Aka the early version of the "Incarnate" system that's used in Accel World.

​@@ryuushinzo3559it is basically the origin of accelerated world and incarnation system

Yeah, this is really not an important detail, I understand why they never told about his. Jokes aside after 10 years, I finally got my answer for this question, thanks bro!

​@@misipapa3626SAO as an anime adaptation is so Bad because they skipped a lot Of explanations because is a Light Novel :/

@@Der0310no that not the reason there many anime that are based on light novels it was written for a short story tournament

SAO was the first anime I saw and im glad it was, It has a very special place in my heart, Ill remember it for the rest of my life

God bless u both, cuz i was a bit afraid that you'll get harrased for just liking/loving SAO, cuz the hate is STILL very strong, even after alicization.

Same i cried

​​​@@trapgalaxy1374 Yes, actually in Alicization the Incarnate System is the base from all the logic in Underworld

@@Der0310 but Incarnation in sao and underworld are much different

​@@Roronoa_Ze0Yes and no, Underworld is based in SAO's Cardinal System, the Incarnation in SAO is the beggining of how Incarnation works, in Underworld is all the potential Of the Incarnation being used

So many people seem to be unable to use common sense with this scene. Him exploding is literally the same self-image as in the first episode; he didn't actually disintegrate until after he beat Heathcliff, and this should be patently obvious with just some basic analysis.

Except that Kayaba EXPRESSLY SAID he didn't make a system that could do that. That's just more terrible writing.

Would have been interesting to see other seasons with the perspectives of new main characters (for example, ALO arc with Leafa as mc or/and Yuuki just dealing with their shit, GGO with Sinon, Alicization with Eugeo and Alice). You can't convince me that it would be that bad

in the new movie she is given a necklace by Argo (I think) that makes her immune to paralysis, So you could argue its either of those reasons or both of them

@@TheCipherUK 1. Wasn't Argo but not canon anime original character which already should tell you that this isn't what affected this episode. 2. It was necklace against a poison from lower levels of Aincrad - not only it wouldn't work against *anything* on a floors 70+, but would never work on admin-made paralysis. Where do people even come up with these ideas from?...

Hahahhahahahahh i see u are a man of culture aswell

That's why they have the ability called the "Incarnate Arms" Can't wait Neel to react on that part I want him to reach Alicization that's shit is Peak when my first time watching it

THANK YOU. omg people just need to stop

The revival item actually implies that they do die immediately after the death animation. "can be brought back to life during the brief period (roughly ten seconds) between death and the conclusion of the disintegration visual effect." If anything, what happened in the end shows that Kayaba never actually intended to kill a single person by his own sword. Instead, he programmed it to teleport whoever will be slain by him after death animation into the prepared space for watching the end of Aincrad. If one listens to what Kayaba says - he only ever planned to cross the swords to end-of-life battle with whoever will face him on floor 100. He has all this planned a long time ago, Kirito and Asuna simply broke his plan 25 floors early :)

