u/Fig_Char_Re

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She lost her insignia while doing street performance in the capital to pay for a kid's meal, and didn't notice until late that Felt had also stolen her wallet.

She also got lost from Ram because she rushed into the downtown of the capital, with Ram being present in the capital when Arc 1 was taking place.

There is another Arc 1 side story called "The Awkward Duo", telling the first loop of the story from Emilia's perspective, talking about how she was socially inexperienced with people of the other sex and didn't know how to talk to Subaru.

In Arc 2, it is revealed to us that due to her lack of sexual knowledge due to both Roswaal and Puck sheltering her, she didn't fully know the meaning of the word pervert.

In Arc 2, there is a side story of her putting a bucket on her head to learn how to sing.

The establishment of her trait of being a dunderhead was always there within the story.

The thing that most people noticed is something that Tappei already answered in a Q&A:

>Q: It’s been a while since I re-read Re: Zero from the beginning but at the start, Emilia lied about her name to Subaru, and you might say her speech was a little more coherent; it seems that she was a bit more mature...

>A: It’s because she was keeping Subaru at a distance, and she was being cautious because she had no one to turn to for help. Once they became familiar, and she learned it was alright to depend on him, she went ‘Hurray!’ and started to turn into a flawed beauty.

it is false that she acts in a "far more mature way" early on that right now: pushing away everyone that she thought could be hurt because of her appearance and upbringing, being insecure about her identity, being less emotionally assertive and letting her emotions control her.

Those are things Emilia no longer does. From Arc 10 of the Web Novel (spoilers):

>>!Ferris: [I d-don’t know… b-but, there’s no other way… I-I, I-I’m u-useless… hk.]!<

>>!Emilia: [That’s not… hk!]!<

>>!…True, is what she had wanted to say aloud. In fact, had this been the Emilia from not too long ago, she certainly would have said so without thinking anything of it.!<

>>!However, she now realized that simply saying that on impulse, without any thought, would not encourage or console Ferris in any true sense.!<

>>!Ferris was amazing. He possessed a truly, immensely special and incredibly kind power.!<

>>!However, Ferris was unable to use this power that Emilia respected from the bottom of her heart for the sake of Crusch, the most important person in the world to him. He was crying and trembling like this, facing such a truly arduous and excruciating reality that he could do nothing about; there was no way she could say that without any thought.!<

>>!Emilia: [It’s okay, it’s okay.]!<

>>!Therefore, Emilia swallowed back down the words she had begun to say, and tenderly embraced Ferris. She continued to embrace him. Continued to embrace him, and continued to hold him close.!<

>>!When Emilia had felt frozen by her own powerlessness, that was what had made her happiest; so, she did the same for him.!<

Showing that she indeed is more emotionally assertive than before.

Another scene from Arc 10, which shows how the present day Emilia is infinitely superior from Old Emilia, who was insecure about her words and whose triumph in the initial speech in Arc 3 was a result of a setup by Puck and Roswaal instead of her own merit, now not doubting her words and not looking at others around in search for validation (spoilers):

>>!"――Emilia?"!<

>>!　Suddenly, a dumbfounded voice struck the earlobes of Ram, who had tightly clenched her fists.!<
>!　It belonged to Philore, who had her two eyes wide open while keeping the posture of pressing the scripture onto the semicircular table. Blinking her large eyes, she was looking blankly at the center of the room.!<
>!　Drawn by that, Ram also looked there, at the witness stand. ――She saw Emilia standing there.!<

>>!　She was told things that wouldn't make it strange for her vision to go completely black.!<
>!　She was slammed with a despair like having the ground crumble beneath her feet and losing sight of her place.!<
>!　Swept away by a storm of unreasonableness and absurdity, it wouldn't have been strange for her to cry and scream.!<

>>!　But――,!<

>>!"――My name is Emilia. Just Emilia. The 『Witch of Glaciation』 of the Elior Great Forest."!<

>>!　Declaring so, Emilia, still standing at the witness stand, pointed her raised finger toward the heavens and proclaimed.!<
>!　It was a pose Ram had also seen many times, the pose an insanely reckless boy struck when he spouted the most foolish thing in the world and started doing it.!<

>>!"This isn't the first time I've been looked at with those eyes of yours. I've been looked at with those eyes so many times before, gotten depressed, and raised my head with a 'heave-ho'."!<

>>!"――――"!<

>>!"So, going back to square one is no big deal. Because I――Because we, will not lose."!<

>>!"Emilia, sama..."!<

>>!"We will not lose. ――Right, Ram!"!<

>>!　With her finger still pointing at the heavens, without looking back, Emilia called out to her like that.!<
>!　Not looking back to confirm was, frustratingly, nothing but proof of her trust. Emilia completely believed in whatever Ram would say back, and whatever face Ram was making.!<
>!　That's why. That's why she didn't look back. Ram had to respond to that trust.!<

>>!　She had volunteered herself to accompany Emilia.!<
>!　Pushing aside everyone who wanted to respond to Emilia's trust here, Ram, herself.!<

>>!"――Hah! Naturally."!<

She shows more composure when talking to figures of authority, never yields, proudly declares her name even when questioned: the lack of understanding about sex or kisses does not undo any of this very good growth.

