This Hunter x Hunter fight against Meruem's Royal Guards was a suicide mission from the beginning (& that increased the stakes of it all)

The Chimera Ant Palace invasion stands as one of Hunter x Hunter's most emotionally devastating arcs, not just for its tragic outcomes, but for the cold mathematical reality underlying every strategic decision. In hindsight, what seemed to be a meticulously planned military operation was actually a suicide mission encased in tactical strategy.

Due to the enormous power differential between the human hunters and the Royal Guards, victory depended solely on chance, selflessness, and the unpredictability of Komugi's presence. This sobering research shows how, despite its audacity, Netero's proposal had serious faults that may have destroyed humanity's last hope.

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The illusion of tactical superiority in Hunter x Hunter

Meruem (Image via Madhouse, Kakao)

The individual matchups paint a grim picture of the hunters' actual chances. Morel's survival against Pouf was nothing short of miraculous. The Royal Guard could have eliminated him instantly, but chose restraint, possibly calculating that killing Morel might trap him within the Smoky Jail ability. This tactical hesitation saved Morel's life, but it was pure fortune, not strategic superiority.

Similarly, Youpi's encounters with Shoot and Knuckle demonstrated the ant's overwhelming power advantage. The Royal Guard actively chose mercy over massacre, allowing both hunters to survive encounters that should have been instantly fatal.

Gon's transformation against Pitou represents perhaps the most tragic element of this doomed mission. Even with Komugi's presence softening Pitou's resolve, Gon's victory came at the cost of his future, a Nen pact so severe it nearly killed him.

Without Komugi's humanizing influence on the Royal Guards, Pitou would have fought with full bloodlust from the beginning, making Gon's sacrifice potentially meaningless. The fact that the mission's success depended on an unknown variable like Komugi's relationship with Meruem reveals how desperate and uncertain the entire operation truly was.

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Netero's fatal gamble

Netero's strategic planning, while brilliant in execution, contained a critical flaw that speaks to the mission's suicidal nature. The separation plan relied on Zeno successfully isolating Meruem, followed by Netero's sacrificial victory through the Poor Man's Rose bomb. However, the plan's ultimate success, eliminating all Royal Guards through radiation poisoning, depended on unpredictable behavior.

There was no guarantee that all three Guards would investigate Meruem's corpse together. If only one Guard had arrived first and retrieved the body, the others might have survived, leaving humanity facing multiple surviving Royal Guards with knowledge of human treachery.

The fundamental strategic error becomes clear when considering alternatives. Luring all four Chimera Ants away from populated areas before detonating the bomb would have guaranteed total elimination while minimizing civilian casualties.

Instead, Netero's plan left too much to chance, reflecting either dangerous overconfidence or an acknowledgment that any plan against such overwhelming opponents required accepting massive risk.

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Final thoughts

Meruem and Komugi (Image via Madhouse)

The Palace invasion's legacy lies not in its tactical brilliance, but in its brutal honesty about desperate circumstances. Netero understood that conventional victory was impossible against the Royal Guards' power levels. A mix of sacrifice, good fortune, and the surprising humanism that showed itself in their adversaries allowed the operation to succeed.

Under the guise of military accuracy, this was humanity's final desperate bet, not a triumph of superior foresight. The true tragedy is that, despite its basic shortcomings, it was successful, taking lives that could have been prevented with a more thorough strategy to guarantee the complete eradication of the threat.

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