I’m just going to let readers know ahead of time that this write-up will be different than most of what I’ve done before since the bulk of the episode is dedicated to one character, so it’s only fitting the crux of my post is a complete character analysis of Julius across four seasons. Any other miscellaneous points will be dumped at the end of the post. I love when previous episodes properly build up to something, which is why Episode 29, Parent and Child, is still my favourite episode of the series since it used the build-up from Episodes 7 and 13 to outright confirm just what the entirety of Subaru’s issues of self-worth involved, and this episode was similarly a long time coming with all of the foreshadowing.
What I realized after this episode after seeing the brief flashback with child Reinhard and child Julius is that Julius’s mantle of being the most knightly of knights is a mask he puts on due to feeling inferior to Reinhard, which is why this episode flashed back to child Reinhard easily defeating Julius’s swordplay instructor. This is also why Julius insisted on being called Juli when he and Subaru met again, both ’cause he subconsciously wanted a break from being Julius the most knightly of knights due to having had to do things he detested as a knight in beating Subaru even though he wouldn’t like to have if the circumstances had been different and not speaking out about so many people smearing Emilia during the initiation of the Royal Selection, not just ’cause it was unbecoming of a knight to take on the role of a mercenary, and ’cause he may have thought Subaru would react better to him if he did that even though Subaru ultimately didn’t at the time since he found it to be annoying roleplaying.
This is why Julius said in Season 3 that he was extremely angry at what Heinkel did and wished he could have done what Subaru did, which was yell at Heinkel since everybody was mad at that bumbling oaf but didn’t dare say anything ’cause of Heinkel’s rank as he saw proper decorum as being a liability in that moment with Subaru’s outburst allowing everybody to stay calm. This is why Julius kind of saw the light when Subaru told him to be Juli more since the mask he puts on is very much a burden to him with him realizing how much brighter the light out is when he first decided to be Juli ’cause Subaru was right about how having more flexibility would help him out in more situations rather than being so rigid with closing off his heart.
People who are less discerning when consuming media or have a very rigid worldview saw Episode 51 (Season 3 Episode 1) of Re:Zero as lowering Re:Zero to that of being like standard isekai slop, which is straight up incorrect, and I will call it as I see fit. Julius himself said that sometimes Subaru’s imprudence is useful on certain occasions, showing he understands the ugliness of Subaru’s actions, but nonetheless, he saw Heinkel turning what was an otherwise orderly gathering between people who respected each other with a reconciliation between Wilhelm and Reinhard being near given they were acting at least somewhat warmly to each other for possibly the first time since Theresia, his mother, had died, into a dumpster fire was disgraceful, and that’s why Julius thanked Subaru for his righteous indignation, not ’cause he was trying to put out there that every time Subaru has an outburst that it’s a good thing, but basic media literacy is dying off quickly in this day and age, partially due to kids and adults alike being glued to slop from their phones, resulting people in being unable to remember things said on screen a few minutes ago due to acting mostly on emotion and wanting immediate gratification.
Julius saw some of himself in Subaru in Episode 13, only Subaru chose a different path than he did, and even if he recognizes that what Subaru did was quite ugly and doesn’t condone all of what he did, which is why he took multiple shots at Subaru’s behaviour, saying that it can reflect badly on those around him, some people, such as Julius, feel a sense of awe or kinship with those who allow you to see a different approach to life. He saw Subaru as being someone rough around the edges but still fundamentally a good person even in spite of Subaru’s flaws, and that’s why he was calling Subaru a friend after the White Whale fight.
The reason Julius deliberately challenged Subaru to a duel ’cause he knew one of the knights or multiple of them would probably attempt to execute Subaru for insinuating that they inherited their status as knights from their families, and Julius saw that as being an injustice that must not be allowed to happen given he knows that Emilia is a good person and since he himself doesn’t discriminate against demihumans as seen by how he did a curtsy to kiss her in Episode 12, which is typical for someone to do for a woman of higher status, and nobody in Anastasia’s camp is allowed to think of demihumans as lesser. So of course he shared those same values and took to Subaru to an extent after the latter said that he chooses to stand by Emilia’s side ’cause she’s special, and Julius acknowledged those feelings given his own feelings for Anastasia. This is backed by how in Season 2 Subaru’s second Sanctuary trial had Julius saying, “I wanted to call you a friend.” since he ultimately sees that both he and Subaru want to fight against the injustices of the world.
