WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 24 of Fire Force, "Signs of Upheaval," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Fire Force wraps up its second season by bringing Shinra and his allies closer through fiery determination, but the White-Clad loom on with frightening purpose after taking out Company 4's Captain Hague. The surprising death takes its toll on the Special Fire Force, and it marks the Evangelist's intention of killing those who bear a scar from witnessing Adolla.
With their enemies continuing to grow more dangerous, Shinra and Arthur look to Benimaru Shinmon to push them beyond their limits, trying to have them reach a point called "The Press of Death." With tephrosis on the line, Shinra finally achieves this state and experiences an Adolla Link that shows him Hague's final moments.
The Press of Death
With training that feels more like hazing, Shinra and Arthur throw everything they have at Benimaru to achieve "Hysterical Strength of a Fire Scene," which is meant to be a fight or flight-like response you experience when your life is in danger. While Benimaru praises the two for recognizing the importance of life, he simultaneously criticizes them for still taking it for granted. As Shinra is on the verge of blacking out from expending all the oxygen in his body, he feels as though his life itself is beginning to burn away.
Flames suddenly surround Shinra as he has visions of Sho and their mother, reminding him of his desire never to lose them again. This moment of existential crisis and realization fuels Shinra with a newfound drive, born from fear, survival instincts and "The Press of Death." With blue fire enveloping both Shinra and Arthur, Benimaru smirks as the two Fire Soldiers reach a newly awoken state.
Captain Hague Is Targeted
Meanwhile, Captains Hibana and Huang of Company 5 & 6, respectively, confront Lieutenant Konro. After his doppelgänger experience two years prior left Konro with his signature scar and a brief trip to the Adolla world, he was recently targeted by a White-Clad assassin. Huang determines that Konro's flames are no different from other pyrokinetics, causing them to consider that the scars -- or stigmas -- those who have witnessed Adolla bear could mark them as targets.
Captain Hague, like Konro, saw the Adolla's flames during the Great Fire, and he too carries facial scars from his encounter. Hague is attacked by a golden armed White-Clad assailant who riddles his body with various metal objects they can control. Shinra witnesses the captain's death, feeling his final moments and emotions through an Adolla Link.
Signs of Upheaval
The episode's final moments highlight the changes both the Fire Force and White-Clad have made since the beginning of the series. Though the Evangelist's forces have grown, Shinra and Company 8 have made allies throughout the Tokyo Empire to rely on for the upcoming conflicts, uniting the Special Fire Force under a common goal.
Yona -- who debuts a new look -- welcomes a group of White-Clad members, including Sho Kusakabe, out into the fresh air as they announce their intent to start a new era of humanity. The last time we saw Sho, he was still under Haumea's mind control, so there are big question marks around what's happened to him and how his relationship with the Evangelist could have changed.
Elsewhere, Charon watches over Haumea as she performs a strange ritual where she claims visions of seeing the world under a new sun, declaring, "The empire will become as it should be." The last image of the season, a grinning moon, references Fire Force creator Atsushi Ōkubo's other popular series, Soul Eater.
