Sheesh, if I thought last episode was gruesome, this episode proved to be even more bloody as it felt a lot less censored in terms of gore and it made me so uncomfortable. The series literally goes out of its way to show how bad things turn out when Subaru attempts to shoulder the burden on his own or run in without knowing specific things. In the case of the former… that felt like it was the absolute worst death Subaru has sustained from the three deaths he suffered against Sirius. The way she threw him off the side of the edge and snapped him into being hung was so viscerally disturbing with how things literally came out of him when it happened. And ain’t no way I was gonna slow mo that to get a better look at what they were. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t die right then and there because I would have thought that impact would have just snapped his neck. It probably would have been better if he did though considering death by suffocation must be so much worse than a quick death. I would have thought Subaru would have learned to not go into things on his own because they always end terrible.
His second plan was a bit better as calling Reinhard over helped him with his first experience in this world. Unfortunately, without really knowing the extent of what Sirius is capable of and Reinhard’s abilities and what they entail. I can completely understand why Subaru believed that Reinhard could be the solution since he was able to handle Elsa handily, even if she did end up surviving in the end. With how powerful Reinhard is, it’s hard to believe that there is anything he can’t handle. But because of how Sirius’ power works, to which I still don’t fully understand it, it ended up arguably worse than the what happened during the first death since it would be as if Reinhard was the one responsible for killing everyone. If this timeline had been permanent, I’m sure Reinhard wouldn’t forgive himself since his actions caused so many people and even children to get killed. It definitely could have caused an uproar with his family and most likely killed his chances of being on better terms with Wilhelm. His rank could possibly be stripped as well. This incident could have cost him everything and ruined him emotionally and mentally. Thankfully that wasn’t the case as Sirius’ power got Subaru killed a third time.
Fourth’s time the charm? In this case, things seemed to go so much better comparatively in regards to lives that were lost since by the end of it, technically no one died. But we’ll get to that. I really appreciate how much emphasis they put into teamwork and being able to be there for one another in this series. Things always go terribly wrong when Subaru goes at it alone, but with the support of others, things always seem to go better. It’s so refreshing to see him be able to trust and open up to Beatrice with this issue. Especially since she’s able to deduce the situation and figure out a plan of action. I’d honestly trust Beatrice with my life. I really appreciate and respect that Emilia doesn’t want to be protected by others and wants to fight alongside Subaru and everyone else. Though I am actually quite surprised that Priscilla of all people actually told Emilia to go after him. There’s definitely more to her than what her usual actions typically say. But that’s probably a different discussion for a later time. I also really like that Emilia has come to be able to understand Subaru a lot more now as she is fully aware he’s just trying to protect her as he doesn’t want to see her hurt. I’ve always been a sucker for pairings that fight with and protect each other rather than one person doing the protecting. It puts them on a more equal footing that way and makes the relationship feel equal. And we have witnessed Emilia to be a very formidable fighter and boy did she GO OFF this episode. I’ve honestly forgot how good she can be even without Puck. Though I did laugh at how Emilia just shot first and asked questions later, not even giving Sirius the time of day to start her little performance speech.
What I didn’t expect was for Sirius to actually match her sin as she seemed to absolutely lose it when she realizes Emilia is there. I didn’t think it was possible to even make her mad but I guess I was proven very wrong. At first I was worried that Sirius got serious because the Witch’s Cult is after Emilia, but it seems like she has a “personal” vendetta against her and just constantly screamed obscenities at her. But Emilia being the queen that she is, displays an incredible amount of maturity and growth by proclaiming that all the things she insulted were all the things that Subaru had praised her for. It was such a sweet sentiment, especially since she also believes it means she’s the most amazing woman in the world and I couldn’t agree with her more TAT. Emilia has grown to be so much more confident in herself and doesn’t emotionally crumble under those sorts of insults anymore. I can’t help but feel so proud of her. Though I will admit that her battle noises did take me out a little bit, but they were so freaking cute lol.
Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse when it seems like Emilia got beaten by foul play, only to be revealed that freaking Regulus has gotten his hands on her. Even going as far as to claim her to be his 79th wife. My immediate response being: Ew no! I know it’s different from grooming, but the fact they had their first interaction when Emilia was a child still gives me a little bit of an ick. And while I’m glad that Emilia didn’t get killed since I’m not sure if I can handle watching her die now that I love her, this situation isn’t particularly favorable either. And while I don’t fully remember how this guy is, I do vaguely recall how hysterical this guy can be. So getting Emilia away from him is going to be no easy feat. Not to mention they freaking foreshadowed her getting taken away when Emilia told Subaru that she has faith he’ll rescue her if she gets taken. Way to completely jinx him on that front. For a moment, I thought that the husband Sirius was referring to was Regulus since the guy has 78 wives. But considering I realized that she introduced herself as “Romanee-Conti,” she might be referring to Petelgeuse since he is dead and… matches the hysteria she exhibits and has the same eyeball licking tendencies… shudders
This episode had me horrified, hyped for Emlia, made my heart warm, only for it to end being incredibly tense because Regulus could possibly be one of the worst people to have Emilia. I don’t think we know this guy’s full capabilities, but from what we have seen of him, he is going to pose an incredibly difficult problem. I’m definitely eager to see how this all plays out. Also I absolutely LOVED the final scene in the ending of everyone holding Subaru up and supporting him from the back and then pans out to see everyone there. I am such a sucker for this type of portrayal of bonds and support. Yes I also really like the scene in that one Naruto opening, Diver where he is pushed back up to the surface by everyone. Exact same feels and I love it.
After watching s2, I must say Regulus gives me massive Gilgamesh vibes from fate series lol
At first was curious about what makes Regulus “greed”, because he doesn’t really seem that greedy, he’s mostly just an arrogant douchbag, but now that we know he has 78 wives and still wants more, I guess the answer to that is pretty obvious now
Also, Sirius’s representation of wrath is very interesting, with the way she brainwashes people and turns them into feral mobs and how she can create mass destruction through sharing the pain among a group people, plus being a fire user.
Gosh, gluttony potentially showing up makes me anxious, because of how many important characters we have in the city, I can’t stress enough how stressed I get with the thought of him eating more people’s names and memories like Rem and Crusch
Considering we did see quite a bit of witch cult members in the opening (including Gluttony), I feel like an all out war is about to happen in this city. And yeah, I’m definitely with you on how stressed I am for these characters.
Shadow, I don’t think Emilia was referring to Subaru’s praise of her eyes, voice, and hair that makes her believe that she is the most amazing person in the world as she indicated it’s the one she loves, and the only people we know who she loves are Puck and Fortuna, the latter of which is dead, and between Puck and her, she was the only one who talked about their family’s eyes at one point.
Fortuna was also Emilia’s only female role model and favourite person in the world, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Crunchyroll mangled the translation of that line given there were several huge translation errors in the premiere.
I feel the intent of that scene was to refer to Emilia feeling confident due to how amazing Mother Fortuna is, not that Subaru’s praise gives her strength since she doesn’t actually love Subaru at this time.
I meant “was” as I do know Fortuna is dead.
While it may be a translation error on “the one I love”, that doesn’t take away from the fact she was still referring to Subaru in that scene. The camera was focused on Subaru while she was giving her spiel, indicating that was the person she was talking about in that moment. If it were anyone else, they would have shown a brief image of the person she was referring to.
I actually went back to search for when Subaru complimented all of Emilia’s features and Season 2 Part 2 Episode 2 showed explicitly him doing just that. Especially since he gave her those compliments (while also confessing again) during a time where she needed support and reassurance to deal with one of the trials. Which gave her the courage and confidence to confront that trial and her memories.