A very talkative episode this time around, and there were some shocking revelations and some answers that I desperately wanted. I really appreciate that we finally got a proper look into Ram and Roswaal’s relationship with one another, though there’s still questions of course.
Before I get too annoying, I’ll just get this out of the way right now but wow I love Emilia. I know I’ve said that a million times, but hear me out. Her development these past few episodes have been staggering, and even the other characters can see how much stronger she’s gotten. Her whole conversation with Roswaal was similar to her interactions with Echidna. While both characters would take jabs at her, Emilia responded in her usual polite manner, but with a stronger sense of maturity and confidence. She doesn’t buckle down when confronted by them, and freely speaks her mind with conviction. She knows she’s a person with her own desires and wants to continue to grow and move forward in her life. She slaps down Roswaal’s preconceived notion that he and Subaru are similar, stating that Subaru’s words weren’t so he could force his own ideals onto her, but to help her. And if they were lies, she’d just turn them into her own wishes because this is something she truly wants to do, Subaru just gave her the push she needed. AND! I JUST LOVE HER! Her growth is phenomenal and I continue to be so proud of her. She’s doing this because she wants to, she’s deciding to help Ram because she wants to. Nothing is being forced onto her and she’s going to prove Roswaal wrong, dammit! Ugh…she’s just so good. This season just gave me everything I wanted for Emilia and I can’t get over it. Oh, and the detail of Emilia holding Ram’s hand throughout the whole conversation was sweet. <3
Ram has also taken on the spotlight this episode as well. For the longest time I wondered, what is Ram and Roswaal’s relationship and why is she so loyal to him? So much information was thrown at us but I think I mostly get it, though one thing I still don’t get. So, it turns out that Roswaal was part of the group that attacked Rem and Ram’s village. As it was written in the Tome, Ram had “no choice” but to swear loyalty to him. Why? Roswaal mostly saw Ram is simply a tool to be used, but their deal was that when the times comes he has no desire to live, she can do what she pleases with him. Killing him, most likely, in order to get revenge for what happened as a child. I feel like there’s still some things unsaid right now but we still got a huge revelation. One thing I don’t get after learning all this, is how Ram still seems to have a genuine love/loyalty to Roswaal after all he’s done. She confronted Emilia and pleaded her to save Roswaal from his disillusions of the past and of Echidna. She wants her to take the royal throne so Roswaal can achieve his goal that he mentioned before, and not busy himself with whatever nonsense he has going on right now.
Ram should rightfully harbor hatred towards Roswaal, but it doesn’t seem that way at all. Their fight is mostly just to knock some sense into him. In the end, the only thing I can think of is that Ram genuinely cares for him and probably grew to pity him after all these years what with him clinging to the past. She wants to see him also move forward to be “saved”, like she told Emilia. I’d love to see more on that very soon. Also Puck!!! I always get so happy when I see this little guy! I hope we get to see their fight next time, it should be super exciting.
And just like Ram said, Subaru has some good timing. The boys make it to the mansion in time and are ready to take on Elsa (and Meili, wherever she is). Subaru’s going to handle Beatrice, while Garf is going to take on Elsa. Frederica and Garfiel’s reunion ended up being funnier than I imagined it would be. It’d be cool to see them fight together, but I have a good feeling that Frederica will end up against Meili.
Next time, so many things will happen. Fights, more fights, speaking with Beatrice, and Emilia continuing to take on the trials and free the Sanctuary. Still so much to look forward to!
Maybe I’m wrong, but I got the distinct act that Ram really was acting for at least part of her speech to Emilia when she Emilia she wants her to make Roswaal’s wish to come true. I got the sense she intended for Roswaal to hear that so that he’d lower his guard and not preemptively incapacitate Ram in anticipation that she had something up her sleeve. I think even her shivering, which seemed to be because of fear, was an act, so that Roswaal wouldn’t expect that she’d interfere with his plans further, preemptively incapacitating her in the process. Ram did say in the chamber with the crystal that she wouldn’t let his wish come true after all, which is probably a truer gauge of her beliefs instead of when she was talking to Emilia.
I also don’t think Ram was forced to serve him because of his not-quite-Tome of Wisdom. I believe the reason Ram was forced to serve Roswaal is because she lost her horn and needed him. Remember after the Ulgarm battle, Roswaal says he is going to tend to her because she used a lot of mana? At the time, I thought it was a sexual thing, but given that he was touching her horn area, it’s probably because it’s necessary to replenish her mana. As we saw in Otto and Ram’s fight with Garfiel, Ram’s horn area started spewing out blood after she exerted herself trying to use her demon powers without her horn, so she probably needs someone to tend to her horn area to stay alive and replenish her mana. I think Roswaal taking out his not-quite-Tome of Wisdom is because he no longer has anything to lose, so he decided he might as well do it.
I also believe Roswaal is mistaken in his belief that the world is coming to an end soon. Roswaal remarks that Emilia really has changed, but says it doesn’t matter what Emilia does because the world is headed in the wrong direction and to a point in which it will end, which shows either that Roswaal thinks this is a failed loop and that Subaru will reset it or that Roswaal is mistaken about what it means when his not-quite-Tome of Wisdom stops telling the future much like how Beatrice thought her copy of the tome no longer having new updates shows that her life was going to end. I’m more keen on Roswaal’s book no longer telling the future after a certain point means that Ram and Puck will be successful in destroying his book.
On second thought, I’ve changed my mind. Ram was probably acting for Emilia since Emilia still doesn’t know about Roswaal’s plans. I guess the shivering was due to fear after all. It makes no sense for her to be acting for Roswaal when after that given she talked about his delusions afterward. I overthought things.
I don’t retract the rest of what I said though.
I gave it some thoughts, and I have an idea that explains why Ram is working with Roswaal even though it doesn’t explain everything about their relationship.
On Ram, I know her relationship with Roswaal is still murky, but I am speculating about something regarding their relationship based off of what we’ve seen in Season 1 and Season 2, inferring that Roswaal is the one keeping Ram alive. Roswaal indicated in Season 1 at the end of the first arc that Ram had used a lot of mana, so he’ll have to tend to her, which entailed touching her horn area. At the time, I thought it had a sexual purpose given Ram’s reaction to it, but after episode 40 when Ram started bleeding from her horn area when she used her demon powers to fight Garfiel, it’s clear that Ram overburdened herself by attempting to tap into those powers without her horn, so given Roswaal’s remark that she had lost a lot of mana, I now conclude that Ram cannot regain her mana naturally because of her horn being cut off, meaning that Roswaal is the one keeping Ram alive. I remember in Season 1 during the White Whale fight that the Night Banisher’s brightness dimmed some time after Rem used her horn, which shows that demon horns draw in mana from the atmosphere, and that’s how I came to this conclusion. Ram lost the part of her that naturally replenishes her mana, so she must have somebody who has the sufficient mana reserves to keep her alive with that person being Roswaal.