Nobody Can Lift a Quain Stone Alone

All right, it's time for Re:Zero again this week! Last time, while Otto was desperately giving it everything he had, Subaru and Emilia were having a lovers' quarrel behind the scenes, and now we pick up from there!

This week's Re:Zero has started! This hazy image is the story from when Garfiel was little, before he had the scar on his forehead.

Garfiel kept slamming his forehead over and over to forget what he didn't want to see. That scar on his forehead is Garfiel's scar of defeat.

What Subaru left to Otto was buying him time so he could talk to Emilia. He asked him to hold Garfiel back, but he did tell him to run if things got bad. Even so, Otto didn't run, and on top of that, he even persuaded Ram to join him so they could create a chance to win.

At the end of last episode, Garfiel was cornered by Otto and Ram's tag team, but the reason he still comes to the tomb in such a battered state is because he's protecting the reason he's clinging to.

"The Natsuki family takes their shoes off when entering a house, but barges into people's hearts with dirty shoes on" is exactly the kind of thing Kenichi-san would casually do.

The reason Subaru knows so much about Garfiel's circumstances is because he heard the story during the night from Alma-san, one of the Ryuzus. That was one of the things he was doing while breaking his promise to Emilia. The other reason, later.

The "Trial" basically shows you an unpleasant past: for Subaru, the parents he couldn't face; for Emilia, the past she couldn't confront; and for Garfiel, the mother who abandoned him.

The main conflict is the clash between Subaru, who believes in "the strength to change," and Roswaal, who believes in "the weakness that cannot change," but Garfiel too is fixated on "the weakness that cannot change." The strength to change, and feelings that do not change.

Subaru won't admit it, but Julius's advice that "it'll only work if it's not an unintelligent beast" really pays off here. It doesn't work on Garfiel when he hasn't transformed into a beast, but Shamak does work on Garfiel after he beastifies and loses his reason.

By the way, the cracking sound in the middle of the fight was Subaru's gate, which had already been pushed to its limit because he used Shamak after being told not to. It's subtle, but this is the moment Subaru lost the ability to use magic on his own forever.

He remembered Julius's advice just fine, but didn't follow Ferris's advice at all. Ferris would be fully justified in hating him for that. Ferri-chan is fuming.

The blow that undid Garfiel's beast transformation came from the crystal stone Subaru received from Frederica, but in the background, there just so happened to be a spirit that had newly gone feral, and it drained all the nearby mana, weakening him.

Subaru's new move might look like something you've seen somewhere before, and the reason it looks like that thing you've seen is because when he defeated its original user, the seed of it entered Subaru. It's kind of like Mega Man.

Yes! A strike from the finest lady in the Emilia camp! Revenge for herself: successful!

"The Quwain Stone can't be lifted alone" is one of Garfiel's odd sayings that's easier to understand. Broadly speaking, if you take it to mean that what one person can do alone is limited, that's fine.

Season 2 has had a lot of Amasaki-san playing around with the "Divine Protection of Soul Language." At this rate, I want to hear impressions of all kinds of animals.

It's written as "Invisible Providence." Subaru's new finishing move.

Nee-sama is pulling the bad woman act... Because she's a good woman, she's pulling the bad woman act...

What you hear in the "Trial" is your own voice, so of course this is Garfiel's own voice here. Can he overcome his past? You don't actually have to overcome it to clear the "Trial," but you do have to give an answer.

This move here, where he punches at the image of his past self, is something Auron in FFX did too. I like it.

One of the most unfortunate women in the story is Garfiel and Frederica's mother, "Leesia Tinzel." Garfiel and Frederica have different fathers, but since neither father was there out of love, and she ended up left alone to raise two children, neither of them was much of a father.

Leesia-san had nowhere to go, carrying Frederica and Garfiel still unborn in her womb, but while she was searching for work and a place to live, Roswaal took her in and introduced "Sanctuary" as a place where she could work.

How's Emilia-tan supposed to understand something complicated like cloning?!

As for Garfiel calling Subaru "Boss," that relationship keeps going from here on too. Subaru has tamed Garfiel!

Around here, Garfiel can't straightforwardly express his gratitude and lashes out instead, but Okamoto-san's performance was wonderful. I think it was very Garfiel-like. As expected.

She hasn't completely cut ties with tension and anxiety, but even so, Emilia heads into the tomb with the most positive feelings she's had so far.

What Garfiel saw inside the tomb was one of the things Subaru was doing at night after breaking his promise to Emilia.

He doesn't doubt for even a fragment that Emilia will take on the "Trial," so now it's about doing what he can to support Emilia after she went inside. Entering is painful for him, so he basically pushed through that pain and did his best.

The bad witch returns after a while.

The difference in atmosphere is because the other person is Emilia. There are people who completely change their attitude depending on who they're dealing with, right?

"I'm a troublesome woman, after all" is, in a sense, Emilia's new self-awareness after coming to terms with herself. From here on, Emilia will start holding her head up too... so please look forward to what comes next for the camp with that in mind!

Ram and Otto survive, Shamak dies in exchange for Patrasche's pride coming back to life, Garfiel becomes a loyal cat, and Subaru gets his late-night love letter seen! And Emilia became a troublesome woman, which made Echidna pull a sour face! Look forward to next time too!