Shinra and the team are about to uncover the world's greatest secret. But just as the other Special Fire Force Companies unite to face the looming disaster, the Tokyo Imperial Army captures Obi, and Company 8 is branded as traitors. Hunted by the Empire, they must fight alone to rescue Obi and stop the Evangelist—all while a new assassin and the corrupt Captain Burns block their path.

Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 is based on theFire Force manga byAtsushi Ohkubo. The anime series is streaming onCrunchyroll on Fridays.

Even though it's only been gone six months or so, I've missedFire Force. It's never been one of my absolute favorite shows, but its vibrant color and goofy humor have found a place in my heart. This is the finalcour though, which means once these episodes are done, then so isFire Force. I'm unsure how I will cope with that. Anyway, at the episode's beginning, we're thrust right back to where the first part of the final season ended, with an inexplicably bleached-blonde Shinra Kusakabe tied to a bed by persons unknown.

Thankfully, the answers to Shinra's predicament come quickly. He's been bound by his fellow Company 8 firefighters after committing an unconscionable sin – during a three-month gap in his conscious memory, Shinra raised his hand towards sweet and peaceful nun Iris. Shinra is understandably horrified to learn this – if there's anything that we know about Shinra, it's that he's a good lad who loves his friends, especially Iris.

We learn, along with Shinra, that following his Adolla link with Inca, when he saw visions of a pre-cataclysm Japan (that looked a lot likeour Japan), his personality was replaced byanother Shinra for three months. During this time, he convinced a bemused Vulcan not only to dye his hair, but to tattoo his arms and legs. Oddly, the first person to notice Shinra was his rival Arthur (who is really his best friend, even if Shinra might never admit it). Arthur's normally self-absorbed to the point of being delusional, so it says a lot about their relationship that Arthur could immediately clock a difference in Shinra's personality.

Shinra wonders if he was replaced by his doppelganger from the World of Adolla, a being who embodied the concept of Shinra as a “devil,” as people first perceived him in the first season, and in his childhood. It's unclear if his reputation was due to this doppelganger inhabiting his body in the past, or if people's perceptions somehow caused this devilish form of Shinra to manifest. Either options are pretty disturbing if you think about it.

During Shinra's absence, five pillars have risen in the sea, and Bad Things will apparently happen when all eight are raised. I'm struggling to remember if this is something that's been explained in the past or not, but it's probably not that important.Fire Force has never been a particularly plot-heavy show – crazy stuff happens for reasons, things explode, there are loopy fights involving fire, and a good time is had by all.

I'm glad that Iris is understanding enough to realise that Shinra is deeply upset learning about what his other self did to her. As usual, she's a beacon of forgiveness and positivity, always encouraging and expressing love (philia, not eros) for him with her gentle words and actions. The fact that she now also has third-generation fire abilities is an interesting twist. The final image of seven pillars standing above the sea is a sinister portent of probable doom for the climactic episodes to come. As much as I don't want the show to end, I'm keen to discover what happens next.

Despite some ups-and-downs in regards to pacing and production values, the first half ofFire Force's long-awaited third season was pretty damned awesome, and its ending especially hit like a truck. After a psychedelic trip across time and space, Shinra has awoken three months after the first Pillar incident with a gap in his memories, a flashy new look, and a rap sheet that has forced his allies to lock him up in chains. Obviously, this premiere of Season 3 Part 2 is concerned with explaining just what in the hell is going on, and how it is going to affect our boy Shinra as the story thunders towards its concluding act.

As it turns out, our hero's body was being controlled by an entity that Arthur helpfully describes as “Shinra, but not Shinra.” This is, at first, treated as a wacky case of stolen identity that resulted in some comical misunderstandings and a bunch of tattoos that Shinra can't erase as easily as the piercings and dye-job he also woke up with. The tone shifts pretty dramatically, though, once Shinra learns the reason his friends had to restrain him with metal shackles: He attacked Iris. Furthermore, Shinra's brain is being broken by the truth he learned of the pre-Cataclysm world - which is to say,our world - which was filled with people who seem just as human as the characters we all know…except there's somethingwrong. Some undefinable distinction that Shinra cannot quite explain. When he learns that the “Adolla” version of himself is likely the entity that took control of his body for so long, though, Shinra starts to get a feeling about these “doppelgangers.”

That's when Iris comes to greet Shinra, and after she reveals her all-new fire powers, explains that the attack from Adolla Shinra came with a question: He asked, “Why are you here, too?” Thus, the pieces start to come together (though they shouldn't be all that surprising at this point, what with how they're literally called “doppelgangers” and all). The image of the cold, brutal, parent-killing monster that people used tothink Shinra was became manifest in the world. Likewise, we have Iris, a saintly and eternally benevolent woman who just so happens to bear a striking resemblance to the girl called Amaterasu…

So far as premieres go,Fire Force Season 3 Part 2 is off to a great start. The lingering mysteries of this world are beginning to come together in fascinating and satisfying ways, and the threat of the Pillars represents the greatest challenge yet that our heroes have had to face, as the foundations of both society and reality itself are being soaked in gasoline and lit ablaze. Given how dialogue-heavy this episode is, the main concern this remaining batch of episodes will need to address is whether or not the spectacle will be able to burn bright enough to do justice toFire Force's epic ambitions.