Crow and I are back for part 2 of Re:Zero season 2. The post is up on Crow’s sit right now! YAY!
Introduction In Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 39, “STRAIGHT BET,” Otto beats the meaning of friendship into Subaru. Emboldened by this unusual act of bro-ness, Subaru confronted… 2,005 more words
Re:ZERO Season 2 Part 2 Episode 39: The Best Bro and Upping the Stakes — Crow’s World of Anime
Roswaal would never lay groundwork for Subaru to beat him in the next loop, so it’s clear Roswaal is indicating he is laying some groundwork for himself, meaning he really wants to win this bet. Here’s what I think. Roswaal seemed to think it’s not a bad idea to lay the groundwork for the next loop, which indicates Roswaal thinks that the bet he and Subaru made will affect Subaru in the next loop, which will be something Subaru has never experienced before, having a consequence from a previous loop directly inconvenience him in the next loop.
I’m not sure what kind of bet would be able to transfer over between lives, but I have a theory based off of my theory of souls and soul scents that I have posted about before. As you recall from episode 18 of Re:zero, Petelgeuse indicated that in death, he would be reunited with the Witch, which indicates there’s an afterlife and strongly indicates the presence of souls in Re:zero. Arbiter Melakuera indicated there was reincarnation in Re:zero in the Re:zero OVAs, which is a second instance that suggests that there are souls in Re:zero. Season 2 confirmed that souls are a thing in a Re:zero when Echidna indicated that her soul was trapped in the Witch’s Graveyard in the afterlife. As we all know, the Witch has a very foul smell given what we know of Subaru and Witch cultists, and I speculate that the reason they reek of her scent is because her soul smells horrible considering that her body is very likely sealed and should have no biological function. This suggests that Subaru and Witch cultists have their souls bonded to Satella, the Witch of Envy’s soul, and that is the source of the smell. I’m now getting to my point. I believe that the first step of Return by Death involves resetting time, restoring Subaru’s body and resetting to a previous point in time and that when Subaru dies, his soul goes to the afterlife, and the reason Subaru smells more strongly of the Witch after a death is because of increased exposure to the Witch’s soul. This suggests that the soul does not reset with Return by Death, or else he wouldn’t smell more strongly of the Witch after a death. This also suggests the soul is the reason Subaru retains his memories from previous lives since his brain shouldn’t remember anything since it is straight up restored to its previous state, meaning the second step of Return by Death is sending Subaru’s soul back into his restored body. As for why Subaru can’t remember spending time with Satella in the afterlife, remember when Echidna forced Subaru to forget that he had met her after her first tea party with him? That shows that the Witches of Sin have the power to do that and would explain why Subaru wouldn’t remember meeting Satella.
So if Roswaal and Subaru’s bet somehow has a mandatory effect on the soul, then Subaru would be forced to do whatever Roswaal wishes even after a death because Return by Death does not reset the soul. This could have some very huge implications if this is indeed what Roswaal has in mind. I hope Subaru can actually win on this loop, as otherwise, I think he might be in for another mental breakdown if he is forced to choose either the Sanctuary or the mansion in the next loop against his will if he fails during this current loop. I do want to note that it’d be an interesting way to add tension to the story since Subaru would not be able to kill himself to undo the effect on his soul. This could be a very dangerous bet Subaru made, so he better win, or I suspect he’ll be Roswaal’s lapdog in the future.
Another thing I found interesting was what Subaru said to Otto. One thing I didn’t think was clear based off of Crunchyroll’s subs was what Subaru meant when he said, “Unlike Garfiel, I don’t have to worry about dying.” Did Subaru tell Otto offscreen that he can’t die? Or did Subaru mean that if Garfiel tried to get Emilia to spill the beans, that he might die because she’d panic and lose control of her powers since she doesn’t trust Garfiel while that wouldn’t happen if he himself talked to Emilia since they have a connection. If he indeed told Otto offscreen that he can’t die, maybe that is a convenient way to get around attempting to tell somebody about Return by Death or his looping. Echidna did mention that Subaru would never experience true death, so maybe telling someone he is immortal but not mentioning RBD or his looping would be something Satella would be okay with him sharing.
I’m not sure if something was lost in translation or if we’ll get an answer in coming episodes. Occasionally, reZero does have these little unexplainable moments.