Re:ZERO Episode 40

Re:ZERO Episode 40

Otto Suwen

I don’t think that Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 episode 40 was all that amazing of an episode. But I will say that I’m glad we finally got some backstory on Otto. Otto isn’t one of my favorite characters in the series. However, his backstory makes him much more interesting.

Obviously, the biggest piece of Otto’s background information that we got is that the name of his ground dragon is Fulfew. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t previously known. But at the same time, I could very well be wrong about that. It’s possible that he mentioned Fulfew’s name even back in Season 1.

But actually, it was interesting to learn more about how his divine protection works. Back in Season 1, he had mentioned that he was able to communicate with animals. Specifically, I believe this line came when he and Subaru were fleeing from Betelgeuse in his monster form.

Young Otto talking to Fulfew the ground dragon from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2
Young Otto talking to Fulfew the ground dragon

Not only can Otto understand what animals are saying, but he can even talk back to them as well. Originally I thought that he could simply understand them. But as it turns out, he can have full conversations with them. And when he was younger, all of his friends were animals.

Unfortunately, at the start of his life, Otto’s divine protection was more like a curse than a blessing. He could hear so many voices all at once that everything sounded like a jumbled mess. It wasn’t until he was older that he learned to seal and selectively use his divine protection.

It also seems that while he could always hear the voices of animals, he has to use magic (or maybe just extra brainpower) to actually understand them. This is why he was fine hearing hundreds of voices at once as a child, but his nose started bleeding when he was using his divine protection while fleeing from Garfiel.

Buying Time for Subaru

Considering the fact that Garfiel has beaten Otto twice in previous timelines, killing him in one of them, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Otto didn’t stand a chance this time around. And even though he had some traps and plans laid out, it’s not like he put up that much of a fight.

But he got the job done, mostly thanks to some help from Ram. Ram siding with Otto and Subaru is potentially very telling. As she states, she would never go against Roswaal. So you could take this to mean that Roswaal actually told her to help Subaru.

I don’t believe that’s the case, though. While I do still think that Roswaal is laying plans for just in case Subaru succeeds, I don’t think he would actively help Subaru win their bet. As Ram also says, she’s still helping Roswaal, just in her own way. So it’s safe to assume that Ram thinks Subaru’s success at this moment will help Roswaal in the long run.

Garfiel vs. Otto and Ram from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2
Garfiel vs. Otto and Ram

Something else we have to consider here is that there’s more going on than just Subaru needing time to talk to Emilia alone. Remember, Garfiel is going into a rage because Emilia was missing and then he was unable to find Ryuzu Shima. This means that it’s the disappearance of Ryuzu that Otto and Ram planned for, not necessarily Subaru’s talk with Emilia.

So what’s really going on here? I think Subaru left Emilia’s side in the middle of the night to speak to Ryuzu. He probably tasked Ryuzu with protecting those at the mansion, which is why she’s gone. Since Ryuzu is a clone, she may not actually be bound to the Sanctuary by the barrier.

And if this is the case, he knew that Ryuzu’s disappearance would antagonize Garfiel. I don’t believe Subaru was counting on Emilia suddenly disappearing as well. He just wanted Otto and Ram to keep Garfiel occupied until he could return to Emilia’s side.

A Reason to Believe

Alright, let’s get it out of the way. Subaru and Emilia finally kissed. Technically Emilia actually kissed Subaru in an earlier timeline, but he was already dead at that point. So this is the first real kiss. Good for Subaru. He’s accomplished the first step of his dream.

The kiss aside, I liked what they did with Subaru’s and Emilia’s eyes in this scene. Throughout their whole conversation, we saw Emilia reflected in Subaru’s eyes. But we didn’t see Subaru reflected back in Emilia’s eyes until the very end when she finally trusts him again.

To be honest, it was predictable, and even a little cheesy. But I still liked it nonetheless. And, something I’m remembering now is that the last time eyes were focused on in this series was actually just before Emilia kissed Subaru’s corpse in Season 2 Part 1.

Subaru kissing Emilia from the anime series Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2
Subaru kissing Emilia

Now more than ever, I’m certain that Subaru is on the right track to escape the loop he’s been in. Resetting now would make this whole scene between him and Emilia a lot less compelling because we would know that he has to do it all over. But, that also means Emilia needs to complete the trials within 2 days or they need to figure out another way to defeat the Great Rabbit.

I’ve also seen some concern over whether or not Otto and Ram survived their fight with Garfiel. If they didn’t, it would likely mean that this isn’t the final timeline for this loop. But, while Garfiel has killed Otto in the past, I don’t think he did this time. He wouldn’t kill Ram. And since Ram was defending Otto, he probably wouldn’t kill Otto either.

Conclusion

What do you think of Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 episode 40? Did you like Otto’s backstory? Where do you think Subaru disappeared to in the middle of the night? And do you think he’s finally on the path out of this loop? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

8 Replies to “Re:ZERO Episode 40”

  1. With still ten episodes left, I don’t rule out the possibility of Subaru dying one more time, but I can also see him succeeding with this loop.

