WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 23 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "The Messenger of Darkness," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Following on from the tease at the end of the last episode, Devimon unveils his new Ultimate-level form in Episode 23 of the Digimon reboot series, NeoDevimon. This many-eyed evolution makes the already-supremely powerful villain all the tougher for Tai, Matt, MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon to defeat, despite their own new power-ups. While the episode ends on another cliffhanger, the preview for what should be next week's finale promises, once more, the arrival of some late-stage new forms. That's right -- Mega evolution is just around the corner.
Though some fans weren't wholly sold on the new series initially, Digimon Adventure's revival has built itself up to become a new high-point for the franchise. Since the discovery of fake Tokyo, the DigiDestined have been jostling between the frying pan and the fire each week -- battling ever-stronger and craftier enemies and enlisting important allies to their cause, such as Leomon and Angemon. Though the Holy Digimon was sent back to the Baby stage of his evolutionary line, each step toward his former angelic glory clearly puts the fear of god into NeoDevimon, who hopes to pull the celestial being into darkness.
But Devimon has to get through MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon first. His Death Claw attack does a good enough job of this at first, which Tai and Matt realize is being extended by way of the dark miasma that permeates the Digital World. But when T.K's bond with the yolk-like Poyomon (Angemon's Baby form) helps elevate him to the In-Training level, the adorable Tokomon, Devimon is rattled. Fear of facing Angemon once more, as well as its data link to the real world, is what propels NeoDevimon to appear. The fight that ensues is another tense one, and it's only through Tai and Matt reconnecting with Izzy, Sora, Mimi and Joe in the real world via Digivice -- who are busy helping their Digimon fight Calmaramon in the Network -- that the gang is able to win.
Realizing they're all fighting together across different planes, the Chosen Ones' bond with each other and their Digimon enhances. Togemon, Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon and Birdramon all digivolve in satisfying unison to beat Calmaramon and crush the obelisk it was defending. The obelisk served as Devimon's link to the real world's data, and with his supply destroyed, he's left vulnerable to WereGarurumon's Blue Saggitarious mode and MetalGreymon's Giga Blaster.
Unfortunately, victory is shortlived. Using a mysterious crystal, Darknightmon, watching from the shadows, resurrects its master. As NeoDevimon rises, its mask cracks to reveal a slender, yellow eye... The preview for next week's episode gives us a glimpse of what's to come: a Venom-esque Digimon known as Donedevimon. This form will be a franchise-first for the antagonist, with Daemon being the Ultimate form NeoDevimon usually evolves into. But as is more traditional, Devimon's ascension looks like it will create an equal reaction in its opponent, as Tai and MetalGreymon surrounded by energy also feature heavily in the preview. Having said that, the ominous red tinge of that energy -- and mention of Tai's "fall" -- hints that it might not be a wholly heroic transformation.
Fans will have to wait until next time to see if WarGreymon, for better or worse, does indeed makes its return to the anime.
