u/anicritic

We found out in the first episode that Akiyama was being released from prison soon, and that lawyer conveniently told Nao to seek help from a con artist, and with the knowledge from Episode 7 that Nao is very much like Akiyama's late mother, it now makes perfect why Akiyama chose to help Nao after she stayed in front of a shop for hours, and it's 'cause she's honest to fault and genuinely believes in the goodness of people.

I had predicted after Episode 4 that Liar Game might've deliberately engineered the scenario with Michiko's cheque being stolen to draw Akiyama into the game given how extremely suspicious it was for her to not remember anything about X aside from having a man's voice and how she had previously cashed her earnings before writing up a cheque for 100,000,000 given that it contradicted her stating that she was racked with guilt about having stolen that money since someone who was wouldn't have cashed it all to begin with, and Episode 7 shows that I was most likely correct about how suspicious that was.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is whether Yuji is also a Liar Game associate. I'm pretty confident that Michiko must be a Liar Game associate due to how suspicious the information she gave Akiyama was, but with Yuki/X I can see it going either way. I guess perhaps this Downsizing arc or future arcs could point to whether Yuji is also a Liar Game associate, but I won't make any firm conclusions for now.

Qifrey's morally ambiguous, which we've seen at least since Ep. 5 since he used the water dragon spell without checking to see whether Coco was okay. He seems to have a crazy obsession with the Brimmed Caps for some reason, and his students are clearly not his first priority if that wasn`t obvious before. That's why he wiped Mr. Nolnoa's memories of having inspected the twinned vial of ink.

Qifrey saying he`d do whatever he could to protect Coco at the end of the episode is a lie since he intends to use her as bait to draw out the Brimmed Caps. He seems to be very mentally immature to consider finding leads to them more important than being a teacher to his students. Olruggio really needs to keep him in check, but he seems to be on too good of terms with Qifrey, which is a blindspot.

And this is before mentioning that memory-erasing magic is meant to be used on outsiders who learn how magic is casted. I can see why Qifrey did what he did since the Knights Moralis are very poor investigators and try to erase memories before doing any real investigation, meaning they have zero critical thinking skills, but what Qifrey did still crossed a line, and it may come back to bite him.

This is fairly straightforward. Given Jin instructed Akio to stay outside the barrier so that nobody would be able to get in, it makes no sense how that ragtag group in Episodes 5 and 6 got in unless Akio let them in.

When things got bad for that group, Akio's eyes shined with a white light, often indicating a character's transition to a murderous, lethal state, when he approached the gruff man with a beard wearing a combat jacket, and that's when he killed the man who was supposedly in charge of the ragtag group in Episode 6.

Given Akio's Daemon was at the door, the skilled swordsman who didn't get injured 'cause he didn't want to engage Yuru wouldn't have been able to leave without Akio willing allowing him to go free, which makes Akio all the more suspicious.

Thus, I believe that Akio may be in league with Asuma, who's part of a different faction of the Kagemori clan, or an external group, but given a woman part of the shadowy group in Episode 5 said that Jin did well, it's almost certainly a different faction of the Kagemori clan.

Asuma said that he has great hearing, but I wonder how true that is and whether it was actually the case that Akio directly told him as a traitor to the main branch of the Kagemori clan. Akio is highly suspect to me, and this is a guy to watch out for.

If Akio were indeed a mole, it'd make sense why that shadowy group possessed knowledge of Jin having been tasked by the head of the Kagemori clan to go after Yuru, and why Asuma was conveniently at the Kagemori manor when the main branch didn't want him knowing of this.

The only thing that's shocking to me is how nobody suspects Akio. Like what? How is he not the most suspect guy at the manor right now aside from Asuma? He failed at his task, and he killed the one in charge of the ragtag group. I'm surprised he's gotten away with what he has. Is the bad blood between Asuma's faction of the Kagemori clan and the main branch so bad that it provided cover for Akio's actions?

I appreciated Episode 31 going into detail about the effect bullying can have on a school-age child as it’s one way hikikomori are created, and that was probably what the writer was going for in crafting this episode given Chihiro was scared of even leaving her apartment until she met Algomon, which lead to her becoming a recluse again after losing Algomon, and that’s probably the reason for the intended Nirinso outing at the end of episode, to get Chihiro to go outside for her own good.

Acknowledging the hikikomori phenomenon in a Digimon series is not what I had on my bingo card. A kid being bullied before she even reaches double digits in age shows how cruel children can be. Hitomi had a very useful role this episode even if she's still only a minor character although that can change given she'll probably be going to Nirinso repeatedly as Chihiro's chaperone to aid Chihiro with her recovery.

What are your thoughts on this?

