WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 52 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "Dance of the Heavens, Hououmon," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Though beloved, the original Digimon Adventure series was kind of unbalanced in its power-scaling. Tai and Matt's partners -- Agumon and Gabumon -- were the only members of the DigiDestined to receive Mega forms, for instance. In the tie-in movie, creatively named Digimon: The Movie, the duo even got to combine their Mega-levelled Digimon to form the virus-busting warrior, Omnimon. While subsequent franchise entries have addressed this imbalance, the currently-airing Adventure reboot provides ample opportunity to do so at the source. And while it may have taken over 50 episodes, "Dance of the Heavens, Hououmon" just does that with the introduction of Biyomon's titular Mega form, a Digimon that's far more than just a really big bird (... but is also a really big bird).
Also known aptly as Phoenixmon, Hououmon's appearance is tied to the Chosen Ones' current quest to better understand their crests, which have so far been scantly discussed in the series. Older fans will already know that these unique symbols that appear on each child's Digivice represent various aspirational qualities, like courage, friendship and knowledge, and are key to pushing the gang's Digimon to ever-higher levels of evolution and strength. As Sora's crest is 'love,' it takes an inciting incident to break the pair's affection for one another so it can be strengthened in Episode 52, pushing them to the new evolutionary level.
Traveling with Tai and Agumon, the foursome come across some Digimon workers busy at the foot of a volcano. After pitching in to help, Biyomon becomes injured and Sora's motherly, overprotective mode kicks in. She refuses to let her Digimon continue working, driving a wedge of bitter distrust between the usually inseparable pair. It isn't until the volcano erupts that Biyomon comes to her senses, as well as Sora's aid. Evolving to Birdramon and then Garudamon, the two help Tai and MetalGreymon evacuate the area but the flowing lava threatens to catch the fleeing Digimon faster than they can escape. The rebuilt trust between Sora and Garudamon, as well as the pressure-cooker situation they find themselves in, unlocks Hououmon, who resolves the natural disaster for good.
As well as the significance of Sora getting a Mega-level Digimon for the first time in Adventure, viewers should take note of the bird's ankles -- around which are Holy Rings, like those that adorn Gatomon and other Holy Digimon. This extra bit of bling enhances Hououmon's status as the "ultimate" Bird Digimon, as well as confirming that it's packing divine power in every beat of its (no less than) four wings. Hououmon is undoubtedly the first of three other so-far-unseen Mega evolutions that the remaining members of the DigiDestined (Izzy, Mimi and Joe) will unlock in the coming episodes -- evolutions that will finally put the kids on more equal footing.
