WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World, Season 2, Episode 24, "Choose Me," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Most of Re:Zero's second season has been spent either in flashbacks or with Subaru struggling to progress in his Sanctuary liberation plan. While there is still one major obstacle to overcome, some serious progress has been made recently, and it's incredibly refreshing to see. After Elsa's shocking death, the only thing that remained for Subaru to do was to convince Beatrice to leave Roswaal's mansion -- unfortunately, that proved incredibly difficult.
Meanwhile, Emilia holds off Season 2's final threat in the Great Rabbit, valiantly struggling to protect the Sanctuary residents. Even with her recent strides in confidence, Emilia has a daunting enemy surrounding her as we gear up for this season's endgame. So, let's look at how recent events have queued up a massive step forward for Subaru, Emilia, Beatrice and the rest of the Re:Zero crew.
Resolving Roswaal's Mansion
A colossal win came Subaru's way thanks to Garfiel's impressive display against Elsa, a murderous villain who has been plaguing our protagonist since the series first episode. Despite the reveal that Elsa is a vampire capable of healing from almost any wound, Garfiel successfully kills her, bringing an end to her gut-slicing terror. Still, with Roswaal's entire mansion burning down, time is of the essence if Subaru has any hopes of convincing Beatrice of leaving.
Much like Roswaal, Beatrice has followed Echidna's orders for over 400 years and has waited for "that person" within the mansion's library the entire time. That level of dedication speaks to the degree of Beatrice's respect for the woman she considers her mother, but it goes beyond that too. By restricting herself to keeping her promise of protecting the library, Beatrice isolated herself, which left her feeling utterly alone.
Beatrice Must Choose For Herself
Echidna left Beatrice with very little to go off of. She left her a blank book and a promise that bound her to look over her library until the ambiguously named "that person" arrived. When Subaru tells Beatrice that wasn't referring to him, she constantly tries to push him away with magic -- blasting him through multiple doors as he continually searches for the location-altering library. Ultimately, it's loyalty and fear that have kept Beatrice trapped for four centuries, and despite her hoping that someone would come and take her away, it's something she needs to do herself.
Subaru admits that while his life will only be a speck on Beatrice's timeline, he promises to make it memorable and wants her to make up for the time she's already lost. Among all the kind and inspirational words Subaru says to Beatrice, his main point is a selfish one as he tells her, "Please save me." Subaru even comments that he's struggled to come up with the words to convince her and explains that, whatever the future holds, he needs Beatrice to be there to help him, so they can figure things out together.
Time continues to run low as the mansion crumbles away, and the strange space-time which houses the library begins to crack. The moments between Subaru and Beatrice are tense and emotional. Through much of this season, Subaru has acted as a catalyst for change, and he continues that trend with Beatrice. At the last moment, Beatrice chooses her own fate and opts to escape with Subaru, and the two strangely blast off into the sky.
Rabbits, Roswaal & Ram
Emilia has made massive strides since completing the trials, now rejuvenated with steely confidence. She quickly makes her way to Roswaal and Ram as a dangerous snowstorm rages -- signaling the approach of the Giant Rabbit. Roswaal is in a state of shock over his book being destroyed, and over the injury he caused to Ram -- who professed her love for him.
Emilia successfully gathers everyone inside the graveyard, desperately using her magic to keep the sea of carnivorous rabbits at bay. At the last moment, Subaru arrives with Beatrice to lend their hands in the final fight.
With the assassins hired to attack the mansion dealt with, Subaru's only remaining hurdle is to defeat the Great Rabbit. Though Re:Zero has done a solid job introducing new threats that will likely become prevalent in the next season, it's taken a long time to get to this point. Still, there is a massive task ahead for the Sanctuary's liberation to be complete -- and hopefully, Subaru is prepared.