The twin that died instead of being resurrected 400 years ago probably chose to do so ’cause he/she didn’t want to be used as a weapon and chose death as a way out from that. That makes sense to me given twins raised in an environment like Higashi Village should care for each other and want to see each other. I guess it could technically be possible that the twins didn't care for each other, and that's why that twin from 400 years ago chose death, but that'd be less interesting from a writing perspective.

As for why the villagers thought that Asa would be cooperative, I think Higashi Village just underestimated the power of Break since it had been at least 400 years since it was last seen and overestimated the strength of the apparent psychological conditioning Asa had gone under back when she lived in the village given it had been years since she lived there. Given she had been a sick, frail girl, Asa probably didn’t go through much of the same brainwashing that Yuru did, which is something the two assassins specifically brought up this episode in the flashback with them thinking Yuru would be very cooperative due to his upbringing.

I do not believe that Yuru would willingly choose to die of his own accord umprompted to awaken Seal since he was taught by his father to kill those who direct killing intent at him, so it’s not something he’d do unless he had no other choice but to acquire the power of Seal to save Asa, but I understand why Dera and Left and Right don't know that since they didn't see the conversation Yuru had with his father.

Does anyone have anything else to share?

One thing I've realized after this episode after seeing the brief flashback with child Reinhard and child Julius is that Julius's mantle of being the most knightly of knights is a mask he puts on due to feeling inferior to Reinhard, which is why this episode flashed back to child Reinhard easily defeating Julius's swordplay instructor. This is also why Julius insisted on being called Juli when he and Subaru met again, both 'cause he subconsciously wanted a break from being Julius the most knightly of knights due to having had to do things he detested as a knight in beating Subaru even though he wouldn't like to have if the circumstances had been different and not speaking out about so many people smearing Emilia during the initiation of the Royal Selection, not just 'cause it was unbecoming of a knight to take on the role of a mercenary, and 'cause he may have thought Subaru would react better to him if he did that even though Subaru ultimately didn't at the time since he found it to be annoying roleplaying.

This is why Julius said in Season 3 that he was extremely angry at what Heinkel did and wished he could have done what Subaru did, which was yell at Heinkel since everybody was mad at that bumbling oaf but didn't dare say anything 'cause of Heinkel's rank as he saw proper decorum as being a liability in that moment with Subaru's outburst allowing everybody to stay calm. This is why Julius kind of saw the light when Subaru told him to be Juli more since the mask he puts on is very much a burden to him with him realizing how much brighter the light out is when he first decided to be Juli 'cause Subaru was right about how having more flexibility would help him out in more situations.

People who are less discerning when consuming media or have a very rigid worldview saw Episode 51 of Re:Zero as lowering Re:Zero to that of being like standard isekai slop, which is straight up incorrect, and I will call it as I see fit. Julius himself said that sometimes Subaru's imprudence is useful on certain occasions, showing he understands the ugliness of Subaru's actions, but nonetheless, he saw Heinkel turning what was an otherwise orderly gathering between people who respected each other with a reconciliation between Wilhelm and Reinhard being near given they were acting at least somewhat warmly to each other for possibly the first time since Theresia, his mother, had died, into a dumpster fire was disgraceful, and that's why Julius thanked Subaru for his righteous indignation, not 'cause he was trying to put out there that every time Subaru has an outburst that it's a good thing, but basic media literacy is dying off quickly in this day and age, partially due to kids and adults alike being glued to slop from their phones, resulting people in being unable to remember things said on screen a few minutes ago due to acting mostly on emotion and wanting immediate gratification.

Julius saw some of himself in Subaru in Episode 13, only Subaru chose a different path than he did, and even if he recognizes that what Subaru did was quite ugly and doesn't condone all of what he did, which is why he took multiple shots at Subaru's behaviour, saying that it can reflect badly on those around him, some people, such as Julius, feel a sense of awe or kinship with those who allow you to see a different approach to life. He saw Subaru as being someone rough around the edges but still fundamentally a good person even in spite of Subaru's flaws, and that's why he was calling Subaru a friend after the White Whale fight.

The reason Julius deliberately challenged Subaru to a duel 'cause he knew one of the knights or multiple of them would probably attempt to execute Subaru for insinuating that they inherited their status as knights from their families, and Julius saw that as being an injustice that must not be allowed to happen given he knows that Emilia is a good person and since he himself doesn't discriminate against demihumans as seen by how he did a curtsy to kiss her in Episode 12, which is typical for someone to do for a woman of higher status, and nobody in Anastasia's camp is allowed to think of demihumans as lesser. So of course he shared those same values and took to Subaru to an extent after the latter said that he chooses to stand by Emilia's side 'cause she's special, and Julius acknowledged those feelings given his own feelings for Anastasia. This is backed by how in Season 2 Subaru's second Sanctuary trial had Julius saying, "I wanted to call you a friend." since he ultimately sees that both he and Subaru want to fight against the injustices of the world.

