Re:ZERO Episode 27

Re:ZERO Episode 27

The Next Location

I enjoyed Re:ZERO episode 27 more than episode 26. However, it felt like the episode was trying way too hard to make everything mysterious and confusing. In fact, there were so many things that confused me in this episode that I’ve probably already forgotten some of them even though I just finished it.

So this week’s review is basically just going to be me running through the list of everything that confused me (that I can remember) and my theories about them. I can’t wait for people to send me spoilers in the comments after this one.

Starting off at the beginning of the episode, we see Subaru and Emilia leaving Crusch’s mansion to head back to Roswaal’s domain. What was interesting about this scene was that Subaru refused to shake Crusch’s hand before leaving. Instead, he tapped it with his own.

You may think I’m reading too much into this, but I refuse to believe there was nothing to that scene. There must be some reason it was included and focused upon.

Originally I was thinking it could have to do with curses and the Witch’s Cult book that Subaru has. But after thinking more about it, Subaru doesn’t really seem to be worried about that sort of thing. As far as he knows, he has no curse on him that can spread through contact, and as we learn from his talk with Betty later on, he doesn’t fully understand what the book is.

My guess is that because Crusch lost all of her memories, Subaru doesn’t want to shake her hand because it could be seen as making a deal with her against her true will. If Crusch was her old self and offered Subaru her hand, I think he would have shaken it. But I don’t think he feels right about the current situation.

Two More Maids

In this episode, we’re introduced to a new-to-Subaru maid of the Roswaal mansion: Frederica Baumann. And in the latter half of the episode, we find out that Petra also becomes a maid at the mansion, bringing the total number of maids to four if we include Rem.

I don’t want to focus on Petra in this section, but I will point out that we don’t know how she came about possessing this position. Roswaal isn’t around, so who authorized Petra to be a maid? Does Emilia have that authority? Or does Frederica perhaps have that authority?

Frederica Baumann from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Frederica Baumann

Frederica is a very interesting character because, on one hand, she appears to be an outsider, but on the other, she seems to be very well-connected within Roswaal’s inner circle. She’s not on the level of Betty or Ram who she claims know what Roswaal is thinking at any given time, but she knows her fair share of secrets regarding his domain — more so than even Emilia.

So why is Frederica so trusted by Roswaal and those under him?

I think the key here is that she’s a demi-human. Frederica is half-beast-half-human. One of the secrets about the domain that she knows is the location of the Sanctuary and how to get there, and as we learn, the Sanctuary is a demi-human stronghold. So I think Roswaal has some sort of pact with the demi-humans, and because of this, he trusts Frederica.

Also, based on all of that, I’d be willing to bet that the true reason Frederica took a leave of absence from the mansion is that she was setting something up between Roswaal and the demi-humans. Though, the reason she’s returned has nothing to do with that; it has to do with Rem’s “disappearance.”

Beako and Geuse

As with Frederica, Betty knows more than she’s willing to reveal. But the difference between the two of them is that Betty admits that she’s hiding information.

There was a lot to unpack regarding Betty in this episode. We find out that she knows about the Witch’s Cult books, she has some prior relationship with Betelgeuse (Petelgeuse), she reveals that there are things called “Witch Factors,” Subaru did something to upset her, and she suspects Roswaal is up to something.

I can’t really begin to theorize about how she knows about the Witch’s Cult books. There are just too many possibilities. The simplest explanation I can think of is just that Betty is a genius and 1,000-year-old spirit, so she knows everything.

Beatrice from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Beatrice

But her connection to Betelgeuse is much more interesting. When she speaks of him, it appears that they once had a friendly relationship. So was Betelgeuse another spirit like Betty is who just happened to join Satella’s side? I’m looking forward to learning more about that.

Subaru’s alleged transgression against Betty also appears to be connected to Betelgeuse. Her demeanor changes after Subaru mentions that he killed Betelgeuse and doesn’t know what happened to his Witch Factor, which I assume refers to his Unseen Hand ability. My guess is that she’s mainly mad at Subaru for being an idiot and not thinking before acting.

This is also all somehow connected to Roswaal. Roswaal is a schemer, so he probably knew Betelgeuse was going to be killed. And if that’s the case, and he didn’t tell Subaru about Witch Factors, could it be that he’s planning to take the Betelgeuse’s Witch Factor for himself? Or did he trick Subaru into obtaining it for some reason?

The Sanctuary

Finally, we have Subaru, Emilia, and Otto heading to the Sanctuary. Continuing on with Roswaal’s scheme, he apparently directed Frederica to send them there once they arrived back at the mansion. And not only that, but this is going to be some kind of trial for Subaru and Emilia.

The entrance to the Sanctuary, unless what we saw wasn’t the Sanctuary, is in some sort of dream world. I’m not sure the Sanctuary itself will be within a dream, but my guess is that this is the trial they’ll have to overcome before gaining access. And I’m also going to guess that each one of them will have to face their own trial.

We don’t yet know what Emilia’s trial will be, but Subaru’s involves the Witch of Greed, Echidna.

An unknown elf girl from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
An unknown elf girl

I’m not sure if Subaru meets Echidna within his dream because he now has Sloth’s Gospel or Witch Factor, but that seems the most likely to me. However, we do need to keep in mind that this is a distinctly different witch from the Witch of Envy, Satella, whom Betelgeuse was a follower of.

Subaru already has a connection to Satella, or so we’ve been led to believe. But the connection to Echidna is still unclear. In fact, we don’t necessarily even know that Echidna is Subaru’s enemy. Yes, she’s the Witch of Greed, but does that mean there’s a witch for every sin? And does every witch have their own set of Archbishops? Or does each witch just have one associated with her?

All of the Archbishops of the Witch’s Cult we’ve met so far are male, so maybe Witch is just the female title for the same position and the Witch of Envy just so happens to be their leader? I have no idea. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of power struggle between the witches, and Emilia was eventually revealed to be one as well without her knowledge.

The fact that both Satella and Echidna are half-elves with white hair just like Emilia seems like it’s more than a coincidence.

Conclusion

Basically, this episode single-handedly opened up more questions than the entirety of season 1. I don’t know why Subaru wouldn’t shake Crusch’s hand, or what the deal with Frederica is, or what Roswaal is up to, or how Betty is connected with Betelgeuse, or why Echidna is revealing herself to Subaru.

What do you think is going on? Are Roswaal and Echidna teaming up to take down Satella and using Emilia and Subaru to do so? Let me know what your predictions are. But if you’ve already read further in the light novels than this point in the anime, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spoil me.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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