Warning: Contains spoilers for Digimon Adventure 02: The BeginningDigimon Adventure 02: The Beginning has been released, and it changes the original series forever. The Beginning is the latest story to explore the time between MaloMyotismon’s defeat in Digimon Adventure 02 and the epilogue that took place 25 years later. This story, in particular, focuses on the first DigiDestined in the Adventure continuity, so it was all but guaranteed to have a major impact on Adventure’s lore.

Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning definitely impacted the Digimon Adventure series, and it did so in a way that will change it forever. With the exploration of the history of Lui and Ukkomon came a story that affected not only them, but all DigiDestined, and it does so in a way that completely changes how DigiDestined work in the original continuity.

However, the film also goes out of its way to not damage the lore of the franchise, and it ends in a way that makes it unlikely to be followed up on, but the big aspirations and impact of The Beginning make it a huge addition nonetheless.

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The big way in which Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning changes the original series is by revealing the real reason why DigiDestined exist in the Adventure continuity. Lui’s partner Digimon, Ukkomon, has the power to grant wishes through his connection to a mysterious entity, either Yggdrasil or Homeostasis, and when Lui wished for friends, Ukkomon said that he would make sure Lui could befriend humans and Digimon just like them. That means that rather than being something that occurs naturally, the entire concept of DigiDestined was created by Ukkomon and isn’t something that’s supposed to exist naturally in the Adventure continuity.

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The reveal in Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning that the entire concept of DigiDestined was something forced upon the world naturally comes with a dark twist on how Digimon tends to play out. Not only does that devalue the friendships between Digimon and DigiDestined by essentially having them be compelled to bond with one another, but the fighting they often find themselves engaged in becomes even worse because it’s now something that has to exist in their lives to satisfy Lui’s wish. The latter element, in particular, disgusts Lui when he finds out about it, and it all makes the basic premise of Digimon the darkest it’s ever been.

That being said, the film doesn’t try to let those dark elements stick. The main characters maintain that their friendships with their Digimon are genuine and not contingent on Ukkomon’s powers, and even when Ukkomon’s defeat causes everyone to lose their Digivices, it’s treated as meaning that they don’t need Digivices to be friends with Digimon and they decide to just go about their lives as they did before. Everything that Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning reveals about DigiDestined is undoubtedly big, but the characters don’t appear to be letting it affect their interpersonal relationships, and that’s the best way for the story to deal with something like this.