In Re:Zero’s second season, Subaru finds himself square in the middle of a trap made specifically to counteract his time looping abilities by attacking several places at once—guaranteeing the deaths of at least some of those he loves no matter what he does to prevent them. Inside the sanctuary, he faces the arrival of the Great Hare, a swarm of millions of bunnies that eat everything in their path. Outside, assassins are set to attack those still in a town and in the mansion.
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The point of this trap, however, is not Subaru’s death. It is to mold him into a person who focuses entirely on Emilia and is willing to sacrifice everything else—both people and ideals—for her. In fact, it wouldn’t be all that hard practically for Subaru to pass the trials and escape the forest at this point, especially with Echidna riding shotgun in his mind. Of course, such an escape would trample Emilia’s feelings in the process, likely breaking her mentally and turning her into a codependent shell of a person who relies on Subaru for everything.
However, in the second half of the season, Subaru decides to bet his future on a hail marry—that he will save everyone by relying not only on himself and his powers but the people who care for him as well. Realizing that he can call on his friends to aid him in both planning and execution is great character development for Subaru, but that simple realization doesn’t really help him overcome the biggest issue he faces: Emilia’s mental state.
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The big stumbling point so far has been Emilia’s complete inability to pass the first trial of the sanctuary: to face her past. It’s not only that what she faces is devastating for her emotionally, it’s that she has no way of preparing herself for the truth she uncovers there.
Theoretically, a person could confront their past outside of the trial, come to terms with it, and then pass the trial. However, the reason Emilia’s doomed to fail is because she is unable to even remember her past much less confront it on her own terms. This is because of the nature of her contract with Puck which has sealed those memories away. Thus, the only way for her to be able to confront those memories is if her contract with Puck is broken.
When seeing that his partnership with Emilia is actively harming her in this way, Puck unilaterally breaks the contract. That in-and-of-itself is devastating to Emilia. A contract is a sacred promise.
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Promises are vital to Emilia. Even if she doesn’t remember why this came to be, the core of her being is centered around the need to keep promises. As we see from her past, her child mind took all the tragedy in her life and blamed it on herself—that she didn’t keep the promise she was supposed to and so her loved ones “abandoned” her. Puck also abandoning her is an incredible betrayal that shatters Emilia’s world even as her memories start returning—making her question who she really is.
Emilia, for the past seven years, has been heavily codependent on Puck. Without this connection, she immediately latches onto the person she is next closest to, Subaru. If he can keep one simple promise, to sit by her bedside all night, she will give over her self-agency to him—believe without question that what he wants to do is the right thing for her.
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While this is no doubt the situation Roswaal most wants, Subaru knows that this is not the best thing for her (or himself for that matter). So he intentionally breaks the promise to stay with her. Subaru doesn’t want to be some kind of replacement for Puck—i.e., because she needs to be codependent on someone and he was just at the right place at the right time. He wants her to be with him because she loves him for who he really is.
Of course, when she wakes up to find him missing she feels even more betrayed. All she asked was one simple thing and he couldn’t even do that. However, Subaru, in his own not-so-eloquent way is eventually able to explain to her that he wants an equal relationship with her, not a subservient one. In the end, while he likes her, that doesn’t mean she is perfect. And he wants her to learn to stand on her own—needs her to, in fact. If she can’t do that, she’ll never be able to face her past or the future ahead of them both.
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The result of all this is an Emilia with no guiding star but herself—supported by people she can’t ever 100% believe in. She doesn’t know what she really wants but at the same time, she is finally in the correct headspace to look to the past in order to figure out what she wants from the future. And in the moments before the trial starts, she sees the words of encouragement Subaru has scrawled across the walls of the tomb—proof that while she has to do some things by herself, that doesn’t mean she is truly alone. The people you let into your heart are always with you, regardless of whether they are physically present or not.
Re:Zero can be seen on Crunchyroll and Animax Asia
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