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Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45 – A (Literally) Shattered Heart and Clown Face Off

Quick Summary of Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45

In Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45, “The Beginning of the Sanctuary and the Beginning of the End,” Subaru’s confrontation with Roswaal resulted in a flashback that told the story of how Echidna, Roswaal, Beatrice, and Ryuuzu started Sanctuary. Not only the how, but the why — and its terrible price. Back in the present, Subaru demands that Roswaal surrender. Is there any chance that Roswaal will capitulate? Or is he too much like Subaru? Is there any way forward for them?

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: My Turn to Host!

Welcome to our collaboration review of Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2, Episode 44. Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime and I have teamed up to give you twice stunning insights. Well, Irina’s insights tend to be stunning. Someone has to offer contrast. I mean, if everyone’s stunning, no one is, right? So I gladly accept the challenge of not being stunning.

That out of the way, Irina, before we get to the review, any opening thoughts about the episode?

I liked the beginning and it made me realize that it’s actually been a while since I watched a good ol’ slice of life. That’s what I’m going to go for next. I could use just some idle but comforting fun.

Mind you I JUST started Jujutsu Kaisen (the first episode was pretty awesome) and Flip Flappers so I think I’ll get through those first but after that. 

I predict you’ll like Flip Flappers. Episode 5 had this hilarious… Oh, wait, we’re Re:ZEROing right now, aren’t we?

Irina’s bold. In bold, too. There will be spoilers. 

Review of Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45

Introduction

Three things about this episode jumped out at me. First, we got to meet yet another witch, and this witch had three distinguishing features. First, Hector is the first of the witches to be a warlock — at least to my recollection. Second, Hector and Roswaal didn’t get along, which is another way of saying that Hector splintered Roswaal’s heart. I don’t mean romantically, either. Third, Hector has an interesting speech idiosyncrasy that we’ve seen before. If I could just think of where…

The second thing to jump out about this episode was what Ryuuzu had to step up and do — and Beatrice’s reaction. If you’re a fan of Beatrice, you’re in for a treat, and not only because of her praiseworthy pout!

Finally, as we saw in the previous episode, Subaru advised Roswaal to surrender. The resulting shouting match reminded me just how much I like it when Re:ZERO lets loose with dialogue-heavy scenes. 

If I’ve missed anything, Irina, please do jump in wherever you think best!

I think you cover it awesomely as always, Crow!

Why, thanks!

The Specter of Hector

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: Hector does not seem like a happy man

Hector looks like a thoroughly miserable person. Sounds like one, too. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Re:ZERO likes to keep us in the dark regarding plot. Honestly, the mystery can be a lot of fun. In this episode, we learned the Echidna had been teaching magic to Roswaal in part to prepare for erecting a magical barrier around Sanctuary. Why? Well, it turns out the warlock Hector is on the rampage, and he’s coming to get Echidna. We don’t know why. We don’t know where he came from or why (at least I) haven’t heard of the Witch of Melancholy before now. I don’t mean that in a negative way. We don’t need to know that for what happens in the episode. 

What we do need to know is that Echidna wasn’t ready, that Roswaal was at wit’s end because they were almost ready, and that Hector was a big deal. So big a deal that Echidna knew she couldn’t take him on. That was a little chilling!

That was obviously Echidna. We’ve seen her before with Beatrice and Ryuzu. And we know that’s clearly her dress. So why did they bother hiding her face the entire episode? It’s kind of an odd choice. A lot of reZero fans happen to enjoy seeing the ladies on the show. So it just feels like a framing trick for no reason. I honestly didn’t get what the cinematic language was going for there. 

Anyways, before Hector showed up, I thought it was great. Maybe my favourite episode of the second season, both parts included. But I wasn’t really into Hector as a bad guy. He’s my least favorite witch so far. No big reason, just personal preference.

Roswaal’s Best Wasn’t Good Enough

I wondered why they hid her eyes, too. She has such pretty eyes! And Hector had a cool design vibe going on.