​While I generally agree with most of your posts, I wouldn't discount his theory completely. Reki has shown several instances of not just humans overcoming the system, but the AIs doing it as well. Yui, Cardinal and Adminstrator as well as many fluctlights, Metatron and some.of the other bosses in BB (AW), and even Kizmel and other NPCs in Progressive. This could have well been a moment where Cardinal also interfered. Kayaba is not operating any console except when he firsts turns his immortality off and starts the duel. It was one on one and he was not expecting outside interference. So even if he planned to teleport Kirito instead of killing him (which I don't believe Kayaba would do unless he lost or Kirito showed something beyond Kayaba's expectations), it is highly doubtful he would have anticipated what was going to happen and set the sword to telepoet all, plus show the health bars, and change the teleport effect to look like a death (when they teleported back to 75 it did not look the the same). Unless you also saying he is Aizen. I could see him (although the time is very limited) setting Asuna to an immortal object but can go down to like .0000001 HP while setting up the duel, but not the teleport and death effect. Moreno I think he sent a command to not fry Asuna's brain so that when she died in game she was put in limbo (this is my interpretation and it is valid considering this hasn't 100% been explained even in the light novels, or at least the translation I read). And I feel this way because I think he intended to let Kirito actually die. That moment when Kirito is broken, Kayaba acts very much like "I had hopes for you, but you are just pitiful now. I'm going to end it now." That look on his face is pure disappointment before he stabs him. When Kirito suddenly fights back that is when Kayaba realizes Kirito overcame the system (or changed it, or since we now have an in-game basis for his yellow eyes from his Meditation or whatever skills it is), he smiles and allows Kirito to stab him. And since Asuna was in limbo when the game was defeated, she was not killed by the NerveGear. I'm not saying Cardinal did do something, but I do think it's possible. I do think Kayaba fully intended to kill Kirito if Kirito didn't do something amazing. And the teleport was triggered by meeting the victory requirements and not the sword. Regarding the revive item, which wasn't an issue here, again just my hypothesis, but, after AW's recent developments as well as the recent short story (not so recent but volume 22 I think?) as well as other events, I think the revive item could only be used while there was some part of the body remaining in the game (even if it was only dispersing particles), but real-world death still took a bit more time as the computer worked to store everything before sending the signal. Not a long time, but some lag. This would also be a possible explanation for Asuna surviving as she was still being processed when Kayaba was defeated and thus spared. I know you have your theory and it's all tied in a nice bow but I see it differently. Reki has definitely started to blur some lines (no one could go back to BB after it was uninstalled, memories lingering from SAO going to the Seed and reaching out to Asuna in ALO, the potential image of the wife way back in the first season, some elements in Underworld), lots of subtle hints that there's more there. So I have a different interpretation about how it went down, and so does this other guy. It doesn't make it wrong, unless Reki specifically outlined everything that happened. If he has I have not seen it.