As for the Kingdom of Lugunica itself, Julius knows that it's far from a utopia given he acknowledged to Subaru that the White Whale was left unchecked for too long, which is why he thanked Subaru from the bottom of his heart for ensuring it was defeated in Episode 22. He most likely personally believed that the job should've been carried out much sooner, and that that too was an injustice, which is why he was so keen on mending fences with Subaru since Subaru took action to make that happen when the kingdom would probably have kept dillydallying.

Basically, since Julius can't be the strongest, he used the mask of the most knightly/courtly knight since that was something he could realistically aspire to, and now that most people don't remember him he doesn't have that anymore, which is why he took to heart Subaru saying that his humiliation is a testament to Julius's strength and why he's so adamant about proving his strength, mirroring Arc 3 Subaru to an extent.

This is backed by how Julius thought back to being made Anastasia's personal knight in Episode 72 and defeating Petelgeuse, which he considered badges of honour that validated his self-worth. I believe even Julius saying, "I am the Kingdom's sword that will slay you." was also potentially signifying his insecurities about being inferior to Reinhard while also signifying kinship with Reinhard with it not being just a cool line for a knight to say but something Julius said to mean he'd be the weapon of the Kingdom that slays Petelgeuse, much like how Reinhard is first and foremost thought of as weapon of the kingdom before he is a person. Thus, it both signified that he was stepping into that role and that it was something he very much relished doing. The flashback to Petelgeuse was followed by a shot of Emilia, who Subaru had indicated passed Reid's exam, and then to Subaru, who remembers him, intermixed with shots of him being frustrated about his current predicament after becoming a Gluttony victim, before finally remembering Subaru saying that his humiliation is a testament to Julius's strength and then finally hearing Subaru call out to him, which was showing to viewers that Julius was going through much of the same thing Subaru was going through in Arc 3 and that Subaru rushing toward Julius was to stop him from having something worse happen to him, much like how Julius beat down Subaru in that arc to prevent worse happening to him, which is backed by how Subaru remarking that he hopes Julius isn't too feeling too down since he's realized that Julius also has self-worth issues from the talks he's had with him, like during the scene he mentioned that his humiliation is a testament to Julius's strength and his talk about the situation regarding Julius's spirits when he said that Subaru is currently the one who knows him best.

There's even a bit of a Subaru Season 2/Arc 4 parallel in that after Subaru lost Rem, who was his main pillar of support, to Gluttony, he saw no value in himself aside from Return by Death 'cause of the transactional nature of the events of Arc 3 that allowed him to win given the main point of Arc 3 for Subaru was to see that others have their own wants and goals, and how that applied to Julius is that since his reputation as being the most knightly of knights was gone due to the masses forgetting him, which was his big loss, he would use the only tool he believed he had at his disposal, which is his sword skills, to prove his worth given he believed that he had nothing else left that could validate him as a person, although it's not a 100% parallel since Subaru was struggling due to him taking on the role as Rem's hero only to lose Rem, resulting in him losing the mask he put on, and Julius right now is struggling 'cause of all the self-worth issues he had in the past, which have been exacerbated by the world forgetting him, as well as trying to live up to the ideal of being the strong knight Subaru believes he is, so the difference ultimately lies in his emotional support ultimately being an able-bodied person right now.

And that's why Subaru and Julius's voice-acting during the stairs scene, the direction overall, the effects regarding the footsteps, as well as the silence and tone of melancholy as Julius struggled, followed by Subaru seeing just how much Julius's current situation reminded him of what he went through, allowing for him to comfort Julius and for the pair to grow closer made for a fantastic viewing experience.

I believe Julius's character arc this season will almost certainly involve not clinging to his identity as the most knightly of knights since Reid was having the most fun with him when Julius tried to kick him instead of using just the sword, showing that Tappei very much intends for Julius to embrace Juli to finally overcome Reid. Julius can very much stay true to his character and fight against injustice without needing to stay fixated on chivalry and fighting with knightly honour, which would get him to be more on Wilhelm's speed, who said in Episode 22 that chivalry was becoming a thing of the past. Tappei has plotted out Julius's character arc so well from the beginning in making him a foil to Subaru, and he's an amazingly well-written character. If I can make even one person realize how great of a character Julius is with this post, I will consider it mission accomplished.

This is fairly straightforward. I believe Akiyama may have cut a side deal with #15 given we viewers saw that X was deliberately focusing Nao's attention on #15, meaning Akiyama would have a very good reason to approach #15 for an alliance since X was maligning #15, making him a good target for ensuring X's defeat.

