8/8

8/8 The Giant-Size finale spends time on what the Being actually wants to build after all that destruction. He is assembling a replacement for the Keepers, promising an order that will answer people instead of watching them suffer. Samantha is vulnerable to that promise after the battle. Innocence approaches her, heals injuries Sela could not heal, and offers evidence that this new power can help her personally. Samantha joins the gathering. The offer is reaching someone who fought on Sela's side, not just another monster looking for permission to hurt people. Zagreus is drawn in too, although his apparent allegiance conceals an assignment from Zeus. Jackie and the power she now carries are part of the Being's intended future. Meanwhile, Samira's service has not bought her a place beside him in this next stage. Helping him win and being included in his vision turn out to be different things. Then Shang finally turns up. The Maker's spirit tells him that he was the one who brought Shang back from the dead. Now he wants Shang to warn Sela, gather the Realm Knights and stop the Being. Shang refuses. He is willing to consider that the new order might do better than the one it would replace. Shang makes the Maker answer for the people he did not save. If he could bring Shang back, why not the children dying every day? The Maker appeals to free will. Shang has seen too much suffering to find that answer good enough anymore. The Maker reminds him that the Being's invasion has killed people. Shang knows that. He still asks whether fighting him would only mean more deaths, and whether the new way might be better. The man Sela has depended on is sitting across a chessboard from the Maker, refusing the request to rally everyone against the enemy. Elsewhere, Belinda reaches out to Ilys, and Masumi mourns Gerard. The surviving Hunters have their own lives to piece back together while the Being is planning who should rule the world. That is where Unleashed leaves them. The Being has killed the Maker and is preparing to replace the remaining Keepers. Sela has not beaten him, and Shang is no longer convinced she should. Ascension continues from here, with that question still hanging over everyone.