In typical Re:Zero fashion, things keep feeling like they go from bad to worse because there are freaking FOUR Archbishops in this city. Sirius was bad enough with her abilities and erratic behavior, but Regulus has proven to be just as bad if not worse. And our main group doesn’t even know about Gluttony being there as they’ve only clocked three out of the four so far. I do really hope that Otto is okay and didn’t get caught being an “appetizer.” The only one we haven’t seen in action yet is Lust, though I’m sure that she is also a problem in her own right and will likely be the result of a number of Subaru’s deaths. I was definitely right about this city turning into a warzone and we finally get to possibly why. I wasn’t sure why this place out of everything would be where everyone comes together, but after hearing that it was built on top of a burial ground of a witch, it all made sense. Circumstances are different from the Echidna arc, but with a similar premise in a sense. Though I’m glad that we have a lot of different characters gathered together this time and it isn’t just going to be Subaru’s party. So I’m excited to see how it all plays out.
I’m honestly shocked that Subaru didn’t die, though I had a feeling that this would most likely be the “canon route” of the story. I just didn’t expect things to go down the way that they did. As soon as Regulus came into the picture, I knew we weren’t going to get Emilia away from him in this moment or Subaru would die trying. And considering we still don’t know what Regulus’ weakness is (or I just don’t remember if he had a weakness from the Emilia past aside from his over emotional state), I didn’t see a way to beat him at this time. Not to mention it was way too early in the season for that. Heck, we haven’t even fully dealt with Sirius yet either. Though it does concern me how this season will go since it’s only 16 episodes with a lot going on. Hopefully the pacing won’t be too rough.
As soon as Subaru used the invisible hand, I just knew Sirius was going to lose it… which is definitely going to equate to her hating Emilia even more than she already does. But judging from how Regulus described how she acted around Petelgeuse and even she talked about their relationship, it’s pretty clear that the two weren’t even remotely close much less a “married couple.” Considering how obsessed he was with Satella, I’m not surprised that he didn’t actually have a wife. Though I am glad we actually get to see how the Archbishops interact with each other because the back and forth Sirius and Regulus had was hilarious. Especially since Regulus just seemed so done with Sirius’ delusion over Petelgeuse while Sirius gave him a lot of back talk. I do hope we get more of these interactions because when two crazy people’s personalities clash, it’s definitely going to be a riot.
Now let me tell you how much Garfiel’s situation WRECKED me this episode. His situation was always pretty sad, but this just made it so much more tragic. His mom actually survived the landslide, but at the cost of her her memories. And after reading up on her past that the anime omitted… man, I can’t even imagine the pain and sorrow Garf must feel and the whole situation and it just adds a whole new layer of tragedy. Not only is he the only one who knows the history of his and Frederica’s births, but he probably understands that it might be best for her to have forgotten her past. Even if that means she’ll never remember him and he alone has to live with all of this knowledge. What’s worse is that she seems to subconsciously remember both him and his sister considering she knew what his favorite tea was and named her new son, Fred. While we don’t know the daughter’s name yet, I feel like it’s safe to assume that it most likely will link to Garfiel’s name in some way. But man, this feels so much more worse than never finding her in the first place. That is so much for a 14 year old to handle all on his own and I have to respect the amount of emotional maturity Garf exhibits through this whole ordeal. Not to mention the hallucinations with Elsa on top of everything. But despite all this, I think it’s also a testament to just how much Garf loves his mom and he’s willing to sacrifice himself just so she can continue having a good life. And I think that in itself is very beautiful but also heartbreaking.
