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 episode and final episode of its third season.

Synopsis
Realizing the battle will not end without the death of Hantengu, Tanjiro, Nezuko, and Genya resolve to find Upper Rank Four's main body and kill him once and for all. In the wake of the battle, a turn of events causes a pivotal moment that will forever alter the war between the demons and Demon Slayers, one that will cause Muzan to change objectives to suit his ultimate desire.

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 the demon of hatred 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 the demon of hatred 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 the demon of hatred, 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 asks how the human dares threaten him and plans to kill him quickly upon finding food, eventually spotting three 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 his 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 loudly accuses Hotaru of killing him, in spite of his confusion, but Kozo explains that it was his fever and Gyokko’s poison.

Despite being unconscious, 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” and it is still alive.

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 by her, 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, from her transformation and joining him to meet Sakonji Urokodaki, to helping him in his missions, to meeting Zenitsu, aiding him when he could not face Rui alone, helping him wake up from Enmu’s spell, facing Daki when he collapsed, to joining him on his mission to the Swordsmith Village; he finally sees a memory of Nezuko laugh while still human, as he watches as 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 has the 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 atones 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 cause the demon to reminisce on his human life; all of the moments of his committed numerous crimes, how he was caught each time, the moments he deflected 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 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, Zohakuten begins to burn to ashes and the dragons soon disintegrate, saving Mitsuri. Watching as her opponent crumbles to nothing, 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 conquer the sun. 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 happily 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 mutates from a young boy into a grown man, the maid can only stare in silent horror as Muzan announces his new goal of absorbing the "chosen demon" to conquer the sun for himself. She denounces him as a murderer and screams for her master but the annoyed 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 to die 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 laying in bed, Muzan spoke of his hatred and desire to destroy all living things, jealous of the uncursed lives they possess. He walked outside, grabbed a knife, and stabbed the doctor in the head, enraged at his incompetence.

It was only after killing him that Muzan realized the medicine had cured; his once weak body became extremely strong and energetic, and he could even change it at will. In spite of his survival, he was left unable to walk in sunlight without being burned, even realizing that it would kill him. He also began to crave human flesh and satiated his hunger by devouring humans, which he was content with. Anyone who stood in defiance of him was quickly eliminated; when a squadron 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 inability to walk in the sun, being forced to restrict himself to only moving 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; moreover, very little was known about the plant and Muzan had killed the one individual who knew of them. Throughout his life, Muzan has transformed countless unwilling humans in the hopes of either locating the lily or one of his demons gaining the immunity to sunlight. Now that one such demon exists, Nezuko Kamado, he no longer has a need to proliferate his kind. His new goal is to absorb Nezuko and gain the immunity to 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 is the situation with Nezuko. Suddenly, 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, which suddenly causes her to back away in disbelief momentarily. Mitsuri, seeing that the siblings are the same as when she met them, 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 summon 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 is 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.

Suddenly, he 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 them, 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 female 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 his 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.
 * In the anime, there is an extended sequence of Hantengu running away from the Demon Slayers and Tanjiro's attempts to chase him, spliced with scenes of Gyokko's torment of the swordsmiths, Hantengu's manifestation of hatred denouncing them as villains, Kyojuro's death, Tengen with his wives, and Muichiro protecting Kozo and Kotetsu, to emphasize the hypocrisy of a demon fleeing from the humans attempting to defeat them.
 * When Tanjiro uses Thunder Breathing's technique to catch up to Hantengu in the manga, Nezuko and Genya seem to be just in front of him. In the anime, they are far in front of him until he rockets past them.
 * The swordsmiths in the open field were hiding behind a cluster of bushes in the manga, whereas in the anime, they are hiding behind a pile of rocks.
 * In the anime, Muichiro calls out to Tanjiro before throwing him the ancient sword, which is not seen in the manga. Additionally, Muichiro falls unconscious from exhaustion and Gyokko's poison in the anime, whereas he remains awake at all times in the manga. This is also reflected when Tanjiro is looking for help; Muichiro is calling out to him in the manga and he is unconscious in Kotetsu's arms in the anime.
 * When Nezuko kicks Tanjiro away to make the decision for him, there is an additional montage of his memories with her, from her transformation to being with him in the Swordsmith Village, in the anime.
 * When Tanjiro lands the final blow on Hantengu in the manga, he first slashes Urami's arms off to free the swordsmiths, before slashing through the giant's body, slicing Hantengu's neck in the process. In the anime, after slashing off Urami's arms, he slices through the body to expose Hantengu, before making a final slash at his neck to behead him, upon which Hantengu finally burns to ash in the sunlight.
 * In the manga, Mitsuri is nearly attacked by a wooden dragon when it suddenly fades to ash. In the anime, she fends off two until one engulfs her whole, only to be saved when Zohakuten and the dragons burn away.
 * Much of Muzan's past is extended in the anime, showing new scenes of him speaking with his doctor regarding his condition, an attempt by a platoon of soldiers to kill him for his murders, and transforming and devouring people throughout his life. Additionally, in the manga, much of his past is conveyed through narration, whereas in the anime, it is Muzan's own thoughts and words speaking about his life and experiences.
 * In the manga, Tamayo writing her letter to Tanjiro regarding new developments in her research occurs during the reveal of Nezuko's immunity to sunlight. In the anime, it happens later on after everyone's revelation that Nezuko is safe.
 * The closing scenes in the Swordsmith Village, from the villagers surveying the damage and Tecchin's appearance, to Hotaru's conversation with Tanjiro and his departure accompanied by the thanking of the swordsmiths, does not appear in the manga.