Sword Art Online Episode 14

The End of the World (世界の終焉) is the fourteenth episode of the Sword Art Online anime adaptation and its first season, as well as the fourteenth and last episode of the Aincrad Arc. It aired on October 6, 2012.

Plot
Kirito and the others continued fighting against The Skull Reaper, until Heathcliff noticed that the boss' life was nearing depletion, so he immediately told everyone to attack with full force, and shortly afterwards, they finally defeated The Skull Reaper.



Everyone was exhausted from the battle and Kirito informed Klein that 14 high-level players had died during the battle. The players were shocked and began to have doubts of ever freeing themselves out of the cursed death game, since they had 25 more floors to clear. As everyone was resting, Kirito noticed that Heathcliff was not worn out at all and that his HP was still in the green zone, and recalled his duel with him. Kirito suddenly attacked the off-guard Heathcliff with Rage Spike, and a purple «Immortal Object» shield appeared, just like when Yui was attacked by The Fatal Scythe. The other players were confused at Kirito's attack until they noticed Heathcliff's status as an Immortal Object and, as they were surprised by the turn of events, they questioned it. Kirito explained that because of Heathcliff's status, his HP would never fall below the yellow zone. He also reveals that ever since the first day, he had been wondering where "he" was watching and adjusting the world to his likes (which he never did). Suddenly realizing that there was nothing as boring as watching others play an RPG along with noticing the unusual state of Heathcliff, he deduced that Heathcliff was actually Kayaba Akihiko.



After asking how Kirito found out his true identity, Heathcliff commented that overusing the system assist was a mistake on his own part and he admitted that he was Kayaba, much to the other players' shock. He also admitted that he was originally planning to be the game's final boss at the 100th Floor and thought that betraying everyone near the end would have made a good storyline. Kayaba also predicted that Kirito would be the one to fight him at the end, as he had designed the «Dual Blades» Skill for the player that he intended to be the one to stand against the final boss, but was surprised as to how Kirito's development exceeded his expectations, commenting that these sudden turn in events are what made RPGs "fun". One of the Knights of the Blood leaders then attacked Kayaba in anger after realizing the truth, but Kayaba quickly used his personal system console in his menu to paralyze everyone but Kirito. Kirito then asked him if he would kill everyone to cover his identity, but Kayaba replied that it would not be fair for everyone, as then they would never clear the game. He then told the players that he would await them at the Ruby Palace on the final floor. But, as a reward to Kirito for discovering his true identity, Kayaba offered a one-on-one duel with him, with no system assist and his immortality status disabled. If Kirito managed to defeat him in this duel, the game would be cleared, and he would free all the players.

Asuna pleaded Kirito not to accept the challenge and to fall back, but Kirito, having flashbacks of all of those who had died and not wanting any more deaths, accepted the wager. Kirito apologized to Asuna that he would not run away and reassured her that he would win and end the game. Agil and Klein also beg Kirito not to battle. Kirito then thanked Agil for helping the swordsmen from the middle floors level up, and apologized to Klein for leaving him on the first day. Klein retaliated that he would not forgive Kirito until he bought him a meal in the real world which Kirito agreed to. Before the start of the duel, Kirito requested Kayaba that if he did actually die during their battle, he wanted Kayaba to make sure that Asuna could not kill herself for a while. Kayaba smiled and accepted the request, while Asuna cried out for Kirito not to do that to her. Kayaba then lowered his HP to match Kirito's and removed his Immortal Object status.



At the beginning of the duel, both fought at extreme speed. Knowing that Kayaba was the one who designed the Dual Blades skill and that he would be able to block the pre-programmed combos, Kirito tried to use his own skills, without the help of any Sword Skills. Kirito started to corner Kayaba, but he lost focus for a mere moment and activated «The Eclipse», a high level Dual Blades skill and was unable to cancel it midway. Kayaba easily blocked each and every strike of the Sword Skill. With the last hit, Dark Repulser breaks after hitting Heathcliff's shield and, just as Kayaba was about to deliver the finishing blow to Kirito during his post-motion delay, Asuna jumped between the two, saving Kirito's life, while sacrificing her own life in the process, much to Kirito's shock and anguish. Kayaba was surprised at this turn of events, saying that it should have been impossible to neutralize the paralysis on her own, as he had not programmed such a method.



In disbelief of losing Asuna, Kirito swung his sword with little effort, allowing Kayaba to easily send his Elucidator flying and stab him. But, as his HP was closing to zero, Kirito remembered Asuna's words of encouragement, thus, the moment his HP dropped zero and the system deemed him as dead, Kirito, rejecting the system's order to die, used the last drops of his strength to stab Heathcliff with Asuna's Lambent Light, killing Heathcliff, who smiled as the blade pierced his body, before the system managed to delete Kirito, and the two shattered into thousands of polygons. As Lisbeth, Silica, Pina, Caynz, Yolko, Sasha, Yulier, and Thinker looked on, a voice of the system announced that "As of 14:55, November 7, the game has been cleared."

