Recaps

Darklops EVA detonated the bomb Hayato Noda had planted beside the Sixteenth Angel's core, devastating Tokyo-3 and leaving Zero and Shinji overwhelmed by the lives they could not save. Encouraged by their fallen companions, Shinji and Zero chose to keep fighting and transformed into Shining Zero.

• Hayato Noda detonated the bomb beside the Sixteenth Angel's core as Zero flew to rescue Rei Ayanami.
• The Sixteenth Angel exploded, and Zero shielded part of Tokyo-3 with his body, but the blast destroyed the rest of the city and killed countless people.
• Zero and Shinji fell into despair over their failure to protect the city until Kaworu Nagisa, Rei Ayanami, Mirror Knight, and Asuka urged them to keep moving forward.
• Shinji and Zero agreed to use a new form together, and Zero transformed into Shining Zero above the ruins of Tokyo-3.

Shining Zero used Shining Star Drive to turn back time across Tokyo-3, restoring the city and bringing back those who had fallen. Rei Ayanami awakened in Unit-00’s Entry Plug, sensing Zero and Shinji and thanking them.

• Shining Zero gathered blue light into a star and unleashed golden particles across Tokyo-3 with Shining Star Drive.
• Glenfire worried that Zero and Shinji might not withstand the move as the star and moon repeatedly swept across the sky.
• Ritsuko and the others watched buildings, streets, Mirror Knight, the Pedanium units, and Unit-00 restore themselves as time reversed.
• Shining Zero’s star dissolved into light that restored Tokyo-3, including areas damaged in earlier monster attacks.
• Rei Ayanami awakened inside Unit-00’s Entry Plug and thanked Zero and Shinji for saving her again.

Shining Zero restored Tokyo-3 and revived the people killed by the Sixteenth Angel, but the strain of using the Shining Star Drive fatally injured him and Shinji. Mirror Knight took Shinji to the hospital while hiding the truth, as Ultraseven and Leo sensed Zero’s distress in the M78 Universe.

• Shining Zero used the Shining Star Drive to restore Tokyo-3 and revive the dead, including Rei Ayanami and the citizens killed by the Sixteenth Angel.
• Mirror Knight, Asuka, and Kaworu Nagisa awoke, and Rei Ayanami confirmed that she had returned.
• The revived citizens cheered for Shining Zero as he descended, but wounds opened across his chest and waist and spilled light particles.
• Mirror Knight caught Zero as he collapsed, and Zero asked him to save Shinji before his body broke apart into light.
• Mirror Knight sensed that Shinji had no signs of life, carried him away, and told the others he was taking him to the hospital without revealing the truth.
• Ultraseven and Leo felt a violent spasm in their hearts and looked up at the same moment.

After Shinji's heart stopped, Mirror Knight explained that Zero's accumulated injuries and use of Shining Form had caused the crisis, and tried to summon help from the Space Garrison. The distress signal was destroyed, Shinji regained a heartbeat, and Hayato Noda confirmed that Zero's light energy had vanished.

• Mirror Knight brought Shinji to NERV's medical area, where automated equipment treated his stopped heart, but he could not sense Zero's light energy.
• Guren and Mirror Knight explained to Misato that Zero's injuries had accumulated through their shared life and that Shining Form had caused them to erupt.
• Mirror Knight launched an Emergency Sign toward the M78 Universe, but a green Light Bullet shattered it before it could reach its destination.
• Guren recalled that the Grilled Meat Skewer Brothers were coming, while Shinji's heartbeat returned after compressions and electric shocks.
• Hayato Noda detected that Zero's light energy had vanished and laughed in triumph.

Mother of Ultra discovered that Zero and Shinji were barely alive, and Father of Ultra mobilized the Ultra Brothers after an emergency signal failed. Ultraseven and Leo learned that Zero was in grave danger, while Father of Ultra promised to explain the hidden matter once they returned.

• Mother of Ultra found Shinji in a medical pod, sensed only faint signs of life from him and Zero, and estimated that Zero would need days to recover.
• Mother of Ultra reported the crisis to Father of Ultra, who ordered the Ultra Brothers recalled to the Land of Light.
• Limings reported that the Emergency Ultra Sign Transmitter had detected an attempted signal from the Zero Guard, but the transmission had failed.
• Father of Ultra summoned the Ultra Brothers and assigned Raylien, Alet, Rei, and another warrior to take over their duties.
• Ultraseven and Leo demanded to know what had happened to Zero, and Father of Ultra promised to tell them more when they returned.