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: Roswaal's best was not good enough

Roswaal gave it his best shot. It wasn’t enough. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

What was even more chilling was what happened when Roswaal went out to slow Hector down. He had to buy time, because he and Echidna had been so close to erecting Sanctuary’s barrier that they just needed one component. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

Roswaal went out to face Hector, and the first thing we see was Roswaal flying through the air. Hector just tore the poor guy apart. By the end of the “fight,” Roswaal lay in a shallow crater. Hector told Roswaal that he might as well give up, because his bones were shattered, his organs liquified, and his heart torn apart. 

All in all, a bad day for Roswaal.

Irina, what did you think of the fight? Did you notice that Hector sometimes drew out his vowels in the same way that Roswaal does now?

Yup, I noticed. It was really obvious and they were super insistent on it. It’s likely a borrowed power thing but my headcanon is that Roswaal is a huge dork that goes around imitating quirks he thinks will make him sound cooler. 

Mortal or Venial?

Is melancholy a sin? Like being a glum party pooper is just evil according to re:ZERO. Cause I think I can get behind that mindset! I want to see the witch of Walking Really Slowly on busy sidewalks and the witch of Starting a Sentence then Stopping in the Middle and Saying, Nevermind. I can sort of imagine their character designs and all. 

Like the Knights that Say Nevermind? Or was that Nee? I can never remember…

Eyes up here, cameraman!

It was at this point that I thought, “Um, eyes are a little higher, camera man!” But clearly, Echidna was not happy to see Hector. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Echidna finally comes out to face Hector, but we don’t get to see what happens beyond the two of them talking as if they were ex-lovers who had had a terrible break up. That’s because we switched back to Ryuuzu and Beatrice in the chamber with the huge blue crystal. In the “present,” there’s a naked Ryuuzu in the crystal. In that flashback, the crystal is empty.

Guess what’s coming!

When Ryuuzu, Roswaal, and Echidna had discussed escape, Ryuuzu realized that her “od” could be the catalyst to bring the barrier on line. Did the show tell us what “od” meant? I don’t recall if it did, so I looked it up (we do have a spoiler warning, don’t we?). It means the energy a being is born with. Sounds rather important, from the perspective of living. 

Ryuuzu’s Intention

Beatrice doesn’t know that this is Ryuuzu’s intention. Beatrice only knew that Echidna told her to be in the chamber — not what would happen.

And before I forget, since I mentioned Beatrice’s pout, you can see it at 02:51. Well worth looking up!

Anyway, the way Ryuuzu spoke made Beatrice really nervous. When Ryuuzu started saying goodbye, Beatrice’s expression and halting attempts to talk Ryuuzu out of it really got to me. This time, Beatrice’s emotions felt more intense and honest than they did back in episode 33. I think it was her attempts to bargain with Ryuuzu that did it. That just seemed like something Beatrice would do.

Beatrice realizes what Ryuuzu is up to

Beatrice finally figured out what Ryuuzu wasn’t saying. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

What’d you think, Irina?

I don’t remember that scene too well. 

What is Ryuzy exactly? Did we ever find out? I know that she is the core and that in the future there are tons of clones of her, but is she the same as Beatrice? Is she just a normal half elf. Why does it have to be her? I feel like everytime I learn a bit more in reZero, I just get a ton more questions. I’m just being impatient I know but hey, I’m an impatient girl! I wanna know! 

Ryuuzu, Socially Adrift?

I wondered that, too. Ryuuzu even mentioned she couldn’t be happy elsewhere, but now why. So many questions…

The last thing that jumped out at me was the scene at the end, where Subaru, flanked by Garfiel and Otto, confronted Roswaal. First, it’s still cool to see that Subaru has friends. Second, it became obvious that Roswaal wasn’t about to back down, and it was because he still thought he had the upper hand. Why? His worldview.

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: Roswaal is determined

Roswaal has had a long time to build his view of the world. He’s not about to abandon it now. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

That worldview started to show some cracks when Roswaal verbally attacked Garfiel and tried to shake his resolve. Roswaal said Garfiel must not have loved his parents much if, after 10 years, he so easily decided to follow Subaru.

