Warning: Spoilers for Trigun Stampede, Episode 12The finale for Trigun Stampede setup an explosive end, it was somehow even greater than anyone expected.

The final episode of Trigun Stampede picked up where the previous episode left off, with Vash seemingly turned to stone and being used to open a portal to the Plants' home dimension, which Knives intended to use to create a race of Independent Plants and take over the world. The amount of power was too much for Vash to control, and began manifesting as a massive figure made of branches and flowers which caused quite a bit of damage all on its own. Meryl got through to Vash and helped him break out of the trance that Knives had placed him under, allowing him to seize control of the power and crystalize it into a small cube overflowing with energy. Desperately trying to discharge the energy away from the city, Knives and Vash had the dramatic face-off Trigun fans had waited for, but it wasn't enough; when Vash crash-landed into the city, the remaining energy still destroyed it, apparently killing 90% of the population.

Trigun Stampede's Vash & Knives Finally Fight

The heart of the episode, both emotionally and in of the action, is the conflict between Knives and Vash over control of the energy cube. Knives needs it to reopen the portal to the higher plane and enact his plan, while Vash is desperately trying to get the danger away from this city full of people. Both Knives and Vash plead with the other to understand, and despite it all, it's easy to understand Knives' point of view here--the humans have treated Plants horribly, and in spite of everything, Knives does still care about his brother, even if it's a twisted sort of love. To have one person who should be able to understand but just refuses to see things the same way would be heartbreaking in such a scenario, and that pain really comes across for both of them. Knives is so desperate to achieve his dream that he seemingly dies still grasping for the cube, although anyone familiar with anime should know that Knives is far from gone.

The finale also set the stage for the now-confirmed second season, which seems like it may be hewing closer to the original than Trigun Stampede has so far. The ending teased the introduction of Trigun's previously missing Milly, a major character from the '98 anime and manga who was conspicuously absent from the line-up at the start of Stampede. Vash was similarly shown using the pseudonym "Eriks," which he uses in the manga and original anime after the destruction of July. It also seemed to suggest that season 2 will take place after a two-year timeskip, a necessity given the sheer amount of destruction that took place.

All in all, Trigun Stampede has created an action-packed ending that capitalizes on the themes and conflicts present throughout the series, as well as set things up for its second season that many fans have been waiting to see.

Trigun Stampede's first season is now available in full on Crunchyroll.