Re:Zero ~Starting Life in Another World~ Re:Watch – Episode 38

**Re:Watcher**

Return by Death. The power to rewind time when you die. It’s so simple and yet so profound because its effectiveness is solely determined by the user’s capacity to endure the pain and terror that accompanies death. And this means that overusing the ability can very quickly lead someone down a path that they will never end up leaving. After losing Rem, Subaru started to feel like the only value he has to offer those he loves is RBD, and his promise to become Rem’s hero has transmuted into a twisted determination to shoulder all of the pain and despair on his own. If he’d done so earlier, then even someone as useless as him could have prevented Rem from being lost to Gluttony. What else should he do? It was a mistake to ever rely on others, because their suffering is much more important than his own.

But such logic is fundamentally flawed. Subaru thinks that his pain would only be his to bear, but it’s not. Even as time continues to be reset, the suffering that he endures is also felt by those who care about him in every subsequent loop. He might be trying to take on the burdens of his companions, but the way he’s doing it disregards them in the process and ultimately ends up being more selfish than anything. Minerva is right: that sort of thinking is completely inhuman. The second Trial made him think that he has sinned beyond redemption for making so many mistakes up to this point, but there’s a far more important lesson he should gain from it: people would be sad if he were to die. If he values life, if he values the feelings of others… then he should also value his own life, his own feelings.

I think that it’s all too easy for people to feel like they don’t deserve to love themselves because of their incompetence or weakness. The world demands so much from all of us that it can be hard to feel like we can measure up in any way, and there have definitely been times when I felt like I had nothing of worth other than my ability to provide for others. Which is why it is vital for each of us to be reminded every so often that there are people who love us and value us for simply being who we are. If you’ve had some trouble remembering that, then I hope that this was able to remind you.

Crucially, each of the Witches supports Subaru in his struggle to understand this fact. Even forces as incomprehensible as they are understand that his life has inherent value, and while they may disagree on what approach is best for him, all of them recognize that he deserves to have a future as much as anyone else. Even Echidna, who ostensibly wanted to co-opt his future for her own gain, is fascinated by what he might be able to achieve without her. And Satella knows most of all how much he deserves to be happy; she isn’t a devil at all, but a guardian angel who gave him RBD so that he could live, not so that he could die. She tells him tearfully to take care of himself and to eventually come to kill her. But Subaru, having learned how much she cares about him, responds that he plans to save her, as she has saved him.

Subaru receives an immediate reminder of how much people care about him when he wakes up to Patrasche and Otto. There’s no denying it now. And while he goes immediately to Roswaal to ask of an alternative to freeing the Sanctuary that would not require Emilia to suffer, he also maintains his desire to not suffer in her stead. Seeing this gets Roswaal to reveal the full truth behind the circumstances that Subaru is facing: Roswaal was the one who orchestrated all of it, from the crisis in the Sanctuary to the attack at the mansion. Contrary to Subaru, who has learned just how important it is to maintain one’s humanity, Roswaal abandoned his own long ago, and he refuses to budge after Subaru asks him to call off his plan. Subaru flees in a panic, trying desperately to figure out a way to save everybody, including himself. The walls are closing in fast, and he can’t think of anything on his own.

But he’s not on his own. And Otto hits him with the suggestion that everyone’s been trying to tell him this entire time: why not ask for help?

—

[**Re:ZERO After-Talk #38**](https://youtu.be/pHQE8BmWN4o)

**VAs:** Yuusuke Kobayashi (Subaru) and Kouhei Amasaki (Otto)

Now that the first cour of Season 2 has ended, these two spend the bulk of the After-Talk speculating what will happen in the second cour. Kouhei seems surprised by how large of a role Otto ended up having this season, from Otto’s Diary to being the one to deliver the final line of the first cour. Apparently, the director felt that Otto was the main character of the first half of Season 2.

