Episode 13

"They're tiny fragments of memories. It's white, cold and filled with things unknown, but it's beautiful. In the outside world that I felt for the first time, I heard a voice calling to me from somewhere. And before my eyes, a warm hand was reaching out for me."

- Zero Two

The Beast and the Prince is the thirteenth episode of DARLING in the FRANXX.

Synopsis
An unusual phenomenon begins within Zero Two's body. She seems mentally unstable, and under its influence Zero Two begins to expose hostility, shouting at herself more than ever. Even the words of Hiro, her partner, seems even out of reach. In the middle of such a fight, Hiro connects deeply with the consciousness of Zero Two and catches a glimpse of the memory that flows from there. It was a memory of their childhood, Hiro remembers that they had once met when she was nameless beyond a number designating her as a test object and unable to speak.

Plot
Nana warns that Hiro's and Zero Two's consciousnesses will connect through Strelizia and merge. Zero Two is strangling Hiro, who suddenly has a vision.

Remembering their past, Zero Two narrates that her small room was the entirety of her world, where a closed room never touched anything outside. Hiro narrates that the Garden, a place where children lived, was the entirety of his world. Zero Two adds that one day, she went outside for the first time. Though Zero Two says that she can't forget, Hiro says he'd forgotten completely. She says she can remember the vastness of the outside and how warm the hand she held was, or the promise they made, despite multiple  attempts to purge her memories.

As a child, a shackled Zero Two wonders who she is, though until then it never crossed her mind. She was trapped in her room for as long as she could remember. Though she felt like she had even older memories, she soon forgot about them. When a person enters, Zero Two says that she was probably a stand-in mother. She would bring her food and pet her head. One day, for the first and only time, she brought her something that wasn't food. Though she tries to eat and break it at first, her "mother" flips open the page and Zero Two begins looking at it. She is amazed by its bright colors and different shapes. Though it had words, she couldn't read. After that day, she never showed up again. The book was her first "pretty thing." She was sure the outside world surely had many more. She adds that she was half right and half wrong. She is unshackled and dragged out of her room.

Looking out a window, Hiro also wonders who he is. In contrast, he says that he always thought about it. He was in the Garden for as far back as he could remember. They lived there to become parasites who would fight for Papa and the others. All children were referred to by their code numbers. The lower the number, the higher the child's potential as a parasite. The double-digits up to 099, especially the teens in particular, were given special treatment. Hiro was one of them, and he was told he was special, unlike everyone else. When Hiro tosses a ball, it rolls into Ichigo's feet. She sits crying and doesn't look up. Ichigo wonders if she's strange since everyone else has stopped showing emotion, though she continues to cry and says she wants to be like everyone else. She asks if she should get more injections. Hiro says that their codes are in the teens, so they were different from the others to begin with. She says she doesn't want that and being different is scary. Hiro sits beside her and asks if she wants a name since he gave himself one. He says his name and says she'll feel better if she has a name like him, so he names her "Ichigo." She asks why Ichigo and he says it was what came to mind when he thought of her number. He says that having a name makes it feel okay to be different. She is amazed and asks if he can name the others. He begins naming the other children, including Mitsuru, who was happy to receive his name. The other children are happy to get names. Two adults enter and say that they can't change their designation without permission. Hiro politely asks what the problem is. The adults realize he's one of the teens and simply tells him not to just do as he pleases before leaving. Hiro thinks that they never answered his questions and the other children never asked any.

The children watch as the adults pack up one of the beds. Hiro narrates that children were gradually disappearing from the Garden at regular intervals, though the adults wouldn't tell them why. Hiro was designated a special research subject and underwent tests at the Lab all by himself. If he did well, he was given a reward (two pieces of candy). One day, after testing, he witnesses Zero Two being dragged along for testing. Dr. FRANXX looks over her and notes that she leagues better than all of their past specimens and can't believe she developed such a human form. A laser is centered on her palm and when it fires a hole into her palm, she screams in pain. Dr. FRANXX is amazed at how quickly her skin regrows. Hiro asks an adult who "the girl with horns" is. She becomes frustrated and scolds him for always asking questions and orders him to his room. There, he decides to find out for himself who she is. After testing, he tries to sneak off, but is stopped by an adult. He fails in his other attempts and runs out of ideas. Outside, he notices the girl trying to get her book back from an adult. He scales a large tree to look through her window. Zero Two manages to take the book back and the woman gives up. For a reason unknown to Hiro, he is overjoyed to see her happy.

