Warning: Spoilers for JJBA: Stone Ocean episodes 35-38Fans of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure were certainly glad to see an old friend return in the form of Jotaro early on in Stone Ocean, but due to the machinations of the villainous Pucci, Jotaro was out of the fight for a very long time. He made up for his absence, however, by arriving at the perfect time in the most epic way imaginable.
Pucci, using his Stand Palesnake, was able to remove Jotaro’s Stand ability as well as his memories, leaving his body comatose but still alive. Pucci had hoped to study Jotaro’s Star Platinum and learn from its similarity to Dio’s Stand, The World, so he guarded these discs intensely, throwing dozens of Stand users at Jolyne to keep her from finding them. The first disc, containing Jotaro’s Stand, was returned to him part-way through the series, but the disc of Jotaro’s memories was still in the possession of Emporio until just a few episodes from the end.
When Jolyne is fighting Pucci and his new Stand, C-Moon, Pucci gloats that she won’t be able to defeat him, even if she’s found a way around C-Moon’s inversion ability. To that end, Pucci grabs a gun off of a dead security guard and fires several rounds at Jolyne. Right when it looks like it’s all over, time suddenly stops and the bullets freeze in place. Jotaro has arrived and used Star Platinum’s The World ability to stop time and save Jolyne from the bullets. Jotaro even gets to tell Jolyne how proud of her he is, before Pucci takes his plan to the next level.
Jotaro’s Long-Awaited Return
Jotaro featured heavily in Stardust Crusaders, where he was the main character, and Diamond is Unbreakable, where he provided support to Josuke, just as his grandfather Joseph had for him. Jotaro seemed set up for that role again in Stone Ocean, but instead wound up being the driving force for much of the plot. Jolyne initially stood against Pucci almost exclusively to get her father back, and recovering his Stand’s disc was a major success. As the stakes have been raised, however, stopping Pucci became the new driving plot, and the door was opened for Jotaro to return. Given that he was able to make it to Cape Canaveral so quickly, the Speedwagon Foundation must have had him nearby in Florida, just waiting for the disc to be found. Jotaro is 40 years old by the time of Stone Ocean, so it’s no surprise that he’s not at the same peak he was back in 1989, but seeing an older Jotaro back in action is a great thing for fans.
Given that the next part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a reboot, this is likely the last time that fans will see Jotaro. Even if he didn’t get to do a lot in the end, his presence was enough to encourage the others to see this through no matter what, and he was still essential to making it as far as they did.
The final episodes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean are now streaming on Netflix.
