Nier Automata Ver1.1a is the anime adaptation of the video game Nier Automata, which was both critically and commercially successful when it launched back in 2017. Fans of the game and newcomers alike should enjoy this show, which is a post–apocalyptic Sci–Fi action anime with existential themes.
Note: this article contains full spoilers for the first three episodes but not for the video game.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a (Season 1), Episodes 1, 2, 3 Recap:
Episode 1: Or not to [B]e
The opening episode begins with a voice-over where a woman laments over war and questions how long she will keep fighting while carrying the corpse of a boy. Here we are introduced to 2B, an android soldier, and the aforementioned woman, who is sent on a mission to take down an enemy machine. However, of her entire unit, she is the sole member to actually reach the mission site, as the rest of the unit is destroyed en route. She arrives at an abandoned factory where she fights through various types of machines, ranging from small to massive, which also serves as an introduction to her combat capabilities.
With the assistance of the newly arrived 9S, another android soldier specializing in scouting and hacking, the two defeat the final machine and split up to search the factory for their target. 9S is also the boy 2B was carrying in the opening montage, but no indication of that is made here as the androids are meeting for the first time. They find their enemy, a machine as tall as a skyscraper belonging to the Goliath – class. 9S uses his abilities to hack the Goliath. However, he is interrupted as the Goliath attacks him and severely damages him. This greatly angers 2B, who initially attempts to heal 9S but realizes its futility and manages to destroy the Goliath with some help from 9S’s hacking.
However, the android duo is then surrounded by three more Goliaths who emerge from the ocean, and they realize that they cannot defeat three of them whilst also realizing that they cannot retreat to safety. The two then summon their black boxes and self–destruct, creating a large explosion that takes out the abandoned factory, the three Goliaths, and themselves, but not before an emotional moment where 2B and 9S each say it was an honor to serve with the other.
After some time, 2B is revived in a new body in the Bunker, the android headquarters in outer space. Her memory data was backed up right before she was destroyed by the explosion by 9S, who did not have enough time to back up both their data and prioritized 2B’s. At the Bunker, she reunites with 9S but is saddened to find out he does not remember her, as all of his data since he met her has been deleted.
Episode 2: city e[S]cape
This episode is the one that provides us with the history of the world and, thus, the context we need. In the distant future – 5012, to be precise – Earth was invaded by aliens using machine life forms as weapons. Humanity was nearly wiped out, with the few survivors fleeing to the moon and creating android soldiers like those seen in the first episode. The Council of Humanity leads these forces and acts through the androids with the hope of one day reclaiming Earth from the aliens and returning there. 2B and 9S are a part of a new, elite military force called YoRHa which is based on the Bunker in space. The Council also stations the Resistance on Earth, though they are older androids and not YoRHa models like 2B and 9S.
Everything up until now in this episode is told as a message The Council of Humanity is broadcasting to YoRHa units all over. From this point on, the plot diverges from the video game and veers into the anime’s original territory. We switch perspectives to a single machine that slowly begins to display sentience, or a sense of self and intelligence, and eventually decides to abandon his mission of killing humans and androids altogether. He’s shown to be fascinated by old books humanity left behind and old TV recordings as well but is mostly taken in by flowers.
This machine is named PLAO8, and he does his best to grow flowers in the abandoned ruins of what was once a city populated by humans. PLAO8 protects them from the rain and wild animals, with three other smaller machines deciding to follow his pacifistic ways. They eventually create a beautiful garden, and it’s worth noting that this entire sequence has almost no dialogue, with Keiichi Okabe’s beautiful yet haunting “City Ruins” theme playing in the background.
The scene then changes to the Resistance, where a party of them led by the android Lily are picking up supplies. She turns off a message for the Resistance from The Council of Humanity, already knowing they want the Resistance to keep fighting despite offering them no support for centuries.
We then switch back to 2B and 9S in the Bunker, who receive their new mission from the Commander, which is to investigate why the liaison with the Resistance is no longer responding.
The three small machines are seen watering the garden when a horde of machines start marching towards them, and they feel fear. At the Resistance supply pick-up, two red-headed, silent androids are treated poorly before the same horde of machines attacks the Resistance androids. The Resistance abandons the resources and retreats under Lily’s command, and the three small machines are destroyed as they try to protect the flowers. PLAO8 discovers their corpses and follows the horde to prevent further damage to the flowers. Lily and the rest of the Resistance are outmatched and outnumbered and decide to blow up a bridge when the enemy machines cross it, planning to take them all down in that one blast.
