Episode 20

How Far Will God Test Us? is the 20th episode of the Gurren Lagann anime. It first aired on August 11th 2007.

Synopsis
With Simon locked in a nearby cell, Viral is amused that the hero of humanity’s liberation and the traitorous beastman would be equally imprisoned. Simon, however, is more concerned with how there’s only two weeks left until the moon crashes down onto the planet. Meanwhile, Rossiu is getting a report from Kinon and Gimbley about the progress of the evacuations and from Leeron about how the moon is slowly dropping. Leeron then requests to see Rossiu and claims to have something to say to him. Back at the prison, the various inmates are deriding and mocking Simon for what’s going on with the moon, and one beastman in particular attacks him in the locker room. This bird beastman has a grudge against Simon for defeating Cytomander, which led to him being stuck here and losing his wings, and he blames Simon for it. Simon manages to avoid the first few swings, but when the beastman trips him and is about to kill him, Viral steps in. After kicking the bird into the wall, Viral questions if the Simon who has lost the Gurren Lagann, his woman, and his comrades, and who he feels has been reduced to being just a naked monkey, can’t even defend himself.

After being challenged to fight, Simon tries to punch Viral, but Viral sidesteps and counters with his own lunge. Simon manages to jump over this, and a crowd soon gathers around as the bird tries to re-enter the fight. His claw punctures through Viral’s hand, but Viral kicks him into the wall again and instantly heals the wound. Explaining that he got an immortal life from Lord Genome, Viral starts fighting Simon again and has a real problem with Simon saying that he’s only doing what he has to do. It makes Viral question if doing nothing is what Simon has to do, and he compares Simon to Lord Genome. When the bird beastman tries to jump in once again, he gets caught in the middle of both Viral and Simon’s punches, but the two are soon broken up by the arrival of the guards.

Major events

 * The return of Yoko.