Episode 55

The Connected Bonds: Daybreak And First Light (繋いだ絆 彼は誰時 朝ぼらけ) is the 55th episode of the Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series, and the 11th and final episode of its third season.

Synopsis
Muichiro passes on the sword that was sharpened by Haganezuka, and Tanjiro is finally able to slice Hantengu's neck. However, it turns out that it is not the neck of Hantengu's main body and Hantengu turns to pounce on some nearby swordsmiths in order to make a recovery. Tanjiro stands up once more to make a decisive strike on the demon, but in that moment, day begins to break, and Nezuko is exposed to sunlight. Forced to pick between striking the demon or protecting Nezuko, Tanjiro decides to...

Plot
After failing to behead Hantengu in his burl and finding him attempting to flee once more, Tanjiro pursues Upper Four through the forests, as he tries to comprehend how the demon could selfishly run from the humans he has been trying to kill, recalling Zohakuten denouncing them as villains for attempting to kill his main body. Despite this, it is they, humans who are normally helpless in the face of demons, who battle them and never give up.

As he flees, Hantengu peers behind him and sees two falling trees and Nezuko descending toward him. After the trees fail to hit him, Nezuko lands and attempts to claw him, but only just misses. Frightened, Hantengu increases his pace and scuttles away from Nezuko and Genya, who becomes annoyed at the demon’s sudden boost in speed and their inability to catch up. Tanjiro notes that despite the Upper Rank still having strength remaining, the Demon Slayers are nearly at their limit. He looks to the sky and sees that dawn is about to break. Recalling Mitsuri’s current engagement with Zohakuten and knowing she will soon run out of stamina and the demons will inevitably flee from the sunlight, he resolves to hasten his efforts but becomes frustrated by the little demon outpacing them each time. He motivates himself to find the push and not let Hantengu win but suddenly experiences a sharp pain in his left leg, slowing him down to a hobble. As he tries to find a way to help him continue, he remembers Zenitsu’s words explaining Thunder Breathing’s focus on the user’s legs. Though the inner working of muscles is not known, he recalls his “gramps” had once that it is only once someone has complete awareness of their muscles that they can achieve total concentration.

With this in mind, Tanjiro decides he will attempt to circulate his oxygen into each part of his muscles and blood vessels. Stomping down his right leg and leaning his weight onto it, he breathes in to build strength into his leg and releases it with a loud thunderclap, propelling him past Genya and Nezuko and allowing him to catch up to Hantengu. The demon looks back in terror as the Demon Slayer uses his Hinokami Kagura and slices into his neck, pushing in deeper and successfully cutting halfway through. Hantengu twists his neck and unexpectedly asks if Tanjiro does not pity him, before suddenly transforming into an enlarged clone of himself. The giant demon grabs Tanjiro by the head and attempts to crush him, angrily demanding that he does not bully the weak. As his grip weakens, he nearly loses consciousness but is joined by Genya, who attempts to pull the demon’s hands away. The demon opens his mouth and uses Urogi’s sonic shriek to blast the two, causing them severe pain. Nezuko leaps up from behind and splashes Upper Four in her blood, before setting him ablaze. With the body weakened, Genya is able to break off the arms to free Tanjiro but finds that Nezuko’s fires are affecting him as well and backs away to put the flames out. Tanjiro, still holding his embedded blade, pushes again and slashes deeper into the giant clone’s neck, who staggers back and causes the two of them to plummet off a cliff, landing with a powerful tremor; Nezuko attempts to reach her brother but falls as well.

As Genya calls to the siblings, the giant demon stands up to find his body bleeding heavily and he cannot regenerate quickly, realizing that Zohakuten is using too much of their shared power; he scans the field to find humans to eat and replenish his strength. Within the demon’s earshot, Tanjiro exclaims he will not let him escape, who looks back to see the Demon Slayer is still alive and runs away, as he promises to sever his head. Enraged, the giant demon questions how the human dares to threaten him and plans to kill him quickly upon finding food, eventually spotting three hiding swordsmiths in the distance. He notes that of his three opponents, his most troubling is Nezuko due to being a demon as well, surmising that Tanjiro does not pose a threat as he is unable to slice completely through his neck. The smiths quickly see the demon approaching and flee, with the giant demon now in pursuit of his prey. Lifting himself off of the tree branch, Tanjiro slumps to the ground and sees Nezuko is now asleep. With the demon running away, he kneels down to use Total Concentration Breathing but hears a voice calling to him.

