10 years have passed since Raoh's death, but the world is about to be plunged into darkness once more. The forces of the celestial emperor have now taken over, and the emperor himself lives in a massive fortress. Many people have been captured and taken to work there, operating turbines which generate electricity. The fortress, known as the imperial capital, is a shining light.

Whilst the Emperor is not seen, his viceroy, Jako, gives out his orders. He finds out that his forces have taken over much of the land, but there is a resistance group known as the North Star Army who keep attacking their armies and freeing prisoners. Jako isn't that bothered about this. Meanwhile, a man called Joe heads out with two of his friends to find Kenshiro, but instead finds Zorba and Zarji, who say Kenshiro is dead. They kill two of the men and tell Joe to go back, and to tell everyone that Kenshiro will never return. Joe heads back to his village and tells people not to give up hope, but some of the emperor's forces overhear him badmouthing them, and have him killed.

The North Star Army -led by Bat and Lin -makes a move and attacks a convoy of the emperor, in an attempt to free some prisoners. However, the captain of the convoy sets fire to the prisoners, killing them all whilst he gets away. Bat and Lin can do nothing but watch as the prisoners burn.

The North Star Army returns to their base, and Bat informs Rihaku on what happened. As Rihaku hears everything, he wonders if Kenshiro will know something is wrong with the world. Bat and Lin are carrying the flag for the North Star and fighting on, but they are both waiting for Kenshiro's return. If he can hear their young hearts, then he must return. They need him, the true successor to the North Star divine fist, to bring light back into the world. In another town, a man wearing a cloak stumbles and then falls over, as a boy runs up to see if he is alright. He offers him some water, but the man is so weak that he can't even accept it.

Manga Differences

-The scene showing the capital for the first time does not happen until later on in the manga.

-Zorba and Zarji are not in the manga, so the scene featuring them was not in the manga either.

-Joe is in the manga, but is never named.

-The way Joe is killed is different in the manga, as the commander crushes his head.

In the anime, it was toned down to him having his back broken.

-Part of the scene near the end, where the two guys wonder if Kenshiro is dead and Bat tells them not to talk about that, was not in the manga.

-The ending of this episode is very different. In the manga, there is a scene where Kenshiro (riding on the Black King) sees the captain (the same one who set fire to the prisoners) looking at wanted posters of Bat and Lin, who's reward money has been doubled. Kenshiro kills him and takes a look at one of the posters. In the anime, this scene doesn't happen, and instead has a new scene where Kenshiro enters a village and collapses, setting the scene up for the next episode (which is a filler episode).

Notes

-It's not stated in the episode how much time has passed since Kenshiro and Raoh's final battle. It's believed to be 10 years.

-Fist of the North Star 2 has a brand new intro sequence, featuring the song "Tough Boy" by TOM★CAT. The version of Tough Boy played during the intro features slightly changed lyrics -in the full version of the song, the lines were "fightin' in the eighties", but for the shorter version used in the intro, the line was changed to "fightin' in the nineties".

-The credits sequence is also new, featuring another song by TOM★CAT simply called "Love Song".

-In the first episode, money was, according to Zeed, "Not worth wiping out asses with!". But in this episode, Bat and Lin's wanted posters have some kind of currency on them as a reward -it's a currency the celestial empreor's forces use.

-The woman seen in the carriage at the start of the episode is apparently connected with the emperor (the soldiers escorting her bear the emperor's symbol on their armor), but she never appears in the series again.

-Joe's friends are never named, but in the script, they are called Jii and Ai. Put them together and what have you got? Jii, Ai, Joe. This is a reference to G.I. Joe, the Hasbro toy line which had a cartoon series first broadcast a few years before this episode aired. Toei Animation, who animated Fist of the North Star, had also worked on G.I. Joe, which is probably the reason for the reference.

-I don't know if this is just a problem with the DVDs, but this episode does not have an eyecatcher. Did this episode originally not have one? The next episode doesn't have one either.

-The voice actor for Jako is Shigeru Chiba, who usually voices the narrator and has previously voiced minor characters like Joker and Komaku.

-Previously, Bat was voiced by Teiyu Ichiryusai. From this episode and onwards Bat is now voiced by Keiichi Nanba, who previously voiced Shiva, Zion and Kim.

-Lin was previously voiced by Tomiko Suzuki. From this episode and onwards, Lin is now voiced by series newcomer Miina Tominaga.

-Shigeru Chiba, for the most part, does not provide the voice of the narrator in this episode, like he usually does. He only narrates the next episode preview segment. Banjō Ginga instead narrates the rest of it -he previously voiced the narrator in the first episode, and also voiced Toda and Souther. He also voices the captain in this episode.

-The next episode preview uses a piece of background music that has been used in scenes for previous episodes.

Errors

-When Zarji bursts through the ground, he is colored like Zorba.
-The North Star Army manage to run down a hill and somehow catch up with and block off a convoy consisting of a moving truck and several bikes.