In Re:ZERO Season 2 episode 38 (or 13), “The Sounds That Make You Want to Cry,” we reach the end of the second season. And what an ending it was! Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime and I collaborated to review this season, and it’s Irina’s turn to host the full review. If you’re the impatient sort, you can jump straight to the review here!
At the end of the previous episode, Subaru had barely escaped a one-sided contract with Echidna, but only because of the intervention of the other witches like Minerva. The situation was very tense, but this is Re:ZERO. It can always get worse.
Now, in Re:ZERO Season 2 Episode 38, Satella arrived.
Echidna was surprised, and a little miffed, that Satella could even enter her “castle of dreams.” Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The buildup was fantastic. For the entire run of Re:ZERO, Satella cast a long shadow of uncertain terror over Subaru. She’s the one who gave him Return by Death. It was her hand he felt on his heart when he tried to tell others about that power. And now she stood before him and the other witches.
I had a few vague ideas of what might happen.
Satella, the Witch of Envy, did none of those things. I guess that’s why she’s a witch. Her thoughts and motivations are ever beyond a mere human like me!
Please head over to Irina’s site to read our review of this, the final episode of season two. Please do feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments, too!
Reviews of the Other Episodes
- Re:Zero 2 episode 1 – Like Dejà Vu All Over Again
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 2 (ep 27) – The Lost Forest of Clemaldy
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 3 (ep 28) – The Long-Awaited Reunion
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 4 (ep 29) – That Should Not Have Worked
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 5 (ep 30) – Once More Unto the Breach
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 6 (ep 31) – Knifey and the Three Maids
- Re:ZERO 2 episode 7 (ep 32) – Beatrice’s Reasons
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 8 (or 33) – Before I Heard You, I Saw You
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 9 (or 34) – Natsuki Subaru and the Magical Maniacal Menagerie
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 10 (or 35) – The Witch’s Tears and the Apostle of Greed
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 11 (or 36) – Fridge Horror
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 12 (or 37) – Evil Rem and the Uninvited Guest
- Re:ZERO 2 Episode 13 (or 38) – What is Taken Shall Be Returned
A question this episode raised is how has Roswaal survived for over 400 years if he had met Echidna 400 years ago?
I also think the odds of Emilia dying at the end of Re:zero has increased with this episode. Satella asked Subaru to eventually come kill her, and given that the Witch Cult’s goal is test Emilia to see whether she’d be a good vessel for the Witch as instructed by their Gospels, I can see Satella possessing Emilia’s body at the end of the show, requiring for Subaru and a coalition of fighters to kill Satella and Emilia since Emilia’s body is killable unlike Satella’s original body that was immortal. I don’t think the odds are very good that Subaru will be able to save Satella or Emilia if my prediction comes to pass as Subaru is just a human after all.
I’ve thought about why Satella would want to be killed, and since she loves Subaru to extreme levels and wants him to love himself, maybe having Subaru kill her, leading to him becoming hailed as one of the greatest heroes in history, would be the ultimate proof of her love for him. I don’t know if this is true, but if this is how she’s really thinking, Satella has not at all considered that Subaru having to kill Emilia would be devastating for him. I’m not sure Subaru would even want to become a great hero if he had to kill Emilia, but if he had to choose between Emilia and saving the entire world, I think he’d choose the world (even if it was with great reluctance and angst) given that he told his not-actually-his-mom in the first trial that anyone who chooses mayonnaise over the world hates the world.
“A question this episode raised is how has Roswaal survived for over 400 years if he had met Echidna 400 years ago?”
Among all of the amazing stuff that was going on, I admit that question went right past me. It’s a good one, though. How _did_ Roswaal live that long?
“I don’t think the odds are very good that Subaru will be able to save Satella or Emilia if my prediction comes to pass as Subaru is just a human after all.”
That’d be tough. I honestly don’t know what Subaru would do. His goal is to save Emilia first, and everyone else second. I don’t know what he’d do if he’d have to kill Emilia.
“maybe having Subaru kill her, leading to him becoming hailed as one of the greatest heroes in history, would be the ultimate proof of her love for him. ”
I think that’s a sound theory. I’m not sure if I can embrace it yet. The question of why she wants Subaru to kill her fascinates me regardless.
“but if he had to choose between Emilia and saving the entire world, I think he’d choose the world ”
I’m still not sure he could make that choice. At least, not in his present state.
I’m really looking forward to the next season!