OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)Rin sees how Shiro raised him and Yukio and his final days before being possessed and killed by Satan. Coming to terms with his adoptive father, Rin returns to the present day and commits to saving Yukio from the Illuminati.OUR TAKEWe end the season, as well as the series for the time being, where it all began: with the death of Shiro Fujimoto and the beginning of Rin’s journey. This was ultimately where everything in this arc was headed, since we started with how Shiro met Rin and Yukio’s mother Yuri and had to end with how he died, so seeing these events again but animated slightly worse is meant to feel differently with all this extra context and newly revealed backstory, right? Well, kind of, but not entirely to its benefit. Seeing through what was basically Shiro’s perspective certainly added more weight to this full circle moment, particularly in knowing that he knew and loved Yuri as much as he did, as well as seeing how he helped raise Rin and Yukio and began to see how their respective strengths and weaknesses formed. Rin was completely disconnected to any spiritual awareness but defended Yukio whenever he could, often with severe beatdowns towards any potential bullies. Yukio, meanwhile, was a total crybaby and defenseless until Shiro brought him into the Exorcist business and he began working on his own skills. And so, the two brothers became who they are today, for better or worse, the latter definitely being the case for Yukio at the moment.But the extra stuff about clones and Satan banging Yuri and all of what felt like padding didn’t really help to make these moments feel poignant. If anything, it kind of diluted the feelings it probably wanted me to feel. However, what brought it all together was the scene near the end, where present Rin gets to have a brief chat with Shiro, who may or may not be playing dumb about where he came from. It’s a genuinely touching moment that gives Rin the chance to say things he never got the chance before because his time with Shiro ended with angry words shortly before going up in flames, and Rin has likely regretted those being the last things he said to his father since then. And with that last push, Rin is ready to rejoin the present and face Yukio, who is now wearing a white coat and still seems aligned with the Illuminati. Where does the story go from here? Well, you’ll have to read the manga, which still has not completed the arc this leads into, so we probably won’t be seeing this animated for…at least a few more years. But as a conclusion for this arc and season, I think it hit the right notes to leave it on a high. How does the season as a whole fare? You’ll find out next week with the Season Review, where we finally put the flame out on Blue Exorcist, probably until the next decade.