Kirito opened his eyes and found himself in the sky outside of Aincrad. He opened his menu and saw that instead of the usual interface, only "Final Phase" at 55% was displayed. A voice called out to him from behind, and Kirito was shocked to see Asuna. He told her that he was sorry for dying and not getting her back into the real world. They then hugged and shared a kiss, while watching the destruction of Aincrad. They saw their in-game house falling down, along with many other areas. Unexpectedly, Kayaba, in his real-life appearance, appeared, informing them that SAO's mainframe is deleting all its data and all of Aincrad would be deleted in the next 10 minutes. He also stated that the 6,147 survivors had successfully been logged out of the game, but the other 3,853 players who died are gone forever. Kirito asks why Kayaba did all this, and he replied that he could no longer remember why he had created Aincrad, but he recalled a desire to create a castle that surpassed all laws and restrictions. He then congratulated Kirito and Asuna for clearing the game, and disappeared into thin air.

Kirito and Asuna spent their last moments together, telling each other their real names as they watched the last bits of Aincrad disappear. Kirito revealed that he was the 16 year old Kirigaya Kazuto and Asuna was a year older Yuuki Asuna. Kirito cried and was apologetic that he was unable to send Asuna back to the other world. Asuna comforted him and told him that meeting and living with him were the happiest moments in her life and that she loved him. Kirito and Asuna then hugged each other and decided to kiss each other while waiting for the final moment to disappear as one. As Aincrad entered its final stage of deletion, Kirito and Asuna's avatars faded away along with it.



Kazuto finally woke up in the real world and found himself in a hospital bedroom. While trying to make sense of where he was, as he could not believe that he had returned to the real world, he remembered Asuna, bringing tears and life back into his eyes. He took off his NerveGear and grabbed the IV drip stand for support and slowly walked out of his room to find Asuna while calling her name.

Inventory

 * Kirito
 * Blackwyrm Coat
 * Elucidator
 * Dark Repulser
 * Asuna
 * Lambent Light
 * Heathcliff
 * Liberator

Known Sword Skills

 * «Rage Spike» - Kirito
 * «The Eclipse» - Kirito

Locations

 * Aincrad Floor 75
 * Labyrinth
 * Boss room
 * The sky outside of Aincrad
 * Hospital in the real world

Adaptation Notes

 * Adapted Volume 1 Chapters 22-25


 * For a dramatic effect, the anime shows as if Kirito burst into polygons and then came back again, while in the next scene it shows the standing Kirito starting to glow. This is similar to how the anime portrays Kirito's finger bleeding in Episode 1, while in the next scene it was shown that he wasn't actually bleeding. In the novel, it was said that the flow of time slowed down for Kirito and he was able to move his arm while his body was slowly breaking down, giving him enough time to pierce Heathcliff before the former's body shattered into thousands of polygons.
 * In the novel, the KoB leader attacks Heathcliff with a halberd after finding out from Kirito that he was actually Kayaba. In the anime, the KoB leader attacks Heathcliff with a sword instead.
 * Heathcliff doesn't mention that he was planning to help the players defeat the powerful mobs of monsters on the 90th Floors in the anime.
 * Kayaba's talk with Kirito and Asuna is slightly shorter in the anime than it is in the novel.
 * Heathcliff doesn't mention keeping Asuna in Selmburg after Kirito asks him to make sure Asuna doesn't kill herself if he dies in the duel with him.
 * In Volume 1 Chapter 21 and 22 of the light novels, while fighting "The Skull Reaper" in the 75th Floor, Kirito is still wearing the KoB's Guild Uniform, while in the anime he's wearing his Blackwyrm Coat.
 * The final part of "Warmth of the Heart", from Volume 2, and "The Final Promise" from Silica Edition are omitted in the anime. The anime does, however, portray the announcement being played over the game.

Quotes

 * "Something any kid knows. There's nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG." - Kirito
 * "Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko. And if I may add, I am the game's final boss, who would have awaited you at the top floor." - Heathcliff/Kayaba Akihiko
 * "Damn it, Kirito! Don't you dare apologize to me now! I won't forgive you... I won't forgive until you buy me a meal on the other side!" - Klein
 * "This isn't a duel... We're fighting to kill. That's right. I'm going to kill him!" - Kirito
 * "I believe in you, Kirito-kun." - Asuna
 * "I wanted to leave the ground, to fly to that castle. For a long, long time, that was my only desire." - Kayaba Akihiko
 * "No, it isn't. We're going to disappear as one. So we'll be together forever." - Asuna
 * "I'm happy I was able to meet you, Kazuto-kun. To live with you. It's the happiest I've ever been in my life. Thank you. I love you" - Asuna

Errors

 * There was a double animation error when Heathcliff is preparing to fight Kirito, a message appears that says, "Chaged Into Immortal Object". "Changed" was misspelled and "mortal" was accidentally written as "immortal".
 * This is fixed in the English Dub.

Trivia

 * The reason why Kazuto could immediately stand up, even after not moving his body for two years, is due to the usage of EMS electrodes.

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