**Highlight:** Kouhei mentioning that he spent four years practicing the ground-dragon cry that he makes in this episode to Patrasche, with Yuusuke saying that he found imitating Petelgeuse’s voice to be incredibly hard and wondering what kind of show Re:ZERO must be to demand so much from its voice actors

—

**Fan Art of the Episode:** [*Witches of Deadly Sins*](https://files.catbox.moe/1z9xcp.jpg) by kumuo (September 1st, 2019)

**Source:** [Twitter](https://twitter.com/roikumama/status/1168141703812792320) (artist’s timeline contains spoilers)

—

We’re in the final stretch! Only two weeks to go before Season 3 finally arrives. Things have started to get a bit busier, so I may end up being more targeted with my comments from here on out rather than trying to cover entire episodes, but either way, I’m looking forward to closing out this rewatch with everyone!

**First Timer!**

Watching the Dub

Start Time 10:15 am, I overslept so hopefully I can finish before the thread goes up

This is the last episode of part 1

Apparently there were barriers to keep Satella out of the castle of dreams

Subaru is breaking down again dealing with all of these struggles and emotions

I think he just bit his tongue off in the Castle of Dreams

Satella wants Subaru to also be happy. It makes sense that she would want the one she loves to be happy

All the witches took some kind of action with Subaru just now, even if it was for selfish reasons they all helped him

So Subaru saved Satella somehow? gonna ponder on that more later

Satella knows that Subaru will need to kill her someday but Subaru will still try to save her regardless

Subaru has lost his qualification. No future spoilers for us

Roswaal has his make up back on, I want to slap it off of him

Roswaal’s path that he has in mind differs from the advice the witches gave Subaru.

Confirmation that Roswaal is the employer of Elsa

Roswaal was around 400 years ago, are we sure that he wasn’t involved with everything about the witches?

I think Otto just smacked some sense into Subaru

**All** of the Witches are much more complex characters than I thought, they may all lean towards the bad side of the scale, some more than others, but they aren’t atrociously evil. I’m even questioning my thoughts about Satella, I was convinced that if Echidna hated her and said she was despicable then she had to be the worst but I started questioning that last episode when Typhon got excited about Satella appearing and even called her ‘Tella. I think that we still know absolutely nothing about what happened 400 years ago.

Subaru has apparently saved Satella already somehow. Was it him just appearing? Was it through his promise to Emilia when they were both struck down? Maybe it’s because someone finally treated another of her kin with kindness and love? I think we could also have a situation where Subaru could be the reincarnation of the hero from the past or at least be incredibly similar and act similarly to said hero but I’m not confident on that. It has to be something that happened during that first episode.

I think that the path Roswaal wants Subaru to take is actually the darkest timeline that should be avoided at all cost. Obviously. I know that we’re weighing the Witches against Roswaal right now but I trust the witches way more than that scumbag now, it’s hard to ignore the message that the Witches conveyed to Subaru about valuing himself because others value him, that his life has meaning and value beyond RbD. I think RbD was probably given to Subaru specifically to combat Roswaal and whatever is written in that book.

Stop time 11:49

Re:Watcher Season 2 Episode 13: The Sounds That Make You Want to Cry

My second favorite episode of Season 2 Part 1 right behind Parent and Child

More than any other theme, what has always made Re:Zero so powerful for me is its message of loving yourself. If Arc 3’s purpose was humbling Subaru from his outward white knight mentality than Arc 4 is about challenging his inner willingness to sacrifice himself due to his low self worth.

Parent and Child provided a great look into how Subaru grew to feel inferior to his father as he stopped excelling in areas that used to come naturally to him. He become the best in fewer and fewer things with fewer and fewer friends following him until he was all alone. This culminated in him eventually dropping out of high school as he didn’t see a point in trying anymore. He couldn’t be further from Rem’s hero.

However, Echidna’s trial gave him the opportunity to reconcile with his past as the love and kindness he was shown by Rem and Emilia moves his past self to return to school. He has the will to keep moving forward that I’m sure the old Subaru never would have thought was possible.

He needed that will as the challenges in the Sanctuary piled up. Needing to save the mansion from Elsa, having Emilia clear the trials, killing all the rabbits, figuring up what’s up with Garf, etc. It’s enough to overwhelm anyone, and at the same time his biggest supporter of all Rem is an empty husk of herself. There won’t be a From Zero pep talk this time. As Subaru keeps getting killed in more and more brutal ways we see him near his absolute breaking point.

