Warning: This article contains spoilers for Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 episode #8Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 finally begun showing the Shibuya Incident Arc’s battles, and the opening clash has already proved that Satoru Gojo can’t be considered a hero. Episode #8 featured a brilliant but ruthless plan by Getou Suguru in order to neutralize Gojo: utilizing the civilians out partying on Halloween to weaken and distract Gojo, but the villains misjudged the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer.
Episode #8 of Jujutsu Kaisen shows that there are two reasons Geto had a veil lowered over the shopping district of Shibuya to trap the civilians: to lure out Gojo and to use the civilians to distract him. There are 3 special grade vcurses who would take on Gojo, but Geto foresaw that this wouldn’t be enough, so he wanted to force Gojo to protect the people and fight. With that many people around, Gojo wouldn’t be able to use his powerful techniques including Domain Expansion in fear of killing them. However, Gojo showed to not care at all, and focused on the fight rather than protecting the civilians.
Gojo Doesn’t Prioritize The Lives Of Civilians
When Jogo tells Gojo not to run or dodge or else he would kill the civilians, he expects him to comply, leading to him and Hanami launching an assault on Gojo, managing to get through his Limitless ability. However, after giving it a quick thought, Gojo simply retreats before the curses’ attack lands. Frustrated and surprised, Jogo kills a nearby civilian, but Gojo doesn’t seem to care if the massacre unfolding right in front him. The episode concludes with Gojo declaring that all the scheming would amount to nothing as his opponents were simply not strong enough. Gojo has always been pretty dark, but this ruthless behavior was on another level
In a world filled with cursed spirits ready to kill any human, there was a need to combat these monsters. That’s where jujutsu sorcerers came in. They have the ability to exorcise the spirits, but it comes at a great cost. The mortality rate of these sorcerers is extraordinarily high, which leads to them being viewed as heroes for risking their lives. The strongest sorcerer ever Gojo Satoru has saved many but this episode shows he’s a far cry from being a hero. In fact, as seen in the flashback detailing Gojo’s brutal and tragic past, the sorcerer prodigy experienced plenty of the darkness of humans too, which has certainly given him a pragmatic and sometimes ruthless approach to life.
Still, it’s very surprising to see the bubbly and soft-hearted man who loves his students more than anything being unaffected by helpless people being killed. This is a stark contrast from Gojo’s student Yuji Itadori who values life more than anything, and Megumi too, who protects innocent people no matter what. Gojo is a brilliant tactician, so maybe he understood that the most efficient way to save civilians’ lives is getting rid of the villains as quickly as possible. This aspect of Gojo‘s personality makes him even more unique and adds depth to one of Jujutsu Kaisen‘s most interesting characters.
Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
