Garden

"From the earliest we could remember, we "children" were called by a series of numbers and raised in the Garden."

- Hiro

The Garden (ガーデン, Gāden) is a location in DARLING in the FRANXX. It is a facility used for the development of parasites.

Overview
The Garden was built in 2042 as a facility to develop and nurture children into becoming parasites.

From birth, the children will attend educational courses to learn concepts involving FRANXX and piloting. They undergo daily tests on their capacity and aptitude abilities in the laboratory and will spend their free time in isolated rooms with toys and books to entertain themselves with. The children are expected to be discharged by age 14 and assigned to a plantation based on their test results. However once a child leaves, they never return. The adult caregivers mislead the parasites that those who fail to meet the expectations of becoming parasites after being discharged are returned to the Garden but Squad 13 specifically found this suspicious due to the large percentage of children who mysteriously disappeared during their childhood in the Garden.

Hiro rose to prominence with his high test results and he became famous among the children when he began giving them names. The Garden became infamous among the parasites due to the disappearances of numerous children and none of the adults would explain what happened to them.

Dr. FRANXX frequently monitored the children’s development and he would bring Zero Two to the laboratory in the Garden to perform torturous experiments on her.

Despite their misgivings of the Garden, Squad 13 was assured that all children, who failed were deemed unfit to pilot, would be returned to the Garden. Hiro was originally set to return with Naomi after their failure to synchronize until he was proven to be compatible with Zero Two. Naomi was seriously injured during a Klaxosaur attack as she was leaving Plantation 13 but Squad 13 was informed she was taken to the hospital and would return to the Garden.

During a visit for routine tests, Squad 13 learns that, due to the recent klaxosaur attacks, the young children there are being developed into parasites at a faster rate. A caretaker later reveals to Squad 13 that no parasite ever returns to the Garden after being discharged, which left Naomi’s whereabouts unknown. In Episode 22, it is revealed that Dr. FRANXX has kept the missing children and parasites deemed unfit in a cryostasis state in his laboratory.

In Episode 24, all the children are liberated from the Garden and placed in the Bird Nest following the downfall of APE, and the facility is presumably abandoned.

Playroom
An area where parasites are kept to entertain themselves. They are usually given toys and books to play with as a pass time.

Library
A large library that is used for the parasites to study. As according to APE’s policy, all books are strictly regulated to prohibit forbidden knowledge from the parasites.

Bedrooms
Several parasites are shown to share a large room and sleep in metal bunk beds that are lined up in rows.

Garden Area
In the center of the facility is a garden-like location that is surrounded by a circle of water and a single small cedar tree grows. A square cement platform is also shown in this area.

Nursery 3: Laboratory
The Lab (第３ナースリィ・ラボラトリー, ) is the research hub that towers over the Garden. It is where the children undergo tests and where Zero Two endured Dr. FRANXX’s experiments. According to Kokoro and Miku, very few children were permitted to enter the lab. According to Goro, among those in Squad 13, only Hiro and Mitsuru got to come into the lab for special tests.

Trivia

 * There is a mistletoe tree somewhere outside the Garden, which Hiro and Zero Two come across after their escape.

Gallery
Garden