Lazarus episode 12: Axel's fate is revealed, as Elaina finds Skinner's location

Lazarus episode 12, titled Close to the edge, released on June 22, 2025, mostly focused on Axel's survival and Skinner being finally located by Elaina with the help of Lin and her access to Skinner's artificial heart.

It also featured Abel visiting INSCOM with the President's help to save Hersch, but he is met with a confrontation with the second lieutenant Schneider. The episode also focused on a brief identity reveal about Soryu and Elaina, and Doug escaping Pakistan.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Lazarus episode 12.

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Lazarus episode 12: Axel survives the attack, and Soryu's identity is briefly revealed

Still from the anime (Image via MAPPA)

As a follow-up from the previous episode, after being brutally pierced with a spear from Soryu, Axel wakes up in a hospital and sees Christine, who helped him. After waking up, Axel tries to get up from the bed to secure the witness, the original task he was assigned before Soryu attacked him. However, Christine reveals the witness had already died.

As Axel and Christine were talking, he revealed the "Hundan" discussion Axel and Soryu had during the fight. After talking for a while, Christine is called to the HQ to identify a suspect who could be Soryu. After coming back to the HQ, Christine identifies Soryu and reveals the "Hundan" discussion during Axel and Soryu's fight.

During the identification, it is revealed that Soryu suffers from dissociative identity disorder; hence, they had so many issues tracking him down. As Christine mentioned about the "Hundan" reference, it was made clear that it had something to do with The Hundan Program, and Soryu was somehow connected to it.

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Lazarus episode 12: Elaina finally locates Skinner, and she and Doug escape from Pakistan

Still from the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Elaina finally wakes up and is greeted by the Popcorn Wizard, who reveals her name as Lin. She then reveals that Skinner saved Lin and her people by buying their island. Lin further reveals that they were affected by a disease known as Analgesia, a condition where a person cannot feel pain, which was also the main concept behind Skinner's Hapna drug.

After revealing why Lin worked with Skinner, she helped Elaina locate Skinner using his artificial heart. It was revealed that Skinner was situated in Babylonia City, a place very close to the Lazarus HQ.

After sharing this information with Christine and the others, with the help of Lin, Elaina rescues Doug from the INSCOM entrapment.

After saving Doug, all three of them head to the Hypercube Station in Pakistan. As Elaina bades Lin goodbye and promises to take care of Skinner, she and Doug board the Hypercube to make their escape from Pakistan.

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Lazarus episode 12: Abel's conflict against Schneider

Still from the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Meanwhile, Abel meets the president in order to secure permission for saving Hersche and getting rid of INSCOM tailing Elaina and Doug in Pakistan. After getting the permission, Able calls Hayes to relay the permission.

However, Schneider shoots Hayes and kills him, followed by disconnecting the call.

As Abel enters the building, he is met by Schneider and several army soldiers with guns pointing towards him. As Abel tried to convey the message to Schneider, the latter refused and instigated a confrontation between them.

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Final thoughts

Still from Lazarus episode 12 (Image via MAPPA)

Lazarus episode 12 was all about Axel's survival and the crew closing in on Skinner's location. Furthermore, it also acted as a beginning point of conflict between Lazarus and the army.

With only one day remaining, the upcoming episode will likely be the finale for the season. It should wrap up all the ongoing sequences in the series, with the main highlight mostly being Skinner getting found.

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