Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo
That's definitely one of the big questions that comes out of this episode, but the kids are 14, not 16.
|
I don't think it's a big question?
Satoru's grandma explained it in the previous episode. Society basically doesn't recognize children as humans until they're 17, so they can be freely disposed of if need be. They keep training, testing and observing them, culling those who show potential symptoms of anything dangerous. I guess the leaders thought a period of 17 years is enough time for observation (especially since it includes the most problematic years) so if a child passes 17 without displaying any dangerous tendencies they're probably OK. Saki & Co. are 14 now, they still have 3 years to go.
Mamoru was marked for elimination because his overall instability reached a breaking point, or so they think, anyway. When he thought he was being stalked by a cat he panicked, and the panic triggered a destructive attack pretty much subconsciously. OK so it turned out he was really being stalked by a cat, but what if it was just a sudden bout of paranoia brought on by his previous experiences? What if he had hurt someone? The fact that his power activated on its own is bad enough.