Episode 18

Episode 18 is the sixth episode of season 2 of The Promised Neverland anime. It aired on February 19, 2021.

Synopsis
The trio were together again. Norman told the truth about the demons and he said he would get rid of them. Emma doesn't want to kill demons and Emma and Ray go to the place where Norman is to talk to him.

Plot
Still reeling in shock, Emma doubts Norman's existence in front of her, but he assures her that it's really him. It turns out that instead of being sacrificed, he was sent to a different farm, and notices Emma's mutilated ear wound. He sees Ray is with her, and the latter slaps him before embracing him in tears. Back at the ruins, Don, Gilda, and the others are all shocked at seeing Norman in front of them, but the little tots embrace him, with him remarking at their growth. After catching up with everything that has happened since he was away, the group wanted to know his whereabouts during all this time. Although hesitant, he explains that he was taken to a lab called Lambda instead of just being sacrificed. He witnessed children being drugged, experimented, and mutated on, himself being tested a few times. He was able to escape with a supporter of Minerva's help (though he died in the explosion). Some time later, he was able to develop a drug that degenerates demons and return them to a primal state.

Recalling Emma's goal, he began mass-production of the drug to make them primal and exterminate the demons altogether, and build a human world for themselves so they wouldn't live in fear anymore. Most everyone supports his plan, but Emma is starting to feel unsure. In a private, self-loathing rant, Emma confesses she doesn't want to kill demons, as it would make them no better than the demons in the first place. She seeks a pacifist route, though accepts that it will never happen. Ray overhears some of it, and berates Emma for keeping whatever she was ranting about to herself, and not speaking it out to Norman when he was here. He advises her to just do what she does best, which gets Emma thinking about Sonju and Mujika's situations. In the forest, Ray looks for the hideout that Norman gave him and Emma directions to in 2 pieces of paper. Once there, they are greeted by Ciclo, Barbara, and Vincent, Norman's adult co-conspirators, and inform him that Norman is out and will be back soon. Astounded by how Norman acted differently to the group, they ask how he was like, and compare it to his cold, calculating, ruthless, and emperor-like persona they know about him, and tell stories about his exploits and daring deeds, such as causing Lambda to explode and rescuing countless children from numerous farms, and the demons they murdered, shocking Emma, to the point of being nauseous after seeing Barbara eat a piece of demon meat. The trio continue on with how they witnessed countless horrors at Lambda involving the children, provoking Barbara to the point of threatening Emma harm if she tried to convince Norman of changing the plan before being called off by Cicero, who explains that all 3 of them feel this way, and compare themselves to the two, as they also have family they need to rescue in their farms before it's too late. Norman arrives, and beckons the latter two outside before addressing his friends. As he introduces the drug, Ray reveals that some demons will not degenerate with the drug, and Norman curiously questions them and writhes in anger after hearing that the demons the group encountered are still alive.

Research elements

 * Norman theorizes that they originally resembled bacteria, and began to eat and take on the traits of animals and eventually humans.
 * The reason why Norman is alive because he was sent in Lambda and he was not eaten by the Demons.
 * Barbara, Cislo, Vincent and Zazie makes their debut. They are Norman's group that came from Lambda.

Trivia

 * The opening of this episode changed. The additional characters in the opening are Norman, Barbara, Cislo, Vincent and Zazie.
 * The episode was supposed to aired in Feb 12, 2020 but due to Japan's holiday it moved on Feb 19, 2020.