Black Clover's Return Teases The Incredible Rematch Fans Have Waited For

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Black Clover chapter #371!!

Summary Mereoleona's new powers and flashback set the stage for a potential epic rematch with a brainwashed Paladin Acier Silva, resurrected by Lucius Zogratis.

Mereoleona's memory highlights her growth by embracing weaker mages, adding depth to her relationship with Acier and intensifying the potential rematch.

Black Clover skillfully uses magic as a metaphor to enhance the significance of character relationships and build anticipation for intense showdowns.

The latest two chapters of Black Clover to drop since December are full of action with incredible new powers and jaw-dropping fights, but the real news comes from how much these developments embellish and further hype a possible rematch between Mereoleona Vermillion and Noelle's mother Acier Silva who the villain Lucius Zogratis recently resurrected from the dead as a brainwashed Paladin. Chapters #370 and #371 are the second installment of Black Clover ever since the series' managaka Yuki Tabata moved his series from Weekly Shonen Jump to its sister publication, the seasonal Jump GIGA.

Ever since Acier became a Paladin, fans have been hoping that she would face Mereoleona because of their shared history, and Mereoleona's new flashback and upgraded powers that Mereoleona uses against the Paladin Morris in chapter #371 would only make their rematch all the more exciting and meaningful should it take place.

First, Mereoleona looks back and remembers her early years when no one could stand up to her, which effectively killed her motivation and eventually caused Mereoleona to isolate herself by espousing the depressing outlook that it would be better if she got stronger on her own. This memory then leads to Mereoleona resurrecting the fallen members of her brigade in a fiery aura through Ultimate Flame Magic: Excelicitus Leonum.

Black Clover Uses Magic as a Powerful Metaphor to Deepen Mereoleona's Relationship with Acier

Created by Yuki Tabata

On its own, this memory pleasantly amplifies her new powers, since she is able to find strengths and only triumphs by embracing weaker mages when she had initially rejected all others to get stronger. This image is much more poignant when taking into account how these mages were her subordinates who rallied around her when others wouldn't attempt to team up with her and especially since they are deceased.

However, all of this more effectively builds upon Mereoleona's relationship with Acier, which, in turn, further deepens what would be an incredible rematch. What had initially defined their friendship was the fact that Acier had always beaten Mereoleona in sparring matches, even though Acier's Steel magic was naturally weak against Mereoleona's flames.

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This new flashback now better explains why Mereoleona got so close to Acier because Acier could win against her. With this new insight, Mereoleona using her newfound power to defeat Acier would create an incredible image, since it would underscore how Mereoleona could only defeat someone who was naturally predisposed to lose against her if she received help from her fallen comrades when the rejection of others caused her to seek power alone.

This isn't the first time that Black Clover has masterfully used a combination of magic to further amplify the results of a rematch. In chapter #369, Magna and Luck infuse a version of a combo attack that had initially been unsuccessful in chapter #64 with Asta's Anti-Magic called Black Flame Black Lightning: Exploding Cannon to win in the present day. This served as a strong metaphor for how Asta has had a positive effect on the Black Bulls, much like how Black Clover is now using magic to serve as a compelling metaphor for Mereoleona's life and, of course, to further hype her possible rematch against Acier.

Black Clover (2017)