Hayato Noda believed Zero had been defeated and moved to stop SEELE’s Human Instrumentality Project by attacking the warehouse where its Mass Production Models were stored. As SEELE’s members celebrated, Hayato revealed that he had turned Dark Lops EVA against them.

• Hayato Noda decided to hurry his plan forward before the Ultra Brothers and other potential reinforcements could arrive.
• SEELE celebrated reports that Ultraman Zero had been eliminated and expected the Human Instrumentality Project to proceed.
• A call informed Chairman Ghir that Dark Lops EVA was attacking the Mass Production Model warehouse in the Eagle Nation.
• Dark Lops EVA destroyed fighter jets and automated defenses as it advanced toward the hangar.
• SEELE’s remote shutdown device failed, and Hayato Noda appeared before the monoliths and called it his last conversation with them.

Hayato Noda revealed that his alliance with SEELE had been an act and that he planned to use the Mass Production Models to ascend to the mystic level and take revenge on the Land of Light. He explained that cosmic powers would prevent SEELE’s human instrumentality project from succeeding, leaving the members despairing as he bid them farewell.

• Chairman Ghir and other SEELE members demanded that Hayato stop attacking and reminded him that the Mass Production Models were not ready to deploy.
• Hayato revealed that he intended to use the Mass Production Models to ascend to the mystic level and said their cooperation had always been temporary.
• Hayato explained that attempts to combine an entire species into one life-form were destroyed or purged by forces such as Leugocyte and Delacion.
• Hayato described Delacion’s Golgotha forces and Gigant Endra, convincing SEELE that the human instrumentality project was destined to fail.
• Hayato mocked SEELE’s despair, bowed, and bid the members farewell.

Saberuno used Dark Lops EVA to defeat and devour the two mass production models, then destroyed the Eva Hangar and ground forces with a missile barrage. The battlefield was left razed.

• Chairman Ghir ordered Mass Production Models One and Two to fight Dark Lops EVA alongside the ground forces.
• Dark Lops EVA shattered Mass Production Model One's imitation Lance of Longinus, tore open its head, and absorbed its core and body.
• Mass Production Model Two bit Dark Lops EVA, but he seized it, battered it, pulled out its core, and devoured it.
• Dark Lops EVA absorbed the rest of Mass Production Model Two and leaped into the sky.
• Dark Lops EVA launched missiles at the Eva Hangar and ground forces, razing the area.

Dark Lops EVA continued its attack on the Mass Production Models, shrugging off the Eagle Nation's fighters while NERV struggled to understand its purpose. Gendo Ikari revealed that he had always pursued his own goal and had worked with the Giant of Light, as SEELE warned that Dark Lops EVA was heading for Tokyo-3.

• Dark Lops EVA destroyed Eagle Nation fighters with Light Bullets after their missiles failed to damage it, and the Eagle Nation considered using an N2 Bomb.
• Fuyutsuki and Yui Ikari questioned why Dark Lops EVA was targeting the Mass Production Models, while NERV concluded that Shinji and Zero could not fight.
• Gendo Ikari refused the Eagle Nation's request for EVA support and said NERV would wait for Dark Lops EVA to reach Tokyo-3.
• Chairman Ghir told Gendo that an alien had betrayed SEELE and that the Human Instrumentality Project had already failed.
• Gendo admitted he had worked with the Giant of Light from the start to reunite with Yui, and the SEELE monoliths threatened him as Dark Lops EVA approached Tokyo-3.

The UN Army attacked Dark Lops EVA, but its enhanced AT Field protected it as it destroyed fleeing bombers. As Zero and Shinji remained critically injured, the Jean Brothers returned and prepared to help.

• The UN Army launched enhanced N2 missiles and an antigravity rocket at Dark Lops EVA, but its powerful AT Field shielded it and the hangar.
• Dark Lops EVA fired a red laser at bombers fleeing overhead.
• The Jean Ship and Jean Nebula arrived near Earth, and Jean-bot persuaded Jean-nine to fit treatment equipment onto Zero before confronting the enemy.
• Kaworu Nagisa worried outside Shinji's hospital room while Mirror Knight reassured him that Shinji and Zero would recover.
• The Jean Brothers contacted Mirror Knight, who announced that they had returned.

Ray and Oki reunited aboard a battleship bound for Planet L85, where Ray joined the defense against a Devil Splinter-powered Bemular. After Gomora and Litra defeated the monster, Oki reminisced about their old Pendragon crew and wondered where the Alien who had challenged Ray was.