I don't know how much coordination there was between Akiyama and #15, but I suspect that Akiyama put it out there that if he can prove who X is and that he is only in it for himself #15 would give Akiyama the win under the condition that he gets a fair cut of the earnings for doing that.

I believe this is the real reason #15 asked for a share much higher than $100 million when the three aside from Akiyama suggested coordinating to give themselves the win, and it's not 'cause X had betrayed him before but 'cause he was steering X toward allowing him to slip the votes in of the three aside from Akiyama so that he could guarantee Akiyama's victory since he would always vote yes since Akiyama voted no. This would be Akiyama's trap that he openly bragged about.

I'm happy about the complexity of Game 2 rising compared to Game 1 and look forward to still tougher games should they exist.

In Episode 71, Foxidna throws out there that there are 4 of 5 secret rules that she's meant to follow to protect the Pleiades Watchtower, and Shaula even saying seeming about to talk about a fifth rule only to conclude there isn't one is suspicious given she could've easily said that there were only 4, but her reaction to Foxidna saying there were five is very suspect and shows that Foxidna was likely right on the money. When viewed with all the other suspicious moments from Foxidna this season, it paints the picture of someone who clearly has an agenda.

In Episode 67, after Julius said that he at least considered Reinhard and Felix friends, Foxidna indicated she thinks that they're more than that, which isn't something someone who has no idea who Julius is would think. She also planted the exact reason why Subaru should take Rem with him to the Pleiades Watchtower with Subaru's eyes showing how effective Foxidna's reasoning was.

Foxidna also only revealed that Priscilla outed her as not being Anastasia given she stated that was being outed left and right, which indicates multiple people, but surprisingly, she didn't name Al, Priscilla's knight for some reason, which I find suspect given the opportunity was 100% there and would've been very easy to slip in especially given Al's role as Priscilla's knight.

In Episode 68, Foxidna not only knew the general path to the Pleiades Watchtower, which is go straight toward it, which while most people would assume is the case, they can't know that for sure given Reinhard never advanced an inch when he tried to make his way to the tower. She also knew that a distortion was the underling mechanism for why people couldn't make it to the tower, which also is suspicious given nobody from the last 400 years had apparently made it to the tower.

And I believe Foxidna's look of discomfort and gaze at Julius during that scene in Episode 70 when Shaula was crushing Julius's fantasy of Reid being surely a man of great character 'cause of his battle strength, indicating that he was a man who bullies the weak, again shows again that she remembers Julius and was very sad to see his reaction to learning that someone who may have been an idol to him was actually just a brat who never grew up given Foxidna had been with Anastasia for ten years and would've known who Julius probably admired from childhood. None of the other characters paid Julius any heed, so it shows Foxidna remembers him given Anastasia's relationship with him with his being her knight.

Where I'm going with this is that it's obviously false that Foxidna knows nothing about herself aside from her being an artificial spirit named Echidna. Foxidna being able to mimic Echidna's speech pattern for a time shows that she was likely split off from Echidna's soul like Tea Party Echidna since Tappei is very particular with characters speaking like another another character, such as having Roswaal mimic Hector's speech pattern to indicate that he was traumatized by his beatdown by Hector's hand, leading to him viewing Hector as the embodiment of power itself. Thus, I posit there's not much of a reason for Foxidna to let the mask slip by screwing up when posing as Anastasia, and she deliberately slipped up to allow Subaru to realize she isn't Anastasia, which is why Subaru raised his eyes and made a face when she indicated that Reinhard and Felix were more than friends to Julius and why she spoke in a manner not befitting of Anastasia in reference to Ricardo, because her goal was to let Subaru know that she's not the genuine article.

To not rehash more of what I've posted before, I believe Foxidna remembers Julius either due to the Greed Witch Factor or witch miasma, whichever is the cause for Subaru and Foxidna being able to remember Julius, and in extension, other Gluttony victims since the common denominator between Subaru and Echidna were that both had at least one Witch Factor as well as witch miasma.

Thus, I conclude that Foxidna, much like Tea Party Echidna who deliberately pushed Subaru to reject her contract, has a vested interest in helping Subaru succeed as she's following the plan of the original Echidna, whether that was the Echidna Roswaal fell for or another Echidna that came even before that one. She has done a lot to make this venture to Pleiades Watchtower successful, and I'd say she's more suspicious than Shaula herself.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on this.