As Mitsuru walks off with an adult, Hiro asks if he's going to the lab and if there is something wrong. Mitsuru says he's going to get an Elixir Injection, as he won't be able to stay if he doesn't. Hiro and all the children knew exactly what getting the injection meant, as it was expected to give one a drastic increase in their aptitude results but it had an incredibly low success rate. Mitsuru says he wants to become a parasite with him. He asks if he comes back alive, if he would pilot with him. He happily agrees and the two make a pinkie promise. Afterwards, Hiro, Goro, and Ichigo quietly walk back together. They find that 494 was taken away. Another child notes that it was 367 before that. The three look on, scared, until Hiro says they have to do something. Goro says that Papa and the others made the decision and Ichigo says there's nothing they can do. An adult suddenly appears to collect Hiro for testing. Though Hiro asks where the other kids went, but the man ignores his question and tells him to get ready. As Hiro undergoes testing, an adult notes that is sensitivity is troubling and may affect the other children. Dr. FRANXX observes him and a man asks if they should increase his yellow blood cell dose. Dr. FRANXX says no because he is interested in what kind of parasite a child like him will grow up to be. After finishing his testing and receiving candy, he leaves the room alone. He hears screaming and goes to investigate. He rushes over to find Zero Two undergoing painful electroshock testing with a group of adults surrounding her. Hiro is horrified and falls to the ground. A man suddenly appears and orders him to return to the Garden. He asks him to stop causing her pain. The man says it's none of Hiro's business and pulls him away. Frustrated with his situation and unwilling to watch the girl suffer anymore, Hiro packs a portable searchlight and scaled one of the trees near her cell. She had just gone through testing and is now curled up on the floor. Hiro shouts and slings his searchlight at the window. Shattered glass carpets the floor and wind floods the room. Though Zero Two is initially aggressive, she sees his tears and begins to crawl towards his outstretched hand. When they both put their weight on the branch, it breaks and they fall to the ground. Hiro loses consciousness.

Zero Two carries Hiro through the snow. She is amazed at the outside world and looks around curiously. When she trips and drops Hiro, she notices a group of mice and begins to try and catch them. Hiro wakes and finds Zero Two eating a mouse. When he tries to get her to spit it out, she bites him. To get her to stop, he begins petting her hair. This reminds her of her "mother" and she lets go. He calls her mean and she appears to be ashamed. He realizes that she can't understand him but introduces himself anyway. Though he asks her name, she can't answer, and he sees on her ankle that her code is "002." He thinks of a name, first thinking "Oni," then "Zero Two." He thinks they're both bad, but she begins to try and say "Zero Two." When she continues to say it, he says he should have thought of a better name but begins to call her that himself. Zero Two notes that she didn't understand his words, but knew his voice called to her, saw new things with her, and walked with her. He makes her shoes out of stress of cloth. As they sit under a tree, Hiro hands her one of his candies, but she doesn't understand with it is. He tells her to go "Aah," and slips it into her mouth. She enjoys it and Hiro eats his own, enjoying her reaction. She shows him her book, "The Beast and the Prince," and she notes that the pictures are pretty. As he begins reading, a group of adults appear, looking for them. The two hide and Hiro tries to calm her down. One man asks what they should do with 016, and the other answers that 002 takes priority and to kill him if he resists. Hiro pulls her closer and promises to protect her. The two continue to flee from the adults and they eventually fall into the freezing water.

''Hiro narrates the story. “In the deepest, darkest part of the forest, lives a strong and beautiful beast princess. Beckoned by the moonlight, she wondered into a world of humans. In the garden, she fell in love with the prince. But the princess was a beast. She has impassioned wings in her back. Not knowing what to do, she went to se a witch who lived in the outskirts of the forest and said “I want to be human. I want to live with him.” The witch replied, “So be it but keep this in mind. You are a beast and you will consume the prince''.”

The two sit under a tree and Hiro finishes reading as Zero Two lies against him. He tells her that it's sad the prince and princess can't get married because the princess is a beast. When she tries to say "married," Hiro explains marriage is when two people who love each other promise to be together forever. When he looks at her, she smiles back. He says that they should get going, but she falls when she tries to stand. She had scraped her knee and blue blood oozes from the cut. He looks for something to bandage it, but is forced to lick it instead. He explains all he knows is that he read in a book that animals lick their wounds to heal them. With him kneeling before her, she confuses his pose with the prince proposing. She asks if it's marriage. Smiling, he says that they will once they escape. He tells her he wants to be with her forever too and become her darling. She begins crying and blushing and hugs him close. Looking back, Zero Two knows she want crying because her wound hurt but those were tears of joy, and she believed she could do anything as long as she was with him. They look up and notice that they are under mistletoe. They are suddenly interrupted by a group of soldiers, who attempt to grab them Hiro tries defending her but is knocked unconscious when he is hit by the butt of a gun. Zero Two is grabbed and cries out to him as he lays unconscious and bleeding on the ground.

''Hiro wonders why he had to be a child who doesn’t have the power to protect anyone. Zero Two wonders why she failed to notice that she and him were different creatures with different colored blood, and she was a monster.''

After that, Papa orders Dr. FRANXX to erase their memories. Hiro forgets his promise to Mitsuru, who is distraught and calls him out as a liar, and Hiro stops naming other children. Since that day, Zero Two swore to become human no matter what she had to do since if she were like him, they could be together.

In present time, Delphinium's arm is ripped off and thrown along with Strelizia. Ichigo yells for Hiro to get away from Zero Two or he'd lose his humanity. Zero Two agrees because of what she is. Hiro, crying, says that she was the girl with the picture book. She looks back at him with tears in her eyes.

Appearances

 * Zero Two
 * Hiro
 * Ichigo
 * Mitsuru
 * Dr. FRANXX
 * Goro

Trivia

 * The name of this episode is in reference to how similar the roles of Hiro and Zero Two were compared to the characters of Zero Two’s picture book; Zero Two, a Klaxosaur hybrid, was seen as a monster by the adults but Hiro was the only one who showed her compassion and affection, which makes him fill in the role as the prince whom the beast fell in love with and motivated her to want to become a human so she could be with him.

Links

 * Official Website

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