WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1 of Dr. Stone, streaming now on Crunchyroll.
Dr. Stone returns for its second season without missing a beat. The premiere episode focuses on Senku’s last-minute preparations for the war against Tsukasa’s empire. While the episode reintroduces Senku and his high-level scientific knowledge, the real showstopping moment occurs in the middle of the episode when Gen approaches Senku with a game-changing strategy to win the war without any bloodshed.
The first half of the episode is dedicated to Senku instructing the Kingdom of Science yet again. This time he’s teaching them how to transform their favorite ramen meal into a freeze-dried meal that’s easy to carry. The scientific project goes extremely well. The kingdom clamors about how it will help them in battle and that prompts Ruri to wonder what “battle” will actually look like, stating that she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt or worse.
Senku reaffirms their victory condition. All that’s needed is to capture the cave where the revival fluid is and get it out of Tsukasa’s hands. He commits to avoiding bloodshed, noting the possibility of such an outcome relies on communicating with his friends, Taiju and Yuzuriha, who have already infiltrated Tsukasa’s empire. This seems way more difficult than it sounds. Senku wants to avoid any drastic measures to secure victory, but Tsukasa has already proved himself capable and willing to kill anyone in his way. An empire lead by and surrounding him and his ideology will be the same way.
Luckily for Senku, there's Gen Asagiri. The kids of the kingdom all gather around the record player to hear Lillian’s song again. As moving as it is, it also gives Gen an idea for an almost devilish plan. Later that night as everyone is sleeping, he pitches this scheme to Senku with Chrome overhearing and later joining the discussion.
War is more than just troops on the ground -- it’s about communication and information. Senku described this in the previous season when the kingdom developed the cellphones they’ll use to contact Taiju and Yuzuriha. Disinformation can also sway the tide, and Gen is prepared to deploy a "fake news" campaign within the Tsukasa empire. Gen suggests playing Lillian’s record over the cellphone. After appealing to their nostalgia, the mentalist hopes to follow up with an impression of Lillian delivering a message that everything is fine in America and help is on the way.
All three know this strategy is twisted and dishonest. They would be giving false hope to many people who have lost their entire livelihood. The mental and emotional ramifications could be dire. However, they also know it would help turn the tide against an empire willing to show brute force against their opposition. With this magnificent lie, Gen, Senku and Chrome hope that Tsukasa's army will turn on him and no one from the Kingdom of Science will be hurt in the process. Lillian’s music is so potent that the plan may work, but it could come at an extreme cost once Tsukasa’s army finds out the truth – which they surely will. If it backfires before they can secure the cave, it’ll only be more costly. It's not hard to envision the wrath that could destroy the Kingdom of Science. The three boys are the only ones who know of this plan, and that could have its own side effects.
At the end of the Season 2 premiere, the cellphone has been deployed. Chrome is the engineering specialist on the team. Senku and Gen stay at the kingdom to execute the rest of the strategy. Whether the plan is successful or not, the boys will eventually have to face the fury of many, but they all agree the risk is worth it. They’ll go to Hell to save seven billion lives.