Also, I believe in addition to reminding viewers of Meili's relationship with Elsa that Meili's question to Subaru was posed to make us really think about how new books could materialize and even what would happen in the case of Subaru and Al:

1. No book for Subaru would mean it'd be 'cause he never truly died in the current timeline, meaning his deaths aren't recognized by the world. There would be probably be no book for Al either given the world wouldn't recognize his death given he said that he was secretly crushed three times, indicating he died that many times against Capella, only the world doesn't recognize any of them. I guess it's possible there is at least one book for Al in the current timeline given he should've died three times canonically in the timeline, but it's hard to say.

2. If there's only one book for Subaru, the book goes up to his most recent death, only covering the canon successful loops up in which he had his best outcomes until that point before he died. Al would also have one book.

3. Subaru's book goes up to his most recent death and covers everything he's ever experienced up until that point. I believe this scenario could be indicating, although I'm not 100% sure, that the current Subaru is partially a by-product of Echidna's Authority. Al could also have one book given he is dying repeatedly within the canon timeline, and the Book of the Dead would include everything he's experienced.

4. Multiple books for each death could indicate alternate timelines are created based on Subaru doing things differently from before after he loops. Al could have one given the world isn't re-created when he loops.

5. Multiple books for each death could indicate that the current Subaru is partially a by-product of Echidna's Authority in addition to the Books of the Dead being partially created by her Authority, and there is no Subaru without Echidna with the world being re-created after Subaru dies. Al would also have multiple books.

6. Al indicated in Season 3 that he had been secretly crushed three times, showing that he'd died three times fighting Capella, so he could also multiple books while Subaru only has one.

Personally, I lean towards the Scenario #1 being nearly completely unviable given that the whole point of Re:Zero is Subaru looping to push forward the world to a good state given how the whole point of the Books of the Dead is to record the experiences of those who have died and that it doesn't jive with the Books of the Dead being a product of Echidna's Authority, and because it'd suggest that the current loop is disconnected from the entirety of history, which I dislike since Re:Zero is a story about learning from past mistakes, and as for the rest of the scenarios, all of them have some degree of plausibility to me. I'll explain why that would be the case for each of those other scenarios.

Scenario #2 has some plausibility if the world recognizes all of Subaru's successful loops up until his most recent death given there's a straight line of action up until that point. This scenario would suggest that after Return by Death is used, the world is re-created to the point Subaru loops back to, which goes against there being alternate timelines. In this scenario, the Books of the Dead are not tied to Echidna's Authority, which is something I dislike since I believe these books are tied to her Authority.

I believe Scenario #3 is more likely than Scenario #2 given I believe the Books of the Dead are partially a by-product of Echidna's Authority in conjunction with yin magic since if Echidna's Tome of Wisdom in the Dream Castle could see all possible futures it most certainly can see the history of all previously destroyed worlds I believe once existed as part of the cycle of the world being destroyed by the Witch of Envy and reconstructed that I propose is happening, so Subaru, if he is partially a by-product of Echidna's Authority would of course have a Book of the Death that can update itself after each death, and this scenario would also suggest that the world is re-created after Subaru loops back, retaining all of the history of Subaru's lived experience. Al would also have a book that updates after each death.

Scenario #4 could indicate that alternate timelines are being created after Subaru loops, and it has some plausibility for now given Subaru's second Sanctuary Trial showed what happened if the world continued during the unsuccessful loops in which he died. Echidna had said that only Satella would know if they were real, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was a lie, and it's actually Echidna herself who knew whether those timelines were real 'cause of her Authority due to it being able to draw upon all information that ever existed in the past and present and could exist in the future. Given that trial was important to Subaru not treating his life as a throwaway in his quest for a good loop, it'd thematically not be a bad idea for Scenario #4 to be the case. As for why only Subaru, not Al, has multiple books in this scenario, he's the one looping, so his books would go with him when he loops since souls are the seat of memories in Re:Zero and with these books containing the memories of a person, it was information gleaned from actual souls themselves.

My Scenario #5 is different than Scenario #4 in that for this one Subaru, and perhaps Al, having multiple books is moreso due to him having been partially created as a by-product by Echidna's Authority. In this scenario, it's not that there are alternate timelines but that the world is re-created after Subaru loops, and given this scenario jives with my belief that the Books of the Dead are partially a result of Echidna's Authority, I'm more partial to it than most of the other scenarios.

Scenario #6 differs from the rest in that I believe Al has multiple books 'cause his power allows him to cheat death, probably without re-creating the world, given Subaru hadn't died in the canon successful loop of Season 3, but Subaru would only have one book in this case as was the case with Scenarios #2 and #3 although it has two ways of expressing itself given I draw upon two previous scenarios. One expression of this scenario is also fully consistent with the Books of the Dead in part being a product of Echidna's Authority, so I'm also partial to that expression of it.