PLAO8 is noted to be acting strange and different from the other machines by the Resistance, but he is unable to stop them from trampling his flowers. The bomb planted by the Resistance does not detonate, and just when the machines are about to cross, 2B and 9S appear in their flight gear and destroy the bridge along with the machines. PLAO8 is also killed as collateral damage, dying as he reaches out to a surviving flower. Lily seemingly recognizes 2B and points her gun at her before deciding to take both her and 9S to the Resistance Camp to talk further, as the Resistance mistakenly believes that the two YoRHa androids are reinforcements sent by The Council of Humanity.
Meanwhile, at an unknown underground location, more and more machines start reading the books left behind by humanity as something that looks like a cocoon is being built.
Episode 3: break ti[M]e
The third episode picks up with 2B and 9S following the Resistance members to the Resistance Camp, which is their headquarters. On the way, the two red-headed androids are revealed to be healing units not meant to fight or be present on the front lines like they were. The Resistance members claim that it is what they chose. Once at the camp, 2B and 9S meet with a weapons trader and a supplies trader before being called over by Lily, who apologizes for pointing her gun at them and introduces herself as the leader of the Resistance in the area.
Lily seems familiar with 2B, which is picked up on by both her and 9S, though Lily denies knowing her. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of an eccentric, scientist-like member of the Resistance named Jackass, to whom Lily introduces the YoRHa duo. She says The Council of Humanity has sent them in response to their request for aid.
This interaction is witnessed by the Commander at the Bunker through Pod, the floating robot support unit to the YoRHa androids, as each of 2B and 9S has one (2B’s has a male voice while 9S’s has a female voice). She notes that she did not send them to help the Resistance but to investigate the strange behavior in some machines which has been reported. She intends for the Resistance members to be used as decoys or sacrificial pawns, so their mission may succeed. When one of her subordinates expresses dismay, she justifies this cold–heartedness by stating that they serve humanity’s will.
Jackass comically begs 9S to allow her to examine him by tearing him apart, which he immediately refuses. She then gives Lily her report on strange machine behavior being sighted in the desert. It is decided that 2B and 9S will accompany Jackass to the desert to investigate further. En route, 9S states that 2B’s operator (mission handler) is far nicer than his own, who always treats him like a child; 2B, in turn, states that it is a result of his own immature attitude. The two then correct Jackass’s assumption that they are present to aid the Resistance and begin to tell her the truth of their mission.
They are interrupted by an enemy patrol, and the YoRHa divides their roles according to their specialties: 2B will engage with the enemies directly in combat, while 9S will hack into one particularly large machine. When he does so, he sees an ancient desert civilization in the midst of what appears to be a wedding or celebration that the machines were aiming to copy, and he then defeats the enemy.
Jackass figures out that they planned to use the Resistance as a sacrifice but opts to keep it from Lily and the other members as she believes that even they need hope. At this point, an enemy machine shows up but flees out of fear, a further example of their strange behavior. They follow it to a Housing Complex, with 9S commenting that he finds the idea of humans living so close together strange. They find that their signals are jammed and that they cannot contact the Bunker, and the jammer is someone in the Housing Complex buildings.
While exploring, they discover multiple android corpses, including the missing liaison and even a machine with hair. Soon after, 2B and 9S fall into an underground cavern, the same one seen at the end of the second episode. There, they see machines imitating different stages of human mating and relationships. The two are spotted, and all the machines in the cavern form into a cocoon–like shape, from which another machine emerges. However, this machine looks more like an android, and 9S realizes that he is evolving. 2B and 9S dispose of him swiftly, only to find that a second android has emerged from the rib of the first, and the cavern begins to collapse as the episode ends.
Nier: Automata Ver1.1a (Season 1), Episode 3 Ending, Explained:
The two machine androids escape from the underground cavern, leaving 2B and 9S behind as it collapses. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’ll die, but it will be interesting to see how the YoRHa duo escapes this particular predicament. As the machine androids presumably made it out, they will unquestionably return at some stage in future episodes.
Of particular note in the third episode is the brief vision that 9S had when he hacked into a machine; what he witnessed and why he witnessed that particular scene will no doubt be of great consequence moving forward. It will also be interesting to see whether he shares it with 2B, as he had a chance to do so but did not. Lily is also a character to keep an eye on, as she might have some history with 2B or at least an android who looks like her. The two redheaded androids are also interesting, as there seems to be some friction between them and the rest of the Resistance, and they go off on their own as soon as possible.
Episodes 2 and 3 also pose a simple yet philosophical question: what does it mean to be alive? 9S repeatedly says throughout all three episodes that the machines are saying random words and that they don’t mean anything. Still, these machines aren’t supposed to talk in the first place, let alone mimic human behavior. This raises the subsequent question of where the machines go from here.
Lastly, those puppet shows are added mainly for humor at the end of each episode. The video game has 26 – yes, 26 – different endings depending on how you play, and each puppet show showcases one ending. Not all of these endings are meant to be taken seriously, however. You can ignore them entirely if you so wish.
