Alright I gotta say at first that this week’s essay will be a short one ( yes short for my conditions  :P ) but not because I’m slothful but because I simply don’t have any source material to work with. This episode adapts volume 9 which hasn’t been released yet and since Light Novel & Web Novel have a considerate amount of changes it wouldn’t help anyone if I refer to the WN version.

So Subaru returns and we all quickly realize that his checkpoint has moved. It’s Subaru’s first death and "failure" ever since his start from zero in episode 18. I love that he doesn’t dwell on the horrors he just experienced but instead puts the knowledge he gathered from his past life into good use. Old Subaru probably would have tried to find out about Petelgeuse’s possession by himself because he was obliged to do as the hero of this story and because he wanted to be useful in something. But now he immediately accepts the fact that he won’t be able to do a single thing on his own and reaches out to his allies. He can be useful but only with the help of their wisdom and strength.

So it’s not uncommon knowledge that someone from the witch cult is able to use some sort of possession. If all of his spare bodies are destroyed he will die for sure. Makes you wonder if Petelgeuse’s as how we know him is also another spare body or his original one. Actually what is Petelgeuse exactly? A mere soul, the sin itself, a spirit?

Anyway we jump to Emilia who seems to be bothered with the past developments a lot. We see that all these racist comments and accusations against her as well as the fight with Subaru take quite a toll on her. Later we get to know that she received this declaration of war earlier which must have been the reason for all these negative emotions dwelling up in her.

Let’s jump right to the arrival of Willhelm which introduces us to the start of the various changes in this timeline. Instead of trying to visit Emilia after everything has already been set into motion Willhelm is sent there in advance. Note how he introduces himself as "Willhelm Trias" which is his former family name, he’s not acknowledging his astrea family name. I think that with the passing of his wife and now the death of the whale his connection to the Astrea family has been severed. This also might hint at a problematic situation within the family as a whole.

Note how Emilia is really happy once she hears that the blank latter was a mistake almost like she was happy that they don’t resent her due to her origin like the others. What comes next is another clever step taken by Subaru. He uses the contract made between Roswaal and Crusch for the subjugation of the white whale and applies it as a passable reasoning for the events that take place at the moment. About what Ram said, you know about the "Sanctuary". Keep that place in mind and you didn’t miss anything. You’re not supposed to know what this place is, it’s mere foreshadowing. Subaru walks in and basically pushes the decision of this matter forward. About Betty. We already got some signs that the relationship between her and Emilia doesn’t seem to be all too well throughout the series but regardless of that Emilia still doesn’t like the idea to leave someone behind even tho there is no other choice. I love how Puck acts as the driving force behind her confidence. It proves that the strong and confident girl with the intent to kill anyone that harms innocent people is only a facade that is able to exist because of Puck.

Don’t have much to say about the Emilia Children scene aside from daaaaw ( just like Tappei lol ). It warms my heart how the innocence and kindness of children is Emilia’s first step towards proper and healthy interactions with humans aside from Subaru. You can see her discomfort at first because she has absolutely no experience with that or rather bad ones but in the end it hits her hard.

Well and there he is again. Ketty aka the merchant witch cult member that orchestrated Subaru’s arrival at the mansion in episode 14.

So Subaru used his knowledge from his previous life again and cut off the enemies’s line of communication. I can’t be the only one that thought the line of him at the end was badass af, right? Anyway we finally find out the purpose of the cloak that Emilia wore in episode 12 and 13. It wouldn’t be all too good if a half elf walked around in the capital so she had to hide herself behind this spell. That’s also why she got to hear one or two words from Roswaal because she walked without any protection in the first arc. Next we see how Subaru convinces the villagers.

I love how this references episode 16 quite well in two points. Remember how he went onto his knees to beg Cursch to kill the entire cult? And remember how Priscilla gave him a talk about how his intentions and the way he degrades himself for it are the greed of a pig? Well here Subaru goes onto his knees and properly degrades himself for the correct reasons. This is not the greed of a pig but the earnest goodwill of a loyal person. To me it almost feels like the villagers are some sort of relatives to him, like one big family. Maybe Subaru missed exactly that in his life. People he could depend on but also people that depend on him because here he can actually do something for them. At last Otto arrives and he has been caught by the witch cult just like in episode 17. This raises the question why he was straight up killed back then and simply caught here? Anyway keep that whole metia mirror thing and Otto in mind. I’ll talk about it next week when I can be sure that it won’t cause any problems  :)

At last we finally get the confirmation. Emilia is not Satella at least not yet according to Petelgeuse. She is supposed to be a vessel for her and needs to be tested. We can only assume what this „test“ includes but most likely it’s to test if Emilia is strong enough to handle a powerful entity like Satella. I love Subaru’s taunts because if you think about it they’re actually quite morbid. By the way the author said that the more finger of Petelgeuse die the more unseen hands he can summon so his connection to said finger definitely limit his power in some way.

It’s interesting to note that Petelgeuse always asks him what he is as not who he is. This together with Petelgeuse’s wording that Subaru might be „Pride’s“ throws up a question. What can Sin Archbishops be in regard to their respective sin? Incarnations? Servants? On top of that Petelgeuse says how nothing of this was in the gospel and with that we pretty much have the confirmation. The Gospel is able to tell the immediate future to its holder but apparently Subaru is never mentioned in it. We can assume that everything regarding Subaru which is this whole plot will also not be written down.

Anyway we visit the exact same cliff that Subaru jumped off in episode 7. It’s funny that the place of his death and the start of his determination to take his fate into his own hands will be the one where this showdown is being held. I don’t know if I’m the only one that always gets this feeling that Julius is somehow the kind of knight and person Subaru aspires to be. While Subaru fell to his death from the cliff Julius jumped down safely to face his fate in a different manner.

I’m sorry but the whole ending part was simply epic, especially with this music. Two people overcoming their differences in order to defeat a common enemy and Julius even calls him a friend. This scene is actually featured in a badass LN art of volume 9 that was released earlier. I wish I could link it here but you will have to do by searching for it on the wiki.

Next week will be the last one and I’m really curious about how big the explosion will be that it causes. Seeing how Nexus handled the entirety of episode 23 I can actually imagine them adding some extra minutes or maybe even making it double length.