​@@madcat1738 I mean, everyone is free to live with their headcanons and theories, but the simpler the solution the more likely it usually be closer to the truth. It's a fact that 3 people ended up being teleported into a same place that can only exist if was made prior to events that we witness. Given that 1 of these people is the one to set up the rules - the simplest solution is to assume his involvement in the process. Does the plan he explained to other 2 contradict what happened? No, it goes nicely in line with it. Now, in details. Kayaba himself says that he saw Kirito and Asuna doing something more than he believed was possible. He directly says that they broke the rules of the world he established. No mention of the Cardinal as one to show him something new. On contrary - Cardinal was the one to look after the rules not to be broken in his world, so if Cardinal had direct involvement in breaking the rules - it would've been noted. I would even go as far as to say, that if you wish to find some poetic justice from Cardinal - there's more too look into in ALO, rather than SAO where it's portrayed as a villain alongside Kayaba. "t is highly doubtful he would have anticipated what was going to happen and set the sword to teleport all, plus show the health bars, and change the teleport effect to look like a death" in programming, you oftentimes write functions as set of instructions, algorithm you then can reuse many times by using just a single line - call of that function by name. The fact that Kayaba was teleported himself shows that he had a function to teleport a player to the position outside Aincrad. In that case, all he needed to do, is to make his own avatar an exception, not making exceptions every time he may encounter someone he doesn't wish to kill. If you follow the idea so far - his actions are as simple as replacing the call to brain_fry() function by end_game_teleport() function of some sort, all inside the avatar_death() function (he doesn't need to change anything about death animation and etc, only the last act in the algorithm). We know he planned SAO incident for years. We know he had a special plan to be a final boss of the game. We know he made a place outside Aincrad to teleport to, and that same teleportation has been made 3 times, or in other words - same function has been called 3 times. So, what makes more sense - him planning use of this function only for himself in case of death, or apply this function to whoever he may kill in the process as well? Something he has to write down in code once, before SAO even starts, rather than try and change the rules for every exception he sees like Kirito and Asuna, or even for Cardinal to interfere in all this? Maybe it's me as programmer seeing it in a different light, but that's how I would've wrote it for simplicity of it. " I don't believe Kayaba would do unless he lost or Kirito showed something beyond Kayaba's expectations" - I think, you're forgetting how involved Kirito was supposed to be with Heathcliff in Kayaba's plan. Well, whichever player that met the planned requirements, which Kirito ended up to be in our story. Heathcliff jumped at the first opportunity to see Kirito's strength, at first opportunity to get him into his guild (and him being rush about it is what uncovered his identity). What does it look like? If all went as planned without early reveal - Kirito and Heathcliff would've been 2 strongest players leading the rest floor through floor up and up, until at some point, Heathcliff for his dramatic narrative, would reveal that he's Kayaba. He planned to be close to such a player, thus reveal would be as strong a betrayal as possible. He then planned to meet such a player in a duel at floor 100. One he himself made a rival, by giving both unique skill and personal hatred from betrayal. Now, do you still think, Kayaba wouldn't wish to speak to such a player in the end? Do you still think, he needed to do anything extra, to be invited on that island outside Aincrad? On top of it - if it wasn't events of SAO making Kirito to wall up himself from others and hide the dual wielding for a very very long time - he most likely would've fought alongside Heathcliff on frontline even earlier than 75 floor. In original Kayaba's plan that is. " I think he sent a command to not fry Asuna's brain so that when she died in game she was put in limbo " you're contradicting yourself - "Kayaba is not operating any console except when he firsts turns his immortality off and starts the duel" so when would he do this? Nor do I agree that the place she was sent was a "limbo". She ended up in the same place as Kirito and Kayaba. And that place, if anything (and especially if you read the novel) - is a stage. A place with a nice view on the end of the world Kayaba created. Everything about it screams that it was planned to be this way, prepared a long time ago. " feel this way because I think he intended to let Kirito actually die." now, imagine for a second, that Kayaba knows exactly where Asuna is. That she's not dead, but is teleported into a place he prepared long ago. Thus his lack of concern for killing her - he simply didn't. Now, what would this make his act of "killing Kirito" into? Yes, he was disappointed there wouldn't be continuation of the duel. Yes, "killing" Kirito is a mercy at this point. But what type of mercy? If he knows he teleported Asuna, if he knows by stubbing Kirito he would teleport him too? What does it mean? Means, that mercy is not in killing him, but in reuniting him with Asuna. He simply stubbed him to send him into same place as her. What to do with them after? It would be after him. The act is both a mercy and end of the duel. If the system had such a long lag that Kirito had a time to listen to Kayaba, slowly take the rapier, do a few steps, wait for his a ton of HP to end - the players would've been saved from outside by pulling the helmets quick enough. The only way to ensure this doesn't happen - make the helmet being capable of killing a player in a time it takes to very quickly pull the helmet off, or, in like half a second. Revival item directly says that it's impossible to revive a player after end of death animation. Thus the most logical outcome - death is almost instantaneous after end of death animation. This goes in line with Kayaba's logic of death being final in both his and real world. Leaving a player time to think about his life between death animation and brain fry doesn't make sense in that logic and is simply cruel.

@@madcat1738 Just to be clear - I'm having fun in discussing the possibilities of how to interpret the events, if I wasn't open to think about them or to question my own - my own understanding of it never would've evolved. So in case my reply may be seen as some personal attack on your theory for it being different than mine - it's not, it's just a next logical step in the discussion based of what you said :)

