I guess anyone who has seen this episode realizes that this is a mere set up episode, the final breather before the storm hits us.

First off we see how Julius introduces himself and one thing becomes very clear. He makes an approach to Subaru before they even exchange words. He introduces himself not as a knight from the order but as a mere wanderer. He puts himself on the same ground as the people around him. I think that’s a really mature way of Juli to start their makeup because his status as a knight was pretty much a key point for the conflict between him and Subaru. I also think its interesting how Ferris mentions chivalry, especially with Willhelm’s words later on but we get to that.

We once again get the confirmation that what Juli ( why the hell does it have to be my real life nickname, this is so confusing  >.< ) did back in episode 13 was uncalled for even in his position. The thing is a part of Julius also did this to save Subaru from a fate worse than the treatment he got from him. The other knights would have dragged him into the next alley and outright killed him so this public humiliation is what saved him his life ( even though Subaru probably preferred to die at that point ). I love this laugh at the end as if they like to tease each other.

Subaru starts his speech. The reputation he gained from the successful subjugation of the whale now give a completely new level of authority. In episode 16 a madman driven by hatred begged for the slaughtering of the cult even tho he had nothing accomplished beforehand that would in anyone a reason to help him. He also had no explanation for why he knows that the Cult appears. Now here things look completely different. Through his earlier achievements and his correct predictions bout the whale’s appearance no one involved in this matter doubts him anymore. The thing is for people that didn’t witness his deeds in the battle and don’t know him he still seems rather sketchy. This fact is brought across through the little brother of Mimi. The people he fought the whale with are now his living evidence for his regained reputation

It’s really subtle but we learn a little aspect about his restriction to talk about RBD. Subaru outright mentioned events from his earlier lived but he wasn’t stopped. So it seems that the witch really just interferes if the context of his words cause other people to be sketchy about it. No one here seems to doubt that he went up against the cult so it seems to be fine for the witch. This once again supports that the restriction doesn’t work methodically but it’s almost like the witch is watching him 24/7 and acts under her own judgement.

Through Willhelm we hear that the cult and the whale seem to have a lot of relations in recent history. If we recall episode 16 and how Ram went to the guards to report the cult’s actions she mentioned that reports like these were pretty common. With so many reports it wouldn’t be unusual that some connections to other events had been made.

In the continuing dialogue there is a short line that a messenger of the Crusch household was sent to the mansion with a handwritten letter ( of Crusch I’d assume ) to warn the residents. This is an important puzzle piece for further speculations about the ending which I’ll get to eventually as well.

Further we hear that having an advantage over the cult is a rare thing which implies that they’re working really discreet. I like how Julius once again makes clear that they’re on even grounds. Oh and that line of Subaru that just impaled literally everyone with a death flag, don’t do that!

Next is the first real dialogue between Subaru and Julius. He acknowledges Subaru’s actions completely and apparently it was more than enough in his eyes to redeem Subaru in any way. Remember that he did not acknowledge Subaru’s worth as Emilia’s knight and that he had the capabilities to protect/help her. Their mock fight put Subaru’s physical capabilities to protect her on a test but it seems that Julius realized where Subaru’s strengths really are. There is also a small hint towards this world and how it treated the threat named White Whale. Well they did not at all which seemingly rubs Julius the wrong way. We see that he’s not blindly obedient to his superiors and his kingdom but also has his own opinion on what they do as a order and what they don’t. Next is a really big step in Subaru’s development. He managed to see his own mistakes, apologized and speaks out his gratitude to someone who ashamed him in front of everyone. He talked to Juli on equal grounds and regretted his previous actions. I also love how much implied it is that they will become friends.

A short scene of Emilia ( yeah I know, I know ). Still it’s important. This scene happens after the messenger of the Crusch household has arrived. We can assume this because Puck mentions how he has repaired the forrest barrier and that she doesn’t have to worry. This is a clear implication that the mansion is now on alert that someone is indeed out there. Remember, Crusch doesn’t know that it is the witch cult who is a threat for the mansion so she most likely mentioned that a hostile group of people is in the surrounding area. This is the second hint which gives us a clearer picture to why Ram appears there at the end.

Anyway, it’s time for the confrontation with Petelgeuse. Subaru orders the witch cult members to leave him alone which he is able to because of his stench. Subaru meets Petelgeuse and we get a good insight on how the cult seems to attract new members. Apparently some people will simply adapt the mindset of the cult at one point in their life. The world "love" pretty much means that they are benefitted by the witch and support her existence with all they have.

Petelgeuse once again asks "Are you Pride?". On top of that we learn that there are apparently 6 Sin Archbishops ( not including Envy ) and Pride is the only position that has not been taken yet. So the Sin Archbishops know each other and know about their positions in the entire cult.

And now finally the Gospel is being addressed. Apparently it’s this cult’s proof for their love and the way its treated as a holy testament is very reminiscent of our world’s religion ( well aside from the insane fanatics of course ).

Petelgeuse mentions how his gospel has no account of him. This makes one wonder; how should the gospel have an entry for Subaru? When did Petelgeuse have the chance to "actualize" his version of the gospel? The next line Petelgeuse gives, implies that without a gospel Subaru has no reason to be here which could mean that he’s not an authorized member yet. Upon hearing that Subaru supposedly treated the gospel like that he becomes furious. I think it’s funny how Petelgeuse understands this as a battle for her love almost like he thinks that Subaru wants to take something from him, I mean can he take something from him?

