Following the events of the previous episode, To Your Eternity: Season 2 Episode 5 begins up with Fushi, Kahaku, and Prince Bonchien traveling the country battling Nokkers and aiding the ordinary people with the support of the Guardians and Bon's army.

The episode begins with a seemingly straightforward character-building sequence between the new allies and an action scenario in which they defeat a Nokker. But a significant revelation about Fushi is made towards the midpoint of the episode, and it might have a tremendous impact on how the show develops in the future.

 

Fushi can now resurrect the deceased.

Fushi Gains the Power of Resurrection in To Your Eternity: Season 2_0

While capable of creating smaller items and tools, Fushi's inability to manifest anything more than empty husks has been a sore spot for the immortal ever since the series' first season. That all changes in this episode when the party visits the land of Ilsarita, where the lord of the realm pleads with Fushi to heal his dying daughter, Anna.

Fushi is unable to do anything for Anna, and when she passes, they demonstrate this by conjuring Anna's lifeless shell. Just as the party leaves, however, Bon overhears Anna's body coming back to life, to her father's jubilation. Bon later receives a letter thanking him and Fushi for resurrecting Anna, but Bon seems torn, fearful that Fushi would revive their friends and abandon him for them.

Needless to say, it's a huge revelation for the series moving forward. Fushi's role in the world of To Your Eternity has been akin to a prophet, but the power to imbue their creations with life changes the character to something more like a god. Fushi has always struggled with a desire to connect with others as a person, and this new ability puts them further out of step with humanity, serving as another source of angst for the long-suffering immortal.

What's more, this could lead to previously deceased characters such as March, Gugu and Tonari being revived. While there's plenty of potential compelling drama in bringing dead characters back, it could also run the risk of cheapening death in To Your Eternity. The series is, among other things, a rumination on grief and dealing with the pain of loss, and magically being able to negate that loss risks undermining one of the series' core themes.

 

Prince Bon Fights With His Shadow Self

Fushi Gains the Power of Resurrection in To Your Eternity: Season 2_1

For now, Fushi remains blissfully unaware of their new power, and the twist mostly serves to inform more of Bon's character. To Your Eternity has struggled with balancing the prince's likable qualities with his narcissism, but this episode reconciles that struggle by making it a dilemma for him to work through. The prince has several altruistic moments, but he also treats his assistant Todo -- in reality, his childhood crush Iris in disguise -- terribly, much to Fushi's chagrin, and the immortal wonders if they can rely on Bon as an ally.

Bon being torn between his genuine desire to do good and his more selfish instincts comes to a head when he elects not to tell Fushi about their power to resurrect the dead. Afterward, he makes a sinister, grandstanding speech to himself that he will gladly manipulate Fushi in order to become king -- though it's clear from the tone that he isn't comfortable fully committing to this callous persona. It's the most well-characterized Bon has been all season, and it shows that he still has the potential to be a complex addition to To Your Eternity's cast.

Kahaku, on the other hand, fares less well. Both he and Bon have spent the last few episodes lusting after Fushi in their Parona form in some of Season 2's most uncomfortable scenes, but while Bon has at least received development to compensate, Kahaku remains a one-note character. What's more, Kahaku takes Fushi displaying feminine traits as confirmation that the immortal is fundamentally a woman, thus validating his attraction to them.

 

Could Fushi's gender identity be meaningfully explored in To Your Eternity?

Fushi Gains the Power of Resurrection in To Your Eternity: Season 2_2

While it's unfortunate that the subject matter has only been broached through the lens of Kahaku's attraction rather than Fushi getting to discover it on their own terms, Fushi's gender identity is rife for exploration in To Your Eternity. The narrator and other characters refer to the immortal in masculine terms, but Fushi has always seemed rather nonplussed by gender presentation.

While their "default" form is the nomadic boy they met in the show's very first episode, they've been no stranger to presenting as a woman courtesy of their shapeshifting abilities, with the last several episodes seeing particular use of their Parona form. This aspect of their character has led some fans to read Fushi as a genderfluid character, and that reading has finally seen some acknowledgment in the text itself. For a story about the enormity of the human condition, gender and sexuality are two major topics that To Your Eternity has yet to really tackle, and now might be the perfect opportunity to do so

Hopefully, Fushi will get to answer those questions on their terms and To Your Eternity will treat the matter with tact and thoughtfulness. As for Kahaku's attraction for them, things reach a head when the leader of the Guardians proposes to Fushi in the episode's final moments -- and if the next episode preview is anything to go by, the immortal won't be responding in kind.