    As we saw in the first cour, the main reason Subaru had trouble with the second trial is that because of his numerous deaths that he was flooded with visions of timelines in which he died continuing. Given Emilia does not have an ability that causes her to loop, she should theoretically only see one unthinkable future, which would make it easier for her to complete that trial and then tackle the third trial immediately after if she is still composed mentally after undertaking the previous task.

    I have a theory about why Subaru has such unwavering affection for Emilia based mainly off of Episodes 18, 21, and 25 of Re:zero.

    In episode 25, Subaru said if Emilia mentioned 10 things she hated about himself that he’d tell her 2,000 things he likes about her. In episode 18, Puck told Petelgeuse that if he wants to kill them he needs to generate a thousand shadow hands, half of what Satella could, which is 2,000. This suggests that perhaps the reason Subaru thought of that specific number is that Satella influenced him subconsciously.

    I’m positive that Satella can influence Subaru given that she can read his mind and determine if his intent is to reveal Return by Death, which shows that subconsciously, there is a connection between them even if Subaru has no access to Satella, the Witch of Envy’s thoughts. So if Satella can make Subaru think of the number 2,000, which is associated with her, it’s possible that part of the reason Subaru’s affection for Emilia is so strong is because Emilia looks just like Satella, and Satella is subconsciously making him obsessed with someone who looks just like she does.

    In episode 21, when Crusch offered to Subaru to become one of her men, he turned her down and said it wasn’t about loyalty or allegiance, but his faith lies exactly where it should. This shows that his reason for supporting Emilia perhaps does not have a very solid foundation if loyalty has nothing to do with it

    I want to state clearly now that I’m not saying that the entire reason Subaru is attracted to Emilia is because of Satella. He does have a thing for silver-haired girls as shown by his taste in anime heroines, and Emilia did show that she had very good character when he first got summoned to the world and was struggling by himself in a foreign land, but I do think what he feels for Emilia is partially a result of the Witch of Envy’s influence.

    I also have an analysis of the Priscilla and Subaru scene in episode 16.

    My interpretation of the scenes in which Priscilla had an extreme reaction to Subaru considering licking her foot and her decision to grab Subaru’s arm and say to Emilia, “Is there a reason you stare at my manservant, half-wit?” is that Priscilla actually found Subaru to be attractive and possibly a potential lover after he had the moxie to show her that appas have red skin and stand up to the thugs even though he was a weakling. To me, Priscilla saying, “It seems you really are just an insignificant man!” shows that she thought Subaru was more than just a loser before he made a fool of himself at the castle, and her challenging Subaru to lick her foot was an attempt to see if he actually had any dignity left and to see whether he’d show the same kind of attitude he had when they first met, which was one that didn’t show deference to her and even taught her something new. Basically, I believe Priscilla was shit testing Subaru to see if he was worthy of her after her initial positive impression of him contrasted with his ugly outburst at the castle.

    On the surface, Priscilla may have been calling Subaru a jester and a clown, which would give reason for people to think she isn’t attracted to Subaru, but I didn’t take Priscilla’s words at face value because of just how offended Priscilla actually was by Subaru deciding to actually lick her foot. She lectured him about what he displayed not being an act of loyalty or devotion but more akin to a pig’s greed, leading her to say she would strike down any camp he was a part of, and this tells me that Subaru’s decision to lick her foot was something that was the complete opposite of what Priscilla wanted even though on the surface she made it sound like favouring his miniscule pride would lead to an undesirable result. I believe Priscilla decided that she would make a weak pathetic Subaru her mortal enemy was because he did something that insulted her to the core, and for someone as extremely proud and confident in herself to the extreme as Priscilla is, it would be to show that she was wrong about her judgement in some way, and that would be that Subaru showed that he was pathetic and not worth her time after she would go as far as to try and make Emilia jealous by grabbing his arm and suggesting that Subaru was her (Priscilla’s) manservant at the Royal Palace. Showing that she was wrong to think more of Subaru was shameful to her, so much that she beat the hell out of him, lectured him, and threatened him to strike down any camp he was a part of. That shows she wants Subaru to be humiliated as much as she had been or even moreso because it was a personal humiliation for her that she misjudged Subaru. This interpretation is backed by Priscilla saying, “Your careless behavior and attitude have lead me to that decision!” I do note that Priscilla may also have been angry because Subaru abandoned his pride, and for someone who values her pride so much, seeing Subaru lower himself to that level might have disgusted her, but I believe the main source of her anger that bordered on rage was a sense of humiliation. If Subaru was just a little ant or clown to her, she would not have reacted the way she did in my opinion.