Subaru is dying repeatedly and returning due to Return by Death, so on the surface, it would make sense if there exists at least one Book of the Dead for Subaru. I wouldn't be surprised if there are multiple such books for Al as well given he said that was secretly crushed three times in Season 3, indicating that he had died that many times fighting Capella.

There is surely important info to be found regarding the Great Pleiades Library's Books of the Dead, and I believe in due time, however many seasons later, if not this season, we'll find out the reason for why they exist, probably to serve Subaru in some way to break the cycle of the world being destroyed by the Witch of Envy and reconstructed.

I lol at Myotismon’s defeat probably coming from it seeing too many vampire movies in which the silver weakness is a thing. ‘Cause it had internalized that as being a weakness of vampires, it was afraid of the silver on Reina’s body, which is why it forced Reina to take the rose herself instead of choosing to give it to her, all culminating in Wolvermon defeating it with that piece of silver. The idea that Digimon themselves can be made weak to things 'cause of human beliefs and even the beliefs of the Digimon itself is quite some interesting stuff Beatbreak has cooked up.

After Julius said that he considered Reinhard and Felix friends following Reinhard saying that they were acquaintances or perhaps more than that, Foxidna according to Crunchyroll says, "Just two friends? I don't think that's all there is to it". Subaru notably raised his eyebrows at this point since her suggesting there's more to it than that shows that Foxidna remembers who Julius is unlike all the others aside from Subaru, which demonstrated that Anastasia wasn't the genuine article right then and there.

And I believe Foxidna's look of discomfort and gaze at Julius during that scene in Episode 70 when Shaula was crushing Julius's fantasy of Reid being surely a man of great character 'cause of his battle strength, indicating that he was a man who bullies the weak, again shows again that she remembers Julius and was very sad to see his reaction to learning that someone who may have been an idol to him was actually just a brat who never grew up given Foxidna had been with Anastasia for ten years and would've known who Julius probably admired from childhood. None of the other characters paid Julius any heed, so it shows Foxidna remembers him given Anastasia's relationship with him with his being her knight.

After Anastasia made her remark about Ricardo's injury in Episode 67, Subaru drops the fact that he knows it's not really Anastasia speaking due to how coldly she talked about Ricardo, a close friend of hers who has a life-changing injury, with him saying something's been off the whole time, which I believe was a nod to early on in Episode 67 when she gave a sign that she remembered Julius.

Then Foxidna revealed that Priscilla also outed her, but surprisingly, she didn't name Al, Priscilla's knight for some reason, which I find suspect given the opportunity was 100% there. She reveals that her name is Echidna, identical to that of the Witch of Greed, and that she remembers nothing about herself aside from her name and that she's an artificial spirit whose true form is the fox muffler that Anastasia wears. However, this artificial spirit speaking in an Echidna-like cadence suggests that she's lying to an extent. Given Re:Zero has already used a character in the past speaking like that of another character in Season 2 in Roswaal to show that he had been traumatized due to his beatdown from Hector in Season 2, imitating his speech pattern 'cause to him Hector was the embodiment of power itself, it's clear Tappei is willing to use speech patterns to imply relationships between characters, meaning Foxidna very much remembers Echidna given she spoke like her for a portion of the episode. This is why I suspect that Foxidna has been ordered to never talk about Al to Subaru for some reason, which could be indicating of Echidna having a future plan involving Al.

If that's the case, what are the common denominators between Subaru and Echidna that could explain why Foxidna remembers who Julius is? What we know for know for sure is that both of them had Witch Factors, and people with Witch Factors and Witch cultists in general emit miasma, which we visibly saw in Episode 15 from Rem after Subaru looped and had retreated into a shell due to his being unable to bear how so many people died 'cause he wasn't able to save them given Petelgeuse claimed that the love that hangs upon Subaru is equivalent to that of a Sin Archbishop, showing they emit something that is responsible for what Rem and Beatrice have described as a foul smell, and we know that Subaru can command Witch cultists due to his emitting a lot of miasma, and if Echidna split her soul into Foxidna, she may still have a piece of the Greed Witch Factor. In conclusion, I surmise it is either having at least one Witch Factor itself or emitting a high amount of miasma that allows for Subaru and Foxidna to remember Gluttony victims, and this makes me believe that all or a select group Witches of Sin, Sin Archbishops, and people with Witch Factors in general can remember Julius if they cared to even if this is just conjecture for now.

Thus, it's highly suspicious that Foxidna recommended to Subaru to taking Rem with him since he could say that he was the one to save her when she wakes up, which would be a neat perk to have, and Subaru used this exact reason to take Rem with him on the journey to Ram when they meet later on in the episode, and Subaru's notably reacted to that, showing that Foxidna's words had a strong impact on him and that it dawned on him what a great idea it was in that moment.