• Ray and Oki reunited aboard the battleship and caught up on the former Pendragon crew and Zero.
• Oki explained Planet L85's history as the battleship received an alert that Bemular was attacking the capital.
• Ray summoned Gomora and Litra and flew down to fight Bemular, while Oki identified Ray to the captain.
• Gomora grappled with Bemular as Litra's attacks weakened it, then Gomora finished it with Super Vibration Wave.
• Oki celebrated the victory and tearfully wished the Pendragon crew could have witnessed it, then wondered where Ray's old Alien rival was.

Mirror Knight and Guren used the Land of Light’s healing supplies and a Life Solidifier to try to save Shinji and Zero. As Zero’s consciousness faded, he encountered Lilith and argued against the Human Instrumentality Project before his companions’ calls began to reach him.

• Jean-bot brought concentrated healing energy, and Jean-nine delivered a Life Solidifier that Limings had provided using his own life allotment.
• Mirror Knight activated the Life Solidifier on Shinji’s Palaj Bracelet while Guren prepared the healing energy for the patients.
• Zero awakened in an LCL sea before the crucified Lilith, who spoke to him in Rei’s voice.
• Lilith questioned why Zero and the Ultramen interfered with humanity’s evolution, and Zero argued that Instrumentality would erase human freedom and individuality.
• Zero defended the meaning of finite human lives, saying that people lived on through those who remembered them and through what they passed to future generations.
• Zero’s consciousness began to fade as his companions called to him, and he disappeared without answering Lilith further.

Zero awakened after the Life Solidifier restored his body, while Mother of Ultra’s Healing Beam began repairing Shinji’s injuries. Too weak to fight, Zero watched as his friends left to confront Dark Lops EVA and protect Earth.

• The Life Solidifier restored Zero’s body, and Mirror Knight used a capsule’s Healing Beam to treat Shinji.
• Mirror Knight and Glenfire told Zero about Dark Lops EVA’s devastation, and Guren, Mirror, and the Jean Brothers resolved to fight.
• Zero accepted that he could not stop his friends and stayed behind to recover.
• Mirror Knight and Glenfire met Misato and Kaji, who urged them to return safely and reminded them of their promises.
• Mirror Knight, Glenfire, and the Jean Brothers flew toward Dark Lops EVA.

While Zero remained too badly wounded to fight, Ultraseven and Leo learned about the crisis on Earth and angrily confronted the Land of Light for keeping them uninformed. They agreed to wait for the Ultra Brothers to gather before providing support, but Ultraseven sensed that Zero was about to transform.

• Zero worried about his companions fighting Dark Lops EVA and remained beside the gravely injured Shinji, who began to stir as he healed.
• Father of Ultra told Ultraseven and Leo about the Angels, Lilith, and the Human Instrumentality Project.
• Ultraseven and Leo angrily challenged Father of Ultra for sending Zero into danger without telling them about the situation.
• Mother of Ultra and others explained that Zero's bond with a human gave him the right to intervene, while the Land of Light otherwise risked interfering in Earth's affairs.
• Father of Ultra said Ultraseven and Leo would join the other Ultra Brothers to provide support, and Ultraseven suddenly sensed Zero was planning to transform.

While Shinji recovered, he resisted a mysterious voice that tried to convince him his bond with Zero was false and that their fate was hopeless. White Belial drove the voice away, warned Shinji about the impostor Zero’s conspiracy, and let him return to the crisis.

• As Shinji healed, a mysterious voice questioned his choices and told him Rei and the others were safe.
• Shinji defended Zero as his older brother and said he had chosen to fight alongside him to protect what he cherished.
• The voice warned that an overwhelmingly powerful enemy would destroy Shinji and Zero and declared their future was fated.
• Shinji vowed to fight fate and protect the lights of every home, shattering the darkness around him.
• Shinji discovered White Belial had struck the voice away, and White Belial warned him that an impostor Zero was carrying out a massive conspiracy.
• Shinji thanked White Belial and left, while White Belial sensed strange energy and returned to the Capsules.

Shinji woke after the Shining Form restored those caught in the explosion, but he and Zero remained badly injured. Despite Zero and Ultraseven urging him to wait for reinforcements, Shinji chose to fight alongside Zero, and they transformed and flew away.

