The die is cast. Bora is loose. The answers come fast and hard. The final battle is upon us. Can Pluto be defeated? Should he be? And what has Atom learned from Gesicht’s chip?
Spoilers ahead.
1. THRASIA – FUCK YEAH
There’s an almost Scooby-Doo quality to the unmasking of the identity behind the Teddy Bear. You can hear Velma shouting “United States of Thrasia?!” like it’s somehow both the most shocking reveal in the world and the most mundane. Of COURSE it was Thrasia all along. I didn’t even need the real world parallels to see they’ve been shady from the start. And yet, I was still caught off guard.
I’d forgotten that the Teddy Bear – Mr. Roosevelt, though I think he goes unnamed in the dub – wasn’t directly manipulating Abullah nor was it Goji or Zahad or another one of the many “mes” inside the robot who would not wake up. As the name implies, Mr. Roosevelt works for the Thrasian government. Or, more precisely, is the artificial intelligence of the United States of Thrasia manipulating the Thrasian president and the rest of the world into a position where he can destroy all of humanity via a supervolcanic eruption. The Thrasian president can live as the AI’s human pet.
This might be the most ridiculous thing in the series but I am 100% on board for it.
What I love about this reveal, beyond the bonkers nature of it all, is how it works with the larger themes without undermining Abullah’s arc. Yes, he’s being manipulated but that’s kind of the point. Pluto is a critique of war as much as it is a critique of hate, and for much of the last hundred years, the US has been the world’s de facto war manufacturer. Thrasia occupies the same space.
From the jump, Thrasia is positioned as having clearly used the Bora fact finding mission as a pretense to attack Persia. Now we learn that not only was it a pretense, it was in fact a farce. Persia wasn’t preparing for war, it was preparing to revolutionize its agricultural industry and feed its people. That is what Bora was: a giant, agricultural robot to turn the desert into a field of flowers.
The Bora mission, therefore, was meant to distract, to absorb ire in the eyes of the affected, and feed fears so that even when the reasons behind the invasion were found to be dubious, they were never revealed as baldly antagonistic. It’s pretty dastardly and damn if the episode doesn’t know it.
2. Gained in Adaptation
As I said in “Episode 2”, it’s been a long time since I read “Pluto,” so it’s hard for me to speak on how much of the series was changed for this adaptation. I know it was much more adapted than, say, Monster’s shot-for-shot approach, but not in specific ways. I can, however, attest to one specific change that I think really benefits Pluto: backloading all the stuff with Mr. Roosevelt.
See, in the manga, Mr. Roosevelt not only recurs throughout the series, we’re aware much earlier on that he’s the Thrasian AI system. His actions remain the same but instead of being a mysterious force, he’s an antagonist in waiting, and an added piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit yet but already has a definite place. By shifting all the pertinent information to here, and not introducing the Teddy Bear until “Episode 4” or so, it allows the rest of the story to remain focused.
Some may say that shifting this information to the end makes it appear to be a last minute ass pull and a way to artificially extend the narrative. I reject that reading. Having Thrasia finally enter the picture only in the final episode solidifies its role as a distant mover with immense power.
I do wish we had gotten a little bit more of the exposition from the manga that was left on the cutting room floor. It would have made those aspects feel a little more integrated into the larger narrative. However, I like the ambiguity and the inferences we are asked to make. Not everything needs a pat conclusion.
Continued below3. The More You Know
I’m of two minds when it comes to the ending of the episode. On the one hand, it ends on a very hammy and marginally abrupt scene. Even at an hour and seven minutes, I think we could’ve had just a skoosh more time to really help that final scene land. There’s a real “very special episode” tone to it when Atom talks about hatred never really going away.
Pluto’s never been subtle about its message. It has been pretty good about exploring it in mature and nuanced ways without succumbing to CW “emotions are discussed not experienced” disease. This scene, however, reveals the gooey, didactic, Saturday morning cartoon at the heart of the series. “Astro Boy” sneaks through as the series tries to come to a satisfying end. It’s not surprising. Urasawa, like Stephen King, struggles with endings and it seems like the Pluto team did as well.
On the other hand, this stumble is very minor and detracts little from the rest of the episode nor does it make the rest of the series worse by its small trip. It’s a little frustrating to go out on such a heavy-handed note but fuck y’all, some people are just so rock stupid they need it spelled out with the swelling music and a look to the camera. It’s also consistent with the show thus far and, again, the original work this was based on. I can’t really fault it for ending on a note that tonally echoes “Astro Boy” more than the horrific meditation on war and the failures of America’s destructive, often selfish geopolitics.