His most daunting death for me this season has to be when he goes to a completely mind broken Emilia seeking comfort with chunks of his flesh eaten off. He hangs on just long enough to die in the women he loves arms. I don’t know about you, but I think I would’ve taken Echidna’s deal after this.

At the Withes’ Tea Party the other shoe finally drops as Echidna reveals she wants to enter a contract with Subaru because his return by death will allow her to experience an infinite amount of possibilities. She is the Witch of Greed after all, and what she’s hungry for above anything else is content without concern for morality. While not taking joy in actively torturing people she also dosen’t do anything in her power to stop it because the results are so very interesting to her. I wonder if Echidna is meant to represent viewers who enjoy watching Subaru suffer in increasingly horrible ways because it’s entertaining.

Still, I find it hard to judge Echidna’s morals because she feels so empty of both empathy or malice. She truly just puts knowledge above anything else, and can’t even consider the pain she inadvertently causes others. It’s almost like putting moral blame a drought or flood. Maybe I give her too much credit because of those cute bushy eyebrows, but I can’t help having eyes. Either way I don’t hate Echidna like I would with other antagonists because the way she thinks is just so alien.

Despite that though I couldn’t be more proud of Subaru for turning down her offer, with the help of a few other witches, in particular Minerva and Envy. Accepting Echidna’s offer would be equivalent to giving up, and that definitely doesn’t suit Subaru. While Subaru initially said Echidna felt the most normal, Minerva is the only one I feel who could have close to human morals.

Envy though is the biggest highlight of the finale for me because we finally get a closer look into the character that basically set Subaru’s story into motion. While we saw her terrorize the Sanctuary in a previous loop in the name of her love for Subaru we see hints there’s more than just an obsessive love.

She tells Subaru that he should love himself more. Subaru is rightfully angry because she’s the one who has been the cause of so much of his pain, so he tries to kill himself before Minerva saves him. While it’s true he experienced more pain than would be possible to an average human because of return by death he also has the ability to lead a path to a brighter tomorrow than anyone else. In that regard it feels right to call it his authority instead of his curse. While Envy gave Subaru his authority she clearly is still pained when Subaru throws his life away. On the other hand, Echidna seems more than willing to toss as many Subarus as it takes to solve a problem. Echidna might like Subaru, but she clearly doesn’t have the ability to understand that’s not how you treat someone you love. Envy for all her stalker vibes still seems to genuinely care for Subaru.

You shouldn’t just throw your life away. People will cry and mourn for you. You should be included in the people to be saved.

Before leaving Envy tells Subaru that one day he’ll come to kill her, but Subaru of course vows to save her too. Of course he would. He could never turn his back on someone who needs help. He won’t throw everyone away to just focus on Emilia. He is nothing like Roswaal. He is Natsuki Subaru, Emilia’s Self-Proclaimed Knight, Rem’s Hero, Otto’s friend, and the son of Kenichi and Naoko, so giving up doesn’t suit him.

**First-Timer**

**On today’s episode of Re:Zero:** So this was designed to be the Kobayashi Maru test. It’s meant to be a no-win scenario for Subaru. So how will Subaru pull a Captain Kirk and get himself out of the no-win scenario?

– Satella is still going on about how much she loves Subaru. She’s such a yandere. [](#yanderebot)

– Subaru does have a point with his rage. Satella’s the one who gave him the power to Return by Death. But he never asked for that. He never wanted that power. And the power often just makes him feel more miserable because he dies so much.

– Interesting that Satella wants Subaru to treasure himself more. [](#rengethink)

– Speaking of which, we get a reminder of Subaru’s low self-esteem. He’s fine with suffering because he doesn’t think anyone else would mind as long as everyone makes it to tomorrow alive. [](#sadholo)

– Also, it was very brief, but I swear we got a look at Satella’s face beneath her veil and she looks exactly like Emilia. Is that Satella’s actual face or is she just possessing Emilia’s body? [](#csikon)

– There really was nothing Subaru could have done to save Rem, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling guilty about it. [](#therethere)

– Satella loves Subaru because he gave her everything? What does that even mean? [](#dontgetit)

– Huh, so Sekhmet has gravity powers. That’s yet another Witch with a Stand power straight out of Diamond is Unbreakable. It’s strange that this happened twice.