I suspect that Rem 100% needed to be at the Pleiades Watchtower this arc as part of Echidna's plan, whether the payoff is this arc or the next arc, and it has less to do with Subaru genuinely thinking of the idea for himself given Foxidna mentioned the reason Subaru should do it before he brought it up to Ram since she was the one who planted the seed of that idea in him.

One huge thing I noticed about Episode 70 itself is when Shaula said, "Again?", in reference to her master forgetting many things once more, and that may have been the single most suspicious line in the entire anime as there were so many things it could be referring to.

To understand my entire theory, one has to know the context of two of my previous discussion posts:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/1hduz2u/discussion_my_proposed_5_eras_of_rezeros_fantasy/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/1s79g6u/discussion_the_s4_op_perhaps_shows_the_missing/

The main difference between what I believed when I wrote my 5 eras post and now is that I believe Flügel's Authority that allowed him to fly through dimensions wasn't his Authority of Envy but a super Authority not based on sins much like I propose the Final Boss of the story has a super Authority that allows him/her to force the world into a general story path with limited deviations being permissible.

There are a number possibilities for what Shaula had said could mean, the first of them being that if Al was split from Flügel's soul, he may also have the same scent as Subaru, meaning Al may have reached the Pleiades Watchtower within the last nineteen years he had been summoned to this current fantasy world. As for the implications of Shaula having previously met Al before, there are four things that come to mind:

1. Shaula has Alzheimer's disease after having lived for so long, meaning it slipped her mind that Al, who she would've recognized as her master, had visited her within the last twenty years, which is plausible given she remembered her master forgetting many things, and if Al was in a similar position as Subaru, this would make a lot of sense since he wouldn't have recognized himself as Flügel. Based on the allusion to Atlas, this thematically makes sense for consideration.

2. Shaula has a secret oath with Al that she made sometime between the last nineteen years he arrived in the current fantasy world and now, and Shaula's deliberately withholding info from Subaru's group, and Al was the one who ordered Shaula to shoot anyone who approaches the Pleiades Watchtower as he's getting instruction from the copy of the not-quite-Tome of Wisdom I believe he may possess, which means this was a part of the plan from Echidna and the heroes from four hundred years ago. It could still make thematic sense with the allusion to Atlas since Shaula still forgot that Reid was a human.

3. Al visited the Pleiades Watchtower when he was the Hero of the story in the immediate previous iteration of Re:Zero's fantasy world before Subaru became the current Hero of the story. In this scenario, Shaula would've recognized Al as her master, and then after this iteration of the world was destroyed, Shaula was re-summoned into the next iteration of the world in which Al would eventually be re-summoned into in which Subaru would eventually be brought to Lugunica in which I believe that Subaru had been frozen in suspended animation in Flügel's tree for hundreds of years, so Shaula's memories are jumbled up with Shaula saying, "Again? in reference to her master not having her many memories being her subconsciously remembering her time from when Al was the Hero of the story in the previous iteration of the world before the current world. Thematically, this still fits since it'd show that the passage of time has really done a number on Shaula, making the allusion to Atlas fitting. As for Shaula being re-summoned into the world, it's 100% possible since Melakuera referenced himself facing world-ending crises countless times, which shows he remembers himself being re-summoned into the world after it is destroyed repeatedly by the Witch of Envy and reconstructed.

4. Al visited the Pleiades Watchtower both when was the Hero of the story and during the years between he was summoned into the current world and Season 4 with an oath or straight up memory modification being responsible for Shaula saying that she had been waiting for four hundred years.

But Shaula having referenced her master forgetting many things again could also involve different scenarios including the original Flügel, who I believe was originally both Kenichi and Subaru in the same body, and even Kenichi himself after having split Subaru away from his soul after he returned to Earth given Flügel wouldn't have been able to split his soul when he was the Hero of the story since death by having his soul eradicated wouldn't be allowed, meaning his soul couldn't be split due to the restrictions of the story path, and I can think of three possibilities for such situations:

1. Flügel, who I believe was originally Kenichi and Subaru in the same body, literally lost many memories himself, possibly 'cause something happened, whether it was something in the tower that caused it or something that occurred during his time as the Hero. Thus, that time from four hundred years ago would be the true context for Shaula saying, "Again?" to her master forgetting his memories again. This wouldn't be thematically be in line with the allusion to Atlas as if Shaula was referring to a moment four hundred years ago, she would've been thinking hard of other characters who were alive at the time, such as Reid, meaning it could've been a simple slip of the tongue 'cause of her reminiscing of the past for a moment, but this is the possibility I'm least in favour of this possibility since it contradicts what I believe is an allusion to Atlas in Episode 70. Given the presence of the Sigmund Freud reference in Episode 69 since Freud is known for emphasizing subconscious thoughts, hunches, and slips of the tongue with Subaru having shown signs of acting on two subconscious thoughts in Episode 70 with his thinking he had Returned by Death and mentioning Reid despite him learning that he had died of old age, Shaula may have acted on a subconscious thought, resulting in her having a slip of the tongue, to make the episode have three moments of acting on subconscious thoughts given how important the number three is in Re:Zero.