• Shinji woke in the hospital as the Healing Beam eased his and Zero's injuries, and Zero told him that Mirror Knight, Rei Ayanami, and the citizens had been restored.
• Shinji refused to let Zero fight alone, declared that he would protect his loved ones and Tokyo-3, and gave Zero a burst of light that restored some of his energy.
• Shinji asked Kaworu Nagisa to care for Moroboshi, Tensei-kun, Rei, and Asuka before preparing to transform.
• Ultraseven appeared and warned Shinji and Zero that another transformation could kill them, but both insisted they would fight.
• Shinji put on the Zero Glasses, transformed with Zero, and flew away as Ultraseven watched.

As Zero pursued Dark Lops EVA in Universe Miracle form, the Zero Guard confronted him outside the last Mass Production Model hangar. Dark Lops EVA summoned two Darklops Zeros to fight alongside him, leaving the Zero Guard battling four enemies while Zero and reinforcements were still on their way.

• The Ultra Brothers delayed their departure for the EVA universe while Ultraseven and Leo worried about Zero, and Zoffy planned to restrain them if they lost control.
• Shinji used the Ultra Brothers' Capsules to transform Zero into Universe Miracle form and set off after Dark Lops EVA.
• Dark Lops EVA absorbed nearly all the Mass Production Models and devastated Earth's forces, while a Dragon Country NERV commander destroyed a base and Unit 8 to deny him the damaged unit.
• The Zero Guard faced Dark Lops EVA outside the final Mass Production Model hangar and prepared to buy time for Zero and the reinforcements.
• Hayato summoned two Darklops Zeros, and the Zero Guard began a desperate fight against four Darklops Zeros.

The Zero Guard struggled against four Darklops Zero units that copied their fighting styles and overwhelmed them. As the team prepared to keep fighting and buy Zero time, Zero arrived in his Ultraman Zero Beyond form with Shinji.

• Glenfire, Mirror Knight, and the Jean Brothers fought individual Darklops Zero units but could not coordinate their attacks.
• Darklops Zero units countered the Zero Guard’s signature moves and injured Glenfire, Mirror Knight, Jean-nine, and Jean-bot.
• Two Darklops Zero units fired their Lops Core Cannons and blasted the Jean Brothers away.
• Glenfire, Mirror Knight, and the Jean Brothers refused to retreat and vowed to protect the planet while buying Zero time.
• Zero arrived in his Ultraman Zero Beyond form with Shinji, driving the Darklops Zero units back with an Emerium Beam.

Zero and Shinji ignored their friends’ warnings and fought the four Darklops Zero units, destroying them one by one with Miracle Universe Zero’s attacks. As they prepared to rest, a terrifying voice announced that the enemy’s leader would enter the battle.

• Zero and Shinji insisted on fighting despite their injuries, and Zero worried that damage to his unstable transformation could hurt Shinji as well.
• Miracle Universe Zero destroyed Darklops Zero Unit One with a Hand Blade, a flaming punch, and Triple Head Blade.
• Miracle Universe Zero defeated Darklops Zero Unit Two with Triple Finisher Sword, then blasted Darklops Zero Unit Three with Cinerama Ray.
• Miracle Universe Zero absorbed sunlight and overwhelmed Darklops Zero Unit Four’s Lops Core Cannon with Double Cluster Ray.
• As Zero and Shinji prepared to catch their breath, a voice praised Zero as the universe’s strongest body and announced that it would fight personally.

Zero sent the injured Zero Guard away and faced Darklops Mecha Zero alone. Darklops Mecha Zero dominated their fight and stopped his D4 Rays just before they struck Zero, choosing to prolong the battle.

• Zero pleaded with Jean-bot and Jean-nine to take the injured Zero Guard away, and they carried Mirror Knight and Glenfire into the sky.
• Zero confronted Darklops Mecha Zero and charged at him with a Swan-Style Zero Flying Kick, but Darklops blocked it and hurled him back.
• Darklops evaded Zero's hand blade and attacks, struck his chest, and threw him into a crater with a shoulder throw.
• Darklops fired D4 Rays against Zero's Miracle Universe Cluster Beam and overwhelmed it, then abruptly stopped the attack before it hit him.
• Darklops taunted Zero and urged him to show his full strength.

Zero attacked Darklops Mecha Zero with the Ultra Brothers’ techniques, but Darklops Mecha Zero easily absorbed and withstood them before battering Zero and hurting Shinji. As Zero lay defeated, Saberuno condemned the Land of Light and the Space Garrison for imposing their idea of justice on civilizations fighting to survive.

