Demon Slayer Episode 11 Ending Explained: How was Hantengu defeated? What is Muzan’s goal? How much progress has Lady Tamayo made in her research?

The highly anticipated final episode of Demon Slayer Season 3 has arrived, bringing the current arc to a thrilling conclusion.

Fans of the series have been eagerly awaiting this climactic instalment, as it promises to deliver intense action, emotional moments, and significant developments in the overarching storyline.

In this review, we delve into the exciting world of Demon Slayer Season 3 Episode 11, exploring its impact, storytelling, and the anticipation it builds for future episodes. 

The final episode of the Swordsmith Village arc was 50 minutes long. This episode marked the defeat of the upper moon 4 Hantengu and makes a lot of revelations for the future arcs.

Demon Slayer Episode 11 Ending Explained: How was Hantengu defeated?

The name of Demon Slayer’s Season 3 Episode 11 was “A Connected Bond: Daybreak and First Light!”

The episode starts with Nezuko pursuing Hantengu and attacking him with all her might, while Hantengu barely dodges her attacks and runs very fast.

Tanjiro is determined to defeat Hantengu before daybreak and before Mitsuri loses her strength while fighting Zohakuten.

Unable to catch up with Hantengu’s speed Tanjiro remembers how his friend Zenitsu Agatsuma told him the secret behind his tremendous speed while using Thunderclap.

Tanjiro then strengthens his legs with the circulation of air and launches himself towards Hantengu with ultimate speed.

Tanjiro then uses his Sun Breathing and tries to cut off Hantengu’s head, but Hantengu instantly increases the size of his body and grabs Tanjiro’s head.

Hantengu tries to smash Tanjiro’s head, but Genya tries to stop him and tells him that he is full of crap.

Hantengu then releases a sonic blast from his mouth that hits Tanjiro and Genya.

Then Nezuko instantly uses her Blood Demon Art to burn Hantengu’s body; meanwhile, due to the impact of Nezuko’s attack, Genya successfully releases Tanjiro from the grasp of Hantengu.

Hantengu starts burning, although Genya also catches fire since after eating demon flesh, he also becomes a demon.

Tanjiro is still trying to chop off Hantengu’s head, but Hantengu starts dragging Tanjiro with him. Both start falling off into a valley, and Nezuko follows them. 

We then see that Hantengu’s both hands are missing, and Hantengu finds out that his regeneration is getting slower.

He needs to consume human flesh to regain his strength.

Tanjiro’s sword is still stuck to his half-cut neck.

Hantengu can sense humans nearby. Tanjiro, struck by a branch, gives Hantengu a deathly stare and tells Hantengu that he won’t let him escape.

Tanjiro tells Hantengu that he will chase him down even if he flees to the depths of hell, and he’ll cut Hantengu’s head off.

Hantengu is a bit scared by Tanjiro’s warning and concludes that he can kill Tanjiro in a flash if he finds some human flesh.

Hantengu finally finds some swordsmiths who are hiding there and starts chasing them.

Those swordsmiths start to run after seeing Hantengu with Hantengu pursuing them relentlessly.

Tanjiro finally gets free from the branch holding him and tries to get up and chase Hantengu.

He then hears someone calling him.

Suddenly the sword that Hotaru Haganezuka was polishing for Tanjiro appears before him.

We then see Muichiro Tokito, who tells him to use that sword.

Although Hotaru tells Tanjiro not to use the sword as he only honed it up to the first stage.

Tanjiro thanks Tokito and gets ready to use the sword.

Tokito then faints due to the poison within him.

While fainting, Tokito tells Tanjiro to take that sword as everyone’s hopes are in that sword.

Tanjiro takes a stance with Total Concentration and once again launches towards Hantengu with his Sun Breathing. He dashes off at Hantengu and again tries to cut off his head.

This time, Tanjiro successfully cuts off Hantengu’s head using the attack “Dancing Flash!”.

We see Tanjiro smiling in celebration as he thinks he cut off the head of the main body.

But suddenly, the sun starts rising, and he realises that his sister Nezuko is in danger as she is a demon.

He suddenly starts to run towards Nezuko as they are in an open space with such a shady area, but due to excessive injuries, he cannot talk.

Suddenly Nezuko starts running towards Tanjiro. Tanjiro tries to tell Nezuko that if sunlight hits Nezuko, she will die and tells him to run.

But Nezuko points out to Tanjiro to look back. Tanjiro then sees that Hantengu is still moving, even with his head cut off and is chasing the human swordsmiths.