@@Leuncode first off, while you may not think so, your tone is highly condescending, especially with your little emoji smile and your lack of conceding any other theory could be correct when we do not have a full authorial explanation. You are free to believe what you like, and as I said I agree with many of your arguments on other areas. But it is hella arrogant to not even say I can see your theory could work even though I disagree. Nope. You just go right into explaining how your theory is incontrovertible like we are all 5 year olds. Was Reki an accomplished programmer or was he a novelist coming up with things in his imagination? Your experience may not mean anything if Reki wasn't intending that. Occam's surprisingly doesn't apply just because someone wants it to. Lots of people think accounting is easy because everything equals out and adds up. Until they get into leases, or pensions, or valuation or a number of other things which explains why we need a license to do what we do. Your headcanon sees it all in this nice little box. But that is what it is.....your headcanon. You don't even bother to tell the people that on these posts. You just say they were teleported by his sword exactly the way you described when that is not confirmed. You sound just like the Danmachi fans who swear Bell is immune to curses just because he is immune to charm and one ambiguous event in the second season. And why would the person be conscious between game death and real death? If there was some type of process they could very well be unconscious during that time. And since the bodies are data that can be formed anywhere, Asuna could have been in a bodiless state of limbo, unconscious until either real death occurs or in this case Kayaba or the system recognizing victory stops the death process and sends her to the platform. Even the most meticulous planners miss things, and they cannot account for every possible outcome. Considering his age, even if he dreamed of his castle in the sky, he was not likely dreaming of the Incarnate system all those years. And even if he had some foresight into it, he could not predict when or if it would happen. So while you seem to think he was flawless in his planning and accounted for everything to come down to a moment he didn't even predict, that logic is highly flawed to me. He's human. He might have saved Asuna, but he intended to kill Kirito in that moment. Maybe not at the beginning of the duel (although Kirito felt it was kill or be killed and I agree) but definitely at that moment the intent to kill was there. Did he make Asuna unkillable right at the moment Kirito asked? Possibly. We don't see him. Did Cardinal decide to save her because she broke the paralysis and Cardinal needed to figure out how the system was overridden? Also possible. And also possible is a short time lag between game death and real death but long enough for Kirito to overrule the system and Kayaba let himself get stabbed. Even one other possibility...since he deemed Kirito to be the hero to fight the Demon King, then Asuna became his princess and Kayaba secretly makes her immortal but can take damage essentially to 0 HP. He intended to kidnap her when he made his big reveal to make the emotionz stronger and really pour on the betrayal just like a big game twist. But he gets found out early. So now he plans to defeat Kirito without killing him, and to further humiliate him and in his role as Demon King, capture Asuna as further incentive to fight on. And Asuna breaking the paralysis and stepping in front of the blow plays right into his hands, so he has her teleported (programmed when he made her immortal) at that moment. But then he sees Kirito utterly broken and decides to kill Kirito and figure out what to do with Asuna later. But Kirito snaps out of it and surpasses his limits and unicorn rushes the rapier into Kayaba. And his reward for winning is saving his princess. Unlikely but fits in with a lot of fantasy game themes. It's also possible under your scenario. I don't agree but it is a valid theory. But I'm not going to present my theory as undisputed fact. Because unless and until Reki explains what happened (even if he's changed his mind about it or evolved his position on it), all we have are theories. And discussing them is fine. But when you see someone tell you they see where you are coming from but disagree and make their point, explaining your point that they already understood (especially after reading it over and over in the other comment threads) comes across like "You really don't understand because if you understood you would agree with me because I'm obviously correct. Let me explain it to you again because I'm sure this time you'll see how dumb your argument is and how brilliantly beautiful my argument is." To riff off a very annoying member of House Vermillion. I might have tried a Fire Force reference, but I got tired of all the firefighter comparisons in the other thread. And it's been a good while since I watched it.

Its 10 minute before someone got their HP to zero. Tho didnt Kirito give it to Klein? U saw in the episode he threw it to Klein and said "if someone dies close to you some day, use it." But yeah it makes sense he should had kept it.

@@Y0sh1no5am He is not referring to the use of the item, he is referring to the 10 minute rule. If the item could be used to revive a player who died in-game up to ten minutes later, that means that in reality that player still wouldn't have their brain fried up to ten minutes later. And yes, Klein must still have the item, but I've come to see many people on other channels spreading the idea that they used the item on Asuna, when this is completely false.

Actually is Just the Incarnate System that Will be used in Alicization and Accel World

@@maac_5104 Look up the end of Kayaba's speech in episode 1. Kirito imagined himself dying there. Exact same animation is in this episode in total disregard to how the physics works recreating the boar hit in it. Meaning - there was no resurrection, for there was no death - Kirito imagined himself dying, and to symbolize him disagreeing with the outcome, he imagined himself coming back. If anything, it's revival of his willpower after Asuna's death. As for revival item - Kirito specifically asked Klein to use it on the first person he sees dying in front of him. So much time has passed since then - he would've used it already.