– Satella wants Subaru to see that he’s someone who deserves to be saved as well. [](#harukathink)

– Minerva really is determined to save people, even saving Subaru.

– Looks like Subaru has finally accepted that other people like him back. For a person dealing with the kind of self-hatred Subaru’s been dealing with, that’s a big step. [](#anko)

– Satella wants to save Subaru because he saved her? I have an insane theory from all of this. [](#hardthink)

– Subaru has managed to win over pretty much all of the witches. How interesting.

– Refusing the contract with Echidna is the right move. Subaru doesn’t want to die and she’d make Subaru do what I did while playing Fate/Stay Night: deliberately choose all the wrong options so I can see all the bad ends.

– It is a nice scene with Subaru thanking the witches for how they helped him, in their own way.

– Satella really does look like Emilia! [](#binoculars)

– Satella wants Subaru to kill her one day? [](#sakurathink)

– Naturally, Subaru promises to save Satella instead.

– I forgot that Otto can talk to the animals. [](#azusalaugh)

– Patrasche is so cute. [](#anko)

– Damn, Echidna is not taking Subaru’s rejection well. Now she’s rejecting him from the trials.

– Subaru and Roswaal aren’t even pretending anymore. They’re admitting they know the other knows about them.

– Telling Subaru to do something for Emilia’s sake even if it’s the opposite of what she wants is not the lesson Subaru spent the last arc learning, Roswaal. [](#miyamoriunimpressed)

– I knew it! Roswaal really is the person who hired both Elsa and Maylie! [](#bigshock)

– Ah, I see. So that’s why. Roswaal is trying to force Subaru into a no-win scenario. He wants Subaru to be unable to save everyone, so he must choose who to save.

– What the? Roswaal has lived for 400 years? He was enchanted by someone’s eyes back then? Is he talking about Satella or Echidna? [](#maxshock)

– Something I noticed about Roswaal: When he’s talking one-on-one with Subaru in a serious situation like this, he loses that sing-song tone of voice he normally speaks with. That’s just an act he puts on.

– The parallels between Subaru and Roswaal come up again. Roswaal really wants Subaru to become like him, though Subaru is determined to not let that happen.

– Otto gave Subaru [a correction!](https://imgur.com/ZoXMLIH) [](#punch)

This was another great episode. We got a lot of big reveals and another really good emotional resolution. A major theme of this arc has been Subaru dealing with his own hang-ups and low self-esteem. Meeting with his parents in the First Trial was a way for Subaru to come to terms with his past and accept that his parents truly did love him. Now the Second Trial has made Subaru realize that it isn’t just his parents. The people around him who he interacts with care about him as well. Subaru can allow himself to think of others as his friends. He doesn’t need to assume that others secretly don’t like him in the same way that Subaru doesn’t like himself. Being able to accept that other people like you is an important step for someone dealing with depression and self-loathing like Subaru.

The scene of Otto telling Subaru they are friends is now a lot more meaningful in hindsight. Subaru isn’t used to people liking him. He wouldn’t assume that someone was his friend, which is why he had such a hard time believing Otto back then. Otto telling Subaru that so directly was the only way Subaru could figure it out.

I have an insane theory about Satella. This crazy theory is that Satella actually is Emilia because that’s the only way I can make sense of what she says. Satella claims that Subaru has saved her in the past. This statement is utterly baffling because when could that have possibly happened? I see no way for it to happen unless Satella is someone we already know. Plus, Satella looks so similar to Emilia. Satella being Emilia would explain her obsession with Subaru. It would explain why Satella did not react whatsoever when Subaru said he only loved Emilia, not her, because Satella would have already known that and been okay with it. Of course, it doesn’t explain everything. I have no idea how Emilia could have gotten to the past. Emilia also doesn’t seem like the type to devour others for their powers. And the Emilia I know wouldn’t be the kind of person the Witch Cult worships. Right now, those are some major flaws with this particularly crazy theory.

