Anthy sealed Dios away by offering to take all of the pain that Dios was receiving from the world... "The Rose Bride takes the swords in place of the prince"... Dios became corrupted by no longer having any of the pain of being the world's prince, and instead he became "End of the World". He says he's no longer the prince that Anthy cared about, and yet, Anthy continues to take all the world's punishment in place of him... Since Anthy is continuing to suffer as a witch for Akio's sake, even though Akio no longer qualifies as her prince.. He feels that Anthy must enjoy being this way... that Anthy is letting him use her out of her own free will. So in that case, what is it that Akio could want?
Even though Anthy is the one who sealed away Dios and the power to revolutionize the world, it's clear that Akio and Anthy can not access this power on their own... They need a duelist who has reached duel of revolution. I theorized before that this restriction was Akio's or Anthy's doing.. maybe it's due to Anthy's subconcious effect on Dios's power, or maybe the "good" side of Dios placed this restriction on his power so that only a good and noble prince can use it... But anyway Akio and Anthy are able to show people a glimpse of eternity and manipulate them into dueling to make the Rose Gate appear. This is what Akio did with Utena when she was little.. he showed her "eternity", and that lead her to becoming a duelist.
Later in the series, Utena can no longer draw out the sword of Dios from Anthy, for reasons that are never explained... I think it's because Akio didn't want Utena to be the one to open the Rose Gate. He wanted to do it himself, using Utena's sword. He must have already tried and failed to open the Rose Gate using the sword of Dios, so he figured he needed another prince's sword. From then on, Anthy draws out the sword from Utena in all of her duels. In the final duel, it's Akio who draws out the sword from Utena, and doing this turns Utena into a princess... I guess that Akio taking Utena's sword boosted his own princely image, and made Utena take on the form of a princess (it doesn't need to have more meaning than that really)... At this part I couldn't help thinking, "oh I get it, he's trying to make Utena into the new sacrifice, so Anthy doesn't have to sacrifice herself anymore"... Well, that could be it, we have no way of knowing... but anyway Utena gets her sword back and returns to her prince clothes. I imagine if she didn't do this and just remained a princess, Akio would've skipped dueling her and just go straight for attempting to open the Rose Gate... Akio then draws out the sword of Dios from Anthy in order to duel her, then after Anthy backstabs her, he takes Utena's sword to try and open the Rose Gate with it, since he already knows he can't do it with Anthy's sword...
I think the Rose Gate works in a similar way to how the Rose Bride takes on whatever personality and feelings that the winning duelist wants her to have... If Akio opens the Rose Gate, he'll find whatever it is that he is after in there. Maybe he does want his good side back so he can become Dios again, like another user said... but I suspect that Akio wouldn't have been able to open it no matter what he tried, if it's true that the restriction on Dios's power requires that only a good and noble prince can use it... When Utena goes to try and open the Rose Gate, it changes from a gate into a coffin, and inside that coffin is Anthy. Not the emotionless Anthy who can only serve as the Rose Bride, but the real Anthy who actually wants to be saved, the one Utena saw when she was little... The Rose Gate grants the one who opens it the power to revolutionize the world. For Utena, this becomes the power to save the real Anthy from sacrificing herself. She didn't even need a sword to start opening it, she just used her hands... I guess that Akio was wrong in thinking he needed a prince's sword to open the gate. In fact only a prince's heart was required...
I don't really know what happens when Anthy falls and Utena disappears... but it's easy to make the assumption that since Akio's influence on Anthy is now gone, she's not really trapped in her coffin anymore. She might still have her eternal suffering as the witch of Dios, or maybe Anthy managed to escape from that as well? Anyway, I doubt that Akio would be able to make the Rose Gate appear again without Anthy's help.. and because of Anthy no longer wanting to help Akio recreate another duel cycle, the student council members are no longer being manipulated into fighting in the tournament, and the school is now free of Akio's control, and everyone will just go on to live normal lives. So in that sense, even though Utena failed to take Anthy from the coffin, she still caused a "revolution" to happen...
Even though Anthy is the one who sealed away Dios and the power to revolutionize the world, it's clear that Akio and Anthy can not access this power on their own... They need a duelist who has reached duel of revolution. I theorized before that this restriction was Akio's or Anthy's doing.. maybe it's due to Anthy's subconcious effect on Dios's power, or maybe the "good" side of Dios placed this restriction on his power so that only a good and noble prince can use it... But anyway Akio and Anthy are able to show people a glimpse of eternity and manipulate them into dueling to make the Rose Gate appear. This is what Akio did with Utena when she was little.. he showed her "eternity", and that lead her to becoming a duelist.
Later in the series, Utena can no longer draw out the sword of Dios from Anthy, for reasons that are never explained... I think it's because Akio didn't want Utena to be the one to open the Rose Gate. He wanted to do it himself, using Utena's sword. He must have already tried and failed to open the Rose Gate using the sword of Dios, so he figured he needed another prince's sword. From then on, Anthy draws out the sword from Utena in all of her duels. In the final duel, it's Akio who draws out the sword from Utena, and doing this turns Utena into a princess... I guess that Akio taking Utena's sword boosted his own princely image, and made Utena take on the form of a princess (it doesn't need to have more meaning than that really)... At this part I couldn't help thinking, "oh I get it, he's trying to make Utena into the new sacrifice, so Anthy doesn't have to sacrifice herself anymore"... Well, that could be it, we have no way of knowing... but anyway Utena gets her sword back and returns to her prince clothes. I imagine if she didn't do this and just remained a princess, Akio would've skipped dueling her and just go straight for attempting to open the Rose Gate... Akio then draws out the sword of Dios from Anthy in order to duel her, then after Anthy backstabs her, he takes Utena's sword to try and open the Rose Gate with it, since he already knows he can't do it with Anthy's sword...
I think the Rose Gate works in a similar way to how the Rose Bride takes on whatever personality and feelings that the winning duelist wants her to have... If Akio opens the Rose Gate, he'll find whatever it is that he is after in there. Maybe he does want his good side back so he can become Dios again, like another user said... but I suspect that Akio wouldn't have been able to open it no matter what he tried, if it's true that the restriction on Dios's power requires that only a good and noble prince can use it... When Utena goes to try and open the Rose Gate, it changes from a gate into a coffin, and inside that coffin is Anthy. Not the emotionless Anthy who can only serve as the Rose Bride, but the real Anthy who actually wants to be saved, the one Utena saw when she was little... The Rose Gate grants the one who opens it the power to revolutionize the world. For Utena, this becomes the power to save the real Anthy from sacrificing herself. She didn't even need a sword to start opening it, she just used her hands... I guess that Akio was wrong in thinking he needed a prince's sword to open the gate. In fact only a prince's heart was required...
I don't really know what happens when Anthy falls and Utena disappears... but it's easy to make the assumption that since Akio's influence on Anthy is now gone, she's not really trapped in her coffin anymore. She might still have her eternal suffering as the witch of Dios, or maybe Anthy managed to escape from that as well? Anyway, I doubt that Akio would be able to make the Rose Gate appear again without Anthy's help.. and because of Anthy no longer wanting to help Akio recreate another duel cycle, the student council members are no longer being manipulated into fighting in the tournament, and the school is now free of Akio's control, and everyone will just go on to live normal lives. So in that sense, even though Utena failed to take Anthy from the coffin, she still caused a "revolution" to happen...
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