WARNING: The following contains spoilers for How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Episode 26, now streaming on Funimation.
Throughout its two-part first season, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom made an impression as an isekai with a difference. Kazuya Souma was summoned to the Kingdom of Elfrieden to be its king, and has used his knowledge of Earth's politics to turn it into a fairer society. However, just as Souma had a moment to relax, he was called upon for an audience with the previous king, Albert, and his wife Elisha. In the isekai's Part 2 finale, the couple revealed a secret to Souma that completely changes the nature of his arrival.
Albert revealed that, in another time, he had made Souma prime minister instead of king. In this alternate timeline, Albert had succumbed to paranoia and suspicion, banishing Souma for crimes he did not commit. When this resulted in disaster, Elisha used her dark magic to transfer Albert's memories to his younger self so his fatal mistake would not come to pass. This resulted in the story Realist Hero fans are familiar with -- but how "real" is the doomed kingdom from Albert's memories?
Souma asked why Albert had trusted him so much when they first met, but refused to converse with him since. Albert began by recounting a familiar story of a hero being summoned from another world. The nostalgic, fairy-tale way he described his first meeting with Souma was exemplified by appealing and strikingly stylized watercolor illustrations. However, using short animated scenes may have made this glimpse into an alternate Realist Hero story more immersive.
Albert continued that this hero was appointed prime minister rather than king, but like his familiar counterpart had enacted policies that were popular with average people but enraged the aristocracy. The nobles swayed Albert's judgment with false accusations until he dismissed Souma. The kingdom's enemies took advantage of his absence to invade, and Elfrieden collapsed. Elisha transferred Albert's memories (and presumably her own) back in time as they were crushed by their own castle, and Albert rectified his mistake by making Souma king and allowing him to rule as he saw fit.
If receiving his future memories caused Albert to change his behavior, is there still a timeline in which he and Elisha died? When they smiled as the castle crumbled, did they feel their deaths would have meaning, or that they weren't dying at all? Upon hearing the story, Souma's response revealed how his modern-day perspective was shaped by science fiction, rephrasing Elisha's magical abilities as a "time slip" or "time leap."
Souma asked about Liscia, his fiancée and Albert and Elisha's daughter. Albert explained that this version of Liscia loved him from afar, and lobbied unsuccessfully to overturn his dismissal. Liscia was the only member of Souma's court whom he met even without the recruitment broadcast he couldn't make in this timeline. A brief scene of Liscia walking away was unfortunately her only appearance in the flashback. It would have been interesting to see Prime Minister Souma interact with this equally different variant of Liscia, who was not promised as his fiancée and did not fight for him in the civil war.
Liscia had returned to Randel Castle, which Elisha pointed out was destroyed by the aristocrats in the old world. As he left, Souma took a moment to assure them that even the old version of himself would have protected Liscia, and they may have survived the onslaught. This appeared to provide a great deal of relief for the couple, despite the fact that Liscia and the man she loved were alive and well anyway.
This relief could theoretically have been because the world of their memories still existed in some capacity due to Elisha's magic, and they wanted to believe Liscia could still be alive in it. This would make the finale's timelines into a more traditional multiverse scenario. However, it is more likely that Albert and Elisha's love for their daughter was so strong that they hated the idea of her having died -- even in a timeline that would never come to pass. Albert reminded Souma that his memories were the same as if he had lived through the kingdom's collapse; it is unsurprising that he would not want to believe he had memories of a time when his daughter was dead.
Albert revealed the only other person who knew about his dark memories of the future was Duke Georg Carmine. Carmine had lost his reputation and ultimately his life in a secret plan to help Souma identify corrupt nobles. Souma lamented that, "We were running along the track that had been laid out for us." However, there are some ways in which this revelation defied the fatalistic sense of powerlessness and pointlessness that often comes with prophecy stories. Souma's skill as a leader may have been a foregone conclusion to Albert and Carmine, but he still ruled with his own judgment and creativity in both timelines.
Episode 26 ended with Souma proposing outright to Liscia, and addressing his court with some words of encouragement. He may have been spurred to express his appreciation by the reminder of how close he had come to never meeting them. Realist Hero's finale may not have featured a typical multiverse, but it exemplified what makes the concept so fascinating: people are only a few different choices away from a completely different life.
