This episode is also very interesting potentially from a lore standpoint, and it seems to be only a set-up episode too, which indicates great things about the quality of the season. It starts with Emilia think Subaru is amazing for solving the exam, only Subaru’s reaction was him thinking that the person who made the exam is of questionable character ’cause only people from Earth could solve it, showing Subaru isn’t thinking critically about why the exam would’ve been made to be this way with there being a real possibility the exam was made specifically for him to solve. The group then tries starting to read the books in the Great Pleiades Library, and Beatrice notes there’s a cognitive obstruction denying most of the group from being able to read any random book in this library. One of the books was titled Noah Libertas and another Aegon Voller. At this point, Subaru sees a name he recognizes and opens the look, resulting in his soul being pulled in as a neutral observer of a reenactment of the events of Typhon’s life, much like Echidna’s Tome of Wisdom could do in the Sanctuary Trials.
Typhon’s father was an executioner who decapitated criminals, and he took poor Typhon with him out whenever he did his duty to mold her as being the type to follow in his footsteps, and she thought there was no real rhyme or reason to why her father made his decisions even though he was the one who guided her on what was right and wrong since there’s no simple answer to judge good and evil since crimes and punishments were influenced by various different factors. One day when she saw a scale being imbalanced and accidentally broke something, her father decided not to punish her ’cause she confessed to her crime, and it was that moment in which her Authority of Pride was awoken, which has something to do with a scale since she realized that for herself, the only people who committed the crime can judge whether they did it for bad reasons. She’d ask people whether they’ve done bad things, and if people thought that, they’d shatter to pieces much like Subaru did in Season 2. Typhon was holding a blue rose for much of that reenactment, and blue roses symbolize the impossible since they don’t actually exist naturally. Thus, Typhon most certainly judged every person she would meet after obtaining her Authority as a criminal, and now I can see why a trap had been made for her in Priestella since nobody would be judged as innocent by her Authority as there’s nobody in existence who thinks they’ve never done anything bad, so she was basically a walking death trap.
Subaru had collapsed during that reenactment, and he says afterwards that he experienced the reenactment seemingly as a neutral observer who was actually present, which makes Emilia believe it’s more and more like the Sanctuary Trials, and Beatrice thinks this will come up in handy since they can retrace the past. Julius himself then also collapses, and Subaru makes fun of him as he often does, and Emilia makes him cut it out. Julius’s soul had been pulled into the reenactment of the life of Balleroy Temeglyph, who was a former general in the Vollachia Empire that Julius barely survived an encounter with, and Beatrice concludes that you have to know the person the Book of the Dead is based on be drawn into a reenactment.
Subaru then asks Meili whether she has any interest in this given she seemed disinterested, and she’s not actually all that interested in reading these books even though she’s killed a good deal of people herself. Shaula then blows a kiss to Subaru that he rejects, prompting Meili to call him a terrible person, to which Subaru says hurts more coming from her than Ram or Anastasia, most likely ’cause they don’t really believe it, and I guess part of it is ’cause Subaru thinks of himself as being good to kids. He then goes on and asks Meili what he really wants to say, which is whether she wants to find out about her parents after learning that she’d become an assassin five or six years ago since she’d been taken in by someone she refers to as “mom” after having previously being raised by mabeasts due to her Divine Protection that lets her befriend them. Meili believes that she was abandoned as a child, but in Season 3, one of the White Dragons’ Scales mercenaries mentioned a “Mary”, which may have been a mistranslation for Meili, and maybe it wasn’t that she wasn’t abandoned and that her parents were moreso driven off by mabeasts at one point. Subaru says that he would’ve searched for her parents if Meili had said that she was interested after getting some background info, and she calls him an idiot ’cause he has a big ol’ heart. She then asks Subaru what he believes is the mechanism in these books growing in number, using the example of Subaru dropping dead suddenly to make a point on whether a book on him would emerge from thin air, and that IS something that interests her, and I believe this is consistent character writing ’cause in one of the Re:Zero Break Time Season 2 shorts, Elsa said that she dislikes Subaru’s eyes ’cause they are the eyes of someone who believes that death isn’t the end for him. This could show that Meili believes in Elsa’s intuition since Elsa was something similar to a best friend to her given Meili was the only one Elsa gave any thought to protecting when she was otherwise a cold-blooded killer.
