guardianspirits13:

Dabi’s Reconciliation

Okay, so we all are aware that Dabi is well past redemption, but I think what he both deserves and will likely be given is reconciliation.

Time and again the relationship between Touya and Natsuo had been emphasized in the Todoroki narrative, and Natsuo is the only member of his family Dabi refers to fondly. Natsuo is the only one who was there for him the whole time he was suffering and never hurt him, not even inadvertently.

Now maybe this is just me projecting and wanting Natsuo to have a larger role in the series, but I genuinely believe there is evidence for him to play a key role in talking Dabi down. I will say again that Horikoshi writes very intentionally and uses Checkov’s gun a LOT in his writing. Everything he deliberately sets up pays off down the line, and this is no different. I alway wondered why Hori chose to focus so closely on the Todoroki family, and in the end it has had one of the most major impacts on the series and hero society thus far.

Horikoshi is also notorious for building bonds between his characters that are the difference between victory and defeat in dire situations. If Kirishima never built trust with Bakugou, he would still be stuck with the villians. If Bakugou hadn’t worked through his relationship with Deku, then Deku would have taken the blow and Shigaraki would still be at large. My point being that none of the relationships in this series are superficial, and they have a very real weight in the progression of the plot.

I know everyone is awaiting Natsuo’s reaction to Touya being alive, but it wouldn’t be much of a payoff if nothing came out of it. I’m not necessarily saying that Natsuo is going to come running onto the battlefield (but wouldn’t it be convenient if his college was located in the general area?), but all of their history together has been building up to a reunion of some sort, and it would also be a cop out if they reunited after the battle. I predict that Horikoshi is building up to using the strength of the bond between two brothers who only had each other for years to turn the tide of the battle.

There is something both poetic and powerful in Natsuo Todoroki, a likely quirkless kid who was ignored by his parents for his entire childhood, who grew out of a home of hatred and abuse to go on to be a medical student, to help people, who is so compassionate he has been putting up with Endeavor just to help entertain Fuyumi’s fantasy of a normal family, being the one to turn the tide of the battle.

Everything would really come full circle if Natsuo, a normal college student and a genuinely good, selfless person, could talk down his villianous brother and end up saving Endeavor, the one who ignored him snd cast him aside for his entire life.

Touya Todoroki is now a villain at large, and at risk of murdering the number one hero.

And Natsuo is the only one who can stop him.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.