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「聖域の始まりと、崩壊の始まり」 (Seiiki no Hajimari to, Houkai no Hajimari)
“The Beginning of the Sanctuary and the Beginning of the End”
And finally all has been revealed. Wait, you thought I was serious? Hah! As if Re: Zero is going to be that rewarding only halfway (three quarters?) through its latest season. Yes, more answers were forthcoming as even more questions presented themselves, but hey, I think we are all familiar with this game by now. Except when the OP/ED decide to make an appearance, that definitely is a game for gamblers.
After all the fun of Emilia’s past we got the truth of Sanctuary, and lo and behold it’s not as nefarious as one may have been led to believe. There’s certainly a lot at play under this hood: Roswaal’s infatuation with Echidna, Ryuzu being the source of Sanctuary’s impressive barrier, the utter lack of explanation for what happened after Sanctuary’s emergence. The big one, however, is the reason for Sanctuary’s existence in the form of Hector, the Demon of Melancholy, who besides being a complete and utter unknown certainly gives some concerning vibes when even Echidna (and potentially every other witch) appears scared of the guy. It’s not difficult guessing Echidna’s current existence owes to whatever transpired after Sanctuary activated, though how specifically that transpired – not to mention how Roswaal got out of that situation alive – appears to be something to discover at a later date. Got to have something to look forward to after all.
In current times, however, things are a little more straightforward. For all the philosophical jousting over feelings between Subaru and Roswaal (not sure laser-focused love requires such enthusiastic justification on both sides), it’s pretty much just a case of what strategy will prevail: the one seeking to tear down and consume everyone else in the name of one supposed savior, or the one aiming to build up and utilize everyone to help realize the potential salvation one could induce. Or in other words, whose love is more real. It’s fairly easy to think Subaru will get through this latest hassle just fine (Beatrice and Ram make for a potent duo by themselves), but how he does and who might suffer for it definitely are questions we’ll have to wait and find out the answers to.
One way or another one more big fight looms on the horizon, and you can bet its outcome will lay the groundwork for everything—and everyone—to come.
As for Roswal getting out of things alive, am I getting this all wrong or did he say a while back that he has a sort of version of Return by Death, except that his memories aren’t preserved like Subaru’s are? Or was that just part of pointing out to Subaru that the worlds where he dies still carry on without him?
But those cheeks! They blushed so hard that it even showed up in grayscale!
More (if only somewhat) the latter. Roswaal definitely doesn’t have a comparable ability, he simply noted earlier that certain actions on the part of Subaru only made sense if the kid had some sort of time travel ability. The reason he got away from Hector alive is different, although you might be able to guess it with enough thought (or shrewd hearing 😉 )
That, the eye color and the fashion sense, yeah. Roswaal somehow got hold of the powers, maybe fused with him…
I think Roswaal might have chosen to imitate Hector because he was jealous of Hector’s power and also, if I’m right, of Hector once having dated Echidna. A big point of this episode was that Roswaal is fixated on people being weak, so he might dress and talk like Hector because the encounter with Hector showed to Roswaal how powerless he actually was, leading to Roswaal gaining the strength he has in the current day because he reminds himself constantly of that beatdown from Hector long ago.
I am very skeptical of Roswaal and Hector combining as Hector has red eyes, and current day Roswaal does not have a red eye. I believe a behavioural explanation potentially makes more sense than a convoluted sfusion theory being behind why Roswaal is the way he is in the present. Roswaal becoming stronger by reminding himself of a moment of weakness is a common trope in anime, so I am more into my theory than any theory about complicated soul shenanigans.
“Fusing” was maybe the wrong word, I was thinking more like “stealing” his powers with the help of Echidna. Let’s if they’ll show how they got rid of Hector…
I may have missed something, but is Roswal actually 400 years old?
This is the second time Roswaal has indicated that he is at least 400 years old. He mentioned that he met Echidna 400 years ago in the first cour, and now he is outright says he has lived for the past 400 years. I don’t know the exact catch with him having different coloured eyes.
We’ll find out soon enough about the eyes given they have a direct link to how he’s lived 400 years in the first place.
Yupp he’s 400 years old and hasn’t really tried hiding it. The bigger unknown is how he wound up living that long.
I wonder why they didn’t show Echidna’s face clearly
Hector notes he didn’t want to end up being the way he is, but Roswaal indicates that Hector definitely chose this path among the limited options he had, which means that Hector likely killed the previous Devil/Warlock/Witch of Melancholy and inherited his/her Witch Factor. Echidna notes that Hector hasn’t changed since they parted ways, and Hector indicates Echidna still doesn’t know how to talk to him properly. He remarks that she was really adorable back then though, and all of this shows that Echidna and Hector likely dated each other in the past. I wonder if it was Hector’s downer personality that caused them to break up with each other. So Hector is the current Devil/Warlock of Hector, and he appears to be Echidna’s crazy ex-boyfriend who might be the possessive (and vengeful?) type who stalked her so much that Echidna had to create the Sanctuary to keep him away.
I forgot to mention that Roswaal mentioned in this episode that Emilia and the Witch of Envy share the same lineage, so they have a common ancestor, which hurts speculation about Emilia and Satella being the same person. I personally have always thought Satella views Emilia as being nothing more than a vessel she will possess at the end of Re:zero, so I’m glad there’s more evidence to lend credence to my theory.