The following contains major spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 423, “One For All vs. All For One,” by Horikoshi Kohei, Caleb Cook, and John Hunt.

After literally years of high-stakes Quirk battles, thrilling cliffhangers, and emotionally heartbreaking goodbyes to some of its most beloved characters, My Hero AcademiaThe Final War officially comes to an end with Chapter 423. While this chapter includes a definitive end to All For One's oppressive legacy, its lack of closure in certain aspects reveals that there is still more story to tell. Even though the main conflict has been resolved, there are still several loose ends that need to be tied up before the series can reach a satisfying conclusion.

My Hero Academia Chapter 423 “One For All vs. All For One” is the first installment in a while centered around All For One. instead of Deku and the other Pro Heroes. As the supervillain inches ever closer to defeat, his desperate gambles finally reveal a facet of his true personality to Deku and the rest of the heroes. In addition to granting proper closure to one of the most celebrated villains in modern shōnen storytelling, “One For All vs All For One” also includes a much-needed explanation for the intricacies of Midoriya Izuku’s Quirk transfer to Tomura Shigaraki and the ultimate fate of One For All. By reintroducing One For All as a factor, the chapter also hints at the potential return of the Quirk to Deku.

My Hero Academia Chapter 423 Fixes a Plot Hole That Could Break the Story

One for All Destroyed Tomura Shigaraki's Weak Body from Within

In its early days, My Hero Academia went to great lengths to illustrate that, while transferable, One For All was not a Quirk that could be accepted lightly. Before he could inherit it from All Might, Deku had to undergo a strengthening process with the Symbol of Peace itself over a period of 10 months. Even under these conditions, the careless activation of the powerful Quirk caused some adverse effects on Deku's relatively weak body, breaking his limbs from the inside. Shigaraki's casual acceptance of the Quirk in Chapter 417 raised some eyebrows, but Horikoshi reminded the audience in Chapter 423 that this particular plot point is still relevant.

In Chapter 423, One For All's volatile nature is weaponized. against the weakened form of what was once All For One's "masterpiece." As the heroes attack, All For One realizes too late the true danger he is in. Ever the strategist, he immediately begins planning his next move, but his analysis involves an internal inventory of his Quirk stockpile that only confirms that his body is practically finished. Even his Simple Growth abilities cannot stand up to the full power of One For All strengthened by nine users, along with all the other punishment Shigaraki's body has suffered since the beginning of the war.

As if to seal his fate, All For One's Super Regeneration Quirk also failed him. With the Decay Quirk still ravaging his vestige, it took all of his concentration to barely maintain his muddy corporeal form, but his troubles weren't over yet. The Danger Sense Quirk he stole from Deku also overwhelmed his attention span, responding to the unbridled hostility directed at him by the dozens of heroes still fighting. All of these factors contributed to his defeat, but It was the sudden manifestation of One For All that pushed All For One over the edge. As he faced powerful attacks from both the physical realm and the vestiges, All For One's defeat was now inevitable.

My Hero Academia Chapter 423 Highlights The Difference Between All For One And Tomura Shigaraki

Everything about the final moments exposed how lonely he really was.

When All For One finally expired, it wasn't with the kind of pomp or drama that typically accompanies the deaths of major antagonists in anime and manga. The mundanity of his final moments and his pathetic attempts to cling to life stripped away the veneer of the calm, self-assured mentor the villain had always projected himself to be. This exposed him as a coward who feared the potential erasure of his narcissistic legacy. At one point, he was so desperate that he considered once again transferring the All For One Quirk to Deku to take over another young man's body and start the villain cycle all over again.

All For One and Shigaraki were not directly compared in “One For All vs. All For One”, but the stark differences in their final moments revealed how different My Hero AcademiaThe two main antagonists were at its core. All For One proved Deku's final assessment that he was just a lonely man, especially when all his vestige could do in his final moments was beg the ghost of his long-dead brother's Quirk not to abandon him. Shigaraki's vestige, on the other hand, was seemingly at peace with his death and the role he played in ensuring All For One's downfall. His final request was for Deku to convey a message to Spinner, assuring his lieutenant and friend that he had never given up on their shared goal of total destruction.

For all the faults of the League of Villains, the sense of belonging that Shigaraki inspired in his band of vagabonds was essential to defeating All For One. Just when they needed him most, Kurogiri made his move once more, just in time to prevent All For One from transferring his consciousness to Deku. Before the villain could get his hands on him, Kurogiri's Warp Gate decoy distracted him long enough for Bakugo to land a devastating surprise attack on All For One.

Kurogiri's help here wasn't because of any loyalty to the Pro-Heroes, but because, at that moment, saving Deku was in line with his original programming to protect Shigaraki at all costs. It's an almost poetic irony that Shigaraki's life, which had been manipulated and forced to follow certain paths against his will and knowledge, ended up having more meaning than All For One. who believed himself to be the epitome of free will.

My Hero Academia Chapter 423's Ending Answers Some Important Questions, But Raises a Few More

Deku may regain One For All before the end of the series

My Hero Academia Chapter 423 put a definitive end to All For One's role in the story, but reintroduces One For All into the fray., leaving the fate of the powerful Quirk open-ended once again. In the chapter's final sequence leading up to All For One's destruction, the remnants of One For All's previous wielders are summoned once again along with Shigaraki. This possibly suggests that the Quirk may not have been entirely destroyed as previous chapters have led fans to believe.

While this is certainly an exciting development, Chapter 423 also stops just short of confirming Deku's Quirk return. He engages with the vestiges as they wipe All For One from existence, but There is currently no solid evidence whether One For All was returned to Deku or not. What the chapter does intend to include, however, are several dedicated panels that highlighted Deku and Shigaraki's connected fists after their vestiges joined forces to destroy All For One.

In a specific panel, Horikoshi emphasized the fact that the blood on his fists (i.e. Deku and Shigaraki's DNA) mixed together, meaning that the transfer requirements for One For All have been met. With how significant the recurring image of connected hands has been throughout My Hero Academia, it's unlikely that this clue is a simple red herring. For final confirmation on whether Deku has regained possession of One For All and updates on the aftermath of the end of the war, fans will have to tune in to the next chapters.

My Hero Academia Chapter 423: One For All vs. All For One is now available in English on VIZ.com.