Re:ZERO Episode 50

Re:ZERO Episode 50

Offbeat Steps Under the Moonlight

With episode 50, Re:ZERO Season 2 has come to an end. And I have to say, it was a pretty good ending. Not everything I would have liked to have wrapped up was, but it was a satisfying conclusion to the season nonetheless.

Since Betty is still the best character in the series, let’s start off by talking about her and Subaru. The big thing here is that Subaru and Betty now have a pact much like Emilia and Puck used to. I don’t think Emilia has a pact with Puck right now.

Subaru having a pact with a greater spirit is kind of a big deal. We only know of a few greater spirits. And I think the only other one we know of that has ever had a pact is Puck. So this seems to be a fairly rare occurrence.

Subaru lifting Betty up from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2
Subaru lifting Betty up

Also, I’d just like to point out that now Subaru and Betty have the Koyomi and Shinobu dynamic going on. We even got to see Betty chilling on Subaru’s lap just as Shinobu does with Koyomi sometimes. That’s a good dynamic. You love to see it.

But, Subaru’s contract with Betty brings about some questions. Is Subaru able to use Betty’s magic reserves (and gate) when he’s in contact with her? I assume this to be the case since Subaru was able to use a lot of powerful magic without issue.

However, even if Subaru can only use that much magic if he’s in contact with Betty, he should still be able to use the Minya spell. Unless that spell literally requires more magic than Subaru has, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be able to use it in a limited capacity.

Okaeri, Roswaal

Continuing on with Betty, we now shift to her new dynamic with Roswaal. Apparently, Betty never realized that Roswaal was transferring his soul down through all of his own ancestors. You’d think that she would have caught on, but I can also see why she didn’t.

There are two reasons why Betty didn’t realize who Roswaal really was. The first is simply that Roswaal stopped visiting her in the Forbidden library at some point for some reason. The second is that Betty didn’t realize it was even possible for him to perform the spell needed.

I do kind of like the fact that Betty didn’t realize this was the same Roswaal she knew 400 years ago until now, though. It fits a lot better with both of their “redemption” arcs. Roswaal is now back on the right path and Betty has overcome the feelings that were holding her back.

Betty and Roswaal visiting Echidna's tomb from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2
Betty and Roswaal visiting Echidna’s tomb

Now, one of the mysteries that wasn’t resolved is the mystery of Echidna’s appearance. Why was her face obscured during all of the flashbacks involving her? And why did Emilia not recognize her when she saw her body in the tomb?

When we finally do get to see Echidna’s face in this episode, she looks exactly like we’ve known her to look, except dead. Hiding her face in the flashbacks I can forgive if it was to make this moment with Betty and Roswaal more emotional or something.

But I really don’t see any explanation as to why Emilia wouldn’t have recognized Echidna’s face after meeting Echidna in the trial. It’s not as if Emilia forgot who Echidna was. She literally said that Echidna should be there, but she doesn’t recognize the body she sees.

I think this is just one of those mysteries we’ll never get an answer to.

Upgrading the Party

By the end of this final episode, Emilia’s “party” is much stronger than it was back at the start of the season.

Subaru now officially holds the title of Knight and has a pact with a greater spirit. Roswaal, who was previously stated to be the strongest mage in the kingdom, is now contracted to serve Emilia. And, other powerful allies such as Garfiel have joined Emilia’s side as well.

At this point, I would basically say that Emilia has everything she needs to become the next queen of the kingdom. Who could really oppose her at this point in time? Crusch’s memories are wiped, Subaru is friends with Anastasia’s military, and Priscilla is probably too busy learning that other fruits have skins.

Realistically, Priscilla is probably Emilia’s primary rival at this point, though. Her faction is the only one of those three that Subaru doesn’t have an in with.

Emilia knighting Subaru from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2
Emilia knighting Subaru

And then, of course, there’s Felt. Felt is an interesting rival for Emilia to go up against for one specific reason. And that reason is named Reinhard. Reinhard is the most overpowered being we know of within the Re:ZERO universe.

Yes, we know of the witches, including Pandora. But even if we consider all of them, Reinhard is stronger. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Reinhard could defeat all of the witches at once if he had to. He has a divine blessing for every possible situation.

But, just because Reinhard is overpowered doesn’t mean he’s actually a threat. I don’t see any situation in which he would actually fight against Emilia’s backers. If Emilia claimed the throne as hers, what would Reinhard really do about it? Unless the world was endangered by that action, probably nothing.

Conclusion

What do you think of the final episode of Re:ZERO Season 2? Did you like how peaceful the ending was? Or were you hoping for something to go wrong? And what are your thoughts about the mystery of Echidna’s appearance? Let me know in the comments.

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4 Replies to “Re:ZERO Episode 50”

  1. Remember that Subaru broke his gate during his fight with Garf and that was not undone. He should not be able to use magic at all now, having contact with Beatrice is probably the only thing that allows it.

    1. If he can summon Betty whenever he wants like Emilia can with Puck, I guess he doesn’t really need his gate repaired. She’s his new gate.

  2. While I understand why you’d think Emilia is the favourite to win the Royal Selection, DoubleSama, you forget how the deep the prejudice for her looks being similar to Satella runs. Remember when Subaru started ranting about Emilia in the streets of the Capital in a previous loop, and Appa Guy told Subaru not to say “Witch” too loudly in public, which was followed by two beast people pushing Subaru out of the way?

    My guess is that popularity with the citizens plays a very large impact on who wins the Royal Selection and that changing how people see her will be difficult for Emilia to easily do outside of those in the Mathers domain, who are more likely to back her because of her connection to Roswaal.

