Fire Force Season 2 Episode 23

Fire Force Season 2 Episode 23

Lieutenant Konro

I know Fire Force Season 2 episode 23 was supposed to be all about Tamaki. But I’d be lying if I said that Lieutenant Konro wasn’t the star of the episode. And as such, he’s going to be the focus of the majority of this review, with the end set aside for Tamaki.

So, normally at this point, I would be bragging about how I predicted the connection between Konro’s tephrosis and his fight against the Devil Infernal last week. However, that was probably the most lowball prediction I’ve ever made. I think we all saw that coming.

What I find most interesting about Konro at this point is that he’s effectively unpowered. I believe the only truly unpowered member of the Fire Force is Captain Oubi. Maybe I’m forgetting someone else, but I think he’s the only one. But Konro is effectively the same because of his tephrosis.

Also, speaking of his tephrosis, I think he’s the only character we know of who suffers from that condition as well. Konro is a unique character in multiple ways.

Lieutenant Konro defeating a White Clad member from the anime series Fire Force Season 2
Lieutenant Konro defeating a White Clad member

I’ll admit that I originally thought the series was going to go in a “Konro is the final Pillar” direction when the topic of him having an Adolla Link first came up. I still believed that it awakened when he fought against the Demon Infernal, but I was preparing for him to be the final Pillar.

After all, why else would they suddenly set him up as an important character like that? But I think it’s safe to say now that he’s not going to be a Pillar. Konro, like Burns and Joker, just happened to be pulled into Adolla.

Doppelgangers and Tephrosis

When the concept of doppelgangers was introduced into the series in this episode I began having a few ideas. As I just mentioned, there must be a reason for Konro to have suddenly been focused on. For Burns and Joker, it was to give us more information about the Evangelist and the church.

With Konro, the focus appears to be on doppelgangers. The fact that all of the non-Pillars who have witnessed Adolla have facial scars is another idea that was brought up at the same time. However, I think this one is bait. Shinra pointing out the fact that they all have scars is probably just a coincidence.

What we really need to focus on is the doppelganger Demon Infernal Konro fought. From what we saw, this Demon Infernal was built just like Konro and even mimicked his attacks. So, what if Demon Infernals are the cause of both pyrokinetic abilities and tephrosis.

Konro vs. a Demon Infernal from the anime series Fire Force Season 2
Konro vs. a Demon Infernal

Considering that we don’t actually know how pyrokinetic abilities started or their background at all, I think it’s likely that there’s some dark underside to them. Maybe pyrokinetics get their powers from a connection to a doppelganger of themself within Adolla.

And what if the more a pyrokinetic uses their power, the more their doppelganger feeds on their “energy” or life force. Perhaps Konro’s doppelganger being a Demon Infernal was a sign of this. He used his power to the point of tephrosis, and his doppelganger was strong enough to be a Demon Infernal.

There has to be some downside to using pyrokinetic abilities. Tephrosis is that downside, but perhaps it’s just a surface-level symptom. For now, pyrokinetics believe they’ll be safe as long as they don’t push their limits. But perhaps even using their powers a little bit at a time is creating more powerful Infernals.

Firecat

I guess this episode is supposed to be the beginning of Tamaki’s redemption, but I also think it’s too late. She didn’t really redeem herself in this episode, but rather just set up the possibility for it to happen in the future. And considering the next episode is the final one of the season and doesn’t appear to feature her, I don’t see it happening.

A few weeks ago I did mention that when Tamaki was first introduced into the series, we actually saw that she’s capable of combat. Unfortunately, since then her character has continuously been sidelined as nothing more than a cheap gag.

And it’s this role of hers as the gag character that I think is going to prevent her from ever truly being redeemed. I’m not saying this because I think her ecchi role is stupid and pointless in this series, but because it’s actually a part of her character at this point.

Tamaki using Nekomata Fireball from the anime series Fire Force Season 2
Tamaki using Nekomata Fireball

Within this episode, we were shown how Tamaki has struggled because of her lucky lecher ability for years. This ability has caused her to be a social outcast and is a huge part of why she lost confidence in herself. So, it makes sense that for her to truly be redeemed, she would need to first overcome this ability.

But as I said, the lucky lecher ability is a part of her character at this point. I don’t think it can easily be written out of the series even if I think that would be for the best.

With this difficulty in mind, it appears that the author has attempted to go with the “Tamaki learns to accept her lucky lecher ability” route. This probably goes without saying, but I think that’s a cop-out. I don’t think this will lead to her actually being redeemed and I don’t think she’ll ever become a strong member of the team.

Conclusion

What do you think of Fire Force Season 2 episode 23? Do you think Konro is going to continue to be an important character? Or is his role done for now with the discovery of the doppelgangers? And do you think there’s a connection between the doppelgangers and tephrosis? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the final episode of the season is available here.

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