Amidst the cliff tops, he sees something moving in his direction and watches as a sword stabs itself into the dirt in front of him; the polished ancient blade hurled by Muichiro. As the Mist Hashira tells him to use it, a less-than-pleased Hotaru begins to choke him and orders Tanjiro to not use the unfinished blade. With his last strength, Muichiro tells him that the sun will soon rise, and the demon will flee again, giving Tanjiro his resolve to fight. The angry swordsmith then punches him in the head, causing the Hashira to lose consciousness; Kotetsu accuses Hotaru of killing him, in spite of his confusion, but Kozo explains that it was his fever and Gyokko’s poison. Despite losing unconsciousness, Muichiro notes that everyone’s hopes are now in the blade Tanjiro wields. With the demon in his sight, the marks appear on his head as Tanjiro empowers himself with Total Concentration Breathing and combines his Hinokami Kagura with his knowledge of Thunder Breathing, using Dancing Flash to blitz forward in an extremely fast strike that allows him to catch up to the distant demon instantly. Bringing his blade onto the demon's neck, he twists his body and is able to decapitate him. As the ground around him lights up, he looks to the horizon and realizes the sun is now about to appear. He runs back to Nezuko and attempts to warn her but is unable to speak properly. Nezuko, with a horrified expression, suddenly runs towards him, confusing and worrying him since she is the one who is now in danger since the area is open. She reaches him and tries to make him look behind, but Tanjiro instead tries to tell her that the sun will soon appear. She points to make him look, finally causing him to see what she was worried about.

Despite its complete decapitation, the headless giant clone is still in pursuit of the swordsmiths. Tanjiro looks to the severed head nearby and sees its tongue has the kanji for “resentment” etched on it; remembering that the main body had the kanji of “fear”, he realizes he has failed to kill the true demon. As he makes a move to finish the demon and his sister joins to help him, the sun finally rises above the mountains. Its light hits Nezuko and immediately causes severe burns to her face and arms as she tries to shield herself. Tanjiro abandons chasing the demon and attempts to cover his agonized sister as she cries out in pain, begging her to shrink herself as protection. Despite doing so, she continues to burn as he notes the severity of her burns despite the little amount of sunlight shining. Tanjiro looks back to see the demon continuing to chase his prey; as he tries to find help, he sees Genya struggling to climb down the cliff and Muichiro unconscious in Kotetsu’s arms, realizing they will not be able to help him now.

Realizing that allowing the demon to burn will only leave the swordsmith dead by then, he initially reasons he could try carrying Nezuko as he kills the demon, only to conclude that he would not make it in time by doing so. Continually looking between the demon and his burning sister, Tanjiro is unable to make a decision and freezes at the moment, frustrated and angered at the impossible odds he is forced to face. As he pulls Nezuko in closer to protect her, he is suddenly kicked in the air, now leaving her completely exposed to the sun. In shock at her decision and watching as she continues to burn, Tanjiro sees her make the signal to kill the demon. The memories with her as a demon race in his mind, from her transformation and joining him to meet Sakonji Urokodaki, to helping him in his missions, meeting Zenitsu, aiding him when he could not face Rui alone, helping him wake up from Enmu’s spell, facing Daki when he collapsed, and joining him on his mission to the Swordsmith Village; he finally sees a memory of Nezuko laughing while still human as he watches her eyes begin to close in the sunlight.

With tears in his eyes, he lands down and resolves to kill Hantengu once and for all, detecting the clone's scent and seeing it has not travelled far. Running across the field, he realizes that the main body is also nearby, looking at the giant headless clone and sharpening his sense of smell to triangulate its position, finally locating Hantengu inside the giant’s heart. As the demon holds the fleeing swordsmiths in its grasp, Tanjiro leaps up to slice off both of its arms to save them, his furious stare striking deep fear into Upper Rank Four. Demanding that the demon atone for his sins with his life, he slices the giant’s body in half, exposing Hantengu to the sun’s light, before bringing his blade down onto his neck; the Demon Slayer’s words causing the demon to reminisce on his human life. Hantengu recalls the moments of his committed numerous crimes, how he was caught each time, his attempt to deflect the blame to anything but himself, his trial before a magistrate to execute him in spite of the continual plea of his own innocence, meeting his master, and killing the magistrate who sentenced him. Despite knowing he is about to be killed, the man instead tells the demon of the day when he will atone for his crimes. Confusion strikes Hantengu as he watches his life flash before his eyes. Despite a final attempt to stop him by using his giant clone’s body, Tanjiro successfully beheads Upper Four and the exposure to the sunlight finally kills the demon for good.

