Foreshadowing is a narrative device
No, but seriously, I'm sure I've seen his episode at LEAST one other time since the original airing, but it still really caught me by surprise just how much episode 7 is calling ahead to future events. Gosh, remember when Digimon shows could actually feel like they were put together according to some sort of PLAN and had actively built toward something instead of just made up as it went along? ...actually, I really shouldn't be throwing shade like that about the series that aired immediately after 02.