Here’s what happened in Hanzo’s new short story from the Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant collection.

Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant is out! This collection of short stories includes multiple points of view and eight tales in total. One of the featured stories is about Hanzo Shimada, who is a popular DPS hero in Overwatch 2. Read on for our recap of Hanzo's short story in Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant. Spoilers ahead!

Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant artwork (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant artwork (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant: Hanzo's short story spoilers

Hanzo's short story, called "Where Honor Lives," starts off with Hanzo traveling in Tokyo. He notes how the looming Null Sector invasion doesn't do the city any favors. Hanzo also recalls how Genji confronted him at the Shimada Castle two years ago. This confrontation is shown in the Dragons cinematic.

"Like a coward, Hanzo had run again," according to the Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant short story. "He had been running for so long, he didn’t know what else to do. He distracted himself with his work as a mercenary, ignoring the truth that weighed on him. And now there was no ignoring the impossible voice that had called him home."

A painting representing the Shimada and Hashimoto clans (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
A painting representing the Shimada and Hashimoto clans (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Hanzo recalls how the mysterious voice sounded like his father — Sojiro Shimada. The voice also noted Hanzo's return, how a tiger moved in, and how a dragon disguised himself to know his enemies better. In Overwatch 2, the tiger represents the Hashimoto clan and the dragon represents the Shimada clan.

Hanzo meets Kiriko in Overwatch 2 short story

The Hashimoto clan not only assassinated Sojiro, but Hanzo observes that they haven't been taking care of their people. Hanzo gets captured after confronting this behavior. During his captivity, he meets Toshiro Yamagami, who once served the Shimada clan and now must work with the Hashimoto clan in order to protect his family. His family members include his wife Asa and his daughter Kiriko.

Asa training Genji, Kiriko, and Hanzo when they were young (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Asa training Genji, Kiriko, and Hanzo when they were young (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Moments before Hanzo's execution, a glowing blue kitsune enters the room! A woman follows soon after, helping Hanzo duke it out against the Hashimoto clan and their omnic. Hanzo and the woman chase after their remaining foes. However, Null Sector starts to invade the city. The two heroes decide to protect others instead of going after the Hashimoto convoy.

Hanzo, Kiriko, Genji, and the future

Hanzo then finds out that his new ally is Kiriko. He recalls how she tagged along with him and Genji in the past. When Kiriko asks him if he thinks Overwatch will arrive to help with Null Sector's invasion, Hanzo remembers that Genji is back with Overwatch in Paris. He also wonders if Kiriko knows about their fight.

Additionally, after thanking her and chatting about the whereabouts of Kiriko's father, Hanzo accepts Kiriko's offer to help her protect Kanezaka.

Kiriko is the Guardian of Kanezaka (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Kiriko is the Guardian of Kanezaka (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

"Her family had served his for centuries. Now he would serve them and the people," Hanzo's short story read.

That's all for now. If you wish to read Hanzo's short story yourself, then you can do so by getting it through Amazon.

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