MY RE:ZERO 2 EPISODE 16 THREAD

Just me rambling about a bunch of nice framing choices, characters and whatnot. This is another episode I've been REALLY looking forward to!

The episode kicks off with a flashback that not only shows the depth of Garfiel's trauma and his complete rejection of his mother's love, trying to "erase" the spot she kissed by bashing it into a wall, but also his relationship with Ryuzu Shima. This was an anime original scene!

This sequence is, for the most part, all about exploring Garfiel's character — specifically how weak he is. It's interesting that the physically strongest character so far happens to be the weakest mentally, with all of his tough act an attempt to fool himself and others.

Garfiel's tough mask slips in this moment, when he uses the pronoun "ore" (俺), before correcting himself with his usual "ore-sama" (俺様), which is a self-aggrandizing way to refer to oneself.

He's all about making himself SEEM big and strong.

Emilia sees right through this, having had insecurities of her own that she hid — but what's really noteworthy here is her acknowledgement of how reliant she'd become on Puck, and how she will now find her own resolve by moving forward by herself.

Emilia embodies the will to face one's fears head-on and keep moving, even if it means change is ahead. She's not afraid of inevitable change anymore (as she was 2 episodes ago), but embraces it.

Garfiel, on the other hand, is all about stagnation & fear.
https://twitter.com/Jaereku/status/1292230331014295556?s=20

Subaru also hits the nail in the head — everything Garfiel did this season was half-assed. At the top of this list you could put Garfiel's half-assed will to liberate Sanctuary early in the season, while the real Garfiel is terrified of the outside world.

Another example of this nature of Garfiel's is his use of his beast form—notice how never once he himself *killed* anyone, even desperately trying to *heal* Ram once. When cornered & forced to kill an opponent, he leaves all the work to the savage beast, so he can avert his eyes.

This is what Subaru figured out throughout his loops & why he can face "human" Garfiel confidently without fear of death, the real Garfiel being soft at his core.

As a side note, his transformation contrasts with Frederica's greatly, with the former being unable to even speak.

Garfiel's previously hinted at abandonment issues, which form the core of his weakness & fear, are finally lampshaded.

He's trying to find meaning in his abandonment by his own mother. The justification that's easiest to accept for him is that she never-

https://twitter.com/Jaereku/status/1296534562965803013?s=20

loved him—which'd give him the excuse he wanted so as to hate her for leaving, & stop grieving. His distaste for the Trial is also because it completely destroys that enticing delusion. It's that same delusion which associates his mother with the loathsome, scary outside world.

This is similar to Subaru, who wanted his parents to hate him to reinforce his own delusions. The difference is that Subaru had overcome this when he took the Trial & was thus able to pass. Garf hasn't.
The Trial directly challenges characters' delusions. https://twitter.com/Jaereku/status/1288628266606243840?s=20

Mathias pointed out another parallel between him and Subaru. "No one can do it but me" has a similar ring to Subaru's mindset in cour 1, doesn't it?

https://twitter.com/garfielgrice/status/1351935480842113028?s=20

I'd just like to draw attention to the fact that Subaru's magic gate was already damaged after last season. This is where it finally reaches its limit and completely shatters.

The victory comes at a cost — Subaru won't be able to use magic again, ever.

While Puck was the one who drained Garfiel's energy, it was Frederica's crystal that enabled it. That's Frederica, too, in a symbolic gesture, pushing Garfiel towards the outside world — joining Subaru, Emilia, Ram, Otto, Puck and Patrasche in the fight against him.

Man, the amount of dominance Subaru exudes here over Garfiel is insane. Garfiel is caged, and trapped between Subaru's legs in the frame after being downed by him.

MCs should embody the core message of a series. This is exactly what Subaru does here, in this meaningful exchange (love the dialogue here). Subaru was only able change for the better as he stopped giving up on himself, & so he tries to pull Garf out of stagnation as well.

For Subaru, the starting line to overcome the weakness of his heart was the famous "From Zero". Absolutely nothing is stopping Garfiel from overcoming his demons and changing, is what Subaru is saying. It's all about finding the resolve to set that starting line.

Responding to his own resolve, the Sloth Witch Factor which had been talked about time and again before finally takes bloom (note the flower shape).

Why now? This is the first time since Arc 3 that Subaru is trying to fight, instead of offering his life or protecting others.

It's a meagre power, a single arm that comes with a cost high enough to cause him to vomit, but I see this as Subaru's reward for his resolve to actually fight for once. It's also not something he can simply use freely.

"Nobody can lift a quain stone alone", in a Garfiel-ish fashion, embodies a core idea of this arc—which explores the dangers of excessive self-reliance (Subaru) & over-reliance (Emilia).

Subaru brought everyone together, each with their own personal resolve, in a healthy way.

Subaru giving Otto that headbutt for worrying him was GREAT. Otto didn't heed his own advice given in EP39, by going off to fight Garfiel when he was only supposed to talk. He did things by himself, and Subaru calls him out for that risk. Their friendship is very genuine & great.

This is something to keep in mind for the future. Who's Garfiel's father? Who's Frederica's? What were the circumstances of their birth? The Trial doesn't answer all regarding Garfiel...

The last slap of reality, and what finally crumbles Garfiel's delusions comes from his own sister, called out on every aspect & weakness of his.

And thus, this is the starting line of Garfiel's resolve. He desires to be wanted, as evidenced by his trauma— and he wants to be strong. He wants to be reliable, genuinely and not as a tough facade.

And thus, he turns to those who helped him get here— those who also NEED him.

Okay, so Subaru doesn't actually say this in the novel, as he believes in Emilia — I guess they added it to hammer in to the viewer that what comes next is Emilia's job and no one else's?

Garfiel is beyond cute, and him being barely a teenager explains not only his mood swings, but the importance he places in family and how deeply abandonment affected him, him being still at such a young age. Also him looking up to Subaru as a big brother figure now is adorable!

Man, the romance in this series being handled with such care & maturity is always really nice to see.

Aaaand we finally get the reason for Subaru's departure in the night — to write letters of support so that even while she takes the Trial to face her painful memories, she will still feel his support. Their relationship is too wholesome!

Relationship parallels. That's all.

To (finally) finish this thread, I want to point out how Emilia here reclaims words that were once hurled to her as an insult in Frozen Bond.

Her finger is framed right on Echidna's mouth after the latter's torrent of verbal abuse, a display of Emilia silencing her.

One of my favorite parts of the novel was cut out, but this was a wonderful episode nonetheless (and this thread is probably my longest one yet). I think my score should be obvious. Next episodes will delve further into Emilia along with other key characters' history & role!