NOTE: The following article contains major spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 6 Episode 124

 

In a true “Hey Auntie” moment that has shaken the anime world of My Hero Academia, Dabi has revealed himself as the eldest son of Endeavor, Toya Todoroki. On top of that, he’s revealed Endeavor’s abuse to everyone across the nation. 

 

That’s actually the last thing on Endeavor’s mind as he and his family were under the impression that Toya had died. They even have an area in their home to honor his memory. Stories of Toya’s death have been greatly exaggerated, however, as he’s currently on the battlefield, washing the black out of his hair and gleefully dancing across wounds that never truly healed. 

 

RELATED: My Hero Academia Season 6 Prepares for “Dabi Dance” Episode with Special Visual

 

Endeavor once said that he didn’t expect forgiveness and, well, that’s definitely about to be put to the test. 

 

“Dabi’s Dance” is one of My Hero Academia’s biggest moments this season. Looking back at the series as a whole, it’s an episode that’s been building up for a while now. There are certain moments and other winks to the camera that have pointed at Dabi being a lot more significant to the plot. The following list isn’t as beautifully dramatic as Dabi, but it does highlight how he’s been eagerly waiting for this moment for quite some time.

 

That’s sad… Shoto… Todoroki…

 

 

Believe it or not, Dabi’s connection to the Todoroki family dates all the way back to Season 3. During the desperate attempt to protect Bakugo from the League of Villains, there’s a moment where Shoto scrambles to retrieve the pebble that Mr. Compress trapped his friend in. Dabi snatches it up before he can grab it and, with a satisfied grin, says, “That’s sad… Shoto… Todoroki.” 

 

RELATED: Shoto Todoroki Shows Off His Cool Look in My Hero Academia Season 6 Character Special Visual Project

 

At the time it didn’t seem like much, but in hindsight, there’s something about the way Dabi addressed Shoto that feels personal. Now that the truth has been revealed, this moment where Dabi stops Shoto from saving Bakugo has even more weight to it. This exchange feels like someone who was more than happy to stop a Todoroki in their tracks, especially since Dabi told Endeavor mid-dance that he thought about killing Shoto as a way to hurt him. 

 

Do Your Best, Endeavor

 

 

At the end of Season 4 Endeavor faces off against a High-End Nomu, a creature he compares himself to because of its single-mindedness in achieving its goal. He defeats the creature, but as we see at the beginning of Season 5 there’s one more person he faces: Dabi. 

 

You’d think if a villain had a chance to take down the two weakened top heroes he’d take it, but initially, Dabi says he simply wants to talk and collect the High-End Nomu. Soon, he does end up going after Endeavor and Hawks, but Mirko stops him before he can attack them. Instead of trying to fight her, he leaves (a wise decision), but not before he tells Endeavor that, someday, they’ll have the chance to talk. He even tells Endeavor to do his best until that day comes. 

 

RELATED: Endeavor — The Perfect Number One Hero?

 

Why in the world would Dabi want Endeavor to do his best… unless he wanted Endeavor to keep succeeding just so he could thoroughly ruin his life — especially when he became the number one hero. What better way to wreck Endeavor than to reveal his terrible past and show the world what his ambitions did to his eldest son? Dabi is another layer of the hurt Endeavor’s responsible for causing, and now that Endeavor has done his best it’s the perfect time for Dabi to cause it all to collapse.

 

Take a Bow

 

 

This is one of those moments as a manga reader where I frantically pointed at the screen and went, “Oh, I see what you did there!” I love seeing the little hints the animators have sprinkled in the opening and ending this season (we’ll get to the ending in a bit).

 

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In the opening, you can catch Dabi looking like he’s taking a bow. The background is dark behind him and his hand is surrounded in blue fire. Interestingly, what follows this shot is an image of All Might’s statue with his fist raised in the air. The statue is iconic in the My Hero Academia universe, though at this point in time All Might hasn’t been the number one hero for a while. His striking image and the hero ideology of “I Am Here!” still linger throughout society, and Dabi’s definitely been wanting to burn it all down since Endeavor’s desire to surpass All Might led to him abusing his family.

 

Flowers in the Flames

 

 

The ending for Season 6 has Dabi putting his hand on a picture of Endeavor and setting it on fire. But it’s not just Endeavor that Dabi has history with. Dabi’s got something to say to the Todoroki family as a whole. We see this with him confronting Endeavor and Shoto, but they aren’t the only ones watching the news — the entire family is. This includes Rei Todoroki, the mother of the household. 

 

RELATED: Five Characters I’m Excited to See in the Next My Hero Academia Season

 

This is probably why when Dabi’s fire erupts to incinerate Endeavor’s picture in the ending we briefly see an image of flowers. The flowers could very well represent Rei as we do know that Endeavor has flowers delivered to her while she’s in the hospital. 

 

Who Are You?!

 

 

Dabi’s been one of the most enigmatic villains of the series. As we’ve been learning more about the group, Dabi’s one of the characters who hasn’t said much about himself, nor has any hero been able to find information on him.

 

Shortly after Twice’s death, Dabi manages to get the upper hand on Hawks, calling him by his real name, Keigo Takami. Presumably, at this moment, Dabi tells him who he is… but we, the viewer, don’t get to hear what he says. Hawks is left completely horrified at what Dabi shares with him, so much so that he doesn’t reveal what gets said, either. 

 

RELATED: My Hero Academia’s Season 6 Ending Sequence Changes With the War

 

Since it’s the first time in the entire series where Dabi’s thrown any sort of bone in regard to his identity, it felt like it was only a matter of time before we’d find out the big secret. In case you’re curious, the manga doesn’t reveal what Dabi says here, either, Horikoshi going so far as to black out Dabi’s speech bubble! Dabi had a plan and he was going to execute it his way… even if it meant breaking the fourth wall and having the text covered up.

 

Skeptic

 

 

While Dabi is upset about Twice’s death, expecting him to care about anyone in the Meta Liberation Army is a bit of a stretch since the League of Villains hasn’t had much time to form any sort of bond with them. That’s why Dabi being invested in keeping Skeptic around was odd.

 

That being said, Dabi’s the kind of character who’s always got a reason for what he does, so it was obvious that Skeptic was going to be used for something. We found out soon enough as Skeptic is the one who hijacked the broadcast across the nation to reveal Dabi’s true identity. He even added footage that showed Hawks killing Twice so Dabi could really drive his point home about heroes not being as good as society thinks they are. 

 

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What’s interesting is this secret wasn’t shared with Skeptic or the League. Everyone on Dabi’s side was just as Pikachu shocked face as the heroes. 

 

I gotta say, as someone who loves drama, this was all a brilliant way to reveal everything on Dabi’s part. The fact that you can look back at the series and see nuggets of Dabi’s intentions makes the moment more impactful than it already is. Dabi really did pick the best time to perform his dance — figuratively and literally. 

 

 

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Briana Lawrence is the Senior EN Features Editor here at Crunchyroll. When she’s not writing she’s taking care of her three butthead cats and playing Hades for the 100th time. You can check out her writings and her book series over at her website and give her a shout-over on Twitter.