Demon Slayer season 3 episode 8 review: The origin of a Hashira

The episode opens with Muichiro free from the bubble prison that he’s been trapped in for what feels like the majority of the Swordsmith Village Arc, defeated and powerless as a horde of small demons begin to descend upon him. But, as with Genya in the last episode, it’s the spectre of defeat, of death, that plunges Muichiro into his past.

What first seems like a tranquil childhood, helping with the work of his woodcutter father, is punctured by tragedy: the loss of both parents the age of ten; his mother to illness, and his father to a slip from the side of a mountain, searching through a storm for herbs that could restore his wife to health.

The 10-year-old Muichiro stands alone by the grave of his parents, only then remembering that it wasn’t until eleven that he was truly alone; that he had a sibling. The image moves back, with twin brother Yuichiro now standing by his side. His twin, dressed in black, has the personality traits we’ve come to associate with the Mist Hashira: he’s cold, standoffish, and sees helping others as a weakness. This is the polar opposite of the young Muichiro, who holds desperately onto the idea that “whatever you do for others comes around to help you to in the end.” His dismissive brother insists that “the Mu in Muichiro” stands for incompetence, for for loneliness.

It’s the latter of those two that ends up defining Muichiro for so long. As if losing both parents at 10 wasn’t enough, one year later his brother is brutally killed when a demon attacks the two of them. It’s in this moment that something in Muichiro breaks - there’s a fascinating visual flourish, after saying that “sees red,” the frame mirrors this, before it breaks into pieces, into a violent haze that sees the young child killing the demon.

It’s this final loss that leaves Muichiro cold, calcifying in him the idea that to help others is to make yourself weak and vulnerable. As a small child, before all of his losses, the logs he carries on his back seem almost like a burden he needs to bear: the weight of his family, something that ends up being too much as time goes on.

Only after confronting the brutal loss of his brother, and his final words - asking God, Buddha, to watch over the sibling that survives him - is Muichiro snapped back to reality; when his brother tells him “the Mu in Muichiro stands for infinite.” This is when the Hashira seems changed, and when Demon Slayer manages to sidestep and elevate the problems of the traumatic origin story.

Muichiro doesn’t ignore or brush past his loss; instead he ends up carrying it with him, using it as a way to understand himself better, become selfless and more powerful. He remembers someone else, a father figure that he lost: Tetsuido, the man who made him his first sword.

In another memory, Muichiro is standing across from the elder swordsmith, a man who knows he doesn’t have much long left; a man who talks about everything Muichiro has been through, and how no one else could ever understand it (ironic, given the similarity of Genya’s origin and path towards the Demon Slayer Corps: a child marked by tragedy and a demon attack), leaving him with the fact that “I can’t stop worrying about you.” And it’s only when Muichiro is able to embrace these feelings - feelings not just of o loss, but empathy and care - that his demon slayer mark appears, and he’s able to wield a new sword.

The last couple of episodes of the Swordsmith Village Arc have taken a breath, giving space for the supporting cast to grow; first Genya, and now Muichiro. It’s done a lot to help with the pacing of the season, which felt like it was moving too fast to a destination that felt unearned. But these moments of growth and development only serve to make the spectacle and combat that comes after them much more compelling; rooted in the characters themselves.

And the climax of ‘The Mu in Muichiro’ has this in spades; the Wind Hashira is full of new powers that are visually breathtaking; at once fluid and balletic, but ending with satisfying, visceral impact. The Swordsmith Village Arc seems like it’s about to change gears, with the slayers now more capable of taking the fight to the demons, as Muichiro uses two new Mist Breathing forms to get the upper hand on the Upper Rank that’s imprisoned him for so much of the season. The best, hopefully, is still yet to come.

You can catch Demon Slayer on Crunchyroll. Check out the rest of our Sci-Fi and Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.