Episode 26

Beginning to the End (終末への幕開け, Shūmatsu e no Makuake) is the 26th episode of the D.Gray-man anime.

Short Summary
Road and Tyki attack General Yeegar, with Road trapping him in an endless loop of the time when his students were killed. They take the Innocence from him, leaving him in an unstable mental state.

Long Summary
Unbeknownst to General Yeegar, Tyki and Road are watching him from a distance and are planning on confronting him soon. In the meantime, Allen is stuck in Belgium due to the turbulent weather, which had caused the ferry to be cancelled. However, just as he was preparing to wait it out alone, Lenalee appears, and despite the rain the two head to a diner.

Lenalee explains that she had been in Spain to follow up on a lead about the potential presence of Innocence, though unfortunately it turned out to be nothing. Conversation soon turns to General Yeegar, and the two agree he is a nice man and a great teacher.

Back at headquarters, Komui receives a phone call from Kanda, who is still in Denmark. He is shocked when the Exorcist passes on the message the Millennium Earl had left for them; "The 7,000 year prologue is over". At that moment, Komui's office is flooded by an onslaught of phone calls from other Exorcists who had been instructed to pass on the exact same chilling message.

Meanwhile, Tyki and Road finally confront General Yeegar and demand that he hand over all the Innocence in his possession. Of course, Yeegar is not willing to give up so easily and prepares to fight, but not before telling his Finders to get to safety and notify headquarters of what is happening. The Finders reluctantly leave and Yeegar plans to try to hold off all the Akuma Road and Tyki brought with them for as long as possible. Thierry and the two other Finders eventually manage to contact headquarters and tell them that they need backup immediately. With that, Komui orders the science section to notify all Exorcists in Yeegar’s vicinity of what is happening so they can assist, and it is not long before Lenalee and Allen are drafted in to help.

Yeegar eventually manages to take down all the Akuma, and he takes the opportunity to ask Tyki and Road why, as humans, do they bow down to the Millennium Earl. However, Road is quick to point out that they are super human and that they plan to extinguish the existence of regular humans, who the Noah view as beneath them. Not caring for Road’s disrespectful tone, Yeegar attacks her, managing to cut her cheek. Angered, Road unleashes her own attack upon him, plunging him into her Dream World where he is forced to watch the events of his past play out.

He is helplessly forced to watch as Joanne—the young girl who had been turned into an Akuma—murders his whole class, over and over again. No matter how much he tries to stop it, the scene keeps repeating endlessly. Road demands that he hand over the Innocence in return for ending the torture of having to watch his students die over and over again. Though in spite of being driven mad, he continues to refuse.

However, before Road can continue to play with his mind, Tyki interrupts and gets her to deactivate her Dream World, taking it upon himself to stop Yeegar. With the general finally down, Tyki retrieves all the Innocence he was carrying, and it is then the Millennium Earl makes his entrance. With the pieces of Innocence finally in their possession, the Earl joyfully destroys them one by one. When Yeegar begins to stir, Tyki is quick to silence him, and seems to come up with a plan which involves using Yeegar’s chains.

Allen and Lenalee finally arrive but are greeted by the carnage left behind during the general’s battle against the Akuma. Though it is not long before they run into Thierry, who directs their attention to a nearby tree—there General Yeegar is tied up by his own chains, with a cross carved into his back. The two Exorcists are distraught, however Allen soon notices Yeegar’s hand twitch, meaning he is alive and can still be saved.

Nevertheless, even after medical attention it is already too late; General Yeegar has gone mad, constantly singing a song about looking for the "Heart". When Allen wonders what the Heart is, Komui, who had managed to arrive to their location, explains that there is a special piece of Innocence which has power so great they call it the "Heart". Bookman elaborates, explaining that the Heart is the source of power for every single piece of Innocence, and it even has the power to render all other pieces of Innocence useless. Komui explains that ultimately, they have to find the Heart in order to save humanity. Though of course, the Earl is also in pursuit of it. The atmosphere remains sombre as Yeegar continues to sing, and everyone can do nothing but look on.

Meanwhile, the Millennium Earl cheerfully heads off, singing about the Heart.

Episode Notes

 * In the manga, as well as a cross, General Yeegar also has the words "God Matter" carved into his back. On top of this, rather than being tied to a tree, he was crucified facing the cross.
 * Yeegar's backstory and his meeting with Allen are anime-only material. In the manga, he had already been driven mad and had passed away before Allen had even heard of him. It is Komui who delivers the news of Yeegar's fate to Allen, Lenalee and Lavi as they set off to their next mission in Romania.