Re:ZERO Episode 26

Re:ZERO Episode 26

Each One’s Promise

The first episode of Re:ZERO season 2 is finally here after 4 years. And I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by the episode. I’m sure the season as a whole is going to be good, but compared to how much it was hyped up, this episode really failed to deliver as far as I’m concerned.

So why wasn’t this episode that exciting? Well, it’s just an introductory episode. It “introduced” us to two more of the Witch’s Cult Archbishops and then laid out the reason why one of them, Gluttony, is probably going to be defeated by the end of the season — or even the halfway point.

Crusch and Rem from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2
Crusch and Rem

Now, I know a lot of people are going to argue that the opening scene where it was revealed that everyone forgot about Rem once again is kind of a big deal. And you’re right, or at least you would be if that was a new scene. The opening scene of this episode is actually the final scene of the director’s cut of the first season, so it’s not new.

Anyone who’s seen the director’s cut already knew about it — and a fair amount of people watched the director’s cut as a refresher before this season aired (like myself).

Of course, because that scene wasn’t included in the original airing of the first season, they had to include it again here because you can’t assume everyone will watch the director’s cut. It’s a messy situation that could have been avoided. Either keep it in the first season or don’t spoil it if you’re going to use it as the “big reveal” of the second season’s first episode.

Archbishop Sin of Greed

The Archbishop Sin of Greed, Regulus Corneas, is the first of the two Archbishops we meet in this episode. Since this is more of a teaser than a true introduction of his character, we know very little about him. We know he doesn’t like to fight, he doesn’t like to be interrupted, and he has what appears to be an extremely overpowered ability.

For this section, I want to focus on his ability. As far as I can tell, the Archbishops each have at least one unique ability that’s granted to them by the Witch of Envy, Satella.

We saw that Sloth had two main abilities, but I’m not sure if the second was related to Satella. We know his unseen hand was given to him by her, but his ability to swap bodies when killed may not have been. I don’t think that was ever stated in the anime, so it could just have been one of his personal abilities.

Regulus Corneas - Archbishop Sin of Greed from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Regulus Corneas – Archbishop Sin of Greed

So far, we’ve only seen one ability from Greed, and that’s the ability to completely annihilate anything that comes into his path. Anything that attempts to touch him is torn apart and anything that he wants to tear apart is torn apart. This ability reminded me a lot of another white-haired anime boy’s ability: Accelerator.

My assumption is that Greed’s ability works much like Sloth’s unseen hand does. I don’t think there’s actually a force field around him or that he has the ability to attack people with his mind. I think he probably has some unseen ability that Subaru will be able to see much like with Sloth.

But with that said, I find it very likely that Greed has another, potentially stronger, ability as well. When anime characters are based around the sin of greed, they often have some immortality-type trait. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see that here too — unless whatever force is protecting Greed from attacks is that trait.

Archbishop Sin of Gluttony

Aside from the revelation that nobody other than Subaru remembers who Rem is, the next biggest thing this episode revealed was Lye Batenkaitos, the Archbishop Sin of Gluttony. But why is Gluttony a bigger deal than Greed? Well, because this isn’t the first time we’ve seen “Gluttony” in the series.

When Subaru helped lead the allied Crusch/Anastasia army in battle against the White Whale, it was stated that the whale itself represented Gluttony. That’s what the viewers were led to believe, and as far as we know, that’s what all of the characters who gave Subaru this information also believed.

But now we’ve learned that the White Whale was simply the pet of the true Gluttony. And the White Whale’s ability that erased anyone who got caught up in its steam is actually the ability of Gluttony himself — at least partially.

Lye Batenkaitos - Archbishop Sin of Gluttony from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2
Lye Batenkaitos – Archbishop Sin of Gluttony

Gluttony has two abilities that we know of. The first allows him to eat the memories of his victim, which is what he did to Crusch. The second allows him to eat the name of his victim, which is what he did to Rem (and he also ate her memories which is why she’s just an empty shell now).

With the White Whale, we saw this name-devouring ability. It’s possible that the White Whale could eat memories as well, but we never saw that happen. And, the White Whale also never left behind the bodies of its victims, so I assume that its steam has another property that Gluttony himself can’t replicate.

I’m going to venture a guess that Gluttony will be defeated by the end of the season because Rem and Crusch probably aren’t going to stay in their current states into season 3. But as for Greed, I think he’s going to stick around longer. He appears to be the strongest of the three Archbishops we’ve met so far.

Conclusion

What did you think of the Re:ZERO season 2 episode 1? Were you surprised by the opening scene, or had you already watched the director’s cut? How do you think Greed’s ability works? And do you think Gluttony has the worst character design of the series so far? I know I do. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of episode 27 is available here.

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