NieR:Automata is one of the most popular Square Enix games to date. So to see NieR:Automata Ver1.1a go on two hiatuses, then to end the first season with the four remaining episodes was both sad and enlightening to hear. The anime first aired in Japan back in January. It is now August, and the first season ended on July 23. But there has been confirmation for a second season, so hopefully, the wait won't be as long as the first season.
We will be going over the events of the first season's finale. And boy, NieR fans will recall how heartbreaking the ending of the game was. Having to relive it again was just as painful but reminiscent.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead for the NieR:Automata, NieR:Automata Ver1.1a, and the novel YoRHa Boys.
Starting Off With a Literal Bang
Episode 12 starts off with an actual explosion. As seen at the end of episode 11, the Commander ordered a satellite strike against the machine Adam to kill him. The final episodes showed us that she was not authorized by the Council of Humanity to make the said strike. When Operator 6O asks about it, Commander White responds that the androids need a God to believe in, even if said God doesn't exist.
Back on Earth, 9S confirms that the attack was a satellite strike from the Bunker but did not kill Adam. After ensuring the Resistance members stay behind to tend to the wounded, 2B and 9S venture down into the crater the explosion created to finish the mission.
It's not like the Commander to issue an order without approval from the Council of Humanity. Unlike in the game, we get to see how much Commander White worries for and cares for her units in the anime. She proves how far the characters have come since the release of the NieR:Automata game in 2017. Not to mention all the tie-in novels and stage plays that only enhance the beauty of this story. Love comes in all kinds of forms in this anime. The Commander actively going against the Council to support her androids shows that love.
Never-Ending Cycle of Life and Death
In both the anime and the video game, this is one of 2B's more iconic lines. She is painfully aware of her role, but this line is not simply about her. The "never-ending cycle of life and death" extends to her fellow androids, 9S, and even the machines. When she and 9S encounter the severely wounded Adam, the half-dead machine has tears pooling from his eyes as he reminisces about his brother Eve.
2B hesitates to kill Adam because of this, but 9S aids 2B's sword to pierce it through the machine's head. With a sigh of relief, everything is over. All the fighting just might come to an end. As 2B goes to thank 9S, he sinks to the ground in pain, and his blue eyes glow bright red. It turns out that when he hacked into Adam in the previous episode to weaken him, he got infected with the logic virus when he disconnected. There's only one thing to do since he cannot upload his corrupted data to the Bunker: he asks 2B to kill him.
2B does not want to perform this act. 9S will lose his current self in the process. But she cannot ignore his pained pleas. In such beautiful and heartbreaking animation, 2B cradles 9S's face in her hands. It almost looks like they are about to kiss, but 9S's arm gets replaced with a machine's, and he barely misses striking her head. But he cuts off her goggles, and we see the saddest expression on 2B's face.
She straddles and strangles him to death. She breaks down into tears and cradles his lifeless body, questioning why "it always ends like this." Suddenly, the dead machines around her begin to hum and synchronize. One of the machines stands up, and it turns out that when 9S accessed a machine life form in the 10th episode, he left behind his current personal data on the machine side. His current self is still alive without the virus, which makes 2B so incredibly happy. We then get a narrative monologue from 9S that the battle continues for himself and 2B. But that is another story for (hopefully) another time/season.
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The Truth Revealed to 9S
At the end of the credits, we get a scene that takes place before the final fight with Adam. This is not too long after 2B rescues him from the Copied City, where he was held prisoner in episode 9. He is conducting a full data and body overhaul/analysis on himself to make sure he has no logic virus or severe wounds. Once finished, he has to sync up his data with the main Bunker server.
However, he hears a strange noise that makes him uneasy. He halts his data sync as well as 2B's to investigate the sound. With the help of his Pod 153, he accesses the main server to see what's wrong. As he goes to access areas with very limited views, he comes across a file containing shipment information to the humans on the moon.
He is shocked to see that most of the containers are empty. When he tries to find out more, the server's firewall attacks him. He tries to call for his Pod to reactivate his body, but his pleas for help are unheard.
That is until he gets transported to a different part of the server. There, he meets a pair of twin girls in red dresses. They explain to 9S that they have been monitoring the androids, but that time of monitoring is over. With their help, 9S learns the truth about humanity: they have long been extinct.
The Council of Humanity is part of Project YoRHa, created to fool androids into thinking that humans are alive and waiting to return to a safe Earth. During this, we hear the voice of 9S in the background. We then get a brief look at someone who looks identical to 9S. But that is actually the first prototype No. 9, or Lab No. 9 as dubbed by fans who know of him from the novel YoRHa Boys.
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When 9S awakes in the physical world, he is reeling over everything he has learned from the twin girls and the files in the Bunker server. He shakes this off once he hears of an emergency request from 2B for backup. She is trapped in the abandoned Factory and is surrounded by machines. 9S immediately leaves his room to go help her.
On a screen on the wall, the face of one of the twin girls appears with a creepy smile, wanting 9S to entertain her and referring to him as No. 9. Finally, we have a brief monologue from 2B about how the machines are evolving and gaining emotions, how their screams echo within her. The actual credits roll, but soon after, we get a post-credit scene, just like from the game.