The group then comes together and has come to the conclusion that the books are not ordered by name or date. And Beatrice suggests that they to go to the next floor given their lack of progress, and the group is perplexed about where the stairway to the next floor could be, only for Foxidna to suggest that finding the stairway might be a part of the exam itself considering the jerk who built it, which shows that Foxidna knows who built it, and her lie from Episode 67 is being more evident as time passes by. Shaula is playing with Meili, and then Subaru beckons for Shaula to come over, and she straight up denies knowing where the stairway to the second floor is since she had never been higher than the floor Rem and Patrasche were on prior to this group’s visit, leading to Foxidna to think aloud that Shaula has four or five secret rules she was given for protecting the tower, which is again, extremely suspicious given she said that she knows nothing about herself aside from being an artificial spirit and that her name is Echidna. Shaula then flounders around saying that she didn’t try to hide anything from Subaru and that it’s just that he didn’t ask. One of the rules is that she’d mercilessly kill Subaru if he tried to leave the tower and is bound to doing that, showing that it’s a contract, with her denying that she’s a spirit as she considers much superior to beings similar to fairies. Meili being shown smiling when Subaru asks what Shaula actually is if not a spirit again points to Shaula being a mabeast. When Subaru asks Shaula why she’s so hung up on a contract when she’s not a spirit, Emilia interjects that she has to keep her word even if she’s not a spirit or spirit user, and Emilia is insistent about this ’cause Fortuna ingrained in her the importance of promises when she was very young, and Fortuna breaking her promise of coming back for her was traumatizing to some extent, so Emilia never learned nuance given she has only recently been unfrozen. This is one reason I believe that neither Subaru nor Emilia are at the right stage in their lives to have a healthy relationship as a couple. Emilia is mentally younger than her age due to being frozen for years, and Subaru had never formed a real relationship with anyone really before being summoned, so of course, neither of them have had any real relationship experience, whether observing and talking with their peers or even from her parents in Emilia’s case.
Subaru then blames Shaula for Emilia having yelled at him, saying that it’s all her fault, and Shaula surprisingly acts very happy about that, saying that that’s her master for ya, indicating that perhaps Flügel wasn’t exactly the best role model around. The first order is that she can’t allow any challenges to the Great Pleiades Library leave the tower with the only exception being if they pass all the exams and reach the first floor. The second is that violating the rules of the exams is forbidden. The third is that disrespecting the Pleaides archive is forbidden, and the fourth is that any action intended to damage the tower is forbidden. The group is bothered by how there are likely hidden rules in the exams. Shaula also says that as long as none of the rules are broken, her body belongs to her, which I can see pointing to two possibilities:
- If one of the rules is broken, she loses her will and follows her directive to kill people.
- Shaula becomes feral like most mabeasts given how proud she was of her scorpion tail, meaning may have been born as a mix of a scorpion mabeast and a humanoid.
Emilia then points out that the situation is really similar to the Sanctuary Trials to back up her thinking of Foxidna mentioning that a jerk built the place. Subaru then declares that this is easier since they can defeat Shaula, which wasn’t an option for leaving the Sanctuary due to the barrier preventing Emilia from leaving. Shaula responded by saying that her master wouldn’t ever do that ’cause he was kinder and more big-hearted than anyone else, which was a lie since apparently she gets very itchy after lying, and this backs up that Flügel isn’t the current Subaru. And Emilia then leads the group to the staircase leading to the next floor with her understanding of the one who built the tower not being a very honest person, and Beatrice mentioned that it must’ve been hidden by cognitive obstruction since they were previously unable to see it much like with the Books of the Dead, and given Beatrice is an expert in yin magic, this could be something Echidna taught her about. Subaru then runs up the stairs as fast as he can with Beatrice in his arms, and although she protests, she’s definitely enjoying it, showing why Beatrice chose Subaru, partially ’cause he’s fun and ’cause he reached out to her in her time of need along with his spirit affinity.
