he's twisted around or something—it's a good panel. Look at them, they're adorable. 11/10 no notes.

Actually that's not true I have so many notes.

Will someone also please get this man a blanket for god's sake

I'm going to unpack the implications here from two perspectives: Aizawa telling Eri he got hit by a truck, and Eri trying (and failing) to save Aizawa.

Tis But A Flesh Wound

Aizawa tells Eri he got hit by a truck, and a common interpretation I've seen of this is that nobody told her what happened to him. I don't necessarily think this is true, because:

A) She rewound Mirio the day before the raid

B) She was watching the fight on TV with All Might.

Canonically, she is at least tangentially aware of what happened. Aizawa also knows that she's at least somewhat aware of what happened, vis-a-vis excerpt A.

I've also seen the interpretation that Aizawa is trying to obfuscate the truth about his injuries from her (presumably because the quirk-deleting bullets were created from her blood), but again, she was watching the fight on TV.

The most rational (hah) explanation is that he's just back on his bullshit, lying to children for his own amusement.

which is. hysterical.

Anyways, onto item 2!

The Deus Ex Machina

As we saw above, Eri rewound Mirio the day before the raid. I am not a scholar of the BNHA timeline, but I did do some research while I was writing Nine Lives. My understanding is as follows:

The Shie Hassaikai raid is sometime in September

The Jaku raid is at the end of March

Mirio corroborates these two points when he arrives at Jaku, noting that he's been out of the game for about 6 months

Post-Jaku is where the timeline gets weird.

Tartarus is breached the night of the raid on Jaku and Gunga

Midoriya is brought back to UA about a month after that

The Star & Stripe fight happens the day after that

The day after that, All Might reveals they have at least a week to prepare for the final battle. Aoyama is revealed to be the traitor on the same day.

In summary, the final battle happens somewhere in the ballpark of a month and a half to two months after Jaku / Gunga.

With the timeline sort of squared away, let's move on to the interpretation I've seen some readers make, which is that Eri didn't have enough energy to rewind Aizawa. The translation of Ectoplasm's dialogue has varied between the original leaks, the fan scanlation, and the official release, leading to some ambiguity of interpretation here, but there are a few different reasons that this doesn't make any sense:

Based on the timeline outlined above, where Eri successfully sends Mirio back 6 months on the day before the raid, it doesn't really make sense that 0 to 2 months later, she couldn't hypothetically rewind Aizawa by 0 to 2 months after he loses his leg and eye. Eri's power is wishy washy at best, but this seems like it's entirely within the realm of plausibility if Aizawa wanted to be rewound.

From a storytelling standpoint, what's the point of rewinding Aizawa to de-nerf him for the final battle if him and Monoma are ultimately removed from the fight via Sad Man's Parade anyway?

My interpretation is that this doesn't actually have anything to do with Eri trying and failing to rewind Aizawa, but rather she's trying to go rescue Midoriya and help him the same way that she did during the Shie Hassaikai raid.

The inference Ectoplasm is making is that it's too late for that, because she's at home watching the fight on TV rather than already being on the battlefield. This was also the case at Jaku, where she was canonically watching the fight on TV with All Might. She must have seen Aizawa go down and wanted to go save him, but it was already too late for her to try to help.

There's an entire separate essay worth of discussion on why Aizawa continues to live with one leg and one eye (both from a canon and a meta perspective), but I won't get into that here.

In conclusion:

This panel is fucking adorable

Aizawa continues to lie to children for fun and profit

Eri is baby and is physically perfectly capable of controlling her power at this juncture, she's just geographically removed from the action because she's like seven years old

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

[ravelights]

So I've been out of the bnha fandom for a bit, but with AFO biting the dust finally I kind wanted to talk about my perspective with the deal with this situation.

Mostly about AFO and Izuku story as characters, because I don't think you need to look far to see that there is or was something bigger to both their characters, that connected them in a way outside of OFA and that story line. Now for a long time a lot of fan thought of the DFO theory but I've and plenty other I think have gotten to the point where that's been sadly debunked.

That being said I don't ever regret being apart of that theory fandom, it was an awesome community to be apart of and they stories, fanart and theories that have been made were incredible. and A lot of us even die hard believers knew it was a far fetch theory even at the best of time's, but that the reality of following a story it doesn't always turn out the way you expect, but it was still a blast to be apart of.

The thing about the DFO theory was that it handily tied two very real plot threads in the story in a clean knot. Which is who is Hisashi Midoriya, and what the weird foreshadowing with Deku and AFO but now it seems their separate I want to talk about the later theory.

From the beginning of the manga AFO has a had a presence in deku Life, as many fans know the doctor who diagnose Deku quirkless is AFO doctor who also turned his grandson who played with deku into a nomu. We also have gotten what went down at Kamino and AFO general off handed attuited when it came to deku for most of the story. The multiple quirk's deku could spawned without dying and even that chapter 217 the basically compared Deku to AFO. Not to mention two different official artwork of them interacting. Despite some pretty big foreshadowing that something was going on with them, after this newest chapter 410 many fan are scratching their heads in what his all means. Because DFO aside there was something more to their story that know seems to have just been left as a dead end.