• Zero unleashed a Specium Ray, a Vertical Guillotine, and a Strium Beam, but Darklops Mecha Zero remained unharmed and absorbed the Strium Beam.
• After Saberuno mocked the Ultra Brothers, Ultraseven joined Zero to fire a Double Cluster Beam, which Darklops Mecha Zero endured without moving.
• Darklops Mecha Zero rushed through the beam, smashed Zero’s head against a mountain, and struck his abdomen hard enough to send him crashing into the ground.
• Shinji coughed up blood as Darklops Mecha Zero watched Zero and recalled his homeland’s destruction by an Ultraman’s beam.
• Saberuno denounced the Land of Light and the Space Garrison for ignoring desperate civilizations and imposing their own justice, declaring that their tyranny had to end.

Zero switched to Infinite Form and fought Darklops Mecha Zero, but his attacks failed to hurt the enemy and Darklops repeatedly overpowered him. The chapter ended with Zero battered on the ground as Darklops mocked him and challenged him to show the strength he had used against a thousand monsters.

• Zero switched to Infinite Form and attacked Darklops Mecha Zero with his Hundred Fist, but Darklops caught his fist and threw him aside.
• Zero formed a Spark Blade and unleashed his Double Ultimate Finishing Sword, but Darklops caught the blade, absorbed its energy, and bent its metal frame.
• Darklops kicked Zero in the abdomen and knocked the Spark Blade from his grasp, leaving Shinji in severe pain.
• Zero charged Darklops with a pair of kicks, but Darklops caught his foot and flung him into the ground.
• Darklops laughed, threw the bent Spark Blade at Zero, and taunted him to show the strength he had used in the Monster Graveyard.

Shinji and Zero transformed into Ultraman Zero-Dark Radiant Sky Claw Form and fought Darklops Mecha Zero with a fierce combination of light and dark powers. Their battle left Darklops damaged, but Zero’s energy and Shinji’s stamina were nearly spent as Saberuno taunted them.

• Zero told Shinji that Darklops Mecha Zero was the strongest enemy he had faced aside from Tartarus, while Infinite Zero’s Color Timer began flashing.
• Shinji combined the Kaiser Belial and Geed Capsules with other Capsule powers, transforming Zero into Dark Radiant Sky Claw Form.
• Darklops criticized Zero for using Belial’s dark power, and Zero countered by attacking with a wild, aggressive fighting style.
• Zero and Darklops exchanged close-range attacks, and Zero wounded Darklops’s thigh armor before bombarding him with Light Bullets.
• Zero’s powerful claw strike and Darklops’s reinforced block created a huge crater, but Zero’s Color Timer flashed faster as Saberuno warned that he and Shinji were running out of strength.

Dark Radiant Zero and Darklops Mecha Zero fought an exhausting battle, ending their clash of Spark Blades with Zero badly injured and Darklops Mecha Zero damaged. As Zero neared his limit, Saberuno revealed that his real plan had only just begun.

• Dark Radiant Zero and Darklops Mecha Zero traded Cluster Beams and swarms of Energy Head Blades, while Shinji struggled with the strain.
• Zero shattered the blades with a Psychokinesis Shockwave, then charged Darklops Mecha Zero into space for a series of collisions.
• Darklops Mecha Zero seized Zero by the throat, but Zero escaped with golden claws and used his Triple Ultimate Darkness Plasma Spark Slash against him.
• Dark Radiant Zero crashed into the ground as Darklops Mecha Zero descended, battered but still standing.
• Saberuno praised the capsules’ power, noted that Zero had little energy left, and declared that his real plan had just begun.

Hayato Noda used the Monster Capsules and the energy of twelve Mass Production Models to transform Darklops Mecha Zero into the 150-meter final Angel-Xeronus. Rei Ayanami explained that Xeronus was created by a devil’s Civilization Self-Destruction Plan and would drag humanity and the planet into ruin.

• Darklops Mecha Zero struck his own chest and began breaking apart as purple energy and the signatures of twelve Mass Production Models surged from within him.
• Hayato Noda fed his stockpiled Monster Capsules, including the Kaiser Belial Capsule, into Darklops Mecha Zero and let the spreading flesh engulf him.
• Darklops Mecha Zero’s armor burst apart as his body grew to 150 meters, revealing twelve Mass Production Model heads and his final form, Xeronus.
• Kaji realized that the Mass Production Models had been absorbed into Xeronus and regretted failing to uncover their connection sooner.
• Kaworu Nagisa identified Xeronus as the final Angel born from humanity’s pursuit of evolution and self-destruction, while Asuka demanded an explanation.
• Rei Ayanami explained that a devil’s plan would turn humanity’s weapon against civilization and the planet, and said she could not escape the fate either.