Tanjio then notices that the word on Hantengu’s tongue is “Resentment” and not “Fear”. He then finally discovers that when Hantengu increased his size, he made another clone named Urami.

Tanjiro starts to run towards Urami to finish him off, but suddenly, the sun comes up, and the sunlight covers the whole field. Due to this, Nezuko starts burning.

Tanjiro hugs her to save her from the sunlight and tells her to shrink herself. Nezuko shrinks herself, but she gets burned a lot.

Tanjiro then sees that Urami is still chasing those human wordsmiths, and nobody else but him can reach him before he devours those swordsmiths.

Tanjiro faces the biggest dilemma of his life. If he runs towards Urmi, his sister will burn to death, and those innocent swordsmiths will die if he doesn’t.

Tanjiro then thinks that Urmi should be burning too, but even then, Urmi can kill the villagers before that.

He is unable to decide what to do and starts crying in pain.

Nezuko, seeing his brother’s dilemma, kicks him off her into the air.

As Tanjiro is in the air, he sees Nezuko showing him her fist, telling him to save those swordsmiths.

Knowing that there is no way to save his sister now, he reminisces about his adventures with Nezuko and how they faced countless demons and made friends along the way.

Tears roll down Tanjiro’s eyes as he lands on the ground. He then focuses on Urmi and tries to sniff out his main body, Hantengu.

As he runs towards Urmi, he concludes that the scent would have told him if the main body had gone off somewhere far away so fast.

He then starts searching for Hantengu with his heightened smelling senses and finds out that Hantengu is hiding inside Urmi’s heart.

As Urmi grabs the heads of those swordsmiths, Tanjiro suddenly leaps upon Urmi and starts cutting him.

Finally, Hantengu is out of Urmi’s body, and as Tanjiro is about to slash Hantengu, he starts seeing glimpses of his life as a human.

We see how Hantengu committed many crimes and always blamed his hands for them.

When he is about to be executed, we see Muzan helping him and turning him into a demon.

Back to the present, we see Tanjiro finally cutting off the head of the main body, and with that, all the clones of Hantengu disappear. 

What is Muzan’s goal?

Tanjiro then starts mourning his sister’s death as the swordsmiths thank him for saving their lives. But then one of the swordsmiths points out to Tanjiro that his sister is still alive and walking freely in the sun.

We finally see Nezuko speak again; her first words were, “Good Morning”.

Tanjiro is very happy to see his sister alive and well.

We then see Mitsuri, who is fighting Hantengu’s clone Zohakuten. As she is about to be killed by Zohakuten, Zohakuten disappears as Tanjiro cuts off the head of his main body at that moment. 

We finally see Muzan, who is surprised and shocked that finally, a demon can withstand the sunlight and praises Hantengu.

As he kills his adoptive mother and the maid of the house, he concludes that he must also devour Nezuko to withstand sunlight.

We then see Muzan’s past and how killing the doctor to cure him led to his eternal misery.

Because of the doctor’s medication, he was able to transform into a demon, but since the treatment was incomplete, he would die if he walked under the sunlight.

There were only two ways for Muzan to overcome this problem. One was to find the Blue Spider Lily, which he could not find for thousands of years.

Another way to make a demon who could overcome sunlight. Muzan is determined to devour Nezuko and become the perfect being. 

How much progress has Lady Tamayo made in her research?

In the present, we see everyone reunite in the Swordsmith Village and celebrate their victory over two upper moons.

Mitsuri is shocked that Nezuko can walk under the sun, but Tanjiro tells Mitsuri that Nezuko is still a demon, and he does not understand this himself.  We then see Lady Tamayo writing a letter to Tanjiro about her research progress.

She tells Tanjiro that due to him delivering the blood of Nezuko and other powerful demons, she can help the man that was turned into a demon by Muzan in Asakusa.

She writes that Nezuko’s blood surprised her and that soon, she will be able to conquer the sun. 

We then see Tanjiro who is in a cart having a word with Lord Tecchin, the chief of the Swordsmith Village. They both show their gratitude towards each other.

We also see Hotaru, who finally shows his soft side and promises to deliver the sword to Tanjiro when it is done.

After that, we see our hero leaving the Swordsmith Village and all the residents of that village coming together and thanking Tanjiro for saving their lives and cheering for him. 

The Season 3 of Demon Slayer came to a wholesome ending. But we also got to know Muzan’s true goal in the series and how far he will go to achieve it.

Muzan’s next target is Nezuko which puts the brother-sister duo directly in the crosshairs of the Powerful Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji. 

As we fans wait eagerly for the next season of the Demon Slayer, we can be assured that it will be filled with epic battles and emotions.