@@Y0sh1no5am can't tag more than one person, but I just explained what happened here in the comment above :)

The explanation is the power of Will and the Incarnation thats is used in Alicization and Accel World, you can imagine and use your mind to change the logic and rules of the virtual world

Look up episode 1, right after Kayaba's speech - Kirito imagines himself dying. Here, they used the same animation (which doesn't correlate to the sword being stuck in his head) to show that he imagines it again. But this time, he doesn't accept this fate, thus symbolically "comes back" in his mind. There was no resurrection because there was no death :)

No it's actually explained in another comment here. He and Asuna were able to overload the system with their willpower. That's why she was able to ove while paralysed and why Kirito was able to hold his body together just long enugh to deliver the final blow on Kayaba. The light novel explains it a bit better than the anima.

no cuz of the power of Will and the Incarnation that is used in Accel World, and nervegear sent the info to the brain directly, if they have strong enough will power, they theoretical can control the system.

On god, The only arc I don't really like is Alfhiem Arc, Gun-Gale Arc is a little better but Aincrad Arc and the Alicization Arc are both gas

@@theunwanted7_716aincrad could have been way better if they didn’t rush the shit out of it though. I love that alicization had 2 full season to really flesh everything out and it was amazing

Sure, if you like rape and incest.

I think its nerve gear doesnt instanly burn the brain after the player died, remember drop item from nicholas that can revive player within 10 minute? I think there's some spare time before the brain got seriously damaged

​@@saskara6641 There was no need for resurrection. Look up episode 1, right after Kayaba's speech - Kirito imagines himself dying. Here, they used the same animation (which doesn't correlate to the sword being stuck in his head) to show that he imagines it again. But this time, he doesn't accept this fate, thus symbolically "comes back" in his mind. There was no resurrection because there was no death :) As for why Asuna didn't die, we can only guess, but there was a high probability Kayaba never intended to kill anyone by his own sword and just teleported her as players imitated in the murder mystery episode :)

@@Leuncode No the light novel makes it pretty clear that he and Asuna died. Kirito was just able to hold his body together on pure willpower to kill Kayaba as well. And they both survived because that was Kayabas reward for defeating him. He just didn't want them to die after they both broke the system with their willpower and defeated him. That's what's interesting about Kayaba. Yes he is an asshole for even starting this death game but he is also honorable and would never let the warriors who defeated him die after clearing the game.

​@@She-Devil94 " hold his body together on pure willpower to kill Kayaba as well" this is after the scene I was referring to. Half the comment section believes Kirito died twice in this episode. I'm saying - no, only once. You're saying that Kirito dies which, if in singular, doesn't contradict what I said.

​@@She-Devil94 As for what happened in their "death", if factual - in literal sense neither of them died and was simply teleported away. Unlike players in the murder mystery - Kayaba, as creator of the game, didn't have to rely on tricks to do this - he simply went them through all the same animation as death, but teleported them at the stage of algorithm that was supposed to fry their brains. He didn't do it because they broke the system. He let them live *after* teleportation because of it. He *let* Kirito kill him because of it. But at the moment of Asuna's death, when the act was singular - he didn't pay attention to what he saw. He was too excited about the duel to pay attention, especially knowing he didn't actually kill her. And only when the system was broken a second time in front of him - did he realized what happened. Not earlier. All the same applies to the novels, I've read them, you can check.

And asuna is not able to kill herself because that what kirito requested to kayaba (sorry bad english)

I’ve never heard the theory that Klein used the revive item from the Santa Claus event on Kirito. While it conflicts with the idea of “incarnation” that’s being set up for future series content, it’s still a really good theory and I’m filing it away in my head for later.

​@@jdoggivjc I have heard about it a couple of times and it is a pretty cool theory

And all those theories miss the one that was explained by the anime itself, 15 minutes, thats the time span between the player dying and the Nervegear frying his brain. There is an item to revive players in game and Kirito got it trying to revive Sachi but it was useless to him since several months passed since Sachi died. Obviously if there is an item in game allowing to revive there is a system in place to no instantly fry a players brain when he dies causee than revival would be pointless.