Willhelm cuts Petelgeuse in half and then he delivers the line about chivalry being long dead. This means many things. For one that Willhelm and the current order of the knight wouldn’t really get along. The one believes chivalry is long deadn while the others live for it. I mean Willhelm experienced an entire war so I think he knows of times where chivalry didn’t help you to stay alive and it was also something that died along with many other people.

Mimi and Tivey search Petelgeuse’s body. I had to laugh when they showed that Petelgeuse carries around stuff for his makeup lol.

Anyway, when Tivey picks up the gospel he acts all disgusted and no one wants to take a look into it. From what we hear the gospel is what converts people that have the potential to the belief of the cult.

I love the little scene where Subaru seemingly enjoys to have people that have his back and ease him up. He pretty much never had this aside from Rem recent moments.

Subaru is dragged away and then one of probably many secrets about Petelgeuse are revealed. Once his body is physically destroyed his consciousness seems to be transferred into his fingers which we assume number ten because of the clear resemblance to actual fingers. There are several little hints which proves that it’s still Petelgeuse who we face here but simply in a new body.

Firstly. Petelgeuse has a certain speech patter where he ends a lot of sentences with - DESU! This is here the case as well. Secondly he uses the same phrases an body movements ( i.e "My brain trembles" and bending backwards ). And at last there is also the self harm of the fingers again. There is one distinct difference tho. Petelgeuse bites his nails ( Look at his nails throughout his scenes in this episode, they’re all messed up ) Peteko ( the name of the finger here ) removes the nails entirely. This could mean that every finger has a different variation of self harm.

What Petelgeuse 2 ( I just call „him“ that now ) doesn’t seem to know tho is that his Gospel is gone. Did this member of the cult didn’t have one? Does the Gospel go with his consciousness when he swaps bodies? I think it’s the latter because why should the cult member not have his own version of the gospel?

A Spirit appears and Petelgeuse 2 seems really afraid of it. Mimi and Tivey destroy the tree which creates an impact that lets rain down water. And this is the exact reason why Willhelm could see the hands. They’re invisible but they’re still a physical mass that can avert rain drops and overall interacts with its surroundings. Petelgeuse 2 gets sliced up by Willhelm who once again proves that he’s still got it in him. We also get to hear a rough number of members that are either around or members of the cult in its entirety. Apparently we have to face 100 members.

Upon realizing that people died because he dragged him into this and because he made a mistake, Subaru feels increasingly guilty. I mean I’m sure he doesn’t plan to undo all of this after successfully defeating the white whale so Subaru has to face the decision to not rewind time to bring them back. He decides about their fate and he deemed them not worthy enough to repeat everything again. This decision and the guilt resulting from it lies heavily on his shoulders.

It’s Willhelm who makes Subaru snap out of it. I feel like that in this speech Willhelm applied his own lessons he learned in his life upon Subaru. Remember back in episode 14? Subaru didn’t even try to fight and change his future and Willhelm realized that. He refused to help a person who doesn’t strives forward to fight for their future. In here Subaru proved this will but he now wavers because of the recent developments. Still Willhelm sees the will within him and sees him as someone worthy to support with all he has. This was the final prove how much differently Willhelm sees Subaru compared to his earlier lives. All this is expressed in their final exchange of words. Subaru asks if Willhelm wants him to get stronger ( their sparring in episode 14 was pretty much about that ) but Willhelm declines and says that he wants him to be strong.

I think this also shows how Willhelm realizes that this boy’s strengths doesn’t lie in combat but rallying up his allies and leading them. For that he doesn’t have to train and become strong, this is not a process. No he wants him to never waver and constantly stay strong as somone who can lead those that are around him.

And at last the scene with Ram. I can guess that this was a big surprise because why would Ram be there all hooded and use this flower on him? Well this is where the two earlier hints come into play. We do know that Crusch sent a messenger with a personal message to the mansion and we do know that after Emilia & co received it, they were on high alert. Crusch doesn’t know that Subaru and the others fight the witch’s cult so she could only say that a hostile group is in the vicinity. And now imagine how does it look like when a caravan with soldiers from rivaling candidates for the throne make their way to the mansion with Subaru in the middle of it. And as we know Ram doesn’t know what happened between Emilia and Subaru but she knows that it saddened Emilia and that she assumes Subaru did something wrong. It’s not too far fetched to assume that Ram thinks Subaru betrayed them and now plans to assault the mansion with armed forces.

On another note. The finished cover art for volume 9 of the light novel which releases on the 23rd September was revealed today. Included with the tweet was the release date for volume 10 which is on the 25th of October. This means that Tappei is very likely to return to his 1 month release pace again. He already released the first 2 arcs monthly but had to slow down for the third arc because a lot of changes had to be made. The 4th arc is rather refined compared to the third one so that's most likely the reason for why the release speeds up like that. If Tappei keeps this up ( which I'm sure of ) the 4th arc and with that the content for a possible second season should be done in about 1 - 1 1/2 years. And while I'm at it a spin-off series much like the Ex Novels has been announced for Elsa. They spoke of a part 1 so we can assume it will be at least 2 parts long.