Episode 124

This is episode 124, from season 5, of Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Kagome chase the unconscious Koga as he plunges towards Naraku’s caustic lake of miasma. As the mountain collapses around them, Shippo begs Kagome to abandon Koga, but she can’t. Sensing her distress, Inuyasha entrusts Kagome’s safety to Shippo and follows Koga alone. Tearfully, Kagome implores Inuyasha to be careful as he vanishes into the darkness.

Outside, Kikyo watches the mountain erupt, spewing a tornado of evil. The malevolent maelstrom rolls down the slope towards her, cracking opening steaming fissures of miasma. The evil swirl halts in front of Kikyo revealing Naraku. Inuyasha struggles through a putrid rain of viscera and boulders toward the reservoir of toxins, finally locating Koga. He plucks Koga from the deadly, reeking lake and sprints for an exit.

Higher in the cavern, all openings have vanished but Miroku creates an escape using his wind tunnel. The group reaches safety where they wait for signs of Inuyasha and Koga. Inside the decaying bowels of Mt. Hakurei, Inuyasha also searches for an opening, amid the hail of demon guts and rocks. Koga regains consciousness and complains he doesn’t want to die with Inuyasha. For once, Inuyasha agrees--neither does he! Slashing through the debris, Inuyasha sees the way out, but in the portal he sees a brief, disturbing vision of Kikyo.

Meanwhile, Kagome waits for Inuyasha’s safe return and is relieved when she senses Koga’s jewel shards on their way up. Leaping to safety, Inuyasha has another vision of Kikyo. Reunited with Kagome, Kagome proudly tells Koga that Inuyasha rescued him without her asking. Koga’s lack of appreciation sets off a new round of quarrels with Inuyasha. If Inuyasha knew what was happening elsewhere on Mt. Hakurei’s slopes, he’d have ignored Koga’s antics. Inuyasha’s visions were a warning about the showdown taking place between Kikyo and Naraku.

Naraku shows off his powerful new ‘body’ with smug confidence while Kikyo seethes at his audacity. Kikyo tells him she knows Kagura escaped with something from the mountain, and demands to know what it was and what Naraku’s real intentions are. Naraku toys with Kikyo, telling her how he manipulated her into coming to Mt. Hakurei. Naraku then savagely slashes Kikyo, severing her bow and slicing deep into her body. Kikyo collapses to her knees as her life force gushes out as Naraku tells her he is no longer controlled by Onigumo’s heart and can now destroy her. Kikyo realizes it must have been Naraku’s human heart Kagura carried away from the mountain. Naraku delivers his deathblow impaling Kikyo on his cruel claws. He propels her over the edge of the fissure and into the torrent of Shoki below. Falling, Kikyo’s thoughts turn to Inuyasha and she calls his name. At that moment, Inuyasha is seized by a dreadful feeling and he races off abandoning a bewildered Kagome.

Naraku gloats over his victory but his celebration is interrupted by Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru is eager to settle his own score with Naraku and attacks with Tokijin, but its power is repelled and blasted back at him. The arrogant Naraku is undaunted by the assault, and retreats, leaving Sesshomaru angry and frustrated. Bad timing delivers Inuyasha into his older brother’s company. Sesshomaru tells Inuyasha about Kikyo as he spots the poignant remains of Kikyo’s broken bow on the ground near the fissure. Peering into the chasm, Inuyasha’s desperate denial is replaced by profound sorrow as he watches a lone soul skimmer chase the tatters of Kikyo’s sleeve into the miasma, vaporizing itself. Tortured by guilt, Inuyasha blames himself for failing to protect Kikyo. He lashes out angrily at Sesshomaru, accusing him of allowing Kikyo to be killed. Sesshomaru’s icy response is that Naraku killed Kikyo “and the one who wasn’t able to save her was you, Inuyasha. If you have the time to snarl at me, you would do better to spend it chasing Naraku.”

Sesshomaru turns and walks away leaving Inuyasha alone and heartbroken. He falls to his knees, unable to bear his grief. When Kagome and the others arrive, Inuyasha composes himself enough to tell them Naraku achieved his goal--taking Kikyo’s life. Far from Mt. Hakurei, Kagura rests from her flight, irritated at the burden Naraku assigned to her. Suddenly, a voice from the bundle tells her Kikyo is dead. Astonished, Kagura looks at her cargo: it’s a baby.