    I also believe the story is headed towards Emilia being possessed by Satella at the end of Re:zero and killed off, so that’s another reason I don’t believe Emilia will become the next ruler of Lugunica.

    Another reason I believe this this to be the case is because of a lot of the names of Re:zero characters have significance with regards to the plot, so this why I believe Crusch will win the Royal Selection. I’ll list a number of examples below.

    Kurush (which is closer to how Japanese people would say Crusch) means far-sighted, indicating being able to see far but have trouble seeing things up close. It is a male name, but Crusch kind of dresses like a guy, so let’s just roll with that. Crusch is certainly far-sighted in that she has her eye on her goal, and given that she dresses in her nightgowns without a care about being in the presence of males, it could show that she is otherwise oblivious to her own femininity, which is something very close to her while her goal is something that is far way, making farsighted very appropriate to describe her. Kurush also appears to mean throne, and this could indicate that Crusch will be the winner of the Royal Selection.

    Otto is another name for attar, which is a fragrant essential oil. That might be how the author decided to make Otto buy an excessive amount of oil. Does the fragrant smell indicate that he uses a lot of cologne or perfume? Suwen, Otto’s last name, is the first part of an ancient Chinese medical text. Perhaps Otto is well-versed in medicine and has bad body odour which he covered up. This is still speculation of course, but the oil thing was absolutely true.

    Reinhard means mighty, brave, or strong judgement, and given that Reinhard is basically your textbook hero, it suits him well. Wilhelm means resolute protector, and considering how he was always supremely determined in keeping Theresia from fighting, it is very fitting.

    Ricardo means powerful, and that he is.

    Petra means stone or rock. Perhaps this indicates she is like a rock who is good at keeping a secret and very strong-willed, meaning it would be hard to get information out of her. The other children couldn’t hold back and blab about everything. Petra also told everyone to run when Elsa took hold of her, showing she is very loyal and not afraid to die.

    Rom means high in Hebrew. Given that he is a giant, I guess that suits him. Rom also means curving river in Old Welsh. The movement of a river is often a symbol of life. Perhaps there was an event that changed the course of Rom’s life.

    Ram means exalted or supreme in Hebrew. Given that she is always condescending to Subaru, ‘exalted’ is fitting. She also asked to be killed rather than disgraced in episode 23 and gives off an air of superiority. She also used to be very powerful when she still had her horn, so it was as if she had supreme power.

    Puck means mischievous spirit. Puck has trolled Subaru on more than one occasion. Examples being in episodes 1, 6, and 8, and 9. Puck also sounds kind of like “pack”. There are reusable hot cold packs that differ from instant cold packs in that they can be either frozen or microwaved. Given that after watching the OVAs and seeing Emilia refer to Puck as the Great Spirit of Fire, it is clear that Puck is the current Great Spirit of Fire after he defeated Arbiter Melakuera, so that is why Puck is associated with ice and also fire.

    Beatrice means bringer of joy. She has certainly gotten Subaru thrilled in a way none of the other have when she helped him in episode 8 and also when she helped him live to a point he had never previously reached in episode 7.

    Julius can be derived from Latin, meaning “devoted to Jove”. Jove, otherwise known as Jupiter, is the king of gods of Roman mythology and was a divine witness to oaths, the sacred trust on which justice and good government depend. Julius is about as righteous as one can be and also was not happy with all nations ignoring the White Whale, which surely makes him a bastion of good government.

    Betelgeuse means “Orion’s hand” in Arabic and is the second-brightest star in the constellation of Orion and the ninth-brightest star of the night sky. Might “Orion’s hand” be an indication of why the Authority of Sloth is “Unseen Hand”?

    Baten Kaitos derived from Arabic means belly of the sea monster, and although Lye is not a sea monster, perhaps this name was chosen to indicate why his powers involve eating things. Baten Kaitos is a star in the constellation of Cetus.

    Regulus means little king in Latin. Regulus is also a star constellation of Leo. With Petelgeuse and Lye, either their first or last name’s Arabic equivalent was an indication of their power, so I’ve looked up Regulus’s Arabic equivalent, which means “heart of the lion”, so his power might perhaps have something to do with him being one of the strongest characters in Re:zero since lions are at the top of the food chain.

    Felix means lucky. That basically means Felix Argyle is lucky like a cat that is said to have nine lives. It’s probably indicative of Felix’s ability to regrow his own tissue considering he indicated he couldn’t regenerate his clothes when that witch cultist who doubled as a merchant blew himself up, which suggests that Felix can somehow regenerate his own tissue. I’m using DameDesuYo’s translation of the Episode 23 since I believe Crunchyroll used “reproduce” for the episode, which didn’t make much sense.

    I couldn’t find anything directly for Tivey. Since his name sounds like TV, I looked up television, and ‘tele’ means “far” while ‘visio’ means “sight”. I guess one could say it is meant to mean that Tivey is far-sighted in that he needs a monocle to correct his vision and that he has foresight, making him the smart one among his siblings.

    Echidna means viper. And she revealed herself to be a snake in episode 37, so it is fitting.

    Hector means tenacious in the US, and this could show he is extremely persistent in chasing Echidna.

    Although I couldn’t find a meaning for Garfiel, Garfield is known as an orange cat, and Garfiel’s beast form is basically a buff Tigerman resembling Garfield from the comics.

    1. While I don’t think Emilia is actually going to be killed off in the end, I do think your prediction about Crusch winning the royal selection is interesting. I still think Emilia is going to win in the end. But of the others, Crusch is probably the one with the next best chance aside from Felt who’s a complete wild card. I don’t see any situation in which Anastasia or Priscilla win.

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