demi

"Those crying out to be saved and those with brave and true hearts link to form a crystalline network of power." To Yagi, that means the successors of OFA. Yoichi cried out for help, and every subsequent Holder has had to be brave, to reach out their hand, both to receive the power and to pass it on. But I wonder if there isn't more to it than that.

We know that OFA evolves over time. In the final fight, we see everyone pushing Izuku forward, clearing a path for him to take on AFO.

AFO himself notices that Izuku is different from All Might. His weakness is what calls others to him.

If we think of Yagi's words in Chapter 2, wherein those crying out and those with brave hearts link to form a network, then what is happening here might have more ramifications on a meta level than what we see.

Izuku can hear everyone cheering him on. This can be interpreted as diegetic sound, meaning he can hear those who are physically there with him. It's what's actually happening in the scene. But! What if it's not?

Because then we see people all over the world cheering Izuku on. Maybe Izuku can hear (or feel) their wishes as well. And ShigAFO realizes that danger sense isn't working because the collective will of all of those standing against him is overwhelming it. The network is creating a feedback loop wherein everyone is getting strength from each other.

If One For All evolved to hold the strength of everyone's collective will, and not just the Holders', then Izuku may not have really lost One For All after all. Maybe his ability to call other's will, to join their hopes together and inspire them is what will now give him the literal super strength he needs to be a hero.

And this would be so perfect, because we've seen throughout the entire story that Izuku inspires other people to act. His actions inspire All Might at the very beginning, and that's what begins his journey in the first place! Time and time again, Izuku brings out the heroism in others, making them stronger as a result. (Uraraka, Todoroki, Gentle Criminal). It's not a meta ability, though you could call it a quirk (as we use the term in the real world) of his personality. And that "quirk" may have merged with OFA to become an actual meta ability- to call draw out the heroism in others and use it to push himself (and them) forward.

And even if that's not what happened, and Izuku does eventually lose his super strength, he will still be a Hero, because his ability to inspire others to act, to be better, to grow, has always been a part of him.

Izuku's character arc mirrors the classic hero's journey: with the sludge villain attack serving as the "Call to Adventure" and All Might as the "Supernatural Aid" (aka mentor figure who guides the hero). (And literally every section of the archetype has been fulfilled in some way- it's actually crazy- but that's a whole other post). But the Hero's Journey always comes full circle: "The returning hero, to complete his adventure, must survive the impact of the world."✰

Izuku has overcome the challenges that were once ahead of him and now must return to where he was before his journey began. He's quirkless, he's going back to school. BUT he also has to deal with the ramifications that his actions have had upon the world. And this is what we have to look forward to before the story ends. (I'm placing some serious trust in you rn Hori!)

Joseph Campbell writes:

"The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become... He does not mistake apparent changelessness in time for the permanence of Being, nor is he fearful of the next moment (or of the "other thing"), as destroying the permanent with its change."✰

With that being said, these panels take on some extra weight:

The last stage of the Hero's Journey is the "Freedom to Live." This can be interpreted as the hero overcoming their fear (of death, of change, etc.) They've accomplished what they wanted. If anything, that more mirrors Shigaraki's supposed ending than Izuku's, because Izuku does not feel like he succeeded. However, Christopher Volger includes a subsection of the final "Return" stage: The Resurrection.✴︎ The hero must undergo one final death and rebirth before their journey is complete. With that being said, I can't help but wonder if that will have to do with Izuku's quirk: will the embers of One For All be fanned instead of smothered? Will Izuku find that OFA has changed and that he can still wield a meta ability, or will his own innate heroism and ability to inspire those around him be what propels him forward into the rest of his life?

I can't wait to find out.

Works Cited:

✰Campbell, Joseph (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1st ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691097435. (2nd ed. 1968)