Episode 10

"I've never directly spoken with an adult. But they are always looking after us. If we do our best, they praise us and even give us rewards. If I continue fighting for them, I'm sure that someday I can also become an adult. I've been dreaming forever for this day to come."

- Zorome

The City of Eternity is the tenth episode of DARLING in the FRANXX.

Synopsis
The members of the 13th plantation are reward for their success in battles. An award ceremony is held where they are to be given medals, taking place in the city. The children are ecstatic, as it will be their first trip to the city which they protect. Among them, Zorome, who had always dreamt of becoming an adult, is beyond ecstatic.

On the day of the ceremony, the mayor of Plantation 13 personally encourages the children. The ceremony itself ends solemnly, and on the way home, Zorome strays from the group and becomes lost in the depths of the city.

Plot
Zorome narrates that he'd been having the same dream over and over again where he's surrounded by darkness and staring at a distant bright light, and crying. Gradually, the light grows larger until it envelops him, and he lets out a loud scream.

Squad 13’s FRANXX units attack a klaxasaur and easily disarm it. Before Strelizia can kill it, Zorome and Miku deliver the final blow. However, Zorome takes too long to pull Argentea out of the klaxosaur and it shoots blood all over Argentea, much to Miku’s annoyance.

The Seven Sages discuss how Squad 13 is moving ahead compared to other squads. However, they are concerned individualized FRANXX giving a unique asset to the squad as a whole is creating an imbalance with APE’s ideology of calmness and informality, thus making the children imperfect. They decide to move on to the next stage of their plan, as klaxosaur activity has been detected in the depths of the Gran Crevasse recently and it is Squad 13’s duty to escort Zero Two to the Gran Crevasse. Papa agrees and says he will arrange for the squad to undergo maintenance at the Garden. Tarsier suggests that they reward the children and explains it has been custom since ancient times to reward soldiers as inspiration and their way of life reflects a bygone era. Papa agrees.

At the docking lounge, Zorome and Miku argue about their previous battle. Hiro notices that Zero Two seems sad and hasn’t come out of the cockpit, so he asks her what's wrong. She replies that she was just thinking about something. Nana shouts that she has good news.

The parasites gather around her and she happily explains that they have to wear their formal clothing the next day as Papa is going to award them medals. The ceremony will be held in the Plantation Parliament HQ. Though the other kids are excited, Zorome doesn't understand and seems indifferent to the medals. Miku explains that it means they can go into the city. Zorome looks to Nana for confirmation and she smiles. He becomes overjoyed and yells, to the annoyance of Miku.

Zero Two looks indifferent and turns to leave. Before she can, Nana stops her and says that she'll arrange for her to undergo tests while there. Zero Two says that she hates the tests and always feels lousy after she takes them. She turns and smiles, saying that she's in great shape right now and will pass on the tests for a while. After she leaves, Nana says that she thought she'd grown more obedient since she teamed up with a certain someone.

The next morning, the kids stand at the door and they remark that Zorome looks cooler than usual. Zorome smugly agrees, but Futoshi teasingly says that he was checking himself out in the mirror the entire morning. Mitsuru asks how he didn't get sick of it, causing Zorome to become angry. Kokoro giggles and says that he does look a lot cooler, though, returning him to his positive mood. Miku tells Kokoro not to flatter him, causing she and Zorome to bicker again. Hiro notices that Zero Two is being standoffish, but Hachi and Nana open the door and they all leave.

At an ID gate, Hachi and Nana easily pass through. The children hesitate so Nana tells them to come along. Zorome suddenly throws himself through the gate, to the amazement of the others, but lands on the ground.

The children marvel at the city. At the ceremony, the mayor congratulates them and thanks them for their efforts. When he congratulates Ichigo, she says that it was everyone's effort. He tells Zero Two that their plantation is honored that a former Nine like herself has joined them. He turns to Hiro and says that he's lived up well to the expectations placed upon him. Hiro thanks him, but looks troubled and turns to Zero Two who still looks indifferent.

He thanks Miku and when the mayor thanks Zorome, he is overjoyed and offers his hand. The mayor seems confused and walks away.

Afterwards, Zorome stares at his hand. When Hachi says that he's leaving the rest to Nana, the children are disappointed with how the ceremony actually played out. The girls push Nana to let them walk back, and she reluctantly agrees.

