WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 10 of Dr. Stone, "A Flimsy Alliance."
The newly un-petrified mentalist, Gen Asagiri, caused quite a stir when he rocked up to Ishigami village in the last episode of Dr. Stone, having been quickly outed as a spy for Tsukasa sent to confirm whether or not Senku was really dead. Gen's loyalties proved fickle, however, when he admitted he was tempted to defect to Senku's Kingdom of Science. Why? Simply put, he misses the mod-cons of his original era. This motivated Senku to push the Stone World further towards modernization by re-inventing the lightbulb in a bid to prove to Gen that his was the right side to join -- not in an ethical sense but in a comfort sense.
Episode 10 finds Senku, Kohaku, Chrome and Suika debating whether or not it's a good idea to allow Gen to stay. Kohaku's damning assessment of the teenager as a "shallow bat of a man" -- a great turn of phrase from the series' best female character so far -- is dismissed by Senku, who points out that Gen is neither a good or bad man but his skills makes him a desirable one anyway. While this is happening, Gen, who is waiting outside of Chrome's hut, is attacked by a group of villagers led by a burly man called Magma, mistaking him for Senku -- the "sorcerer" he's heard so much about.
The group find Gen bleeding and badly beaten, though the source of what appears to be a fatal stab wound is revealed to be a fake bag of blood that the clever kid preemptively padded his body with. The source of Magma's anger is actually Kohaku, who, as they heal Gen, explains that she'd previously beaten the oafish man in a tournament called the Grand Bout in order to prevent him from winning her sister's hand in marriage, knowing his impure intentions. The time of the Grand Bout is coming around again, and Magma thought killing "Senku" would scupper his No.1 opponent's chances, thinking that she'd have "magic" on her side.
Kohaku can't compete a second time as she's -- for obvious reasons -- unable to claim the tournament's prize. Instead, she decides to train the village guards, Kinro and Ginro, to take on Magma, splitting Senku's team into the Battle Group and Science Group, both working for the benefit of Kohaku's sister, Ruri: one will work to save her from Magma while the other will continue working on a cure-all for her chronic illness.
As all this is happening, Gen sneaks away early one morning and rushes back to Tsukasa's camp. Senku, however, isn't as concerned as his alarmed friends, relaying to them a midnight chat he had with the wounded mentalist. It turns out that, true to his word, Gen really is a "superficial" man. The key to winning his heart isn't anything to do with a grand and noble cause or even where his greatest chance of survival lies. No, the only thing he wants is to be able to drink Cola in the Stone World -- something Senku promises he can make happen. In return, Gen delivers the false news to Tsukasa of Senku's permanent death.
That means the score currently stands at Kingdom of Science - 1; Tsukasa Empire - 0. And it's all thanks to soda.
New episodes of Dr. Stone air every Saturday night as part of Adult Swim's Toonami block, and are available on Crunchyroll.