Re:ZERO Episode 33

Re:ZERO Episode 33

The Value of Life

I guess I should start off this review of Re:ZERO episode 33 with a discussion of and theory about my favorite character, Beatrice. So to begin, we now know that Betty’s “gospel” isn’t actually a gospel. It’s one of two true copies of the Tome of Wisdom. The gospels are fake copies.

From what Betty tells us, her copy of the Tome of Wisdom tells her the future, but we can assume that since it’s a true copy, it’s the true future. The gospels also tell the future, but not the true future. Instead, they tell the future of the timelines that will eventually end in Subaru’s death and be rewritten.

This is good news because it means that Betty isn’t a cultist. However, her allegiance still isn’t quite clear — and the same is true for Roswaal. But I will say that I trust Roswaal when he says he and Subaru are “allies.” Roswaal is not Subaru’s enemy, but he is using Subaru to further his own interests.

Anyway, in a previous timeline, Ram told Subaru to say the phrase “Roswaal said you are to ask the question” to Betty, and upon hearing this, Betty would help in some fashion. Subaru never ended up doing this in that timeline, but in this timeline, Roswaal tells him the same thing.

Roswaal then tells Subaru that an alternate strategy is to say to Betty, “I am that person” in order to get her to ask the question. Once she asks, Subaru is to answer it in the affirmative, and then Betty will become his ally.

I think that Betty will ask Subaru if he’s someone connected to the Witch of Greed. Originally my theory was that Betty’s mother was a cultist, but now that we know about the Tome of Wisdom, I think Echidna is her mother. Echidna’s greed is centered around gaining knowledge, so the Original Tome probably belonged to her.

And while Betty has one of the copies, I’m assuming Satella has the other copy, from which she created the gospels.

Garfiel, Destroyer of Otto

While Frederica’s beast form was a large wolf, Garfiel’s has been revealed to be a large tiger. However, there are a few other differences between the two. For example, Garfiel’s beast form is extremely ripped and can stand on two legs, which isn’t what we saw from Frederica’s.

These differences could simply be differences between their beast forms, or it could be that they each used a different type of beast transformation. We already know there’s also a partial transformation, so it’s possible that there are multiple types of full-body transformations. To compare it to Zoan users from One Piece again, Garfiel’s transformation is more like that of an awakened Zoan user.

Subaru standing before Garfiel's beast form from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Subaru standing before Garfiel’s beast form

What I feel is more important than the reveal of Garfiel’s beast transformation is actually how blinded by rage he becomes. He becomes so set on preventing Subaru from escaping from the Sanctuary that he has no issue with killing Otto and the random villagers who get in his way.

We’ve known that Garfiel has a temper, but so far he’s still been pretty reasonable. He stopped fighting Subaru when he first revealed that he knew Frederica. He helped Subaru leave the sanctuary in two of the timelines. And even when he captured Subaru, he did so without inflicting any major injuries.

But, now we can see why Frederica initially told Subaru to make sure he avoided Garfiel when he was first going to the Sanctuary. Yes, she was probably worried about him being trapped there. But more importantly, she was probably worried about Garfiel’s temper getting the best of him.

Rabbits and Whales

The white rabbit mabeasts that killed Subaru are probably the one thing in the episode that most people have questions about. Luckily, I’m here to provide you with some (theorized) answers.

For starters, these rabbits are mabeasts. That means that they could be controlled by Maylie if my theory about her is correct. But then we’d have to ask the question of why Maylie is at the Sanctuary instead of the mansion. I think that question can be answered pretty simply, though, by assuming that the events at the mansion have already concluded.

We don’t know how long Subaru was out for, but when he wakes up, the Sanctuary is covered in snow and there’s no one in sight. So it’s not that hard to believe that Elsa and Maylie already attacked the mansion, defeated Frederica, and learned of the Sanctuary from her.

Rabbit mabeasts from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Rabbit mabeasts

But there’s another theory I have that ties into the White Whale. In the image above, you’ll notice that the rabbits all have a glowing, red, target-like symbol on their bodies. The White Whale had this exact same symbol floating above its head (go back and check for yourself).

I don’t think that Maylie was the one controlling the White Whale. We already know that it was connected to the Archbishop Sin of Gluttony. He referred to it as his pet and it shared his signature ability to remove people from existence.

So, if the rabbits aren’t controlled by Maylie, are they connected to the Archbishop Sin of Gluttony instead? We know that he’s going to become important at some point because of both Rem and Crusch, so perhaps this is leading up to Subaru coming face to face with him.

Also, if Gluttony is involved, that may explain why there’s no trace of the villagers in the Sanctuary. His ability removed them from existence. And, the snow covering the Sanctuary is probably the result of Puck coming to Emilia’s rescue when Gluttony attacked.

The Waifu of Greed

Look, I’ve been saying it since Echidna was first introduced: She’s a good witch. So far, Echidna hasn’t said or done anything to actually make me suspicious of her. She tries to say suspicious things, but it’s pretty clear to me that she’s just playing the part of the “evil witch” that people think she is.

I trust Roswaal, and he’s an even shadier character than Echidna is, so how could I not trust her? In fact, I’d even say that Subaru trusts Echidna more than he trusts Roswaal. She hasn’t tried to manipulate him in any way, she’s attempted to be helpful to him, and she’s pretty bad at hiding her emotions, especially when flustered.