Roswaal is already taken in by a witch. At first I wondered if it was Echidna or Satella, but since he kept bringing up Echidna’s name I’m going to assume it’s her. I feel like Roswaal is acting on Echidna’s behalf. Could this be connected to why Roswaal wants to get rid of the dragon? Maybe doing so would help him free Echidna. Perhaps Roswaal is helping Emilia become the ruler for witch-related reasons as well.

**First Timer Dubbed**

Note ORV=Omnicient reader viewpoint it’s a way to describe the difference between thinking in Subaru’s knowledge and the Knowledge of the Viewer.

Note2 Intentionally trigger RBD means what you think it means it’s just reddit has crazy admins.

Note3: there are 2 replies to this where I grade my speculation.

**Reaction to the Episode**

[It’s time to talk to best girl Satella](https://imgur.com/aqBPUjW)

Satella says “for so very long now” it’s as if Satella has known subaru a lot longer than his memories go.

Satella truly seems to love subaru though and who wouldn’t love best girl Satella.

Satella really says “for such a very very long time” how could someone who existed for 400 years love a person who only existed for 17 years a very long time? What happened to Subaru as he got transported?

Ah minerva great person here. Minerva is actually a very nice girl isn’t she?

Minerva standing up for best girl Satella! Now that was unexpected. She’s right though Satella is granting Subaru these powers and Subaru is just taking them for granted, and he’s even backstabbing Satella for no reason.

Subaru going apeshit and Satella going 🙁 “you’re hurt”

Satella x Subaru is a really interesting relationship, Subaru feels an extreme anger toward Satella probably because she killed the other 6 witch’s and plausibly some fraction of the continent. But given that other things seem to be just myths (Gluttonny made the mabeasts for example)
We can’t just take everything about Satella at their word. If we judge Satella by her actions, we have one very weird Scene when Satella leeches out and miasma’s everything. She also grants Subaru RBD but forbids him to tell anybody, and she really seems to love Subaru.

Hang on is it me or does Satella’s voice sound like Emilia with a soft filter? Did the english dub run out of VA’s or is this intentional?

Satella going “Love yourself more don’t be so sad” is sweet.

“it’s not like anybody cares what happens to a loser like me”

Man have you like paid ANY attention to what happened? First of all there’s the Julius Scene in the ghost of christmas present where Julius and Felix were weeping for you, JULIUS for crying out loud.

The entire Village of arlem came to your aid to save your life when you were trying to flee with Otto.

Petra is in love with you, Emilia is completely Yandere for you, and Satella loves you.

Man losing Rem has hurt subaru dramatically. Satella might be able to make a deal with him to get Rem back somehow and maybe Subaru will do something for Satella.

[BEST GIRL SATELLA Giving Subaru warmth](https://imgur.com/XiVRnay)

Satella says Subaru gave her everything, what did Subaru do? We literally do not see.

Hang on… (more in spec)

[Subaru learned to bite his own toungue](https://imgur.com/NPmWLqe)

That can’t actually kill him though especially with 2 healers right in front of you.

oh cool fight between the witch’s I see they all have different opinions on intentinally RBDing.

Satella wishes for Subaru to love himself and her fear of what happened to Subaru in those 2 trials saddens her.

[FINALLY SUBARU COMES TO HIS SENSES](https://imgur.com/bBihZH2)

minerva the goat rescues him.

“Can I really believe that the people I care about also care for me”

Man I went over this before, just look at the actions people took for you on failed loops, and look at how even Julius and Felix cared for you and weeped after you died.

Satella granting Subaru opportunity to know hope is so sweet, I’m falling in love with you oh witch of envy, you’re the best girl.

We learn that The witch’s of Glutonny and Lust both helped Subaru, it’s so weird, Lust makes sense she see’s subarus undying love for Rem and Emilia and goes “yeah let’s preserve this”

Gluttony though? She just wants to see how he handles her creations.

[Say no say no say no say no say no](https://imgur.com/2P2ZZke)

oh phew the Witch of greed didn’t get to you this time.