    I know it might be a tough sell since it’s just one scene from a character that has only showed up in 3 episodes so far, but Priscilla’s outrage along with her body language during the scene which included her playing with her hair and uncrossing and crossing her legs says to me that she thought of Subaru as being more than just a clown or jester. I have seen some people say that the author has a mean streak with that Priscilla scene and was being nasty to Subaru for the hell of it, but I think that that scene had a lot of care and craft in how it was presented based on Priscilla’s tone of voice and also the music and tension and that it might be relevant to the endgame of Re:zero. I do acknowledge that it’ll be extremely difficult to convince Re:zero watchers that this particular interpretation is correct barring the airing of additional unreleased content that might be on the longer side of several seasons away, but I try my best to put myself into the shoes of the characters and see whether their interactions made sense, and coming to the conclusion I did was the only way I could make sense of Priscilla’s outrage in that scene. Her reaction changing from disappointment initially (judging by the voice acting and the line, “It seems you really are just an insignificant man!”) to that of righteous indignation is why I believe what I do about that scene.

    Now comes the part that will be something I don’t think anyone but me has predicted. I believe that Subaru will end up with a look-alike of Priscilla at the end of Re:zero when he gets sent back to the regular modern human world after Satella, the Witch of Envy, possesses Emilia’s body and gets Subaru to kill her with the help of a coalition of fighters, and Satella sends him back to where he came from in her dying moments. I believe Subaru will eventually grow closer to Priscilla in future arcs of Re:zero, and Subaru will have to settle with a look-alike of her when he returns to the world he grew up in. Luckily for Subaru, Priscilla has no recollection of the time he seriously considered licking her foot given that he was killed off by Puck in that loop, so there is time to mend that relationship.

    Why do I believe that Subaru has no chance of being with Emilia at the end of Re:zero? In the anime, there are already two incidents that suggest that Satella will possess Emilia at the end of the series. In Season 1, Petelgeuse stated that the Witch Cult’s goal is to test Emilia to see if she can be a vessel for the Witch, and if so, the Witch will be revived on a coming fated day. The second incident is in Season 2 when Satella told Subaru to come kill her one day, and given that Satella’s original body is immortal, that would only be possible if Satella possessed a body that can be killed, and Emilia’s body fits the bill for that purpose. Thus, Satella’s endgame goal is to possess Emilia’s body and finally be killed off. I see no reason why this will not come to pass given the hints we’ve gotten from the anime already. Maybe Emilia is Subaru’s first love, but she won’t be the one he ends up with in my opinion.

    1. I’m going to have to disagree with your theory about Subaru killing Emilia and Satella at the end of the series. When Satella tells Subaru that she wants him to kill her, his response is that he’ll save her. In the end, I think Subaru will figure out a way to save both Emilia and Satella. That’s who he is as a character. As many other characters have stated, Subaru is extremely greedy in how he wants to save everyone. And so far, he has saved everyone he set out to.

      I think it would be a much more fitting end for the story if Subaru used the return by death ability granted to him by Satella to figure out a way to save her rather than kill her as she wants.

      1. I just believe that given the threat level that Satella represents that it’ll be impossible to save her. Subaru and his friends are mortal after all, and there should be limits to what they can do against a being of such a caliber even if they genuinely want to save Emilia.

        1. I mean, Subaru can just keep resetting until he figures out a way to do it. And we’ve met Satella. It’s not like she’s a completely unagreeable person.

  2. Well this episode was nice as we get to see a bit of background info on Otto. I really enjoy this anime and I can’t wait to watch the next episode! I hope they’ll make a 3rd season for rezero

    1. It will probably get a third season at some point. But because of the nature of the anime industry, it’s also possible that it won’t and they’ll just expect you to go read the light novels instead.

  3. Gonna be honest, the entire speech with Subaru and Emelia didn’t really make sense for me. Did we ever get a reason why Subaru left Emelia and created this kind of stupid misunterstanding? I genuinely couldn’t remember why. More over, I got heavy season 1 vibes from when Emelia broke it off with him after he made a fool of himself. I did like the call back to his mother’s advice and how they presented that, but the entire thing felt like it was just petty things after petty things (why didn’t you stay with me?, you’re just being selfish, etc.) I didn’t really feel impacted by it in the same way that the Subaru and Rem scene in s1 with her confession worked. This is NOT because I like Rem more than Emelia, or vice verse, this is purely from the standpoint of looking at two touching scenes in the anime and seeing how they wen’t about. In this case, the lead up felt week, and the arguments brought up by both sides felt reused, leaving me feeling kind of dissapointed and cringing a little. This is my opinion, I’d love to see how other people feel about the points I’ve made.

    1. We never got a reason for where Subaru went. But it seemed to be implied that he was meeting up with Ryuzu Shima since Garfiel couldn’t find her around the same time.

      I agree with your opinion that the Emilia and Subaru scene wasn’t all that great. However, I’m coming from a different perspective. Yes, there was a lot of petty stuff, but at the same time, this scene is still showing how both characters have grown. In season 1, arguing over petty things drove the two of them apart. This time, it brought them together. My issue is that I thought it was too predictable for it to really be an emotional scene. I’m not saying that there had to be a twist or anything. It’s a good scene. But since I’ve always expected that Emilia and Subaru would end up together like this, it doesn’t have the same impact.

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