WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 54 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "The Vagrant War Demon, Rebellimon," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Digimon Adventure 2020 now has over 50 episodes under its belt, giving it not only more than two decades' worth of franchise history to pull from, but also plenty of its own, newly-established canon to call back to. Episode 54, "The Vagrant War Demon, Rebellimon," does just that. At first glance, it appears to be a mere filler installment during the Chosen Ones' mission to learn more about their Crests. However, a number of clues littered through the Tai and Agumon-centered side-story point back to a formative battle in the series -- Greymon's dramatic tussle with Ogremon.
In the original Adventure series, Ogremon, along with Leomon, was one of the most memorable and nuanced adversaries the kids faced -- eventually becoming recurring pests, akin to the Pokémon anime's Team Rocket, than a real danger to their world-saving exploits. The reboot series continued in this vein. During Adventure 2020's early episodes, Ogremon attacked the group more than once at Devimon's behest, only to be put in his place by Togemon and Greymon. However, in an interesting twist, the Champion-level demon ended up aiding them in Episode 9 against the higher-leveled MetalTyrannomon. Cast aside due to ineffectiveness, Ogremon decided to break free from his master and take on Greymon's prehistoric foe, a decision that cost him his life.
Or did it? Fast-forward to the most recent episode, and Tai and Agumon's trek through a Mad Max-esque wasteland leads them to cross paths with a green-skinned, orange-haired cyborg Digimon called Rebellimon. A fusion of beast and motorbike, the road warrior is intent on fighting every powerful Digimon in the area, even risking its life to do so. It finds an unexpected sidekick, however, in the very-out-of-place Cutemon, who previously patched the brawler up after it (seemingly) inadvertently rescued it from a wild pack of Giromon. Even if its skin and hair color weren't enough of a passing resemblance, its battle-hardened resolve to doggedly best every Digimon fighter it comes across reminds Greymon, upon battling it himself, of Ogremon. But he shakes off the comparison as an afterthought.
That observation comes back into sharp relief, however, at the episode's end. After an intense showdown with the Mega-level Boltmon -- Rebellimon's greatest adversary over the course of the episode -- the cyborg finally lands a definitive victory, thanks, in part, to some inspiring teamwork with the trepidatious Cutemon. Together, the two prepare to depart from Tai and Agumon (feeling, for all the world, like the Digimon equivalent of Danny and Sandy from Grease) and upon Tai informing Rebellimon of their search for his Crests' meaning, the Digimon ruminates on "going straight," but isn't quite sure why it thinks that.
The line calls directly back to Ogremon's suggestion of which way the DigiDestined should go during the Devimon arc. Rebellimon's confusion over what compelled it to say that, coupled with Tai and Agumon's shocked reception, should leave viewers with little doubt that this Ultimate Digimon was once the very same Ogremon that supposedly perished defending the group. While it's not explicitly confirmed, the idea of Ogremon barely surviving that fight, losing its memories and remaking itself out of metal parts to wander the Digital World's deserts with only a vague instinct to keep fighting, is believable. Now, with Cutemon at its side, it has found some measure of a happy-ish ending.
