'My Hero Academia': What is the Maiden?

My Hero Academia has brought the climactic battle between All Might and All For One to its stunning conclusion in the latest episode, and with it, also introduced a brand new element to the series.

As All For One is taken away, fans see the "Maiden," a mysterious box he's being put into. But what is the Maiden?

At the end of Episode 49, All Might stands victorious over All For One after the intense battle. His final act as the symbol of peace in this world was seeing this fight through to the end, but thee true end doesn't come until much after the fight. A reporter at the scene details what's happening as the heroes begin their recovery of any victims caught in the crossfire.

When she brings up the villains' ringleader, she notes that the heroes are placing All For One in the "Maiden." This is an "iron maiden" like contraption that's meant to supress All For One's quirks as they transfer him to the prison. But what kind of prison can hold a villain like All For One?

The iron maiden here is an example of what's to come for the villain. In order to fully suppress his powers and punish him for being a villain so evil that the death penalty isn't enough, All For One is heading to a very special prison that will keep him in the same type of restraints seen here.

This "Maiden" is one of the ways in which the heroes can capture the powerful villains as the series has demonstrated many times before that each villain can be deadly in their own way without these types of precautions.

For those unfamiliar with the My Hero Academia juggernaut, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he's eventually scouted by the world's best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.

My Hero Academia's first movie, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, is scheduled to open August 3 in Japan, but will hold a special World Premiere at Anime Expo 2018. The film is expecting to hits U.S. theaters this Fall. The film will cover a story not seen in the original manga with series creator Horikoshi noting that, "Of course the movie will be filled with Class A's great efforts, that character's past that hasn't been in the manga yet, flashy action scenes, and much more." The film also previously revealed its first key visual depicting a character fans have never seen before, and a trailer revealing an All Might in his prime.