Dr. Stone Episode 13

Dr. Stone Episode 13

Masked Warrior

We’ve finally made it to the end of the first cour of Dr. Stone, and surprisingly it seems like we’ll be having an episode next week. I assumed that the mid-season gap would be hitting us next week, but based on what happened in this episode my guess is we have one more episode before the one week break.

This week we began the Grand Bout “tournament arc” and it will likely be concluding next week. This then serves as a great stopping point for the series before the second cour truly begins. After all, along with concluding the current arc, we’re probably going to learn some major information and get a nice cliffhanger.

As for what that information is, I think it’s fairly obvious. Ruri has never met Senku, yet she knows who he is. She also knows that before the petrification event humans had both first and last names — this knowledge comes from her role as the priestess of the village.

It’s pretty clear that the reason Ruri knows of Senku is also due to this knowledge that has been passed down to her. Whoever was the first “priestess” of the village must have been someone who personally knew Senku before the petrification event. It could have been a classmate, a family member, or even a teacher.

Whoever it was, they recognized that once he awoke in the stone world, Senku would lead a scientific revolution. And so, they passed his name down through the generations until he became a mythic figure.

Also, since the role of priestess seems to be semi-hereditary, it’s possible that Ruri and Kohaku are the direct descendants of whoever this person who knew Senku is. Maybe you can find someone who resembles them back in episode one.

The Final Ingredient

The Kingdom of Science has also almost completed the development of sulfa drugs. The final basic ingredient they need is alcohol. Luckily, alcohol isn’t exactly the most difficult thing to come by. After all, humans have been making alcohol for thousands of years.

But it turns out that our heroes won’t have to make this ingredient from scratch like the others. That’s because one of the many prizes for winning the Grand Bout is more alcohol than you could ever drink — or at least that’s what Kaseki seems to believe. Lightweight.

Also, let’s not forget that the Kingdom of Science would have had to win the Grand Bout even if alcohol wasn’t one of the prizes. Unless they win, they won’t have the opportunity to give Ruri the drugs she needs to survive — or so we’re lead to believe. I’m pretty sure Kinro or Ginro could just hand them to her regardless.

Sulfa drugs from the anime series Dr. Stone
Sulfa drugs

And that brings me to the next topic relating to how exactly they plan to win. The Kingdom of Science isn’t the most ethical of kingdoms. Senku has no problem with cheating as long as it’s the most logical course of action to take in order to achieve his goals.

He plans to rig the tournament in two ways, but it turns out that neither of them actually ended up playing a role.

The first way he rigged the tournament was by filling it with Kingdom of Science-friendly competitors. All together they have five: Kinro, Ginro, Kohaku, Chrome, and Senku himself. Senku knows he has no chance of winning, but at least anyone who goes up against him will get a free pass to the next round.

Senku also makes a stamina-enhancing drink, but Ginro wastes the whole thing.

Fake Tournament Arc

Wouldn’t it have been cool if we actually got a tournament arc out of the Grand Bout? Too bad we aren’t going to because the deciding match was the very first one of the tournament. That’s right, in round one Kinro takes down Magma.

I get that the bracket was decided at random via drawing lots, but you’d think the tournament organizers wouldn’t want the biggest match up of the competition to be in round one. That just means it’s all downhill from there — not that it matters to us since we won’t see the rest.

And the reason we won’t see the rest is because there’s not really a point for us to. We may see abbreviated versions of each fight, but it will simply be a quick tournament montage if anything. However, I do want to point out that I don’t think Kinro is going to end up as the winner.

Kinro wearing Suika's melon helmet from the anime series Dr. Stone
Kinro wearing Suika’s melon helmet

Throughout this episode Kinro learned a few things about himself, and about science as well. First, he decided that he doesn’t want to win for his own honor or for greed like Magma does. Instead, he wants to win because his friends are relying on him to do so.

He then also truly learns how science can have a positive impact on the lives of people when he uses Suika’s melon helmet to defeat Magma. Once he sees the world through the lenses Senku made, he realizes that even if he doesn’t understand it, science can achieve amazing things.

And this brings me to why Kinro is going to lose the tournament. I’m predicting he’s going to forfeit in the final round against Chrome so that he can win Ruri’s hand in marriage — and bring science to the stone village.

Conclusion

What did you think of Dr. Stone episode 13? Do you think Ruri and Kohaku are related to someone Senku knew before the petrification event? Do you think you could out drink Kaseki? And who do you think is going to win the Grand Bout? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤ down below and follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama. I tweet out every time a new post goes live, so it’s the best way to stay up to date with all my latest content. And, come join us over on Discord!

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.

Leave a Comment