MY RE:ZERO 2 EPISODE 17 THREAD

Just me rambling about a bunch of nice framing choices, characters and whatnot.

This episode had probably one of my favorite opening sequences/transitions so far, which felt almost cinematic and served to tie the Trial and the Frozen Bond movie together. We're finally getting the history of the snowscape which was the movie's setting!

Echidna & Emilia have an interesting dynamic wherein any sympathy Emilia offers bounces right off Echidna. The latter goes as far as to mock Emilia's "sugoooku" verbal tic in her sarcasm.

Dona's disdain seems to be aimed towards Emilia's person rather than being tied to Subaru.

One of the core morals of this arc is that you cannot hide away from your past. A lot of the characters' struggles illustrate that in different ways—Garfiel sought to change his past by creating a false narrative to justify himself, & Emilia simply erased her own through Puck.

Though this has been no secret since Season 1, it's neat that some people have already made the connection of this yet other parallel between Subaru & Emilia. https://twitter.com/EMTenshi/status/1354487510261506048?s=20

This scene establishes a similarity between Fortuna & Geuse — they're both tied down by a sense of responsibility towards a higher being(s?), and live their lives accordingly. This constitutes one of the main reasons why they feel such a connection to each other.

While the broken Petelgeuse from Season 1 might seem like a completely different person, I'd just like to point out that the core of his person is still the same. He's very passionate about *something* which the viewer hasn't been privy to yet, and easily overwhelmed by emotions.

Let's rewind to Season 1 a bit! What's translated in S1 as "Ordeal" is actually the same word as Trial (試練 - "shiren"). Emilia in S1 WAS, at that point, in a state where she was "unable to overcome even one Trial". Then what of "confront one of the sins"?

Now if we were to come back to S2, we see that Geuse has a special interest in Emilia's growth. We know in Season 1 that Petelgeuse wanted to use her to house the Witch through said "Trials" — this begs the question, was this Geuse's endgame the same? Or did something change?

Coming back to the lighthearted bits, though some attentive people may've noticed it in EP39, we see that Emilia's "sugoooku" verbal tic (which CR never translates) is taken from Fortuna.

As much as Emilia shut away her memories, she can't help but replicate those happy times.

Interrupting the analyzing/theorycrafting to say... I'm so happy the Three Idiots dynamic is finally formed now. These three bounce each other off so well, and I can't wait to see more of them!

Garfiel is now slowly putting his guard down around people — him making a conscious effort to call Ryuzu "old hag" instead of Granny was all part of his tough front, which is now crumbled for the most part.

This scene oddly parallels Petelgeuse's meeting with Satella in Season 1, whose hands, unlike Emilia's in this episode, fail to reach him.

Now what exactly made Geuse so emotional here? Watching from Emilia's POV, we aren't sure yet.

Remember when, after killing the last Petelgeuse-possessed body, Emilia had tears at the end of EP23, and looked slightly lost? As if part of her soul remembered who she'd just killed? Another recontextualized detail from Season 1.

This line sums up Emilia's growth — letting go of parental figures like Geuse, Fortuna and Puck, and no longer leaning on Subaru for everything. This conversation taking place while a father figure is leaning on *her* instead of the other way around like usual is also deliberate.

This episode also explained the high importance she places in promises — it's one of the lessons beaten into her by Mother Fortuna (the effect the lesson had on her conveyed through an eye reflection shot, a motif used to show understanding), and something she couldn't repress.

...And there comes my favorite part.

Regulus's plain white clothes make him look completely ordinary, but the camera angle choice and foreboding music signal us that there's something not quite right about this seemingly completely normal guy in appearance.

Throughout Regulus's preachy rant as he goes off on a tangent, special care is given to avoid showing his eyes. Just as eye reflections convey understanding, this conveys a complete refusal to understand, with him preaching in his own, small world. He doesn't understand people.

Or maybe he simply doesn't want to, as he twists her words into something to be justifiably offended at—turning a simple comment into something that supposedly erases his individuality.

Another line to take note, which could help decipher his psyche, is this — "like you're so much better than me". Regulus dislikes inferiority, even something like giving his name first implying inferiority to him. Words need to be chosen very carefully around him.

Need I mention his hypocritical nature as well, as he speaks of being on "equal footing" while he's clearly in a position of power, due to his status as an Archbishop and his powerful Authority, seen in EP26?

His eyes are finally shown in the end when Fortuna rebukes him again, as he finally ACTUALLY speaks to her and answers her question—he's no longer preaching, because he feels that now, he's perfectly justified in any action he takes towards these despicable & immoral people.

His complete superiority is conveyed through low camera angles, with the only shot from a higher angle displaying a confident smirk, showing the viewer that he is in control of whatever will happen in this situation.

I was surprised they gave this chapter of all things a 29 minute episode, but I'm pleased with the result! This was a decent adaptation of the LN, and the production value is much better. I'm hoping for more 29m episodes, though, since there are much more exciting chapters ahead!