As for the Kingdom of Lugunica itself, Julius knows that it’s far from a utopia given he acknowledged to Subaru that the White Whale was left unchecked for too long, which is why he thanked Subaru from the bottom of his heart for ensuring it was defeated in Episode 22. He most likely personally believed that the job should’ve been carried out much sooner, and that that too was an injustice, which is why he was so keen on mending fences with Subaru since Subaru took action to make that happen when the kingdom would probably have kept dillydallying.
Basically, since Julius can’t be the strongest, he used the mask of the most knightly/courtly knight since that was something he could realistically aspire to, and now that most people don’t remember him he doesn’t have that anymore, which is why he took to heart Subaru saying that his humiliation is a testament to Julius’s strength and why he’s so adamant about proving his strength, mirroring Arc 3 Subaru to an extent.
This is backed by how Julius thought back to being made Anastasia’s personal knight in Episode 72 and defeating Petelgeuse, which he considered badges of honour that validated his self-worth. I believe even Julius saying, “I am the Kingdom’s sword that will slay you.” was also potentially signifying his insecurities about being inferior to Reinhard while also signifying kinship with Reinhard with it not being just a cool line for a knight to say but something Julius said to mean he’d be the weapon of the Kingdom that slays Petelgeuse, much like how Reinhard is first and foremost thought of as weapon of the kingdom before he is a person. Thus, it both signified that he was stepping into that role and that it was something he very much relished doing. The flashback to Petelgeuse was followed by a shot of Emilia, who Subaru had indicated passed Reid’s exam, and then to Subaru, who remembers him, intermixed with shots of him being frustrated about his current predicament after becoming a Gluttony victim, before finally remembering Subaru saying that his humiliation is a testament to Julius’s strength and then finally hearing Subaru call out to him, which was showing to viewers that Julius was going through much of the same thing Subaru was going through in Arc 3 and that Subaru rushing toward Julius was to stop him from having something worse happen to him, much like how Julius beat down Subaru in that arc to prevent worse happening to him, which is backed by how Subaru remarking that he hopes Julius isn’t too feeling too down since he’s realized that Julius also has self-worth issues from the talks he’s had with him, like during the scene he mentioned that his humiliation is a testament to Julius’s strength and his talk about the situation regarding Julius’s spirits when he said that Subaru is currently the one who knows him best.
There’s even a bit of a Subaru Season 2/Arc 4 parallel in that after Subaru lost Rem, who was his main pillar of support, to Gluttony, he saw no value in himself aside from Return by Death ’cause of the transactional nature of the events of Arc 3 that allowed him to win given the main point of Arc 3 for Subaru was to see that others have their own wants and goals, and how that applied to Julius is that since his reputation as being the most knightly of knights was gone due to the masses forgetting him, which was his big loss, he would use the only tool he believed he had at his disposal, which is his sword skills, to prove his worth given he believed that he had nothing else left that could validate him as a person, although it’s not a 100% parallel since Subaru was struggling due to him taking on the role as Rem’s hero only to lose Rem, resulting in him losing the mask he put on, and Julius right now is struggling ’cause of all the self-worth issues he had in the past, which have been exacerbated by the world forgetting him, as well as trying to live up to the ideal of being the strong knight Subaru believes he is, so the difference ultimately lies in his emotional support ultimately being an able-bodied person right now.
And that’s why Subaru and Julius’s voice-acting during the stairs scene, the direction overall, the effects regarding the footsteps, as well as the silence and tone of melancholy as Julius struggled, followed by Subaru seeing just how much Julius’s current situation reminded him of what he went through, allowing for him to comfort Julius and for the pair to grow closer made for a fantastic viewing experience.
I believe Julius’s character arc this season will almost certainly involve not clinging to his identity as the most knightly of knights since Reid was having the most fun with him when Julius tried to kick him instead of using just the sword, showing that Tappei very much intends for Julius to embrace Juli to finally overcome Reid. Julius can very much stay true to his character and fight against injustice without needing to stay fixated on chivalry and fighting with knightly honour, which would get him to be more on Wilhelm’s speed, who said in Episode 22 that chivalry was becoming a thing of the past. Tappei has plotted out Julius’s character arc so well from the beginning in making him a foil to Subaru, and he’s an amazingly well-written character. If I can make even one person realize how great of a character Julius is with this post, I will consider it mission accomplished.