Now for talk on how the developments this episode may be relevant lore-wise, Subaru thought to himself in Episode 70 that Flügel built the Pleiades Watchtower, which is almost certainly true since the first test involved astronomical knowledge from Earth, and Flügel can be a nickname for a person with conspicuous sleeves in a time of dress regulations, indicating that Flügel is someone from Earth, and as Emilia correctly sussed out due to Echidna being a deeply dishonest person, Echidna likely had an involvement in its design, which is why the stairway to the next floor was not in the Great Pleiades Library itself but outside of it and why both Emilia, Julius, and Subaru witnessing things as if they were neutral observers who happened to be there with both the first Sanctuary Trial and Subaru being pulled into Typhon’s Book of the Dead.
The implications of this are two-fold, the first being that the knowledge and experiences recorded into the Books of the Dead, likely come from a source, which is likely a record of all information from the past and present and potential futures, much like Echidna’s Tome of Wisdom, which could see into the past, present, and potential futures, given the Tome of Wisdom’s knowledge had to come from somewhere, and this would be how observers could observe the events as if they personally saw it.
The other implication of this is that the Books of the Dead may be a product of Echidna’s Authority along with yin magic, meaning they serve a very specific purpose and have crucial information for the group who came to the tower this arc and also likely for others in future arcs as part of the grand plan I believe characters such as Satella, Echidna, and Flügel are herding the world towards with the hopes of Subaru breaking the cycle of the world being destroyed by the Witch of Envy and reconstructed alluded to by Melakuera with his remarks about the Witch and the world imbalance and how he’d faced world-ending crises countless times.
Shaula recognizing Subaru by his scent and not his looks indicated that he canonically had a different body 400 years ago and that he may have fit the mold of the archetypal conceited and overpowered hero I believe who originally due to the final choice he made, choosing his lover over the world when the Seal in Elior Forest was destroyed, led to the final boss of the time activating his/her Authority to make the world be extremely biased toward repeating the general story path that archetypal hero took, leading to countless iterations of the world being destroyed and reconstructed. Shaula pretty much hinted as such when she said that she had lied in calling her master kinder and more big-hearted than anyone else, showing that Flügel from 400 years ago isn’t the current Subaru. Even Shaula hinting that false accusations were typical of her master supports this line of thinking.
Also, I believe in addition to reminding viewers of Meili’s relationship with Elsa that Meili’s question was posed to make us really think about how new books could materialize and even what would happen in the case of Subaru and Al:
- No book for Subaru would mean it’d be ’cause he never truly died in the current timeline, meaning his deaths aren’t recognized by the world. There would be probably be no book for Al either given the world wouldn’t recognize his death given he said that he was secretly crushed three times, indicating he died that many times against Capella, only the world doesn’t recognize any of them. I guess it’s possible there is at least one book for Al in the current timeline given he should’ve died three times canonically in the timeline, but it’s hard to say.
- If there’s only one book for Subaru, the book goes up to his most recent death, only covering the canon successful loops up in which he had his best outcomes until that point before he died. Al would also have one book.
- Subaru’s book goes up to his most recent death and covers everything he’s ever experienced up until that point. I believe this scenario could be indicating, although I’m not 100% sure, that the current Subaru is partially a by-product of Echidna’s Authority. Al could also have one book given he is dying repeatedly within the canon timeline, and the Book of the Dead would include everything he’s experienced.
- Multiple books for each death could indicate alternate timelines are created based on Subaru doing things differently from before after he loops. Al could have one book given the world isn’t re-creating when he loops.
- Multiple books for each death could indicate that the current Subaru is partially a by-product of Echidna’s Authority in addition to the Books of the Dead being partially created by her Authority, and there is no Subaru without Echidna with the world being re-created after Subaru dies. Al would also have multiple books.
- Al indicated in Season 3 that he had been secretly crushed three times, showing that he’d died three times fighting Capella, so he could also multiple books while Subaru only has one.
Personally, I lean towards the Scenario #1 being nearly completely unviable given that the whole point of Re:Zero is Subaru looping to push forward the world to a good state given how the whole point of the Books of the Dead is to record the experiences of those who have died and that it doesn’t jive with the Books of the Dead being a product of Echidna’s Authority, and because it’d suggest that the current loop is disconnected from the entirety of history, which I dislike, and as for the rest, all of them have some degree of plausibility to me. I’ll explain why that would be the case for each of those other scenarios.
Scenario #2 has some plausibility if the world recognizes all of Subaru’s successful loops up until his most recent death given there’s a straight line of action up until that point. This scenario would suggest that after Return by Death is used, the world is re-created to the point Subaru loops back to, which goes against there being alternate timelines. In this scenario, the Books of the Dead are not tied to Echidna’s Authority, which is something I dislike since I believe these books are tied to her Authority.
