Skip to content

First thoughts after watching Re:Zero Season 4 Episode 17

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

I watched Re:Zero season 4 episode 17 twice.

The episode finally started the loop where Subaru would overcome the obstacles. The first thing Subaru did was go meet Emilia. She was so happy, and she kicked what's-his-name, who quickly fled from her. Wait, why did he escape that fast while in the other loops Subaru couldn't make him leave and had to fight him for a long time? Then Subaru met Beatrice and Ram and they talked about the tactics there. Emilia's actions were also so cute, especially when she pressed her cheek against Beatrice's.

Next, Subaru went to a place with Shaula, Meili, and Foxidna. I thought he would prevent Shaula from becoming the scorpion, but he couldn't prevent it. But instead, Emilia kicked the scorpion and made it fall to the ground from the tower, but that scorpion climbed up quickly to the balcony again. I wondered what the strategy was, but somehow, Subaru, Meili, and Beatrice would deal with the scorpion by riding the mabeast like a centaur while Meili was controlling it. And they climbed down from the tower and of course the scorpion followed Subaru. I was like, wait, was it okay to leave the tower, but Shaula had already become the scorpion so it didn't matter. But I still didn't know his strategy.

On the other side, Roy climbed upstairs while he couldn't reach out to Rui and Ley, but he didn't care about it. He was totally okay with being alone and fighting against Subaru and others, well, maybe because he thought he was strong enough? Then Ram was waiting for him. Of course, Subaru or Ram was the one who would fight and defeat Gluttony, thinking about Rem and the entire story in Re:Zero so far.

Then, Julius fought against Reid. I wondered how Julius got to where Reid was. In this loop, Subaru didn't tell him to go battle against Reid, if I remember correctly. Maybe he found Roy while moving around? Emilia also went there, but Reid didn't remember her, so Roy's authority affected Reid too. I thought in the first loop where she was forgotten, Reid might've remembered her, but I was wrong. Anyway, then because she passed the exam, she kept climbing up the tower, and that was Subaru's biggest bet in this loop, I think. Julius was fighting against Reid alone while Foxidna was just watching him. I guessed he was going to get his spirits' power back, but I expected he would do so after they defeated Gluttony. So, he just re-contracted with them right then and got his power back. The reason he could do it now, when he couldn't in the previous loops, was probably that Foxidna was there — she passed on what Subaru wanted her to tell him — and also his conversation with Reid. The fight animation between them started with free-moving camera angles, and it sometimes felt slow or even stopped, but it still showed how fast and intense the battle was. But I still imagined he couldn't defeat the Sword Saint, but the ending was kinda good and logical. The last blow seemed to kill Julius but it didn't, fortunately. That's why Julius admitted, at that moment, that Reid had won the battle. Also, Anastasia was back in that scene. Foxidna had known all along why she was hiding, but she reached out to Anastasia so she could watch Julius at the top of his game. The reason why she hid was she couldn't bear losing her memories of Julius. Well, had she really never lost anything important in her life before? Anyway, right before she forgot him, she shouted his name while he was fighting against Reid at the last blow. Then they introduced themselves to each other because he knew she had forgotten him.

I think what Subaru bet was if Emilia could pass all the tower's exams, Shaula would get back from the scorpion. That's the one thing he needed to clear, and there may not have been any other solution. That was why Emilia was the key. In the next episode, because the title is "Ram", the story will mainly be about Ram vs. Gluttony, I guess. But I don't think it will end there, because defeating this Sin Archbishop would probably be the last of this arc so before that, Emilia would solve Shaula's curse, and Shaula's problem would end?

Scores

  • Episode: 9/10
  • Emilia: 9/10
    • In this episode, she was so happy and pressing her cheek against Beatrice's was also cute
  • Julius: 8/10
    • He was a commoner but tried to behave the way he wanted to be. The more episodes go by, the more I like him
  • Anastasia: 6/10
    • Hmm...? Did you really stop coming out over just one terrible thing?
  • Reid: 7/10
    • This guy was a great villain because he was one of the strongest characters.