The children look around as they walk back. Zorome happily looks forward to when they too can live there as adults. The others disagree and feel like they won't be able to become adults, though they don't know why. Ikuno says this is an delusion.

Zero Two and Hiro walk far behind the group. Hiro asks what she meant when she said the city was lifeless. She says just what I said. Hiro says that she'd been acting weird, and asks if something happened. She says that she just couldn't care less about this place.

The children marvel at the city's main energy source. When Goro asks Ichigo, she seems uncomfortable. He says that maybe he shouldn't have told her how he felt and says to not let it bother her.

Nana tells them they have to return, but Zorome wanders off and is separated. He looks at the energy source, but realizes that he's been separated and cannot contact the others.

Zorome notes that the city seems empty. He sees a person and calls out, but they walk away. Zorome tries to crawl down, but notices an adult and falls to the ground.

He wakes up to find that he'd been treated by an adult. She is happy that he is okay and says that the medical checker just wouldn't work on him. But she tried a bunch of things, like using pet mode settings, and then it worked out. Before she can let them know where he is, Zorome asks to just talk for a bit. She agrees and removes her face covering.

The woman disinfects the house by spraying orange liquid, and then offers tea and sweets. Zorome stuffs them in his mouth. He asks her various questions, and she explains that there was a time when she used to enjoy the sense of taste, but she doesn't really care now. As long as her body gets the nutrition it needs, that's enough, she lives with her partner. She asks if he'd like to meet him.

She brings him to a dark room where her partner lies in a machine. He smiles and the woman explains that he's activating his brain's reward system to gain a sense of pleasure. Zorome says that he'd rather gain it by eating those snacks from earlier. She falls to her knees and says that talking had just made her tired.

They return to the living room. She says that she doesn't even remember what his voice sounds like. She doesn't think either of them is dissatisfied with their partner. They don't meddle in each other's business, which gives them the freedom to live their lives as they please. Zorome complains about Miku, so she says that he should change his partner, then. He is taken back and begins defending her. The woman somehow already knows his code 666. She becomes more ill and says that she needs to get him picked up.

On the phone, she says that she checked with him, so there's no doubt about it.

She returns to say he'll be there soon, but notices that he's crying. He says that he doesn't know why, but he feels really familiar somehow. He recalls his living in the Garden. He feels that someone's always been watching over him. Gentle and kind, like they're always there to protect him.

She wants to comfort him and tries to move her arm towards Zoromo, but she stops. She says that he is mistaken, as they kids are the ones protecting them. Zorome becomes happy and tells her that he'll keep protecting it, fighting until he kills all the klaxosaurs, and then one day, he'll become an adult. He begins to ask if she can be his family when he lives in the city, but stops and instead asks for her to be his friend. She finds this funny and says that's obviously out of the question but is cut off before she can explain.

The woman explains to a man that she treated and fed him. He hands her a heart. A man tells him not to waste their time and infected children shouldn't enter. The other man tells him to knock it off, since they're victims too, calling them pitiful.

Ichigo happily announces that they found Zorome and everyone sighs in relief. Miku calls him a jerk for making them worry. She sentences him to clean the bath for a week.

Zorome rides the elevator with Nana. As he cleans the bath, he hums. Miku enters and yells at him to take it seriously. He asks why she's watching him for. She says that he won't take it seriously unless she does or he might get lost. He laughs and asks why she got such a useless kid. He scrubs her with his brush. Outside, Hiro hears them bickering and laughs before looking at Zero Two's window. She looks at herself in the mirror and sees that her teeth have become fangs.

''He thinks that they're not pitiful. He wonders why the women felt so familiar. He thought about it a bunch of times after that day, but he never found an answer. Eventually, he stopped thinking about it, and even forgot about her and stopped having that dream.''

Appearances

 * Hiro
 * Goro
 * Zorome
 * Futoshi
 * Mitsuru
 * Zero Two
 * Ichigo
 * Miku
 * Kokoro
 * Ikuno
 * Hachi
 * Nana
 * Mayor
 * Old Woman
 * Seven Sages

Trivia

 * The name of this episode is in reference to that the Inner City, which the squad visits for the first time, is inhabited by a population of immortal adults.

Links

 * Official Website

Episodio 10 Odcinek 10 Вечный город