JoJo’s Part 5 Episode 20

The Final Mission from the Boss

It’s time for one of the most anticipated episodes of part 5, the reveal of the boss’ stand, King Crimson. But, there’s a lot to get through before that point. If you’re just interested in my thoughts on that particular stand, then feel free to skip down to the appropriate section.

For everyone else, let’s begin by going over the boss’ plan for how his daughter, Trish, is to be handed over to him. The first step is for Buccellati’s team to arrive at a nearby island within 15 minutes of receiving the disk which holds the instructions.

There’s also a tracking devices implanted into the disc, so the boss will know if the group goes off track, suddenly slows down, or suddenly speeds up. Any irregularities in their route and the time it takes for them to traverse it will serve as a warning to the boss that something isn’t quite right.

Once at the island, only one person is permitted to accompany Trish as her bodyguard, and the rest must stay on the motorboat. Further, the one bodyguard isn’t permitted to be carrying weapons or a cell phone. This ban on weapons is interesting considering the only one who uses a weapon is Mista.

The boss undoubtedly knows that all the members of Buccellati’s team are stand users, and I would imagine he also knows the details of all of their stands with the exception of Giorno’s. There’s no way he was able to stay as the boss of Passione for this long without complete knowledge of everyone under him.

So, what was the point of this ban on weapons? Was it targeted towards Mista? If so, is there a reason for the boss to be wary of Mista’s stand in particular? Or, is this perhaps a bluff? Is the boss trying to feign ignorance of the fact Buccellati’s team are stand wielders?

Buccellati’s Plan

Now that we know what the boss expects of Buccellati and his team, let’s take a look at how Buccellati plans to discover the identity of the boss. After all, that’s been his goal ever since Giorno first joined his team, and this is the best possible time to do it.

The first part of this plan involves Buccellati being the one to go as Trish’s instead of Giorno, who originally requests the job. This decision was likely made for two reasons:

1. Giorno is still unknown to the boss. The boss may not trust him as much as Buccellati, and Buccellati wants to keep Giorno’s stand a secret.
2. Buccellati likely wants to see the boss’ face with his own eyes. After all, he’s been working under this man for so long and yet knows absolutely nothing about him.

The second step of his plan is to have Giorno give one of his ladybug brooches to Buccellati to use as a tracking device. This brooch has been given life, so as long as Buccellati can stick it on the boss, he can be tracked by Giorno.

It’s also important to remember that the reason Buccellati and Giorno did this secretly was because the rest of the team don’t yet actually know that they plan to bring down the boss. They simply think that they’re doing a job for the boss so that Buccellati can climb further up the gang ladder.

Finally, as we learn later on in the episode, after Buccellati actually confronts the boss, he had a cellphone hidden inside his face via a zipper. This is then used to contact Giorno after the brooch has been planted so he can learn the exact location of the boss.

Trish Una

It’s in this episode that we finally start seeing Trish as an actual character and not just an object Buccellati’s team is transporting. We’ve seen before that she’s worried about how her first meeting with her father will go, but it’s only at this point that we see just how much she’s been agonizing over this.

She wonders what her new life will be like now that she’s finally being united with her father, and Buccellati offers some bittersweet information. He claims that she’ll probably have to change her name, possibly her face with plastic surgery, and then be sent off to live in a country far away.

While these aren’t things your typical 15-year-old girl would want to happen, Buccellati also does mention that the purpose of all this would be to give her a safe and happy life away from the gang. And, although she’s afraid, Trish begins to accept her fate.

Once in the elevator, which is taking the pair up to the top of the clock tower where they’re to meet the boss, we have a potentially interesting scene. Trish holds onto Buccellati’s hand, and he likewise holds hers.

So, does this mean that there’s going to be some romance between the two? My guess is that’s not the case.

Instead, Trish has come to trust Buccellati and the members of his team, and so this is a way of showing that she’s relying on him in this difficult time. Likewise, Buccellati and his team have grown fond of having Trish around, and his reciprocation of hand holding shows his commitment to protecting her.

We also need to remember that it’s already been revealed that Trish has a stand ability of some sort, so it’s not like she’s going to disappear from the series after this meeting with the boss. And, in fact, it’s revealed that the boss may even be trying to kill her himself.

