For To Your Eternity: Season 2 Episode 8, "Beyond Dreams," currently available on Crunchyroll, see the article that follows for spoilers.

The previous episode of To Your Eternity ended on a shocking cliffhanger. After much deliberation, Prince Bonchien decided to sacrifice himself to the Church of Bennett, martyring himself in order to relieve the pressure on Fushi and the immortals' other allies.

The episode ended with the guillotine blade falling toward the prince's neck, as Bon's decision seemed to be the end of the prince. However, when Episode 8 begins, it is clear that something has gone wrong: the crowd and Bennett ministers watching the execution are all unconscious. When Grand Cardinal Cyrila awakens, he is initially suspicious but appears reassured when he sees Bon's decapitated corpse.

 

If Bon Lives, Does That Negate His Sacrifice?

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By using Tonari's sleeping potion, among other things, the immortal was able to save Bon just in time, even though the body at the scene was actually one of Fushi's shells. Bon's home kingdom of Uralis, as well as his own family, believe the prince is dead as a result of the plan's success.

Some fans will be relieved to learn of Bon's survival, while others will see it as a cop-out. Bon's decision to sacrifice himself had been meticulously built up in the previous episode, and it seemed like a natural, bittersweet conclusion to his character arc. To Your Eternity's major character deaths in Season 1 included the lone nomadic boy, March, Gugu, and Pioran, and Bon's "death" similarly imbued Season 2 with some much-needed pathos.

The fact that Season 1 was willing to constantly reinvent itself and never stay in one place for an extended period of time contributed to the show's staying power. With his role expected to last throughout the upcoming episodes, Bon has now been Fushi's traveling companion for the longest time thanks to his survival. Bon may have already outstayed his welcome for those who are hankering after more plot lines and characters.

 

Bon Discovers The truth of Todo

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The fact that Bon had knowledge of Fushi's power to resurrect people and the fact that he had not yet discovered Todo's true identity were just two of the unresolved issues that would have made it difficult to accept Bon's death. The fact that To Your Eternity hasn't given up on those storylines just yet will therefore come as a relief to some viewers, with the latter being resolved in this very episode.

After being brought up to speed by Fushi and reunited with his family, Bon vows to remain invisible to the public, shaving his beard and cutting his hair to conceal himself. Following that, he's reunited with Todo, who's also undergone a dramatic physical transformation, having lost a significant amount of weight off-screen during her captivity and now resembling Iris – which Bon finally uses to connect the dots.

After some comedic bickering, it becomes clear that Bon reciprocates Iris' feelings for him. It's a moment that could have felt rewarding for both characters, but it's undermined by rushed pacing. Bon does hastily apologize for his poor treatment toward her, but it's played more as an obligation than a sincere character beat.

Iris' weight loss also feels less like it's in service of her character and purely so that the prince can have a more conventionally attractive love interest -- which not only runs completely counter to his arc of learning to be less shallow but also seemingly frames Iris's malnourishment at the hands of the Church as a good thing. Poor Iris has been mistreated by Bon all season, so it's even more aggravating that she's now being mistreated by the story itself.

 

Fushi and Company Discover a Surprising Truth About the Nokkers

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The last act of the episode features a significant revelation for the overall plot of the series, even though the majority of it is spent readjusting Bon to life after his "death." As Kahaku's Nokker begins to communicate with its host, he, Fushi, and Bon finally learn the true intentions of the Nokkers.

A mortal's life force can continue in various ways after death, with some fye passing onto an afterlife and others reincarnating into new bodies, as was established in the Season 2 premiere. "Fye" are To Your Eternity's equivalent to souls. This episode makes it abundantly clear that the Nokkers view the fye's imprisonment in mortal bodies as a prison, and they seek to free them by murdering people. They hate Fushi and the Beholder for making the flesh "eternal" because of this.

It's a revelation that calls their previous actions into question and elevates them above the level of mindless monsters they once were. The introduction of the Church of Bennett was already one of Season 2's best moves, giving Fushi a human enemy to oppose on an ideological level, but giving the Nokkers depth and a concrete philosophy as well only further enriches the series.

Fushi is clearly shaken by the revelation and the immortal debates with the Beholder whether the Nokkers can even be classified as purely evil. Neither party is certain, but Fushi is fired up to keep fighting. Fushi, Bon, and Kahaku mobilize to mount a counterattack after learning that the Nokkers will be targeting the Church of Bennett's headquarters next, and To Your Eternity: Season 2 raises the stakes to new heights.