I believe Scenario #3 is more likely than Scenario #2 given I believe the Books of the Dead are partially a by-product of Echidna’s Authority in conjunction with yin magic since if Echidna’s Tome of Wisdom in the Dream Castle could see all possible futures it most certainly can see the history of all previously destroyed worlds I believe once existed as part of the cycle of the world being destroyed by the Witch of Envy and reconstructed that I propose is happening, so Subaru, if he is partially a by-product of Echidna’s Authority would of course have a Book of the Death that can update itself after each death, and this scenario would also suggest that the world is re-created after Subaru loops back, retaining all of the history of Subaru’s lived experience. Al would also have a book that updates after each death.
Scenario #4 could indicate that alternate timelines are being created after Subaru loops, and it has some plausibility for now given Subaru’s second Sanctuary Trial showed what happened if the world continued during the unsuccessful loops in which he died. Echidna had said that only Satella would know if they were real, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a lie, and it’s actually Echidna herself who knew whether those timelines were real ’cause of her Authority due to it being able to draw upon all information that ever existed in the past and present and could exist in the future. Given that trial was important to Subaru not treating his life as a throwaway in his quest for a good loop, it’d thematically not be a bad idea for Scenario #4 to be the case. As for why only Subaru, not Al, has multiple books in this scenario, he’s the one looping, so his books would go with him when he loops since souls are the seat of memories in Re:Zero and with these books containing the memories of a person, it was information gleaned from actual souls themselves.
My Scenario #5 is different than Scenario #4 in that for this one Subaru, and perhaps Al, having multiple books is moreso due to him having been partially created as a by-product by Echidna’s Authority. In this scenario, it’s not that there are alternate timelines but that the world is re-created after Subaru loops, and given this scenario jives with my belief that the Books of the Dead are partially a result of Echidna’s Authority, I’m more partial to it than most of the other scenarios.
Scenario #6 differs from the rest in that I believe Al has multiple books ’cause his power allows him to cheat death, probably without re-creating the world, given Subaru hadn’t died in the canon successful loop of Season 3, but Subaru would only have one book in this case as was the case with Scenarios #2 and #3 although it has two ways of expressing itself given I draw upon two previous scenarios. One expression of this scenario is also fully consistent with the Books of the Dead in part being a product of Echidna’s Authority, so I’m also partial to that expression of it.
The stairs led to another white room with a sword, and after Subaru draws it, everyone in the group sees the room transform into a field and hears the message, “Fool who has attained the heavenly sword, earn his pardon.” A big, gruff man then repeats that message over and over until he forgets it. Shaula then freaks out, similar to when Reid’s name was brought up, and she passes out frothing from the mouth. Julius approaches the man and says that he’s obviously not an ordinary man, and the man has no idea who he is or even where he is, and he’s weirded out by Julius talking so respectfully as if he’s his follower, and after the man gives his assessment of the group, he tells Julius to quit imitating “him” in acting like his follower, and it’s impossible to tell who he’s referring to at the moment. Subaru calls him the examiner for this occasion, and the man doesn’t care about labels people give him, saying that if they want to have a conversation with him they need to make him move even one step, and Julius decides to step up for this task. The man called himself a stick swinger, which is the nickname Shaula used in reference to Reid in Episode 70, so whatever the situation is, whether this current Reid is a splintered soul fragment of Reid in a different body or a being partially created by Echidna’s Authority, beating him should be no simple task. This now explains why Subaru thought of Reid in Episode 70 when he’d heard that Reid had died of old age, and it’s ’cause he subconsciously knows what’s in the tower.
In the Break Time short for Season 4 Episode 5, Julius gets confirmation from Ricardo that Joshua is likely his brother since he can tell that they grew up eating the same good as each other. I think it was a nice moment showing that Ricardo is still the same despite having lost his arm, blaming himself and not others, which Julius likened to his current situation with being forgotten, finding Ricardo to be a reassuring familiarity given nearly everybody had forgotten him since to him, who was forgotten by the world, with any sense of familiarity being comforting much like Subaru is a source of strength for him right now. Here’s the link to the short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrTqU0w3Js4