WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Requiem of the Rose King Episode 12, “Richard is dead, died alone in the woods that day,” now streaming on Funimation.
The first cour of Requiem of the Rose King ended on a dark note. Viewers had seen Richard at many low points of his life, such as the death of his father and the reveal of Henry's true identity. Throughout the series, Richard has strived to appear as an untouchable young man when he's only trying to protect himself. He didn't necessarily find comfort in his solitude but because his mother's curses have been so ingrained into his perception of himself, he believed that loneliness would be his reality -- that is until he met Henry.
Henry's reveal was an enormous blow to both Henry and Richard, leaving the former's mental health in a fragile state and the latter lost and broken in the aftermath of the betrayal. Like an avenging angel, Richard slaughtered the Lancasters. There's only one more person he has to kill before his revenge is complete, but how could Richard stand to kill the one who has always been his safe haven?
The first time that Richard visits Henry, his expression is frighteningly blank as he stands over him, knife in hand. However, that day in the forest, something broke in Henry; he doesn't recognize Richard at all. Haunted by nightmares of wolves, he hugs Richard. For a moment, Richard hugs Henry back, but he's plagued by his own inner demons -- memories of being abandoned in the forest by his mother and his father's shadow. Richard stabs with his knife, slamming the blade a few inches away from Henry's face, and his expression is painfully twisted as he begs Henry not to leave him alone. Richard doesn't hate Henry -- he hates what Henry's identity means for the two of them.
The women in Requiem of the Rose King are irredeemable, but perhaps the worst of them all is Richard's mother. The emotional abuse she inflicted on Richard was already reprehensible, but this may be the worst thing she's ever done: she takes advantage of Henry's unstable mental state and manipulates him into believing Richard was a demon. It gets worse. Richard visits Henry one more time and gives their relationship a final chance. In a powerfully vulnerable moment, Richard bares himself to Henry metaphorically and physically, showing him the body that he has always been ashamed of. With tears running down his face, he begs Henry to love him.
Their coming together is an emotionally fraught event because it represents the kind of freedom that Henry and Richard never thought they would be able to have. However, Richard and Henry's first kiss ends up also being their last. Henry shoves Richard off, overwhelmed with all the hallucinations consuming him. He sees visions of being cursed by the priest for giving in to his love and lust, of his mother's infidelity and most recently, of Richard's mother, who comes in the form of a wicked apparition and warns Henry that Richard is a demon.
Clutching his head, Henry starts rambling, echoing the exact same words that Richard has heard his mother spit out all his life: how there was a terrible storm on the day of his birth and that he is a demon. This is every single one of Richard's nightmares coming true. No matter how many times he begs him, Henry won't stop talking.
The horrible thing is that this is clearly a Henry who is not himself. The Henry that Richard knows would have never said those things and never have hurt him like this. Unfortunately, Richard is already teetering on the edge himself given Henry's first betrayal, Anne's betrayal and Edward's reveal. Being rejected by Henry when he has just shown Henry his vulnerability and hearing the person he loves denounce him is his final breaking point. Desperate for silence, Richard stabs Henry. But Henry isn't done yet: staring up at Richard's tear-filled eyes, Henry whispers that Richard's birth was a curse upon the world before he falls over.
The Richard that was introduced at the beginning of Requiem of the Rose King is no more. He was never a demon in the first place, but the way he looks as the episode closes, the haunting look in his eyes, does make him appear terrifying, as if all emotion has been sucked out of him. Richard's words at the beginning of the episode foreshadowed the dark path that he would walk on: no matter how many he killed, no matter who he killed, he could never return to the light. The road ahead of Richard would be filled with nothing but dead bodies.