Echidna has a point that if you accept that RBD is an awesome power you can just use your heart to get what you want.

The issue is that imagine being subaru, sure you spend some amount of time in the blessed true timeline but how much are you spending in cursed fake timelines to get to the godo true one?

Subaru is looping about half the time he’s alive in cursed timelines. That’s with an average of 5 loops per timeline. Imagne if he had more loops per timeline and how much he’d suffer.

Fucking finally subaru shows appreciation for best girl Satella! He understands that Satella granted him a power

[Oh boy satella really really looks like emilia](https://imgur.com/6Z1eH5i)

Satella also needs Subaru to ultimate sloth HER?

Let’s go Subaru makes a promise to best Girl Satella.

[oh boy Otto and Patreche come be by my side](https://imgur.com/XioTodC)

otto speaking ground dragon is so cute. Imagine if humans could learn to speak whale song.

I love otto man he’s so nice to Subaru. Literally best friend to Subaru

Oh so Subaru loses his right to do the trial of the sanctuary? oh boy what will happen to his RBD point now? I wonder how Echidna took it away, did he lose his sloth factor?

[alright time for everyone’s favorite game how will Roswaal talk to subaru this time!](https://imgur.com/BRpfC6c)

I find it amazing how Roswaal instantly clues in on the idea that Subaru knows that Roswaal knows that subaru can RBD.

Roswaal going “yeah so sometimes to do what is best for emilia you have to go against her wishes” is true though, Roswaal describes emilia as a child and she definitely is one.

Roswaal talking to Subaru like how Echidna talks to Subaru, meanwhile Subaru made his pact with Satella who granted him the power in the first place.

ROSWAAL IS A PIECE OF SHIT I knew he had done it based on some comments about eyes by Elsa, but finally he says it.

Lord Roswaal was enchanted by those eyes 400 years ago HMMM HMMMM HMMM

Lord Roswaal then goes on to talk about how he understands Echidna’s mind.

Lord Roswaal’s whole schtick has been to get Subaru to be his ultimate pawn, but he can be foiled by a lot of simple acts…

Ok this is the one case where I had to turn on the subs to be sure, in the dub it sounds like Roswaal said Rem and I’m like “who’s rem?” but the sub said Ram.

[SUBARU MIND BREAK ARC](https://imgur.com/WLEcr1g)

Well now Subaru has one major friend left, and it’s otto.

[and best friend otto has arrived!](https://imgur.com/LDEaSjE)

What a nice punch, telling subaru to stop the tough guy act and actually lean on friends. I love otto man.

**Speculation**

Spec grading is going to be so long it will take 2 entire posts just dedicated to it. So stick around as the witch of greed grades my speculation.

Speculation on SATELLA

So you know how in season 1 episode 1 Subaru promised to rescue one girl? Who was that girls name? That’s right it was Satella.
Now why did emilia identify herself as the witch of envy? Probably to sho Subaru away. Though that didn’t work. The other reason? It was Satella from the start and that’s what granted Subaru RBD. (not really but…)

However this means that Subaru has promised to save “satella” 3 times so far.

Satella is not a true antagonist like the myths claim she is, it’s more that she’s been caught up in many problems that resulted in her isolation.

Satella is best girl and I won’t accept anybody else.

Speculation on Echidna

Echidna removed Subaru’s right to do the trial because he would no longer give her the thing she truly desired, the contract.

I somehow suspect this isn’t the end of echidna, we’ll see her back somehow.

Also because the ghost of christmas future would not make sense with RBD so Tappei didn’t want to write it.

Speculation on lord roswaal

The theory that Lord roswaal hired elsa in season 1? Yeah that’s more real now. The theory that he hired Maylee in season 1 to cause trouble? Also real now.

**What I would do if I were Subaru**

Get into a private conversation with lord roswaal

Have satella ultimate sloth lord roswaal.

Tell Satella you love her after that use the fact that Lord roswaal got ultimate slothed to read his gospel of wisdom.

If roswaal has a Gospel that has words on it you can manipulate your endings to “fit his gospel” without actually doing anything rash

With our 2 part issue set up it’s time to find out how to defeat Elsa.

