My Hero Academia Season 8, Episode 2: The End of An Era, And The Beginning

Even after everything he’s done, All Might still believes his beginnings were simple. As a kid, he spent days on the patio reading Anpanman and singing the “Anpanman March” with his mom, both of them laughing together. Looking back now, he realizes those small moments were the first “lights” that shaped who he became.

In the present, All Might and Stain take advantage of the Villain’s opening with Bloodcurdle and push forward to finish the fight against All For One. Their clean hits don’t finish All For One. Instead, a fountain of blood bursts from his body as he activates Bloodlet through Forced Quirk Activation, draining himself completely. He calls out to Stain by his real name, saying he expected him to show up since he was the only inmate from the Tartarus breakout who escaped on his own instead of following him.

Stain tries to lick the blood to paralyze him again, but a mouth forms out of All For One’s shoulder spike and bites him before he can. All For One says it wouldn’t have worked anyway—he swapped his blood type using Antigen Swap, and dumping all that blood actually recharged him. All Might yells for Stain and rushes in, but All For One sends him flying through several buildings and into a huge sign before darting toward him.

AFO kills Stain

AFO says he’ll “take Bloodcurdle for himself” and “remembers how much the Hero Killer influenced the League of Villains’ early days,” especially Tomura’s growth. He tells Stain that his role is ending. Stain can barely move, too exhausted and in pain to fight back. Through his fading vision, he spots All Might flying toward him. With what little strength he has, Stain lifts his head and tells All For One that his role doesn’t end here — everything is part of the process.

In his final breath, Stain tells All Might to “live and win,” but All For One ends it with a single punch, crushing him and stealing Bloodcurdle before Stain can finish saying his hero’s name. AFO then fires a laser at All Might, but it’s blocked by the last remnants of Hercules’ armor. The A.I. finishes Stain’s words before it’s destroyed, and the blast’s shockwave sends All Might flying.

All Might, broken and covered in blood, sees visions of Nana calling out to him from a white void, telling him to keep fighting because his story isn’t over yet. Then he sees Sir Nighteye looking at him quietly. Realizing he can’t move — his armor and support are gone, and his legs are crushed — All Might returns to reality. He lies face-up on the rain-soaked street, beaten and motionless.

All Might reaches his limits

All Might’s body is way past its limit, but he doesn’t stop. He grits his teeth and pushes on, to fight his fate and live long enough to see Deku become the next Symbol of Peace. He says he’s not dead yet and flips himself over, staring All For One straight in the eye, daring him to come down. AFO looks like he might take the challenge, but he stops. Instead, he turns toward the shoreline and laughs. Below, the U.A. building, still smoking, inches closer to the ground. Deku’s still up there, holding off Tomura in a massive whirlwind of energy.

All For One has reached the minimum range to use Warping on Tomura. If he pulls it off, he’ll transfer his replicated Quirks to his protégé, creating a being even stronger than himself. All Might crawls forward, yelling for Deku to come get him, just to buy more time. But AFO doesn’t care.

He says Deku needs to be out of the way for the transfer to work. He calls out to Tomura as he activates Warping. The black sludge starts pouring from Tomura’s mouth. But Tomura fights back. He swallows it down and tells his master not to interfere. All For One freezes, realizing Tomura’s fully taken control of his body. Then, that twisted grin spreads across his face. He flies down to meet All Might’s challenge — and All Might, battered but still standing, smiles right back. All For One, grinning with All Might dangling helplessly from his hand. The villain mocks him, saying he’s about to take responsibility for filling the youth with false hope.

From afar, Tomura notices the scene and taunts Deku to let him go so he can save his idol. He promises to use the time to finish off the heroes who fought him on the Coffin in the Sky. Deku refuses. When he finally sees All Might’s broken body, he remembers his vow to twist fate with him. Tears well up as he feels All Might’s vestige inside One For All start to fade.

Bakugo rises just in time

Meanwhile, All Might recalls the day he met Izuku — when the boy asked if someone without a Quirk could still become a Hero. Back then, he said no. Now, he takes it back. He knows Izuku never stops pushing forward, no matter what.

All Might decides he can’t abandon his own dream either. With a blank stare, he wraps his arms around All For One’s shoulders. The move makes All For One hesitate, as he flashes back to his final battle with Nana and her last words — that one day, he’d be defeated by All Might, because her successor was even crazier than she was.

All Might tries to use a bomb to kill both himself and AFO. However, his attempt is foiled by AFO’s use of Spearlike Bones to skewer All Might’s arm and short out the device. He then paralyzes him with Bloodcurdle. All For One becomes ecstatic to the point that his smile tears open the skin and muscles on his mouth. AFO lifts All Might in the air so that his loved ones, allies, and rest of the world can witness the heroes death.

Deku becomes despondent at the possibility that his hero will die and he cannot save him. Naomasa closes his eyes, as he begs someone to save his friend. Suddenly, a bright explosion appears and Bakugo rises from the wreckage. Bloodied, injured, and surrounded with sparks of explosive sweat. He clutches his battered All Might trading card, a symbol of what All Might means to him. Deku looks at his friend with tears in his eyes, as Bakugo meets his eyes as well.

All Might’s era is ending as it must. However, a new era is just beginning with heroes like Deku and Bakugo.