Genesis of Evil

Ken looks back at events that have shaped his life over past couple of years, particularly the loss of his older brother, Sam, and wonders if things could ever go back to the way they used to be.

Note: The English video recap for this episode is either unavailable or non-existent.

DA02_ep23_Recap_(Japanese_w_Eng_subs) — DA02 ep23 Recap (Japanese w Eng subs)

Episode recap for *Genesis of Evil*. (Japanese with subtitles).

Synopsis

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In bed, Ken feels like he has lost his heart. He recalls when he and his brother, Sam found the Digivice that came out of their computer, going to the Digiworld for the first time (Tag Tamers), when Sam died, and the email that led him to the Dark Ocean. While in the Dark Ocean, his digivice becomes tainted with Darkness, and he becomes the Digimon Emperor. He goes in search of Wormmon and ends up in Primary Village. He then realizes what a monster he had become, killing and making slaves of innocent creatures.The Crest of Kindness begins to react, and he finds Wormmon's Digi-Egg, who is now Wormmon's baby form, Leafmon.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance. Bolded characters are fought by the protagonist(s), and italicized characters feature non-explicitly, e.g. voice, silhouette, image.)

Humans	Fresh	Rookie
Mrs. Ichijouji (1) (Ken's mother) Mr. Ichijouji (2) (Ken's father) Ken Ichijouji (3) Sam Ichijouji (4) (Ken's brother) Ryo Akiyama (9)	Poyomon (5) Yuramon (6) Punimon (7) Botamon (8) Leafmon (12)	Wormmon (9) Gazimon (11)

Digimon Analyser

No Digimon are analysed in this episode.

Digivolutions

(Number indicates order of occurrence.)

Digi-Egg	1	Leafmon

Quotes

"I feels like I've lost [my heart]. I keep looking for it, but I just can't seem to find it. I know once I do, everything will be back to the way it was, like when I was a little kid."

— Ken does a little soul searching.

"Mom and Dad are always paying more attention to Sam than to me. I know they love him more because he's smarter than me. I'll never get either one of them to notice me as long as Sam's around. If only Sam weren't around, then I would be - That's it! If only Sam weren't here, then I'd be the one they'd love. I wish Sam would just disappear!"

— Ken's jealousy will come back to haunt him one day.

"Maybe the computer blew a fuse or something."

— Sam and Ken discover a first generation Digivice.

"I know that Sam told me to stay away from it, but I couldn't help myself. I felt like I was being drawn to it somehow, like something was telling me that it belonged to me. I just wanted to look at it. What harm could that do?"

— Famous last words, Ken.

"Sam hated me. I wasn't as good a person as he was, but that wasn't enough for him. He had to punish me because of it! He didn't have to hit me! I just wanted to play with his toy! So what if I didn't ask for his permission first? And I couldn't tell Mom and Dad, because as far as they were concerned, he could do no wrong."

— Ken expresses his resentment towards his brother.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. It must have been hard to take... but don't worry. Your brother is in a better place than this world. He is finally at rest. But when his soul became free, yours became trapped. You bare the burden of both his destiny and your own. Now that your parents have lost their hopes for their 'perfect child,' you will be expected to carry out the dreams that Sam can no longer fulfill. This world will become unbearable for you, the pressure to succeed will be too great. But let me tell you about another world that is much more appropriate... a world where your soul can finally be free, where you answer to no one but yourself. Open the drawer... Use Sam's digivice!"

- Ken receives a mysterious email.

"This is mine now! No one can ever take it away from me, or hide it in a drawer!"

— Ken begins to change for the worse as his digivice becomes the black D-3.

"Why is she crying? I don't understand. When I'm sad, I just go numb. Wait, there's tears in my eyes, too. Why am I crying? Is my heart closer than I think? Maybe these people and I can share the pain and sorrow of losing Sam together."

— Ken begins to heal a little.

"It's too late for you now. You can't turn back time. What's done is done. You've made your bed, now lie in it. I'd go on, but I can't think of anymore cliches."

— A Punimon puts Ken in his place.

"The cruel things I've done in the past won't ever leave me, but I've got to move on with my life. I promise to concentrate on the good things in the past, not the evil. I'll use my memories of Sam and of Wormmon to make me stronger."

— Ken tearfully vows to redeem himself.

"I'm okay... that was nothing. I’m so glad that I’m your Digimon partner, Ken, because you’re so kind. But kindness alone isn’t enough. You need to become stronger or you’ll be overwhelmed by your own kindness. Ken, that Digivice you have is yours. Not anyone else’s, but yours alone. Just like your heart is yours, don’t ever forget that. And don’t run away."

- Wormmon

"And now I can finally say it. Thank you, Sam, for helping me find my heart."

— After all this time, Ken finally lets go of his resentment.

Other notes

Ep23samemperor — Sam (right) and the Digimon Emperor (left).

Digimon references

It appears that Ken's image as the Digimon Emperor is based on his older brother Sam, as they have similar hair styles and similar glasses. This is most noticeable when Sam finds Ken with the digivice.
Ken's memory of walking through the desert is based during the events of the game Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers, and shows him with Ryo Akiyama, one of the main characters in the game, who also features in the later anime series Digimon Tamers.

Miscellaneous trivia

Ken announces the episode title in the Japanese episode.
This is the first episode in the series not to feature any of the other DigiDestined.
This is the first episode in which Ken isn't an antagonist.
This is the only episode of Adventure 02 in which neither Cody, T.K., nor Patamon appear.