How are you going to sit there and tell me that Echidna isn’t a good witch? She might even be the best girl of the series at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Betty and Ram (yes, that’s spelled correctly), but Echidna is giving them a run for their money.

Echidna from the anime series Re:ZERO season 2
Echidna

Another reason why Subaru will probably trust Echidna is that, for the first time, he’s able to talk to someone about everything he’s gone through. He can mention that he’s from another world. He can tell her about all the times he’s had to go through death. And, most importantly, she won’t think he’s crazy for saying those things. She understands.

Unfortunately for Subaru, I get the feeling that Echidna won’t be around for much longer. I think we’ll learn a lot about her (hopefully including her connection to Betty that I theorized) and then I think she’ll disappear.

Why would Echidna disappear though? She’s a ghost who’s able to speak to Subaru in his mind or something. There’s no reason that should stop, right? Well, I think that once the trials are complete and the barrier is taken down, Echidna will be gone as well. My assumption is that the barrier is what’s binding her soul to the tomb.

Conclusion

What do you think of Re:ZERO Episode 33? Do you trust Roswaal? Who do you think Betty is going to ask Subaru about? Do you think the rabbits are connected to Maylie or Gluttony? And, is Echidna the best girl of the series? Let me know your predictions in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

3 Replies to “Re:ZERO Episode 33”

  1. Rather than describing what Beatrice has as being a true copy of the Tome of Wisdom, I would rather call it the not-quite-Tome of Wisdom since Crunchyroll indicates that what Beatrice has is the closest thing there is to the Tome of Wisdom without actually being it. Since it is actually quite effective in telling the future instead of a Witch Cult Gospel, it goes to say it is a working copy instead of a defective copy like a Gospel.

    DoubleSama, Roswaal didn’t tell Subaru to respond, “I am that person” to get Beatrice to ask the question. Rather, Roswaal wants Subaru to affirmatively answer “I am that person” after he manages to get Beatrice to ask the question.

    As per Crunchyroll, Roswaal says: “Get Beatrice to ask the question, then answer it affirmatively.”

    I don’t know whether Roswaal or Beatrice have roleplayed out this exact scenario, but Roswaal, for whatever reason, seems to believe that this will guarantee that Beatrice will ally with Subaru.

    What’s very suspicious is that Roswaal said that once he has allied with Beatrice, she will surely be a great help in solving all the problems concerning the Sanctuary. This would have been extremely helpful if Roswaal had instructed in his letter for Frederica to tell Subaru this before he left the mansion so that Subaru could ally with her earlier, but for some reason, Roswaal kept it to himself until now. I wonder what on Earth he is planning.

    You make a very good point about the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony possibly being involved with the rabbit mabeasts because of that particular mark, but Lye cannot actually erase people’s physical bodies as shown with Rem. As explained by Puck, people who have both their names and memories eaten basically become empty husks. Their bodies remain unlike those eliminated by the White Whale’s Fog of Elimination. So if the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony attacked, that doesn’t explain why there are no bodies, and when Puck kills people, there are definitely bodies, so Lye likely didn’t attack the Sanctuary.

    In my opinion, the reason the Sanctuary is deserted after the crystal teleported Subaru is that he was teleported not only spatially but also through time, which is why it became winter when he woke up. Perhaps Emilia passed all three trials and freed the Sanctuary’s residents by then, and everybody just up and left before Subaru’s body returned to the world. This poses a major question though: Where was Subaru’s body if he disappeared for months/years? Was it lost in spacetime during that entire time? Are we heading into sci-fi territory now too?

    My best girl is Crusch since she’s so dignified, confident, and capable. Like with you, Rem is nowhere near my list of best girls. Echidna being so easily flustered is cute, but she still has a ways to go for me despite what it appears to be comforting Subaru from the goodness of her heart. There could be an ulterior motive from her still that we don’t know of. Since Subaru wants to remember Echidna for good, she might impose some other payment on him before he leaves that shows she doesn’t have the purest of intentions.

    1. There are a few points you made here that are incorrect:

      1. I didn’t state that what Betty has is the Tome of Wisdom. I said that she has one of two true copies of the Tome of Wisdom.
      2. Roswaal doesn’t simply believe that Betty will agree to ally with Subaru if he says these things. He specifically stated that she’s bound by some sort of contract to do so and that she’s powerless to override it.

      I was originally thinking that Subaru was transported through time as well, and I still do think that’s a viable theory. So I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to think of that (nobody in my Discord server seemed to believe that was possible). But, after I remembered Gluttony’s ability, I thought that perhaps it wasn’t the case. Since the White Whale was Gluttony’s pet, I figured that maybe he would be able to completely erase people in the same way that it could.

      As for Crusch, I think she’s a good pick. She’s not in my top 5 Re:ZERO girls yet, but I do really like her character design. It’s probably my second favorite after Betty’s.

      1. My bad, DoubleSama. I should have realized what you meant when you referred to the Original Tome. And good catch with Roswaal saying that she was bound by contract to align with Subaru if Subaru says exactly what he’s supposed to. But I still maintain that this situation makes Roswaal even more by not including this information in the letter for Frederica as doing so would have allowed Subaru to align with Beatrice before they headed out to the Sanctuary. He even said explicitly this episode that Beatrice would be a great help in solving the problems at the Sanctuary. Whatever oath/contract he has bound Frederica to also seems at least somewhat suspect to me.

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