That giant beam from the sky that iced Adam? That was a satellite weapon that the Council of Humanity did not authorize YoRHa to use. And yet, it was used. When 6O asked Commander White if “this is okay”, White says, cryptically, “this world needs a god, even if it doesn’t really exist.” When the Pods detect a faint ML symbol, 2B and 9S ride them down into the blast area, where Adam is still “alive” but in rough shape.
2B prepares to finish the job, but hesitates briefly, as Adam recalls his promise to Eve and grabs her leg. 9S takes hold of 2B’s sword and plunges it into Adam’s head, defeating him for good. However, moments later 9S’ eyes turn red; the result of being infected by his hacking encounter with Adam.
This means 2B has to kill him before he goes berserk (he slashes her mask off with a metal sword arm), with no chance at backing up the personality of the 9S she’s come to know and care about…again. Even so, she does her duty and eliminates the threat.
Afterwards, 2B cannot help but weep at having to say goodbye to her friend once more. Fortunately for her, it’s only a temporary farewell, as all of the ML husks’ eyes start to glow green in sequence like fireflies, not only in her vicinity but all over the planet.
A larger ML mech rises to meet 2B, who draws her sword, but lowers it when she hears 9S’ voice. Turns out his uncorrupted personality data had been backed up in the ML network. 2B smiles in joy and relief, showing a great deal of emotion despite her past insistence that they’re forbidden.
9S gives 2B a ride back up to street level, and Bob’s your uncle: the end credits roll, announcing the end of the series less than eleven minutes in. When the credits end, we’re taken back a couple of hours to the Bunker, where the recently delivered 9S is undergoing diagnostics and checks.
In the process of connecting to the Bunker server, he hears a weird, unexplained sound. He does a little digging in the virtual archive and uncovers some forbidden data protected by a firewall. He’s then chased around the construct by defense systems.
Rather than destroy him, the units corral him into a black cube, within which he is confronted by a pair of seemingly identical girls in red dresses, whom we caught a slight glimpse of during the drunken battle omake after episode 10.
These girls in red talk in a bunch of cryptic riddles, but the gist is that they’re the ones controlling and watching the war between the Machine Lifeforms and the Androids. In other words, a Big Bad beyond Adam and Eve.
The voice of the Council of Humanity eventually chimes in, and 9S is given unprecedented access to top secret information. Among this info, something is revealed I had suspected all along; humanity really is extinct, and has been so for a while. There’s nothing on the moon but a communications server maintained by other androids.
The fiction of humanity surviving, and the establishment of YoRHa, was meant to improve the moral of the androids. This is all very intriguing, and I look forward to these mysteries being explored further in NieR’s confirmed second cour. Hopefully we’ll be treated to more fun 2B/9S interactions… along with more omake puppet shows.
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