With the dust having settled from Re:Zero’s second season, it’s safe to say the series has moved forward in some big ways. Big reveals have been made, and Subaru has inched closer to uncovering the truth behind the circumstances surrounding his new and fantastical life. Not every plotline has been tied up though, resulting in these five questions we still have after Re:Zero Season 2’s finale.
Spoiler Warning: The following goes into heavy detail about the plot of the first and second seasons of Re:Zero. If you want to avoid these spoilers, we recommend you don’t read any further.
What Is the Witch of Envy’s Goal?
Re:Zero Season 2 Questions
Re:Zero Season 2 gave us our first real glimpse at who Satella, the Witch of Envy, really is.
Though just as warped as the other witches, she does legitimately care for Subaru. The Return from Death ability she granted to him was meant to keep him safe, and to allow him to survive the dangers he would encounter in her world.
She also tells him in his meeting with every Witch that she hopes it will make him think about himself more, and to care about himself the same way he does about others. At the same time, though, she does seem incredibly hostile toward anyone aside from him. In one timeline, she went so far as to kill all the residents of the Sanctuary, only sparing Subaru for reasons unknown.
This raises one major question: What does Satella actually want? Is she protecting Subaru for a specific reason, or was he simply the first person she could get a hold of in order to achieve a larger goal? Does her resemblance to Emilia run deeper than simple chance, and tie into why she cares for him so much?
Even after the credits rolled on Season 2, this was left unclear, so hopefully Season 3 can offer some insight whenever it airs.
How Will Rem Get Her Existence Back?
Re:Zero Season 2 Questions
One of the biggest stingers of Re:Zero Season 2’s premiere was Rem being sidelined through some magical hijinks.
After confronting two Sin Archbishops alongside the Royal Selection candidate Crusch, she wound up being defeated and left in a coma from the battle. Not only that, but her very existence was consumed by the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony, resulting in everyone but Subaru forgetting she ever existed.
Once he discovers this, Subaru swears to reclaim her existence, rouse her from her coma, and return his friends’ memories of her at all cost.
In the subsequent episodes though, this plotline fell to the wayside. No real progress was made in finding out how to get the memories of her back, or how to defeat the Sin Archbishop responsible for her current state.
Granted, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Season 1 saw the introduction of the White Whale right in the middle of Subaru’s other conflicts, taking the focus away from what felt like the main story for several episodes. In time though, it was resolved and the story regained its focus.
The same can’t be said for Rem’s predicament just yet though, so we’ve been left wondering: How will Rem get her existence back? It’s kind of crucial to getting her back in the game, and given most of the other new plot points were resolved over the course of the season, it’s now at the forefront of viewers’ attention.
What Is Pandora Doing in the Modern Day?
Re:Zero Season 2 Questions
While the Witch’s Cult and the Sin Archbishops may be massive threats in their own right, Re:Zero Season 2 showed they’re nothing compared to the series’ latest villain Pandora.
Known as the Witch of Vain Glory and capable of rewriting reality, she’s responsible for several catastrophes that have impacted the world. She led the attack on Emilia’s village that wiped out her people; warped Betelgeuse into the monster Subaru had to kill; and even killed the Sword Saint that came before Reinhard.
However, she hasn’t actually been seen in the present day. Her first appearance came via the flashback to Emilia’s childhood, and while a Sin Archbishop she commanded was responsible for Rem’s current state, she herself hasn’t recently been seen by Subaru or his allies.
This begs the question: What is Pandora doing in the present? There’s little doubt it can’t be good for the world as a whole, and given that the Royal Selection is underway, it’s highly unlikely she’d let it proceed without a hitch.
What Comes Next for the Royal Selection?
Re:Zero Season 2 Questions
Speaking of the Royal Selection, there’s one big question that Re:Zero Season 2 left us with regarding it: What comes next for the competition?
All of Subaru and his companions’ time in the latest season was spent on helping the Sanctuary gain its freedom. While this was great in terms of doing good and helping improve Emilia’s standing, it did serve to push this supposedly world-shaking event into the background.
Not only that, but it left the actions of the other candidates as big unknowns. While Crusch is most likely still dealing with her memory loss following the battle against the Sin Archbishops, the other candidates could very well have been improving their own standing and gaining a leg-up on their opponents.
That’s to say nothing of the competition’s organizers. They’ve proven in the first season that they have no intention of letting Emilia win, so the chances are high they’ve been scheming up a way to force her toward defeat.
Fortunately, Subaru’s rising to the role of Emilia’s knight does offer hope that the event will see some major developments in the next season.
Why Was Subaru Brought to This World?
Re:Zero Season 2 Questions
After two full seasons and plenty of twists and turns, we still don’t exactly know why Subaru was even brought to this new world in the first place.
For all of the flashbacks to his past and moments where he has proved he’s the hero the world needs right now, it’s still unclear why he was chosen by Satella. Maybe it was dumb luck; maybe it has to do with his obsessive personality; or maybe he was destined since birth to have this happen to him.
It’s really anyone’s guess, and while we did learn Satella harbors intense feelings for him for some reason, we’re still no closer to understanding why this led to his being whisked away from his old life.
Given that this is one of the biggest mysteries of the show, we aren’t likely to find any firm answers in Season 3 either. All the same, our fingers are crossed that we’ll at least gain some new hints when the next cour of the story starts.
[Featured Image Source: White Fox via Crunchyroll]
Published: Apr 5, 2021 11:40 am