Re:ZERO Episode 32

Re:ZERO Episode 32

The Cutest Witch’s Cultist

Maybe you don’t agree, but I’m fairly confident when I say that the most important part of Re:ZERO episode 32 was the opening scene with Beatrice. There’s a lot going on in this scene. We’re given fragments of information that don’t really add up and we see a strange disconnect between Betty’s words and actions.

So to start with, what’s the deal with Betty having a Witch’s Cult gospel? We know that she has some sort of past connection to Betelgeuse, but I didn’t think that Betty would actually be involved with the cult. I figured that Betty knew Betelgeuse before he became an Archbishop Sin in the cult. However, that theory has to be questioned in light of these recent developments.

I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the book Betty has isn’t a Witch’s Cult gospel. But I do think we can assume that she’s not being entirely forthcoming about it. Betty isn’t a Witch’s cultist as far as I’m concerned. Rather, she has this gospel for another reason — probably because it belonged to someone important to her.

Betty holding a Witch's Cult gospel from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Betty holding a Witch’s Cult gospel

Specifically, Betty mentions “mother.” She probably isn’t referencing Satella when she says that, though, because she acts very differently than the other three Archbishop Sins we’ve met. Maybe Betty’s mother was once a member of the Witch’s Cult? In Memory Snow, Betty also commented that Subaru reminded her of someone, so could she have been referring to her mother then too?

I think one of the biggest pieces of evidence for Betty not actually being a cultist is how she acts when she’s talking about following the gospel. She’s clearly pained by what she’s saying to Subaru as if she’s forcing herself to lie to him against her will. Maybe she did use the gospel, but as Subaru pointed out, she definitely has a will of her own.

And, that brings me to the disconnect between her words and actions. She claims she saved Subaru because the gospel told her to, but then she makes no attempt to save him when Elsa breaks into the library. Clearly the gospel didn’t tell her to let him die there — it seemed more like she was actually in shock from what she was witnessing.

Oh, and I guess this also ruins my theory about Betty already knowing about Subaru’s return by death ability.

Ryuzu and Garfiel

The second most important part of the episode comes when Ryuzu and Garfiel take Subaru hostage. This is something I could see Garfiel doing on his own, but the fact that Ryuzu is the one who directs it is very interesting. Also, Ryuzu claims her first name is “Shima” this time around rather than “Birma” as she called herself before.

I thought that when she was swearing on the name Ryuzu Shima she was swearing on the name of one of her ancestors. But it was pointed out to me that in the French translation she unambiguously states that it’s her own name she’s swearing upon.

Since Birma/Shima is her given name, not her family name, I don’t see what the significance of changing it would be. Normally it would be the family name, Ryuzu, that would be important and potentially notorious enough to change. If she keeps the same family name, isn’t the connection still there?

Shima Ryuzu from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Shima Ryuzu

Anyway, at the very least we know that Ryuzu and Garfiel view the Witch’s Cult as their enemy. The reason for their imprisonment of Subaru was specifically because he was saying suspicious things while also having a strong dose of the Witch’s miasma around him.

I believe back in the first season it was already established that there are two ways for Subaru to increase the Witch’s miasma surrounding him. He can either attempt to tell someone about his return by death ability, or he can die and be reset. Some people said the resetting thing was new, but I feel like Rem, Ram, or both commented on his “stench” one of the times he respawned.

And speaking of that stench, we learned a potentially new thing regarding the Witch’s miasma thanks to Garfiel. Rem and Ram referred to it as a smell, but Garfiel seems to be able to either see or sense it in a way other than smell. My guess is that he can feel its presence thanks to his beastman senses.

Otto to the Rescue

I wasn’t originally going to discuss Otto all that much, but the members of my Discord server effectively begged me to because they like him so much. While I think Otto is a fine character, I don’t really see why he gets the amount of love that he does. Sure, he’s useful, but is that really any reason to put him on a pedestal?

Let’s take a look at Otto’s past interactions with Subaru quickly. In the first timeline in which they became acquainted, Otto kicked Subaru off his wagon in order to save himself from the White Whale. So, attempted murder — that’s a good start. Then, every other interaction they had in the other timelines was focused on business.

Subaru would hire Otto to take him somewhere and promise that Roswaal would pay him handsomely with contracts. That’s the main reason Otto was involved with Subaru for the majority of the series so far. It was only in this episode that, for the first time, Otto actually helped out Subaru without standing to gain anything from it.

Otto Suwen from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Otto Suwen

I’m not trying to say that Otto is a bad character. He’s clearly grown over the series which was illustrated by his rescuing of Subaru and claim that he views Subaru as a friend. But my point is that up until this episode, Otto hadn’t done anything to really give off that impression.

The idea behind their heartwarming scene was that Subaru had been so preoccupied with everything that he hadn’t noticed he and Otto had become friends. But I don’t necessarily think that’s anything special. Despite how this scene made it seem, Subaru has a lot of friends in this world.

I’d argue that Reinhard was his first friend of the series. And by this point, I do think you could safely include Rem, Ram, Puck, Julius, Felt, Felix, Wilhelm, Petra, Crusch, and even Betty, despite what she said earlier in this episode, as Subaru’s friends. All of them have helped Subaru out at least as much as Otto has and have become very friendly with him over time.

Also, before anyone says that Crusch and Felix are Subaru’s business partners, not friends — that’s basically what Otto has been. And I think that more accurately describes Anastasia’s camp than Crusch’s camp at this point.

Conclusion

What do you think of Re:ZERO episode 32? Do you think Betty really is a Witch’s cultist? What do you think Ryuzu and Garfiel are scheming beyond simply wishing for the barrier to be taken down? And would you want to be Otto’s friend? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

4 Replies to “Re:ZERO Episode 32”

  1. There are some things that are contradictory if Beatrice is a Witch cultist. She said in Season 1 of episode 7 that Subaru is a burden because he is favoured by Satella and in episode 8 that she didn’t want to stay in Subaru’s room because it reeks of the foul stench of the Witch. This suggests that Beatrice does not have the Witch’s scent and even hates the scent as opposed to regular Witch cultists who are drawn to the smell and Petelgeuse who refers to the intensity of the smell of a cultist as how much love the Witch has for that cultist. It’s also hard to reconcile Beatrice being a Witch cultist with her remark about Satella being the worst of the worst.

    Someone on another blog pointed out to me that Beatrice’s Gospel is bigger than the Gospel Subaru took off of Petelgeuse, and I checked previous episodes to confirm that this is indeed the case. So Beatrice might have a special Gospel that non-cultists can read.

    Ryuzu Shima might be the Ryuzu Subaru followed when he got teleported by Frederica’s crystal since she was wearing that white outfit. I suspect that Ryuzu Shima and Ryuzu Bilma are either split personalities or 2 separate people because of this outfit difference and how Shima is never around when there are many people present.

    1. I don’t feel like the size of the gospel matters all that much. Isn’t Betelgeuse’s the only one we’ve seen so far? A sample size of one doesn’t really mean anything. I do think Betty was telling the truth about the book being one of the gospels though. I just don’t think it’s her gospel.

      1. If it’s not her Gospel, then how can she read it, which she indicates that she can? Subaru could not read Petelgeuse’s Gospel when he tried to in Season 1.

        1. As I mentioned, I think it belonged to her mother. She refers to her mother here, and as we’ve already established, it would be strange if she were to call Satella that. So I think Betty’s mother may have been a Witch’s Cultist, and that somehow lead to Betty being able to read the gospel as well.

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