WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Platinum End Episode 15, "Diffused Power," now streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
For months, the powerful God candidate Metropoliman/Uryu Kanade cast a long shadow over Platinum End's heavenly battle royale to decide the world's next God. During the previous battle, however, Mukaido Nanato gunned him down -- and perished in the process. This left a huge power vacuum in the war, and now the young Yuito Susumu seeks to fill it.
Susumu was the masked kid who apparently quit Metropoliman's team during the amusement park battle, but that had been a ruse. In Episode 15, the boy goes live on TV to explain the battle royale to all of Tokyo and wants to get the public involved. For the young Susumu, this is all a game -- and he's ready for the next round of fun.
Protagonist Kakehashi Mirai has finally achieved temporary peace and after speaking with Saki, he becomes convinced that Nanato really did die happy. At first things seem to get back to normal for Mirai and Saki, and the battle royale feels like a distant dream. Then a familiar face appears on the TV, and they watch as the youngest known God candidate makes his case to the world. This boy, Yuito Susumu, has a unique perspective on the entire God battle.
Susumu hadn't been a mere lackey for Metropoliman. Instead, he was Metro's boss and controlled him with a red arrow, and now all of his resources are Susumu's to command. Unlike Metro, however, Susumu doesn't see fit to directly challenge Mirai and the other candidates on TV, nor does he threaten anyone's life.
The boy sees all this as an exciting game, and unlike the other God candidates, he wasn't severely down on his life before his patron angel, Penema, approached him. Susumu had simply lived a boring life where no one paid any attention to him or played with him, so this battle royale is his chance for some real "playmates" at last. All he wants is fun -- but that doesn't mean he's harmless.
Susumu's moment in the spotlight is exactly what the distant, unknown God needs, whether or not the boy realizes it. Only 800 days remain until the next God must be chosen, and the six remaining candidates all refuse to fight any further. They are keeping their heads low and protecting themselves, with one of them, an unnamed young woman, taking a vacation and distancing herself aggressively from the entire battle. No God would be chosen at that rate, but Susumu's "game" may change things up sooner than later.
After getting the general public involved in the battle by explaining all this on live TV, Susumu then encourages viewers to turn the battle royale into an election. If he gets his way, the next God will be selected according to whomever society wants, and he even names Mirai, or "Red," as his personal favorite. It's clear that Susumu never meant for Metropoliman to win and become God, and really just wants a peaceful but fun resolution to all this.
Fortunately for Mirai, this means no one else has to get hurt -- but then again, the Platinum End protagonist doesn't like becoming a target like this, and he believes something terrible may soon happen to him because of Susumu's actions. The battle royale has become a battle of wits, and Mirai and Saki may not be ready. They got outwitted by a sixth grader, and may soon pay the price for it as the battle drastically changes course.