Simply put Roswaal’s plan can be defeated by Friends

Approach number one, is to have friends inside the sanctuary save Emilia, this was my intial approach writing the letter to stop Roswaal from taking action then defeating Roswaal.

However after thinking about this more I think it’s much easier to have friends go *outside* the sanctuary to save Frederica, Petra, and Beatrice.

Which friend? Otto.

Tell otto to tell beatrice, “I am that man, the man that will remove your contract, you do not have to die to end your contract.” Then hand him a note on how to end her contract.

Here are the contents of the letter you’ll hand otto.

“Dear Beatrice, Otto can set you free, all you have to do is accept that Otto is *that man* if you choose otto to be that man the contract will be fufilled and you can end your contract with mother.”

**commentary on roswaal**

So while I suspected he was the spy and may have ordered the thing I am mildly surprised it was actually him. I had 2 other candidates for Spy other than Roswaal, and you know I thought it was blue hair girl spying from outside.

I actually think that him ordering the attack on the mansion makes the plot feel better now everything actually makes sense. I feel kinda lame for suspecting that it was Maylee or someone hiding in the forset rather than roswaal sending the message in advance though.

Previously I whined that Elsa’s attack on the mansion felt kinda contrived, but if you have it be Roswaal doing the attack it adds better time pressure.

**Rewatcher (sub) and Novel Reader (reading Arc 8)**

2nd best episode of the series in my opinion. The more I rewatch this episode, the more I love it

This episode marks Subaru’s fourth turning point, where he rejects Echidna’s contract and decides to stop using his Return by Death (RBD) ability, aiming to value himself more. I love how Re:Zero crafts Subaru’s character journey by placing him in extraordinary situations that, while not directly relatable, remain meaningful and impactful.

This episode addresses the dilemma Subaru has faced since acquiring RBD:

1. Should he keep looping to achieve a perfect future?
2. It also tackles common criticisms of Subaru’s actions:
* Subaru should stop crying when people die since they’ll come back.
* Subaru should keep looping and exploiting his ability since that’s the logical use of his power.
* Subaru should get used to dying to avoid the emotional pain.

In crafting a realistic and human story, Re:Zero rejects these typical expectations:

1. Subaru will continue to cry when people die because he shouldn’t view them as mere versions of people. Despite his encounters with the same individuals across different timelines, he will always see them as real people, not abstract concepts.
2. He shouldn’t keep dying and neglect his own well-being. He needs to care for himself, as the people who care about him would be deeply hurt by his suffering if they knew about it.
3. He shouldn’t become numb to dying and lose what makes him human.

As usual, there is an IF story for this turning point.

[Greed IF brief points-no major events]>!Subaru looped 100 million times (I could be wrong about the number though) to reach the perfect future. But he is kinda insane now. And every single person he cared has also spiraled to depression/insanity even though they are alive. Petra asks Subaru about the weather. Subaru RBD’s just to find out about the weather. Yeah, he’s gone completely insane. He will loop for any reason now!<

**Episode 38 (first timer)**

* “What do you want from me?” “I love you” “Stop” – the shortest romance.
* Minerva calls out Subaru’s egotism.
* Subaru’s argument of being an unloved loser rings hollow when literally everybody has cared for him. Cared for him a ton more than for other people, too. He is the archetype of MC pheromones and it is *still* not enough for him? … I still remember him being called the archbishop of greed way back in S1. Sounds about right to me.
* Killing yourself via biting your own tongue? I have heard that it is possible, but I imagine it way slower and way more painful.
* Yep, the witches even had time to discuss whether they should respect his right to suicide or not and Minerva still saved him in time. *For what it’s worth, I think Subaru is severely clinically mentally ill and thus they should not allow his suicide to go through. Subaru is unable to make reasoned decisions.*
* Contract offer from Echidna, part 2.
* Patrasche is qualified to do the trials!
* “You are beyond dense” – It’s MC syndrome, Otto.
* “So, you like me. I never thought you’d be the first one I learned that from”~guy who is loved by Emilia, had a heart felt confession from Rem, just got offered sex and more from Echidna, and is the center of attention of virtually every female character (and a handful males ones, too).
* Roswaal sprouting some movie villain stuff.
* “You are seriously insane” – I agree. Roswaal makes no sense, even if you think he is some cold-hearted schemer. Instead of steeling his resolve, Subaru would just get stuck in an endless loop of trying to save both until the meager rest of his sanity has been eroded away.

