Hunter Hunter’s Chimera Ant is an arc that
stands out in the minds of most of it’s audience for the bold, powerful and creative
ways it tackles its structure, themes, major moments and characters. However, given the bigger story beats involving
The Royal Guards vs the extermination squad, Pouf’s poetic internalization, Netero’s
sacrifice, Meruem’s progression, Gon’s downward spiral and the Killua exploration,
it is understandable that some elements of the story fall by the wayside in the memories
of those who watch or read. And one of the more overlooked aspects, a
narrative thread that goes a bit under the radar, is that of Ikalgo and his pacifistic
stance, and how he chose to forego killing Welfin and Brovada despite their interference
with his ultimate duty. Now, for me, this is quite comfortably the
least engaging aspect of the Palace Invasion and there are many who agree with me. It is far from badly written, but it is comparatively
forgettable through no fault of it’s own. It was just unlucky in that no matter where
this thread was tackled within the arc, it’s placement was to its detriment. Whether it took a break from Gon vs. Pitou,
Youpi vs. Shoot, Knuckle, Morel and Meleoron, Netero vs Meruem or Shaiapouf’s antics,
Ikalgo’s situation was consistently the less interesting plot line in comparison to
any other. However, that does NOT AT ALL mean that this
one was any less important than the others, exemplified by the large amount of time spent
here by Togashi, and it also does not at all mean that the final impact of this underlying
story was not as wonderfully realized as the others. Now, a lot of time here is spent with Ikalgo
wrestling with his inner self, trying his hardest to do what is right for his squad
while also ensuring that he does not kill his enemies. His job during the invasion was to infiltrate
the base using his disguise, locate Palm and save her, and then use his best judgment to
decide where and how to proceed from there. This leads to him being confronted by a couple
of suspicious adversaries in Brovada and Welfin, and a great deal of time spent on his side
of the story chronicles his misadventures in the underground, trying to proceed with
his job while not ending the lives of those he opposes. This adherence to non-violence is a theme
that integrates seamlessly with the arc’s focus on perspective, but it also has some
more specific thematic relevance through the personal implications it has for Ikalgo. Having been saved himself from a worthless,
violent, nothing life by Killua through the latter’s compassion, Ikalgo knows better
than anyone that someone can turn their life around and make a positive impact on the world
after being helped by one small act of kindness. He knows that anyone can change. And so, he does not want to snuff out that
potential. It’s a constant tug of war between doing
what he knows is his job and remaining loyal to his comrades, and passing on some empathy
and kindness, trying to believe in people enough to avoid needless death. The most prominent character apart from Ikalgo
in this plot line is Welfin, who is explored quite a bit, but the more important character
with regards to the idea we’re discussing here is Brovada, also known as Bloster. And this may seem like a strange statement
to make, but believe me when I say that while Welfin is important in other ways, Brovada
is absolutely vital to the topic at hand here. Yet to properly understand why, we must first
trace all the way back to some of the series’ very first moments. I go over this element of Hunter x Hunter
in much more detail in my video about Killua and his relationship with Gon, but to put
things plainly , a torch of kindness and empathy was materialized when our two main protagonists
first met during the Hunter Exam. Killua, who had until this point been deprived
of freedom, friendship and proper love, is met with Gon, who is a personification of
all of those things. As the two get to know each other, Killua
finds that his life is completely turned around by Gon, simply through the type of person
he is. Killua was aimless and Gon helped him discover
his purpose. Killua had no friends, and Gon became his
in an instant. Killua was living a life devoid of light,
and Gon showered him in it. Gon changed Killua’s life around by being
a simple, kind, good-natured person with an open, pure heart, and their enduring friendship
helped him develop and become the person he became by the end of the story. And so here, we can see that Gon provided
Killua with this torch. Now, if we move ahead to the Chimera Ant arc,
this theme is carried forward. While disrupting things for the Ants’ selection
plan, Killua comes into contact and skirmishes with a Chimera Ant named Ikalgo. Though the two initially fight, Ultimately,
Killua ends up expressing his respect for Ikalgo, calling him a cool guy and someone
he could have been friends with were they on the same side. Even aside from the way he saves him in literal
terms, Killua’s most telling contribution to Ikalgo’s life is the way he simply offers
him validation and friendship through his words. And as someone who was disillusioned with
his role, who has been insecure and detached, all Ikalgo needed was a helping hand and an
offer of connection. And Killua is all to happy to oblige, using
the things he learned about friendship, life and purpose from Gon in order to help Ikalgo
grab hold of a new lease on life. At this point, Killua passes the torch of
kindness onto Ikalgo, who reacts in kind by saving his life. The two become instant friends and Ikalgo
is offered personal fulfillment by Killua in the form of a spot on the extermination
team. Essentially, this completely changes his views
and philosophy, and Ikalgo is benefitted by seeing a whole new world of possibilities. From here, we can fast forward to Ikalgo’s
role in the Palace Invasion as I mentioned before - his struggle to ensure that he does
not snuff out potential positive change in the world through not killing, while also
carrying out his duty. He ultimately is able to spare both Welfin
and particularly Brovada’s lives. And as such, Ikalgo passes on that torch once
more - in this case, to the blue lobster thing. Brovada is very much cognizant of the fact
that he is only breathing because Ikalgo did him a kindness, and he takes it upon himself
to pay it forward. His method of doing this is resolving to pass
on this positive energy through helping Shidore - who is revealed to actually be the chimera
ant of Reina - by helping her find her home. Reina, who remembers her past life, just longs
to be reunited with her mother and village, but is terrified to approach the people she
once knew in fear of them being scared off or rejecting her. So Brovada supports her every step of the
way, passing the torch of kindness onto her as a tribute of gratitude and appreciation
for Ikalgo. Reina reunites with her Mother, who is quite
beautifully able to recognize her daughter even in this unfamiliar form. And as an expression of deep thanks, Reina
symbolically places the torch to rest by offering Brovada a home and a place to belong. Having alluded to the idea that he really
doesn’t have a place to be, Brovada is delighted to accept. Following orders yet clearly not a bad guy,
heartfelt and passionate, firm in his conviction to do right by those who did right by him,
wandering and aimless until given a chance of happiness - Brovada isn’t a very fleshed
out or deep character, but he’s everything that he needed to be to shoulder this vital
part of the story and allow everything to follow through. Episode 136 is one of my very favourite episodes
of anime period for this very reason. It isn’t just a gorgeous, emotionally heart-wrenching
story of redemption, love and family come full circle; it’s the final impact and culmination
of a thematic thread that was spun from the very beginning. Gon changes Killua’s life around and shows
him that there is so much possibility and so many things to live for. In turn, Killua showed kindness and friendship
to Ikalgo, who subsequently used that kindness to form his resolve to save Brovada, who then
paid it forward by helping Reina find her family, and was consequently rewarded by being
offered a home in return. Each character learns from and is affected
by the actions of the others, all started by a simple act of kindness in the beginning. It’s an invisible and subtle, yet very palpable
string of compassion that can be traced from Brovada and Reina back to Gon, who quite literally
never met them but indirectly helped them through starting the first domino. In the midst of a story that can get quite
dark, it is a beautiful chain of events, benefitting and saving people up until the very end of
the Chimera Ant arc - passing on that torch of compassion and love again and again. Each person benefitted exponentially by that
torch and further passing it on. It is a championing of empathy, a demonstration
of how far little acts of kindness can go in changing the world, and it is one of the
most under-discussed yet powerful elements in the story. Many thanks for watching.
