The car drives him forward
"So long as your soul hasn't given up, then you should be able to hear the sound... that races through the End of the World."
A new status quo is established as Utena and Anthy move into Akio's residence in the chairman's tower. The student council starts receiving letters from the End of the World again, revealing that there is an elevator to the dueling arena. Saionji tries to quit the dueling game, and Akio and Touga show him the truth behind End of the World to renew his resolve to fight.
"Their Eternal Apocalypse" provides examples of:
- Answer Cut: Juri asks, "Who exactly is the End of the World?" The next character is speak is Akio, and the next scene is set in the chairman's office, as he does his stargazing routine with Utena.
- Baseball Episode: During the student council meeting a baseball game is going on in the margins of each frame and the plays punctuate the conversation between the members. When Saionji delivers his final retort, the unseen umpire declares the game over, and confetti descends on their meeting balcony from...somewhere.
- The Bus Came Back: Touga is officially back in the game as of this episode after sitting out the past arc in a prolonged state of shock, and is now more closely aligned with the End of the World than ever. In fact, they will literally be in bed together before the episode is out.
- Cannot Spit It Out: This episode is the first of several where Anthy nearly confides in Utena, only to lose heart and back off. For better or worse, Utena doesn't push her.
- Demoted Memories: Saionji claims that he doesn't really remember the incident with the girl in the coffin from when he and Touga were little. He's being cagey; after all, episode 9 already established that the girl and her need for "something eternal" had an impact on him. But the event was so isolated, so out of the ordinary, and the years have a way of warping one's recollections. This is not the first hint about the unreliability of characters' memories, especially where the funeral for Utena's parents is concerned, but it is one of the more obvious ones.
- Didn't See That Coming: Akio and Touga, who are covertly watching the duel, are both startled to see the Sword of Dios fade away in Utena's hand. After Utena wins thanks to Anthy's interference, Akio subtly challenges Anthy about her display of willfulness, and implicitly sexually assaults her to remind her of her place. He's noticed that there are some extra variables in play that he will have to manage, but he's not worried. Yet.
- The Food Poisoning Incident: In the shadow play, B-ko complains that A-ko ate her leftover pudding... and that it was two weeks old. The scene ends with A-ko feeling sick.
- Game Changer: This episode starts the "Akio Ohtori" arc and the heroines are moving into a fancy apartment in the chairman's tower. It also introduces a bunch of new symbols, new stock sequences, and new songs.
- The episode opens with the first appearance of the Akio Car, which will soon become practically inescapable.
- Among the new repeated scenes are Utena and Anthy talking in bed, the ride to the End of the World, the new arena ascension sequence, and a new sword-pull sequence.
- The new ascension sequence gets another arrangement of "Absolute Destiny Apocalypse," this time performed by the composer J.A. Seazer's theater group, Universal Gravitation, and a new ending song, also composed by Seazer.
- Goblin Face: Saionji's predilection for unsettling facial expressions reappears once he commits to dueling again — mainly Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises, plus some grimaces with bared teeth during the duel.
- Hands-On Approach: Akio puts an arm around Utena's shoulders and pulls her closer to him to better point out a star to her. She blushes and looks flustered; he does not notice. Or at least, he seems to not notice. The smug smile he directs at Anthy suggests otherwise.
- History Repeats: This episode is full of callbacks to the first few episodes of the series.
- Utena moves into a new living situation, Saionji is standoffish with the student council and reverts to his early jerkassery; Utena fights him to protect a friend.
- A-ko and B-ko return as the shadow play performers, and they lampshade their own reuse of lines from their early routines.B-ko: I hear there'll be another duel today in the forest behind the school!
A-ko: It's been a while since we used that phrase.
- Internal Reveal: Saionji learns that the school chairman and End of the World are one and the same.
- Mr. Exposition: Miki explains to the other student council members that he verified the claims in the letter from the End of the World — there really is an elevator to dueling arena. He explains it again to Utena later in the episode since she does not receive any letters and he's a nice guy like that.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Akio spells out to Utena and the audience that he's named after Venus, also known as the Morning Star, also known as Lucifer. As the man himself puts it, "The star who was an Angel who decided to become the King of Hell, and rises only after the sun sets". Utena doesn't take the hint, though.
- Not What I Signed on For: Saionji announces that he's leaving the dueling game because he can't abide the End of the World's manipulations. Some translations phrase his refusal as "I never signed up to be the End of the World's lackey!"
- Neutral No Longer: When a challenger insists that Anthy has no will of her own, that's when she is most likely to put her thumb on the scale — and this episode is perhaps the most the most obvious example of it. Utena is on the ropes during the duel after the Sword of Dios disappears, and Anthy shakes off the blank smile she usually wears as she remembers Utena's supportive words from the night before. She throws herself at Utena to get her out of range of Saionji's attacks, and summons a new sword out of Utena's own chest.
- Rape Discretion Shot: Akio implicitly rapes Anthy at the end of the episode, although the camera only shows him grabbing her and yanking her to him as soon as she hesitates to continue their weekly tryst for a moment.