Damn. Now I’ve just made myself sad again.
4. Reveals & Revelations
If “Episode 6” was all about the bond between fathers and sons, then “Episode 8” is about the damage done in the name of love of a child: Gesicht’s killing of Adolf’s brother – which he actually did! No cop out at all – Tenma awakening Atom with strong emotion, and Abullah’s revenge quest and transformation of Zahad into a killing machine. We’ve approached each of these in previous episodes but this is the first time we’re really dwelling on the fallout.
In the case of Atom, he’s a lost soul for the first ten minutes of the episode, scribbling equations to an anti-proton bomb on the wall with wide, haunted eyes. He’s lost with seemingly no way back. For Gesicht, though he’s dead, we get the backstory for his heretofore only hinted at robo child (named Robita!) and the mysterious memory that’s been hiding in the cracks of his dreams. For Abullah…Abullah’s whole deal takes up the rest of the episode. Or, rather, I should say Goji’s whole deal.
That’s right folks! Abullah’s been dead the whole time and HE was actually Goji, only he had no idea. I love this reveal. It’s great and the way the animators brough the switching of the faces to life while a nonchalant Tenma watched was properly unsettling and tragic. That he then becomes a giant baby is kind of hilarious too.
However, “Episode 8” isn’t primarily about the damage that love creates, it’s also very much about the power of love to overcome hate. The radical importance of love as a motivating force in counterbalance to hatreds. This is why Gesicht remains centered even after his death. He learned how to love and in the end CHOSE to follow that feeling instead of the hatred he later learned too.
“Nothing comes from hatred except more hatred.” Gesicht acts from points of love, or tries to anyway, and to make amends for his actions born of hate. We see his successes in Adolf, and his failures with Abullah. It is Gesicht’s love for his child that saves Atom from his despair. It is those lessons that then breaks Atom and Zahad free from his father’s implanted hate and defeats Pluto once and for all.
It is love that changes the mind of the series’ boogeyman.
5. They Have Heart
One would think that Brau-1589 had outlived his narrative usefulness upon the death of Gesicht and the solving of the Pluto case. If you know anything about any Hannibal Lector style character, though, it’s that they will always play some part in the finale, even if it’s just to be an extra wrench to muck things up. At first, that’s what Brau seems to be here for. Tenma is taunted by him at the start and that appears to be the end of things.
Continued belowThen, about halfway through the episode, Atom visits. Here we see a fascinating dynamic shift. Brau, normally so caustic and controlled, is almost…deferential. He still takes a mocking tone and ribs and cajoles Atom, but underneath it, you sense…respect. As if he can sense something has changed, which we know powerful robots can, to some extent. Softly, he asks to touch Atom’s hand, and comments on how warm it is.
It is the kindest, softest statement he makes in the entire series. No sarcasm. No bitterness. No falsities. Brau thought he knew everything, but now, he has a glimpse of love, of heart, and it moves him. It moves him so much, it seems, he breaks free from his prison to confront Mr. Roosevelt, sparing the life of the Thrasian president – effectively repudiating his earlier blanket contempt for humans – and throwing the javelin in his chest into Roosevelt’s processor, effectively killing himself in the process. Of course, we never see either one die, but the implication remains.
In the end, Gesicht saved the world and taught robots how to love, not just hate. I’m sure this has all sounded like the Saturday morning cartoon stuff I was mocking earlier. I know. However, Pluto’s approach isn’t naive nor is it cynical. Love is not a panacea and it is not a universally positive force. Love prompted Gesicht’s hate. Helena’s love for Gesicht hurts her. Tenma’s love of his son made him callous and cruel to Atom. Love does not convince Mr. Roosevelt or Abullah/Goji.
Yet it is hopeful. Love has the power to transform, to stop destruction, and be the guide for a better world. Moreso, Pluto’s commitment to the theme is what makes it all work. It is woven into more than just the big battles. It’s in the little details, the small moments, and even in the minor characters’ arcs. See how Atom treats the snails? A masterful use of callback to first show danger (him nearly crushing the snail) and then growth (him putting it back on the leaf, relieved, and understanding that feeling.)
I cried at that scene. I cried throughout much of this episode. I am in awe at the success of Pluto. It is a masterpiece, gross roach men and all. That, my friends, is the power of love.
Best Line of the Night:
Brau: “You have such warmth. It radiates from you, Atom. I can feel your heart.”