Klein didn't use the item on kirito because he was paralyzed.

dont forget the finale of alicization too (the best arc sao for me)

@@funtastic9401 you know that "()" this is spoiler basically? Edit for atleast plz.

@@funtastic9401 nah bruh, most of each arc of Alicization is a tearjerker.

hacks mode: on

No more than a legend - Kirito didn't need saving by revival item in the first place :) Check episode 1 right after Kayaba's speech - Kirito already "died" there once. Well, he imagined himself dying, with same exact animation, but this time he didn't accept his fate thus "came back". So people have to accept 1 of 2 options - either they believe Kirito died and came back in this episode and thus had died and didn't came back in episode 1... Or both cases happened entirely inside his head :)

He doesnt have the item anymore, used it to save Kirito right after he got it. But its not in the anime

The reason they both live is simply because Kayaba kept them alive. They showed him something he previously thought impossible, so he spared them.

Taking this as a plothole is going at the events backwards. No, this fact is left to create understanding of the character, not the other way around. If we listen to Kayaba - he only ever intended to have a single duel to death in this game. With whoever will face him at the floor 100. The plan didn't work out all the way there, but he had no time to adjust anything about it. Thus, the platform in the end was made prior to it. Was made in preparation for his original plan. Thus, it stands to reason, that his blade was always programmed to teleport whoever he will "kill" with it, after death animation instead of brain frying. This is why Asuna's death didn't phase him - he knew she was simply teleported.

@@Leuncode Very good point. I can certainly see Kayaba wanting to chat with the person he duels, win or lose, so I can see his fatal blow not triggering the nervgear. I'm hoping the progressive series covers it in clearer detail.

If you are wondering why Kirito "came back" you need to check the end of Kayaba's speech back in episode 1, when Kirito is shown to die... Or, to be precise - Kirito imagined himself dying. In same exact animation of boar hitting him as in this episode now. Him "coming back" is symbolic way to show his willpower coming back after him seeing Asuna's death. The entire thing happened in Kirito's head. Although after it - Kirito's willpower did help him to prolong his death animation (which only started after what happen in his head, if you actually check it) long enough to hit Heathcliff.

No such thing. There's roughly 10 seconds between HPs dropping to 0 and character disappearing. Basically - time of the death animation. No minutes, not even a single second after full death of character. Only a few after the HPs shows 0 to you. Thing is - there's no need for any of this in the episode. First - just like in episode 1, Kirito imagined himself dying, even the animation is the same. But then went against the fate thus symbolically in his mind he returned. With his willpower he managed to prolong the death animation long enough to land the hit. Second - why did he and Asuna survive? It's evident, that Kayaba never intended to kill anyone with his own blade. The only person he ever planned to duel to death was supposed to be a player at the floor 100. He didn't have time in this episode to prepare the place where Kirito and Asuna ended up with him. He made in advance. Meaning - his sword was already programmed to teleport whoever will be killed by it instead of brain frying part.

There's no such delay. The delay many mistook for it, starts when the avatar starts to crumble after HPs reach 0 - in other words - death animation. And this is the key part - Kirito lost his willpower after Asuna's death. Got his avatar killed - when HPs reached 0, he did exactly same thing he did in episode 1 right after Kayaba's speech - imagined himself dying. They even reused the animation to point this out (because for season 1 they preferred this way instead of voicing internal thoughts of characters). Kirito imagines his own death, and this is the point when he felt the anger, injustice of what has happened to Asuna and him. His willpower comes back and thus in his mind, symbolically, death animation is reversed and he's back. Entire scene is in his head. Only after that does the actual death animation starts. Through his willpower, Kirito manages to prolong this animation long enough to take Kayaba with him. Who just saw 2 people breaking the system one after another, thus agreed that he lost as the ruler of that world and took the hit instead of dodging. As for why neither Kirito or Asuna died in the end - it's evident, that Kayaba simply teleported them after the death animation. We may even theorize that he never intended to kill a single player by his own sword and programmed his sword to do the teleportation a very long time ago. After all, he only ever planned to fight a single player to death on the 100th floor.

Bruh let him complete the current series first, he still have to react to sao seasons

Wait till he finish something first