He kidnaps her out of the elevator without Buccellati even realizing anything happened, and severs her hand which Buccellati was holding in the process. So, my guess is that Trish is going to be rescued by Buccellati’s team and become one of them due to the friendships they’ve formed.

King Crimson

At this point I would normally talk about the crazy events that take place during the final few minutes of the episode, but you’ve probably already seen it anyway so there’s not too much of a point. Instead, it’s time to discuss what’s potentially the most infamous stand in all of JoJo’s, King Crimson.

Yes, King Crimson seems to be extremely powerful, but what really makes it so infamous is how confusing its ability was when depicted in the manga. And, after watching this episode, I have a feeling that even though it can be explained and shown better in an anime format, this is still going to be one of the more complex stands to fully understand.

So, let’s break down exactly what we know about King Crimson’s ability just from what little we’ve seen and been told so far.

The first thing I should mention is that this is a time-type ability, which as we know is the most powerful type of ability possible. Generally speaking, the only way to defeat someone with a time-altering ability is to use another time-altering ability, which is exactly what we saw with DIO’s The World.

However, King Crimson doesn’t have the ability to freeze time, it instead has the ability to jump forward in time and possibly alter future events. In this sense, it’s kind of like combining The World, The Hand, and Killer Queen Bites the Dust all into one single ability.

And, for those who aren’t aware, those are the three most powerful stands we’ve seen up until this point.

While The Hand could erase anything it touched, including space itself, King Crimson can erase time, which is why it’s like a combination of The Hand and The World. But, what does it have in common with Killer Queen Bites the Dust?

That version of Killer Queen had the ability to reset time whenever someone figured out the identity of Yoshikage Kira. While it isn’t stated that King Crimson has this exact ability, it appears to be implied that while jumping forward in time, King Crimson can also alter the future it’s jumping to.

This means that when Buccellati attempts to attack the boss, but it’s revealed he actually was attacking his future self, that King Crimson’s ability altered the timeline to one in which the boss wasn’t defeated. So, basically, just as Killer Queen made it near impossible to figure out Kira’s identity, King Crimson makes it near impossible for its user to be defeated.

Regicide

So, how exactly would our heroes go about defeating this stand? One “simple” way of doing so would be to get Jotaro’s help. Star Platinum is able to stop time just like The World, and so he could theoretically use that ability to defeat the boss and King Crimson without allowing for time to be erased or the future to be altered.

While that’s one possibility, I’m not sure the series would go that route because the boss is, well, the boss of this part. So, shouldn’t he be defeated by the heroes of this part, not Jotaro, the hero of part 3?

Thinking about it, the one way I could see King Crimson losing to Buccellati and his team is if it’s a completely controlled stand. That’s to say that no part of it is automatic. If this were the case, then theoretically the boss and King Crimson could be defeated via trickery, such as if Giorno uses his stand in a sneaky way.

If the boss is killed before he even knows he’s in danger, then his ability to erase time and potentially alter the future is worthless. And, if this is the case, then Giorno’s stand has multiple ways to defeat the boss. He could use either its transformative powers or its damage reflection powers.

But, that’s also assuming that King Crimson is a fully controlled stand and that the powers which were revealed in today’s episode are the extent of its powers. It’s extremely likely that this isn’t the case, and that either it’s partially automatic or has additional abilities which have yet to be revealed.

So, even though it sort of feels like a cop-out, Jotaro’s Star Platinum really does seem like the best way to deal with King Crimson just because the ability to freeze time is such a universally good power to have.

Conclusion

Before ending today I also want to bring up the fact that we’re just passed the halfway point of part five. There are 39 episodes total, and this was episode 20, which means there’s still plenty more to go. So, why exactly has the boss and King Crimson been revealed at this point in the series?

Is he going to stick around until the final battle? Or, is he going to be defeated in this arc and a new enemy is going to appear? Remember, the leader of the hitman squad, Risotto Nero, hasn’t even made a big appearance yet. Will he be the final enemy, or will the fight against him take place before the defeat of the boss?

That’s just something else to think about, but if you enjoyed this week’s review then make sure you click the like button ❤ down below. Also, give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any of my content. For example, I wrote a list of 5 tsundere couples for another anime blog (a link to it can be found on my Twitter).

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My review of the next episode is available here.