Now of course this story is not over yet and this could still be explained. but it is a lot of build up for two character who will have never interacted face to face (as far as we know). And frankly I'm at a complete loss as to what it all meant, it's possible it could have been a story line Hori wanted to change, which i don't blame him if that's the case, BNHA has been going on for a decade now, ideas that happened at the beginning of the story certainly haven't made it to the end. For example Hori just revealed that Endeavor was meant to die earlier in the story, and that Tsukauchi was meant to be a traitor. not to mention there have been a lot of other family reveals he might have felt he overloaded the story if he had decided to do DFO at some point.

That being said it's not the only plot thread that's been left unanswered (for now). For instance we still don't know why Gran became a hero (anyone remember that plot thread from the stain arc). We have yet to know anything about Nana husband and of course we still have no idea who Hisashi is. and Their seems to have been a slightly dropped arc with the doctor, the nomu and his grandson.

so what does this whole ramble mean in the end? well it's the fact I'm a little stubbed as to where these character are going now and a little disappointed they never got to fight. That being said there is still a way to go before the manga ends, so I have a feeling at this point we all just have to wait and see if these plot point tie up or if they where dropped.

And Who knows, maybe it's something Hori has planned for later down the track outside of the main manga. Should he ever want to do a sequel to MHA or maybe possible a prequal.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Honestly I just fuckin. Love. I fuckin love little time capsules of fanfics and fanart from before some kind of major reveal happened in the series.

Ladybug fics with different Miraculous assignments or different Hero Names or even ones where Gabe isn't Hawkmoth

Gravity Falls fics from before we knew about the name swap so Grunkle Stan is Stanford and the Author is Stanley

Steven Universe fics where Pink and Rose are separate people or even Pink doesn't exist at all.

Bnha fics with a different Class Traitor or ones where the order of Todoroki sibling ages are different or even there's only three because no one knew about Toya yet or if they /did/ they didn't connect to Dabi.

[codenamesazanka]

There was that joke in the fandom about Horikoshi looking through fanfics to see what theories to make canon like the "Dabi being Touya" or "the UA traitor" (even tho most of those were just stuff hinted at in the canon before hand). Since we're doing the whole "sharing memories" bit, the one fanfic trope he can definitely throw in the manga right now is the "Spinner tells Shigaraki he used to have a tail that got cut off by bullies"

Is that a popular trope? Enough to be a thing Horikoshi would pick up on. I don't think it's anywhere near the same level as 'Dabi is the lost Todoroki son' and 'UA Traitor is _____'… but it would be interesting if Spinner Tail Trauma is made canon.

Though at this late stage, I don't know if I want it, to be honest! If it's a memory, it's angst fuel to develop characters other than Spinner - guy wouldn't even be there for it. It would a real iffy choice to show something deeply personal and traumatic that happened to Spinner, something so unjust, without Spinner there—and really only for the benefit of the contrived connection between Shigaraki and Deku.

I guess because Spinner is still unaccounted for, he can still show up so it doesn't have to be just a memory, but. Still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. HeroAca resolutions are less about the victims and what they're owed, and more about how cool and merciful the Heroes are for saving them. This would be that, but even more so, and infinitely worse.

Plus, it would make the heteromorph riot mini-arc even more of a mess. Not to say there's levels of suffering that can be compared, but in-universe and in story, Shoji is kinda framed as having been worst off - his parents weren't heteromorphic like him, he got bashed in the face with a rake and was heavily scarred for life after he saved a girl from drowning, then he even has to wear a mask to prevent people from thinking he's resentful for being the victim of a hate crime. All that, but he came out of it with a strong and golden moral core, ready to be a great and inspirational Hero who protects the status quo.

Shoji's positioned as being in the right: here was a kid who suffered terribly, but he still managed to overcome the odds and be a Good Person, who thought deeply about the Right Way to end discrimination and is putting it into action (which is being a model minority). So what's everyone else's excuse?

Meanwhile, Spinner's backstory is that he only gets sprayed with pesticides, succumbs to being a NEET hikikomori, and goes running off to join terrorists without a single original thought in his head. For the narrative to work, he needs to be the selfish, hypocritical loser who didn't try hard enough to overcome his hardships that were comparatively mild.

If Spinner was revealed to have a tail cut off by bullies, the bnha balance of heteromorphic good and evil would collapse. A young boy's classmates mutilates him as the apex of heteromorphobic bullying, and the victim was left to languish as a high school dropout shut-in? That's not something that can be fixed by waiting out generations (just wait for the adults to die! their mindset would go with them—oh, but the perpetrators are the new generation…) or having the victim change their behavior (there's just no excuse for chopping off a child's body part). That reveals something much darker in the fabric of society that Heroes' plucky 'work-harder! plus ultra!' optimism are unequiped to handle.

At the very least, it's something that "Stop holding a grudge" and "Sorry for not realizing earlier" (as the rando hero tells the PLF guy in Chapter 373) and "Shine bright until your torments feel ashamed" are utterly insufficient and unconvincing in resolving. Not quite as inspirational, you know?

I'm sorry anon! I know you were asking as a joke, offering a fun idea. And I do like it! I'm still not opposed to Spinner having that canon backstory if the writing around it was to suddenly radically change the story and expand it by 300 more chapters to fix everything. I still love the idea that Spinner had a tail. I just took it too seriously and overthought it. My apologies. Thanks for the ask.