Episode 31

With the Nomu assault over, an NHA TV crew catches Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri watching Hosu City from above. Tomura decays his binoculars in disgust, and when Kurogiri asks whether the outcome disappointed him, the answer is that tomorrow decides it. The next morning finds Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki, and Tenya Ida recovering at Hosu General Hospital, where Izuku concludes the Hero Killer let them live and Shoto agrees. Praised for his courage, Tenya waves it away.

Manual and Gran Torino bring in Kenji Tsuragamae, chief of the local police. Stain is under care for grave wounds, he says, and the three of them are due punishment for turning uncertified Quirks toward violence without a professional's sanction. Shoto nearly loses his temper, pointing out that Native would be dead otherwise, and Gran Torino tells him to let the man finish. That, the chief clarifies, was his position as an officer. Had the incident been reported formally, the penalty would have followed, but there were too few witnesses for a public account, so nothing will be disclosed. The catch is that they receive no recognition either. Shoto observes that the chief might have opened with that part, and the three thank him for the pardon. Tsuragamae tells them their futures look bright and thanks them for what they did.

Word of Stain's arrest sweeps the country with Endeavor's name attached to it. Tomura fumes that the Nomu attack drew so little coverage next to a man he wanted erased from memory entirely, while the papers dwell on Stain's record and promise his name a place in history. Best Jeanist lectures Katsuki Bakugo and his sidekicks about staying composed and tuning out the noise from Hosu. Eijiro Kirishima confirms the location Izuku broadcast was a distress call, and Fourth Kind punishes him and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu for turning up late. Momo Yaoyorozu and Itsuka Kendo finally get a patrol out of Uwabami once the commercial shoot wraps, and Ochaco Uraraka rings Izuku about the whole affair.

In the hospital room, Tenya admits his hand is badly damaged. Surgery could fix it, but he intends to leave it alone until he has become a real hero, keeping the injury as proof of his own foolishness. Izuku recognizes the impulse and decides his crooked fingers will serve the same purpose. The two make a pact to grow strong together, which leaves Shoto guilty, since both injuries happened in fights involving him. He insists he is serious, and they laugh at him anyway.

Gran Torino phones All Might to inform him that Izuku's involvement cost him his teaching license and a chunk of his pay. All Might apologizes and blames his own inadequate instruction, but the old man has a larger worry: Stain's conviction and charisma resemble All Might's own, which means the Hero Killer will inspire people. All Might counters that heroes will rise to meet them, and Gran Torino answers that they will be rallied under Stain's banner by the League of Villains instead, given the link already established between them. Then he names the thing neither of them wants to say aloud, that the man who murdered All Might's predecessor, and left the scars on his own body, has come back: All For One. Toshinori refuses to believe it. Gran Torino tells him to lay out his whole history for the boy, One For All included, the moment a chance appears, and hangs up.

Two days on, a video of Stain's history and his creed has spread across Japan. In a hostess bar, one man muses about retiring because All Might's presence has strangled the crime rate. His companion, cigarette in hand, argues the opposite: the words Stain spoke before collapsing will drive criminals to unite behind the organization he was thought to be working with, the League of Villains.

The eighteenth entry of the second season adapts the back half of chapter 56 and most of chapter 57, running between Singin' to the Sky and 'Cause You're My Hero. It marks the first appearances of Dabi, Himiko Toga, Gigantomachia, Giran, Mustard, and Spinner, seeded into the montage of villains drawn toward Stain's message.

Himiko and Dabi both receive extended scenes. The internship material is broadened as well: Best Jeanist's comments on the Hosu aftermath are staged as a new scene, the Uwabami commercial with Kendo and Yaoyorozu plays in full, and the phone call between Ochaco and Izuku runs slightly longer. When Gran Torino calls, the broadcast adds a beat in which Eraser Head and Present Mic are put off by his ringtone, which turns out to be his own catchphrase.