[Bright slap ending](#punch)

My quick summary of S2 part 1: I think the writing is considerably weaker than in S1, especially compared to the second cour of S1. Seeing Subaru mentally break down for the umpteenth time has become boring by now and nothing interesting is going on with the side characters either. We are so far down the harem route that I dread the next pretty female face to appear, only to instantly develop an interest in Subaru. The one thing still keeping me interested is the mystery plot.

Re watched trying to catch up

So ‘Tella broke through the barriers

For so very long I’ve been in love with you. Tella is more talkative. Only him? That implies Satella isn’t some sort of futures Emilia (since we know Emilia loves Puck)

Subaru is tired. Minerva has a lot of nerve but maybe makes some sort of weird sense.

Please don’t hurt. Please don’t suffer.

Love yourself. I want you to protect yourself.

Subaru is throwing away his life, devaluing himself, putting others first without thinking how much they care about him and would miss him. Does this remind you of anyone? He misses Rem.
He shows a lot of similarities and even inspiration from Rem and some of her traits including her worst traits. While Rem gets a lot of love for her fierce love and devotion especially to Ram and Subaru, she also shows a lot of idiotic behavior, thinking she has to do everything himself, using up her life to try to protect others. Without even return by death. Remember Rem is the one who was the first to see Subaru as a hero, he is trying to live up to that image and being inspired by her example including the bad side of her bravery. Given the way Re:Zero loves to echo in the lessons people teach each other and learn to help each other from Emilia to Subaru, then Subaru to Rem, Rem to Subaru. It makes me really look forward to when Subaru wakes up Rem, I think he will need to help her not just see the possibility of a future for herself but to be able to love herself to the extent that she believes she deserves happiness.

Typhoon wants to protect Subarus smile.

They don’t like showing tounge.

Why haven’t you realized that you should be included among those you wish to save. Satella doesn’t know what happened during the trials but thinks the trials caused this. Not her own presence?

Yes you have friends it’s time to stop forgetting that.

Typhoon and Sekhmet value the side of protecting his free will. Daphne and Minerva and Carmella prefer protecting his life.

Carmella are you the witch of Lust or love?

Echidna I don’t want to get hurt. Greedy Subaru.

Subaru tells her he’ll try to not be so full of self hatred. Don’t forget that others grieve when you die. Good advice for most people .

You have to kill me, no you look too much like my crush I’ll save you as well.

Patrische got hurt. Right Otto can talk to animals, this was briefly mentioned or implied earlier.

The first one you learned that from? Is Rem chipped liver to you? And Otto?

Naughty Echidna, took away his ability to do the trial.

Pointless to count the number of times we’ve interrogated each other but first time I’ve asked for a way out.

The Evil witch of Envy seems less evil the Rosewall.

Ignoring a woman’s choices for her sake?

Maybe some of you guessed this but this was pretty shocking the first time I heard that Rosewall ordered the attack. Did he order
Elsa to steal the pendant in Arc1? For Meili to attack Subaru or Rem in Arc 2? Including the witches cult which he presumably didn’t set on the mansion but presumably knew about and allow to happen, has he been behind it all? Or just the book? Who is behind the books advice though?

400 year ago? Get gud insane in the membrane.

Rosewall knows Echidna? Subaru and Ram are Rosewalls hopes?

Got to keep the humanity don’t give into the insanity. Don’t trip.

Otto coming in for the save, don’t ignore your friends.

This episode is underrated, both parts (witches and meeting with Rosewall) feel full enough to be a full devastating episode. The part with Otto (and Patrische) was also good. It made a really strong half season finale.

An important part of the story has been cut from the anime. It might be added in future seasons but just in case I think it’s useful but some might consider it spoilers or not cannon to the anime.