In a mixture of shock, solace, and grief, Tanjiro falls to his knees and laments that his victory has cost Nezuko's life, believing that the sunlight has left nothing of her to remain. As he begins to cry and grieve his sister's death, having failed to turn her back into a human, a swordsmith approaches him and implores the Demon Slayer to look behind him. Turning his head, Tanjiro can only stare in silent disbelief as Nezuko walks toward him, no longer burning in the sunlight. She greets him with a broken "Good morning". Tanjiro, supported by the swordsmiths, makes his way to her and tentatively asks if she is alright. Despite her difficulty, she repeats his question to ask him instead. Realizing Nezuko is indeed alive and well, he pulls her into a hug and sobs uncontrollably in utter relief, causing even the nearby swordsmiths to cry and thank them for saving their lives.

Genya, having climbed down the cliff to reunite with the siblings, watches with a content smile at Nezuko's survival. Though he quickly collapses in exhaustion, supported by the smiths and Nezuko, Tanjiro smiles in consolation that she is safe. Elsewhere, in the forests of the village, Mitsuri continues to get attacked relentlessly by Zohakuten's wooden dragons. Without her mark and entirely exhausted by her prolonged battle, she can only swat them with her blade to fend them away and soon breaks down crying that she can no longer continue fighting. As a dragon opens its jaws to crush her, the Love Hashira can only apologize for her defeat as she is engulfed whole. Suddenly, the dragons soon disintegrate, saving Mitsuri. Watching as Zohakuten fades away, she smiles with the realization that Tanjiro and the others have decapitated Hantengu.

As a woman and her maid enter their home library, she opens the door to find books and furniture strewn everywhere. She asks about what has happened to her son 'Toshikuni' and wonders if he is looking for a book, imploring him to have tea first. Muzan Kibutsuji, looking through Hantengu's memories, discovers to his excitement that a demon has finally been able to withstand sunlight. The woman continues to ask about what he is talking about but is suddenly decapitated, spraying the room with blood. As the maid looks on at her headless body, Muzan excitedly declares that he no longer needs to search for the Blue Spider Lily, as it was the only reason he had been transforming people into demons for a thousand years. Watching as his body transforms from a young boy into a grown man, the maid can only stare in silent horror as Muzan announces his new goal of devouring the "chosen demon" to become immune to sunlight. She denounces him as a murderer and screams for her master, but Muzan brutally kills the young woman before exiting the room.

Muzan reminisces on the events that led to his transformation; during the Heian period one thousand years ago, he was a sickly man who was doomed by an illness that will kill him before the age of 20. The doctor who was treating him remained the only person who was attempting to help him, despite Muzan's own disdain for the man due to being unable to see any recovery. One day, after taking a special medicine and lying in bed, Muzan spoke of his hatred and desire to destroy all living things, jealous of the uncursed lives they possessed. He walked outside, grabbed a knife, and stabbed the doctor in the head, enraged at his incompetence, but it was only after killing him that Muzan realized the medicine had indeed worked; his once weak body became extremely strong and energetic, and he could even change it at will. However, Muzan soon learned he was unable to walk in sunlight as it would burn him, even realizing that it would kill and turn him into ashes. With his new energetic body, he began to crave human flesh and satiated his hunger by devouring people, which he was content with. Anyone who stood in defiance of him was quickly eliminated; when a platoon of soldiers attempted to kill him for his murders, Muzan simply swatted away their arrows and killed all of the men in an instant. Though he enjoyed his immense power, he continued to be humiliated by his restricted movement during the day and having to go out at night, which only served to anger him further.

Desiring to have a body to negate his one weakness, Muzan examined the doctor's medicine, but found that due to it being experimental, he was unable to find a component known only as the Blue Spider Lily. Adding to the flower's scarcity was that very little was known about it and Muzan had killed the one person who knew of them.

Throughout his life, Muzan has transformed countless unwilling humans in the hopes of either locating the Blue Spider Lilly or creating demons, believing that eventually, one demon would be able to withstand sunlight. Now satisfied that one now exists, Muzan declares he no longer has a need to proliferate his kind. His new goal is to devour Nezuko and gain the immunity to withstand sunlight for himself to become immortal. Accompanied by Kotetsu, Muichiro descends the cliff to reunite with Tanjiro, who is being supported by Nezuko due to his exhaustion. Thanking the Mist Hashira for providing him with his sword, he is surprised when Muichiro instead thanks him for helping him recover his lost memories. Tanjiro denies this due to being unaware of his influence, but Muichiro remains thankful of him, before asking what the situation is with Nezuko. Entering the reunion, the enraged Hotaru appears and demands to know the whereabouts of the ancient sword.