I expected Garfiel to explode into rage. But he didn’t. Instead, he had what is among my favorite quotes of the whole danged series: “But I will tell you the one big reason I decided to follow him instead of you. ‘Cause rather than the one who told me to stay weak forever, why wouldn’t I follow the one who says ‘I need you because you’re strong’?”

Garfiel’s Resolve

Garfiel’s statement moved me. It highlighted the difference between Roswaal and Subaru. Roswaal bet on people’s weakness. Subaru wanted to bet on their strengths. 

What’d you think, Irina? Did you feel a little proud of the young Garfiel?

For not losing his temper?

re:ZERO tends to be very cut and dry with character arcs. Garfiel already had his episode where he got beaten and had to come to grips with his past and all that. I’m sure he’ll be just fine from now on!

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: Garfiel is confident.

Hanging out with Subaru seems to have done wonders for Garfiel’s confidence. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Subaru and Roswaal continued their argument until Roswaal said that both he and Subaru had something in common. This is the application of what Garfiel said, and it gives me the best reason I’ve seen to support Subaru. Roswaal said that “in the sense that we both force our ideals upon the women we love.” Roswaal wanted to see Emilia clinging to Subaru in tears. Subaru wanted to elevate Emilia. 

We don’t know what happened to Hector. We know that Pandora is still out there waiting for Emilia. The assassins are still on the way to the mansion. But now, the differences between Subaru and Roswaal are more clear, and I’m beginning to see a way the narrative strands could come together in an emotionally satisfying way.

Closing Thoughts about Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45

A peaceful, happy scene.

There were a lot of quiet, enjoyable moments in the first half of this episode. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Irina, what’d you think of the episode? Any closing thoughts?

I really enjoyed the first half before Hector’s entrance. I think that one thing that’s sorely missing this season is, for lack of a better word, a filler episode. You know, just one episode where nothing really happens and we get a chance to catch up with everyone in their quieter moments. 

And I’m still not convinced the mansion folk aren’t permadead. I wish they would give us a sign that there’s still something going on there. 

If Frederica, Petra, or, heaven forbid, Rem die, them you better believe I’m writing a sternly-worded letter to someone!

Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45: Other Posts

This Collaboration (I Drink and Watch Anime and Crow’s World of Anime!)

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9 thoughts on “Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 45 – A (Literally) Shattered Heart and Clown Face Off

  1. If Tappei is following biblical history, this should the last witch/warlock of sin. There were 9 in total. The 2 lesser known ones are the sin of vainglory and acedia(melancholy/Depression). Someone also brought up that the power seems to be that he weighs people down which is a neat actualization of melancholy. Sloth’s power also has an interesting resemblance to the sin itself. Having many hand to make work easy is a decent idea of being slothful

  2. I forgot to note that Roswaal dropped a bombshell this episode when he said that Emilia and Satella, the Witch of Envy, share the same lineage. This shows they share a common ancestor and hurts speculation about Emilia and Satella being the same person. I think at this point that it’s more likely that Emilia and Satella are sisters by blood.

    1. I heard Roswaal say that. I’m not sure what lineage means in the context of witches. But Emilia and Satella look so much alike that I wonder if they’re twins.

      I still remember how Emilia introduced herself to Subaru when they first met, way back in the first episode. She introduced herself as Satella. I still don’t know what that meant.

      1. I think she just wanted to scare Subaru away so that she could find out where her insignia was on her own. Remember in the final loop when Emilia arrived at the loothouse much earlier without coming into contact with Subaru (which Subaru even had a thought about when he realized it was Emilia and not Elsa)? As much as Subaru would like to think that he was helping, Subaru probably hindered Emilia in being able to find Felt. What I think Emilia didn’t count on was Subaru not reacting negatively to the name of Satella at all, which forced her to put up with Subaru given that he didn’t know the history behind that name.

  3. My main takeaways from this episode were that Hector was the reason Echidna built the Sanctuary, that Hector and Echidna were probably a couple, and that Roswaal probably imitates Hector in the present as a reminder of his brutal defeat to him.