Now for the stuff on the periphery, this episode provides further proof of Foxidna remembering Julius with how she aggressively used Jiwald to try to defend Julius when he was fighting Reid. Someone who barely knows him wouldn’t go to such lengths, and Subaru even pondered about why she’d go to such lengths, which means Tappei intended for viewers to think hard about that detail. After Episode 67 with Foxidna putting it out there that Reinhard and Felix were more than just friends to Julius and her general gaze at Julius along with her look of discomfort in Episode 70 when Shaula was shattering Julius’s fantasy about Reid Astrea being a man of great character ’cause of his sword skills when nobody else was paying him any heed, showing she knows that Reid had been Julius’s idol since childhood, there is a clear pattern of Foxidna showing a level of connection with Julius no one else in the group has, not even Subaru. A line from Episode 48 (Season 2 Episode 23) depicting a possible future had Julius remarking about how he’d bent his knees and lost even his sword, pondering what he even had left, which could’ve been a future in which Reid forced Julius to yield to him, stripping him of all his dignity, and given Julius was thinking his sword skills were all he had left, implying he may have been borderline suicidal, this could suggest that Foxidna, again, as I have speculated has the Authority of Greed: Tome of Wisdom that I have posited she has like the original Echidna and Tea Party Echidna, which is why she suggested to Subaru to take Rem with him to the Pleiades Watchtower and why she forced Shaula to reveal her hidden rules/orders for protecting the tower, the reason being she’s invested in Subaru’s success as the Hero of the story and also didn’t want to see Julius be reduced to a hollow shell of himself with nothing to live for, preventing that future from happening. I believe Foxidna acting like she doesn’t know how Anastasia acts in Re:Zero Break Time Season 4 Episode 6 was meant to take away Julius’s sense of pride of being Anastasia’s personal knight and drive him to do what he did with his second duel against Reid. As for a link to it, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8DLpvo_4cc
As for Emilia, it was smart of her to appeal to Reid’s ego and get him to agree to passing her if she can make him move a single step. Reid seemed to really appreciate her appealing to him like this and relented, saying that she’s the biggest idiot he’s met since Trisha, who is likely to be a character from four hundred years ago although it remains to be seen how long it’ll take for Trisha to be relevant since it took until Season 4 for more information to be revealed about Flügel. To sum it up, Reid lost ’cause he decided to cop a feel on Emilia’s boobs with his chopsticks, and she didn’t even realize that she had been sexually assaulted, probably ’cause the person responsible for her education, Roswaal, doesn’t care to teach her about that. Of course, the episode wasn’t condoning sexual assault given Subaru’s reaction and how the series has previously tried to humanize Elsa by depicting her as having become a cold-blooded killer when she was close to getting sexually assaulted, so anyone who says otherwise is incorrect. Of course, Reid wasn’t satisfied with letting them all pass if Emilia beat him, and everyone aside from Rem will also have to do it since the seven people Reid referred to are Subaru, Beatrice, Emilia, Ram, Julius, Anastasia, and Meili, which is a real predicament.
The group heads back to a lower floor due to not being up for that task, and Ram revealed that there is one person in each nation that can claim to be the strongest with Cecilus Segmunt the Blue Lightning, Divine General from the Empire of Vollachia, the Mad Prince from the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko, and from Halibel the Admirer from the City-States of Kararagi, but none of them fit the description of the stick swinger ’cause they had forgotten Shaula’s nickname for him and don’t know anything about him aside from his wearing Kararagi folk clothes and being skilled with chopsticks, and Shaula reveals that it’s Reid after Subaru gives her a description not long after she has woken from her sleep due to having fallen unconscious due to intense fear ’cause of Reid being a sexual predator. Subaru wanted to ask Julius what he knew of Reid, but Julius had already headed out for a second bout with Reid after having been healed in the same room Rem and Patrasche were in.
Subaru of course was reminded of himself with the way Julius was acting in that he didn’t want Subaru to carry him down the stairs and was straight up iterated that he doesn’t desire for help from him since Subaru was acting out hard at the start of the White Whale and Petelgeuse arc ’cause the world was making him feel small and insignificant, leading to him behaving as if he was more important than he really was due to both an inferiority complex stemming from comparisons with his father, Kenichi, and a fear of abandonment from childhood, and showing his growth Subaru supported Julius the best way he could by not going against his desire to not be carried by lending him his shoulder instead, saying that he doesn’t need to act tough since he knows from experience that Julius shouldn’t be walking down the stairs, implying he knows how alone Julius feels.