Irrespective of Tanjiro's need for the blade to kill Hantengu and a swordsmith holding the weapon nearby, Hotaru prods the Demon Slayer's face and threatens to kill him, leading Tanjiro to order Nezuko to run away, resulting in the swordsmith chasing the siblings despite Kozo's beckoning to calm him down. Suddenly, a loud voice calls from behind; Genya, Muichiro, and Kotetsu look behind them as Mitsuri runs toward the group in relief to see them after the battle. As Tanjiro and Nezuko see her appear, the Love Hashira pulls everyone into a hug and cries tears of relief at their survival of the battle. Nezuko repeats her words, causing Mitsuri to back away in momentary disbelief. Seeing that the siblings are the same as when she met them, she hugs her as Tanjiro explains that though she can speak, her eyes and fangs still remain. However, he is at least thankful she is alive. Mitsuri cries in thankfulness at Nezuko's survival and her tears are joined by Tanjiro, Kotetsu, and Kozo crying as well. Writing a letter addressed to Tanjiro, Tamayo thanks him for providing Nezuko's and samples of the Twelve Kizuki's blood for her research. She explains that the man transformed by Muzan in Asakusa has regained his identity due to Nezuko's blood, now living free from Muzan's control and only on small amounts of blood. Tamayo notes that in her findings, her blood was able to change its composition repeatedly in a short time.

She also writes her own thoughts about why she has not regained her sense of self, believing that instead of finding her identity, Nezuko maintains mentally that there is something else of greater importance. Finishing the letter and calling to Yushiro, she asks that he summons Chachamaru, the vanishing cat who serves them. Putting the letter in the cat's box and ordering him to find Tanjiro and Nezuko, she watches as the cat vanishes to deliver it as she recalls the letter's last portion; she believes that Nezuko will soon be able to conquer the sun. In the aftermath of the battle, the residents of the Swordsmith Village begin the process of picking up the pieces and recovering from the battle. Kotetsu and Kozo, who are carrying a cart with Tanjiro and Nezuko, see village chief Tecchin in the distance, who greets them. Kotetsu explains that Tanjiro is leaving and would like to say his goodbyes and the village chief asks about his condition. Tanjiro replies he is alright and thanks him, though Tecchin adds that it is he who would be thankful.

Tanjiro denies this and explains that it was everyone doing their part that allowed them to survive, as well as the ancient sword. When the chief asks about Nezuko, he notes she is inside her box asleep, to which Tecchin expresses his relief. He then spots Hotaru peering in the distance and asks Kozo about his actions, to which he explains that Hotaru is likely still angry at Tanjiro for using a blade that was unfinished. Tecchin orders him to stand before them and Hotaru makes his way to the group, only to accuse Tanjiro of being at fault and proceeding to poke his face. Kotetsu mentions that the village would have been destroyed had Tanijro and the Demon Slayers appeared, leading Hotaru to ease his anger. After Tecchin explains that the entire reason for him being at the village was to allow Tanjiro to speak to him, due to his initial refusal to make him a new blade, Tanjiro sincerely thanks the smith for taking care of his sword. Hotaru eventually relinquishes his anger and states that he will make him a new blade, asking that he wait at the Butterfly Mansion, much to the Demon Slayer's gratitude.

Kotetsu then pokes fun at Hotaru's embarrassment in expressing his feelings, which results in the swordsmith grabbing and spinning him by the legs around as Tanjiro, Kozo, and Tecchin watch. Tanjiro then expresses his desire to work harder and the village chief bids him good luck on his journey. The Kakushi who had taken him to the village then appears to take him away, giving him a blindfold and nose plugs to mask his senses. As he bids everyone goodbye, the villagers return their farewells with their own as they depart. Unexpectedly, they stop, and Tanjiro asks why, to which she tells him to take off the blindfold. Surrounding them are the residents of the Swordsmith Village, throwing confetti and shouting their thanks to the Demon Slayer who saved them.

He looks around to see everyone and becomes overwhelmed by their gratitude. The Kakushi then suggests that he keep the blindfold off until they leave the village, which Tanjiro happily agrees to.

Anime Notes

 * This episode has an extended runtime, amounting to around 50 minutes of episode content.
 * There are several notable differences in the episode's content compared to the content of the manga chapters it adapts.

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