2. Flügel, who was both Kenichi and Subaru, after having split Subaru from his soul when he returned to Earth to set up Subaru and Al as future Heroes of the story, may have returned to Re:Zero's fantasy world at one point using his super Authority to fly through dimensions and visited the Pleiades Watchtower, and Kenichi lost his memories 'cause he was no longer the Hero of the story as that would've been Al or Subaru, meaning there was a drawback to what would usually be a drawback-less super Authority. In this scenario, Shaula would've been referring to her master forgetting many things "again?" 'cause of that moment, and whether Kenichi returned before Al's time as the Hero in a previous iteration of the world, before Al became the Hero in the iteration of the world after that while Subaru was frozen in suspended in animation in Flügel's tree, during Al's time as the Hero in that same iteration of the world in which Subaru had been in suspended in animation up until that iteration of the world was destroyed, or in between Al's time in the current world up until Season 4, which could've been an indication of Shaula having become senile, having been re-summoned into the world repeatedly with her memories in a mess, having been sworn to silence by an oath with Kenichi she can't divulge, and most of these could be thematically relevant to the allusion to Atlas depending on what the actual scenario is, which I don't hazard to guess what it exactly is.

3. Flügel lost his memories for some reason 400 years ago, and then after he returned to Earth to split his soul and make Subaru and Al heroes, Kenichi also returned returned to the fantasy world and lost his memories with an oath or straight up memory modification being the reason Shaula said that she'd been waiting for four hundred years.

In actuality, there are still three more distinct possibilities I can think of with variable expressions of them since Flügel or Kenichi having forgotten in the past doesn't necessarily mean that Al never went to the Pleiades Watchtower, so here's what I can think of:

1. There's the scenario of Flügel having lost his memories for some reason that I had previously mentioned along with any of the four distinct Al possibilities I had mentioned came after that with memory modification being possible for all of them.

2. Kenichi, having returned to Earth and lost his Hero designation of the fantasy world, created his two sons to be future Heroes of the story, and then due to any variable expression of what I had mentioned before, returned to Pleiades Watchtower with no memories, and then any of the four distinct Al possibilities I had mentioned came after that with memory modification being possible for all of them.

3. Flügel lost his memories for some reason 400 years ago, and then after he returned to Earth to split his soul and make Subaru and Al heroes, Kenichi also returned returned to the fantasy world and lost his memories with any of the four Al possibilities being on the table with an oath or memory modification being the reason Shaula said that she'd been waiting for four hundred years.

I'm serious when I talk about just how suspicious this line is as based on current content it's impossible to know what it really could be even if I have narrowed it to down to roughly ten possibilities, the last three of which could have a large range of expression.

I strongly believe the Freud reference in Episode 69 was meant to show that Subaru's the type to go with hunches and gut feelings. That'd be why he chose the path on the right, 'cause it led to Satella's sealed body as shown by the ever increasing amounts of miasma, and Satella herself had asked Subaru to love himself and then someday come kill her in Episode 38, which could be indicative of a lovers' promise to kill her four hundred years ago, which Subaru subconsciously tried to fulfill.

Where I'm going with this is that I have extrapolated the Freud content from Subaru in Ep. 69 to Ep. 70 to show that Subaru wasn't crazy or stupid to think he had Returned By Death at the start of the episode when he woke up on Emilia's lap given he woke up in a new place, and it was 'cause he subconsciously realized that he'd been to the dark world I've seen novel readers refer to as the shadow garden, and since Subaru hadn't had a non-death-related shadow garden visit since Petelgeuse tried to possess him toward the end of Season 1, he instinctively thought that he'd died, not 'cause he has no brain or is a super irrational person, but 'cause he subconsciously linked dying with going to the dark world.

As such, I theorize Subaru thinking of Reid despite it having been explained earlier in the episode that Reid died of old age is also 'cause subconsciously he knows what's in the tower much like he knew the path to the right in the cave/tunnel led to Satella, and he knows there's probably a soul-split Reid in a vessel with everlasting youth on one of the higher floors, and that's why Subaru thought about Reid in the moment Shaula said she gives no thought to who she's killed, not 'cause he can't remember basic details, but since he's letting his subconscious thoughts and hunches drive him, and Reid will probably need to be defeated.