    Hector notes he didn’t want to end up being the way he is, but Roswaal indicates that Hector definitely chose this path among the limited options he had, which means that Hector likely killed the previous Devil/Warlock/Witch of Melancholy and inherited his/her Witch Factor. Echidna notes that Hector hasn’t changed since they parted ways, and Hector indicates Echidna still doesn’t know how to talk to him properly. He remarks that she was really adorable back then though, and all of this shows that Echidna and Hector likely dated each other in the past. I wonder if it was Hector’s downer personality that caused them to break up with each other, assuming that they were in fact a couple. So Hector is the current Devil/Warlock of Hector, and he appears to be Echidna’s crazy ex-boyfriend who might be the possessive (and vengeful?) type who stalked her so much that Echidna had to create the Sanctuary to keep him away. Thus, Echidna’s experiment with using the Sanctuary to try to obtain immortality, which was revealed in the first cour, was probably developed after she was able to keep Hector away.

    I think Roswaal might have chosen to imitate Hector because he was jealous of Hector’s power and also, if I’m right, of Hector once having dated Echidna. A big point of this episode was that Roswaal is fixated on people being weak, so he might dress and talk like Hector because the encounter with Hector showed to Roswaal how powerless he actually was, leading to Roswaal gaining the strength he has in the current day because he reminds himself constantly of that beatdown from Hector long ago.

    I am very skeptical of the theory that Roswaal borrowed Hector’s power or that he and Hector combined as Hector has red eyes, and current day Roswaal does not have a red eye. I believe a behavioural explanation potentially makes more sense than any theory of Roswaal somehow having access to Hector’s power/being in some way being behind why Roswaal is the way he is in the present. Roswaal becoming stronger by reminding himself of a moment of weakness is a common trope in anime, so I find this to be a more plausible explanation.

    1. “I think Roswaal might have chosen to imitate Hector because he was jealous of Hector’s power and also, if I’m right, of Hector once having dated Echidna. ”

      I can see Roswaal being really POed that Hector had once been romantic with Echidna. But I’m struggling to see him deciding to imitate Hector.

      I don’t have another explanation, unless it has something to do with the barrier. Maybe when it came on line, it absorbed Hector and used his energy to reconstitute Roswaal. After all, he was in really bad shape.

      But I guess we’ll see. Or not — Re:ZERO hasn’t been shy about withholding explanations until later!

      1. It was revealed in Season 1 that Beatrice can heal near fatal wounds unlike Emilia and Puck, so I think there’s a decent chance that Beatrice healed Roswaal after the barrier being activated allowed for Echidna (and maybe Beatrice too) to drive Hector away.

      2. Upon thinking about it, my answer was incomplete. I sometimes assume that other people can read my mind and don’t explain myself as well as I should.

        Another reason I believe Beatrice healed Roswaal is because she has on 3 occasions indicated that she can gauge a person’s condition even without being right next to that person, which shows she is innately sensitive to the life force that living beings give off. The first time this was shown was in Episode 17 when Beatrice came out after the Witch killed Emilia because Subaru steeled himself to tell Emilia about Return by Death even if it meant that his heart would be squeezed, leading to the Witch killing Emilia to deter future attempts of doing so. In Episode 32, Beatrice indicated the exact moment that Rem was killed by Elsa when she said Subaru’s reason for returning to Rem’s room had just disappeared. This episode, Beatrice indicated that she needed to save Roswaal before he actually died, showing that she had both an understanding of the extent of Roswaal’s injuries and felt confident that it was within her power to heal his injuries given that she can replace lost organs as she revealed in Season 1, so damaged organs should be something Beatrice can heal.

        Based on what the first cour revealed, I don’t think the Sanctuary barrier has the power to absorb Hector. The 2 revealed purposes of the barrier are to disorient outsiders to prevent them from getting close (Episode 27) and to keep half-bloods from leaving the Sanctuary (Episode 28).

Please let me know what you think!

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