Recap: Kamen Rider Zi-O, Episode 43 – Tsukuyomi Confidential

Sougo, Geiz and Tsukasa retreat when Hiryu becomes too much for them.

Over at the castle, Tsukuyomi refuses to believe Schwartz is her brother. But Schwartz says her power is awakening and it is a power that is unique to their royal family. Schwartz says he will soon ascend to the throne. Heure does not understand since their plan was to replace Oma Zi-O.

Schwartz knocks Heure down on his butt as Ora arrives having also just realized they have been played. She is accompanied by Daiki.

Ora wants an explanation as to why Schwartz would grant TimeJacker power to Daiki.

Schwartz approaches Ora and proceeds to suck her power right out of her person. He explains that it was he who gave them their power and it is he who can take it back as well.

Heure whisks Ora away. Schwartz orders Daiki to finish them off as they have no use for them any longer. Daiki says sure as long as Schwartz keeps his promise.

Back at the shop, Sougo, Geiz and Tsukasa try piecing together what they know so far. They are interrupted when Uncle Junichiro is being held back by the other Resistance members from going out to save Tsukuyomi himself.

Sougo stops him and says they will take care of saving Tsukuyomi. Uncle Junichiro should just continue doing what he’s always done and cook delicious food for them for when they come home safely. Uncle Junichiro says he’s never cooked food for Sougo before.

Meanwhile, Heure and Ora are hiding out in an abandoned restaurant as they come to terms with Schwartz’s deception. Heure wants revenge. But Daiki shows up and says they can’t just haphazardly go after Schwartz.

Daiki assures them that he is not here to hurt them even if he was ordered to do so. While he wants to collect his treasure, he doesn’t like being someone else’s lackey.

Daiki tosses Ora the Grand Zi-O Watch and says they can use it however they like. He gets up to leave. He first apologizes to them for having to keep his cover as he calls over to the Another Riders, alerting them to Heure and Ora’s location.

The Another Riders chase Heure and Ora as Sougo and Geiz arrive. Geiz thinks it’s a trap, but Sougo says they can’t ignore the situation.

Sougo and Geiz power up with W and Faiz and finish off the Another Riders. Sougo asks why the Another Riders were chasing them, but Heure says it’s none of their business. Ora, however, wants to tell them everything and has a request.

Back at the castle, Schwartz says he and Tsukuyomi came to this world from a different timeline. And their ability to control time is passed down through their royal line. As the one with the greatest power, Schwartz was next in line for the throne. But Tsukuyomi had been chosen to become the next king. Schwartz was not having any of that so he erased her memory and dumped her in a different timeline. He is shocked that she is alive, but it’s a good thing for him since he can take her power.

Tsukuyomi tries to run, but Schwartz grabs her with his electric vines and holds her up in the air. Just then, Woz arrives and fires, allowing Tsukuyomi to be dropped on the ground. But Schwartz slams Woz into the wall.

Schwartz says he knew Woz only got close to them in order to keep an eye on him. But it won’t matter once he takes Tsukuyomi’s power. He will be unstoppable.

Schwartz proceeds to take Tsukuyomi’s power. He drops her back on the floor and Woz whisks her away.

On the other side of town, Ora and Heure explain that they want revenge on Schwartz. Ora will give Sougo the Grand Zi-O Watch if he can defeat Schwartz for them. Sougo agrees and she hands it over to them.

Sougo and Geiz hurry back to the shop when they get a call about Tsukuyomi.

Woz asks Sougo to forgive him for momentarily leaving his side to investigate Schwartz. Sougo says he always believed in Woz and trusted that Woz had a good reason for following King Hiryu.

Tsukuyomi tells Geiz that even if Schwartz is her brother, they must do whatever they can to stop him from getting his way.

Geiz asks Uncle Junichiro to take care of Tsukuyomi as he goes into the dining room where Tsukasa is. Sougo and Woz join them.

Tsukasa says he’s got the gist of what’s going on. But the main point is Schwartz is pulling the strings. Sougo says he won’t give his future up to anyone, whether it’s Schwartz or Hiryu.

Sougo says they must first take care of Hiryu so they can return to the normal timeline. They trek up to the castle where they are met by all the Another Riders.

King Hiryu shows himself and says it is time to finally erase Sougo from the world. Sougo says he’s sorry if he hurt Hiryu, but that doesn’t mean Hiryu can rewrite time.

They all henshin and battle.

While Tsukasa takes on a few Another Riders, Daiki appears and they face off. Before Tsukasa can deliver a finisher at Daiki, Daiki freezes time. Schwartz walks up and inserts a blank Watch into Tsukasa, taking his power.

In the middle of battling Another Riders, Geiz asks Woz if they worked together in the original timeline. Woz says Geiz fought as his loyal follower under their glorious demon king. Geiz doesn’t believe that.

They finish off the remaining Another Riders.

Sougo and Hiryu are battling. Hiryu does not understand why he cannot defeat Sougo. Sougo says it’s because Hiryu is stuck in the past while Sougo looks to create a future.

Hiryu cannot stand Sougo looking down on him again.

Sougo delivers an All 20 Time Break at Hiryu. That destroys Another Zi-O II and Tokyo is return to the original timeline.

Geiz and Tsukuyomi regain their memories.

They look over to Hiryu on the ground. Schwartz says Daiki can take Hiryu’s Watch. Daiki picks it up and leaves.

Schwartz says Hiryu is no longer needed and that he never had what it takes to be king. Schwartz says Hiryu should be grateful that he even got a taste of it for a little bit thanks to him.

Tsukuyomi calls after her brother, but he just says See ya later. He also says he’s taken Tsukasa’s power.

Tsukasa is laying on the ground, unconscious.

Episode Thoughts

So my main takeaway from this episode is: Poor Hiryu!

I’m really sad about him, to be honest. This was basically the same exact ending as the first time he and Sougo faced off. Neither time did he get any closure to the pain he had felt all these years. I think one of the few plots this season that didn’t need a complete suspension of disbelief or a “Let’s just go with it” attitude was Hiryu and Sougo’s connection and Hiryu’s motivation. That’s why I was hoping they’d go deeper with their story and was happy to see Hiryu return these last few episodes.

But if they’re just going to repeat the same story and still not give Hiryu anything, then I don’t know. I’d rather they not bring him back then.

Because other than everyone finding out Schwartz and Tsukuyomi are siblings, we’re just back to where we were before the timeline jump. So what was the purpose of this arc? And we’re getting another new Rider next week. It would’ve been awesome a couple of weeks ago. Now in this final arc? Is it really going to be important to the endgame? We’ll see.

Schwartz orchestrating everything (that we know of) is definitely not a surprise. But the fact that he gave Ora and Heure their TimeJacker powers now brings up even more questions about who they are and where they’re really from.

With Oma Zi-O still lingering about, I’m not sure Schwartz is the final Big Bad though. And that the final showdown will be Sougo vs Oma Zi-O. Unless Schwartz turns into Oma Zi-O or something.

We have seven episodes left, but I don’t know if that’s even enough episodes to answer all the questions they’ve brought up. Still so many things left to answer and explain. Plus we have Tsukasa and Daiki’s love story… I mean, cat and mouse game seemingly an integral part to the finale too.

So overall, I was happy to see Hiryu back, but completely disappointed by what they did and did not do with him. This really would’ve been a great opportunity to build up a stronger foundation for Sougo’s character by them addressing his relationship with Hiryu in a good, dramatic way. I will be very surprised if this wasn’t the last we’ve seen of Hiryu. Then again, Daiki has the Watch, doesn’t he?