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First thoughts after watching Re:Zero Season 4 Episode 13

This note includes a spoiler, and not only about this episode.

I watched Re:Zero season 4 episode 13 twice. "That is that, this is this."

I think it made sense how other people like Julius felt toward Subaru. Subaru spoke like he knew Julius pretty well, even though Subaru had said he lost his memory the day before. It sounded like a lie, but he was on his fifth life because of the return by death, and he saw how Julius confronted Reid by himself in a desperate situation. Honestly, if I were Julius, I would think he was lying for some reason, or just a creepy person. But Julius trusted him and believed his words, and also he had his pride as a knight. So he looked like he was convinced by what Subaru said.

Before they reached the archive, Emilia's expressions toward Subaru changed a lot, too. She is the main heroine, so she was given priority in the animation. For example, when he replied to what she said with "that's not something you hear these days", she broke into a big smile. But then, when he thought he should be the one to check Reid's book, she was worried though other people had already made up their minds about the consequences.

Speaking of the conversation in the archive, it was a bit of a long conversation before he opened the book, at least that was what I thought when I watched it the first time. That was... maybe because he was afraid of losing his memories again, and also he cared about the others who were worried about him, like Emilia and Beako.

And I was wondering how the tower got overrun by monsters in Subaru's previous lives, but now we have an idea, thanks to this episode. Gluttony — the big brothers — invaded the tower successfully. Maybe partially because Shaula was with Subaru and she didn't notice them sooner. And the reason why they were able to attack so early was... what? We know that there are multiple Gluttonies, and it looked like they shared their memories, because they all had Rem's memories. So I guess they shared memories, and when the Gluttony sister in the Corridor of Memories ate Subaru's memory, they knew where Subaru and the others were, too? Shaula's protective magic for the tower, Infinite Hell Snipe, also had a very long and wide range, but it wasn't enough to exterminate all the mabeasts, so plenty of them got inside.

In terms of Subaru and Gluttony in the Corridor of Memories, from their conversation, I felt that was the plot the author wanted to write. Subaru used to return by death a lot, but he never lost his memory, or died completely. So it was an agonizing moment: he wanted to protect himself, while Gluttony was trying to trap him into strangling her and splitting him apart. She wanted to be dead. This was my understanding from what she said. Well, Subaru agonized throughout this series MANY times so this was the Nth time for us to watch this kind of scene.

One thing I didn't understand was why Gluttony couldn't see or notice Rem. Apparently, she showed up because Gluttony had to pull her memories out and throw them away in order to eat Subaru's memory — her memory of him stopped them from doing so. But does that mean they can't perceive anything they throw away? Or maybe, this is another thing only Subaru can do, like his Witch's curse.

By the way, I knew Rem was in this episode because I'd seen a spoiler, but I wouldn't have expected her if I hadn't known it. I had forgotten but she was strict with Subaru, so I didn't expect her to speak so harshly when they met. But she saw him as a hero and never wavered on that. What was the effect Subaru received before she disappeared? After that, he became positive and optimistic. Did his memory come back at that point, or did it remind him of Emilia or other people in the tower in his previous lives? Also, her memory orb was lost in the corridor, so does that mean her memories are completely lost? Or do the other Gluttonies still have her memories, so they could be recovered? Maybe that's the case, and she will not remember what happened there because that memory didn't exist in the other Gluttonies' memories. Subaru thought he could meet her again. In the worst case, considering that the Corridor of Memories is the place to "filter" souls, maybe she was "filtered" this time. Well, but in this series, nobody has died for good, right? So that seems very unlikely.

And we know a little about Gluttony now. It's weird that she could split into two, but at least that's an ability she has. And because there is a book that leads to the Corridor of Memories, I feel in season 4, they will defeat Gluttony. I also saw another spoiler that Emilia will be forgotten, so defeating them and recovering the memories will be important, too. Besides, I think Julius will defeat Reid to get his spirits back. So I think that will be the next episode.

Scores

  • Episode: 8/10
  • Subaru: 7/10
    • He believed what Gluttony said too easily, even though he knew she had eaten his memories. But at the same time, this was a mysterious world so I can empathize with him worrying that he might disappear.
    • He often agonized and showed an unsightly side of himself, like trying to work out from others how he should behave.
  • Julius: 8/10
    • He is cool and straightforward. He trusted Subaru a lot, maybe because he took a liking to him at first sight.
  • Rem: 9/10
    • It's been a while since we've seen her in the series. For that alone, it should be worth 10/10 honestly.
    • This time, she was the person who pointed Subaru in the right direction, again. What a dedicated person. She believed him too much, but she might have found out he can return by death at that time.
    • Her cool voice and her caring words for Subaru are good.
  • Gluttony: 6/10
    • They're disgusting characters but now this character is a good villain. We now know their motivation is to become happy and for that, they steal other people's happy memories.
    • Their words sometimes hit on the truth, too.