Re:Zero - Episode 42 Review - Emilia Remembers Mother Fortuna

This is a review of Ep 42 of Re:Zero aka Ep 17 of Season 2. Warning: This review contains spoilers for the series up to and including episode 42!

Sanctuary’s trial arc continues to be a convenient excuse to peer into the past of Re:Zero characters, with the previous episode that focused on Garfiel and the one before that that showed us the origin of Otto. This time, we finally get a glimpse into the past of a character as significant as Subaru. Of course, I’m referring to our beloved waifu character, Emilia.

Judging from the way the last episode ended, I thought we’d see some nasty verbal and maybe even physical sparring between Emilia and the Witch of Greed, Echidna. But no matter what insult Echidna throws towards Emilia in this ep, it rolls right off her back. It’s almost as if Emilia is able to “kill her with kindness.” Echidna comes off more as a tsundere helper in this episode than an antagonist, a springboard for Emilia to reveal her thoughts and emotions.

We see Emilia as a very young child. An absolutely adorable little girl, which I can only hope is turned into some equally adorable scale figures in the future. And as far as I know, this is the first time we learn of Mother Fortuna in the television series. She’s supposedly Emilia’s aunt, the younger sister of her father. But she suspiciously looks very much like an Emilia that’s all grown up, from hair color, eye color, and the way she dresses. It’s revealed in this episode through conversation that there’s something important about Emilia’s real mother and father, but we’re not told what that is just yet. Could Mother Fortuna be her actual mother, but that’s something kept secret even from Emilia? We’ll have to wait and see.

What is clear is that Mother Fortuna raised Emilia. She’s the one who taught Emilia the value of keeping a promise, and that’s something we’ve known about Emilia’s personality since the first season. She’s a very earnest person, and we now know it’s because of Mother Fortuna.

The real bombshell revelation in this episode was seeing Geuse (Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti) as a kind and polite human who also cared about Emilia! He and the other cultists all looked like kindhearted normal human beings, delivering supplies to Mother Fortuna, Archi and other forest villagers (who all dress up like Emilia for some reason). We always thought the Witch that Petelgeuse adored was the Witch of Envy, but maybe it was always Emilia? Of course, there’s a theory that the Witch of Envy is actually Emilia, so that would make sense. 

I’m guessing this very important Seal that Geuse wants to stay intact is the reason he turns into one of the most loathsome villains in anime history. The Seal will most likely be broken in the next episode. The sinister Regulus Corneas we meet probably has something to do with it, too.

(image source: Amazon)