Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 4 ‒ Episodes 1-2

©長月達平・株式会社KADOKAWA刊／Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活4製作委員会

The first episode of this season serves as an epilogue to last season as well as a prologue to this one. It's all about tying up the loose ends—both plot-wise and character-wise.

On the plot side of things, we get the answer to how Anastasia was able to use magic despite supposedly being unable to. Like Subaru, she has a contracted artificial spirit, who is now in control of her body and is unsure why she can't give control back. This leaves her with a similar problem to Subaru—a lack of information on how to fix things. Thus, they decide to set out together with Rem, Ram, Julius, and a collection of others to visit the Re:Zero world's equivalent of the Great and Powerful Oz.

On the character side of things, we get the emotional ending to Garfiel's story from the previous season—i.e., discovering his mother was alive, had amnesia, and had two more kids. The capstone on this story is that, while he is unable to tell her the truth, that he is her son, he can form a similar connection with her. Moreover, by learning that his half-siblings' names are gender-swapped versions of his own and his sister's, he can see that, subconsciously, his mother never forgot him.

The second episode of the season is where things for this season get moving. We learn that the first problem our heroes face is a desert that is apparently infinite, despite the Sage's tower always being in sight. The episode gives us just enough information to solve the dilemma along with Subaru—but this is a bit of narrative sleight-of-hand. The actual puzzle comes right after with Subaru's first death in nearly an entire season.

Often, Subaru's save points are set hours or even days before his impending death. However, this time, it is set seconds before. He has no time to think and plan, much less any time to deal with the emotional whiplash of his deaths. Worse still, the death is so sudden that it takes several loops to even figure out how he is dying. It's a fantastic twist on the usual Re:Zero formula—forcing Subaru to think fast and stay focused—while also taking the wind out of his sails after surviving for so long with no deaths in the previous arc. Moreover, this lack of time to plan causes Subaru to not fully see the consequences of his actions. Sure, he is able to save everyone from the sniper in the tower eventually, but in doing so, he throws them all into an unknown danger.

While both of these episodes are excellent in their own ways, the thing that most captured my interest was a seemingly throwaway line in the second episode. When talking to Julius about his connection with the spirits, Subaru says the following, “They may have forgotten you, but your contract's still intact, huh?”

This single line may be the key to explaining one of the series' core mysteries. Subaru, at the start of the series, has no idea why he has the Return by Death power or what his connection to Satella is. However, this conversation with Julius tells us that just because one doesn't remember making a magical contract doesn't mean it doesn't still apply.

We, the viewers, are likely the victims of a directorial trick. The way the story is told, we are led to believe that we have been shown every one of Subaru's loops. However, that is not necessarily the case. We may have only seen the loops Subaru himself remembers. Pandora, Roy, Lye, and Echidna have shown just how easy it is for those with Witch factors to erase memories in different ways—Subaru's included, using Echidna's Castle of Dreams. There could be a whole series of adventures—ones with hundreds or thousands of loops—set before the scene where Subaru “first” finds himself isekai'd back at the series' start that have been removed from his mind and never shown to us.

If nothing else, this line showcases one of the best things about Re:Zero in general: the complexity of its story and how it disseminates information. The script is incredibly tight—little to no information is given without some greater meaning on some character, plot, or setting level. It's just up to us (and Subaru) to figure out how it all fits together.

Episode 1 Rating:

Episode 2 Rating:

Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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