It is important to understand Emilia's upbringing: during 6 years of her life, she had no meaningful connection with other human beings aside from a guy selling her wallnuts and people passing out due to her appearance.

She was terribly inexperienced and sheltered. Then Roswaal came and sheltered her even more. Characters need to be internally consistent; all this background cannot be dismissed to turn Emilia into a perfetly completely developed and mature individual, since that would be a plot inconsistency.

Despite all of that setup, she has come a long way so far, and I think it is a disrespect to her character to claim "but she doesn't know sex so she is dumb".

(proof of the opposite as what the title suggests)

This complaint always struck me as odd since it is made clear again and again through every single arc that the members of the Emilia camp treasure both Emilia and Subaru equally, maybe with the exception of Petra, Rem and Roswaal (who are interested in Subaru for their particular reasons).

When push comes to shove, all of them are willing to exhaust all their strength fighting for the sake of both, and they constantly care about the wellbeing of both.

Even some of them, like Otto, valued Emilia as a candidate even before becoming officialy a part of the camp (and when Otto was chosen as the minister of internal affairs, both Subaru and Emilia were there), and some others grew to like Emilia a lot through interactions with her, like Meili, Ram, Frederica, Garfiel and Petra. Matter of fact, Petra's monologue in Arc 9 "cheer" is an apology to both Subaru and Emilia:

Petra: [Subaru, Emilia-neesama, I know you must be so tired. I’m sorry. But I’m going to wind up being a burden too. I’m sorry. All the thanks I’d wanted to say could never be enough…]

And also, there is a side story in which Petra defends Emilia in front of some lords that came to discuss politics with Roswaal while the camp was at Priestella.

Annerose too, who liked her since the very beginning.

----

If the Emilia camp were to be split, and Subaru were to leave, the members of the Emilia camp would not instantly leave: all of them would desperately attempt for Subaru to come back to the camp.

The same thing would happen if Emilia were to give up and try to leave the Royal Selection and her camp.

Anyone saying the opposite genuinely needs to re-read the story.

I keep seeing bad takes pop up complaining about how the narrator in the novels is unnecessarily harsh or "victim-blames" Subaru during his lowest moments.

They always point to passages like these ones:

>It was pathetic. Repulsive. It could be called only a truly shameful sight. Anyone would avert their eyes at the spectacle and scoff at him... This self-pitying boy, too filthy to count as a higher life-form worthy of respect, was truly 'the greed of a pig.

To which I ask myself, do they simply not understand Tappei's writing style, or rather, have they never read any other novel in their lives?

That is not Tappei calling Subaru a pathetic pig. That is Subaru's own crushing self-hatred.

Let's go through what is happening here, in hopes to clarify this:

In that moment, he utterly despises his own weakness. Therefore, his internalized expectations of heroism and masculinity are completely shattered as he begs for his life, so his own mind is violently bullying him. The prose then tells us "anyone would scoff at him", but there is no "anyone" there. It’s entirely Subaru projecting his absolute disgust with himself onto an imagined audience.

For that reason, one thing should be very easy to deduct, yet for some reason people keep failing at doing so: Tappei uses Free Indirect Discourse.

Basically, the third-person narrator isn't a separate entity for the events: the perspective of the narrator and their thoughts and views of things are completely hijacked by Subaru’s internal mental state when he is the focus of the scene.

We have the same thing when other characters are the focus of the scene, with the narrative so called "victim-blaming them":

>“That’s my Theresiaaaa!!!”

>He said something that should never have been voiced.

>Prioritizing his own emotions on a battlefield where a moment’s distraction was fatal was unforgivable.

>It was an action that defiled everything, tarnishing the pride of a swordsman, the honor of warrior, and the upright manner in which a battle should be carried out.

>It was just the voice of one man.

>A man who desperately wanted the woman he loved to not be stolen away from him.

And well, he also has a comment literally saying that Subaru's POV is unreliable, so... genuinely, what is the basis for people claiming this shit?

Also, another one I've seen people complain about was this one:

>Once, when the Witch Cult had targeted Emilia, Subaru had asked Crusch for help without any bargaining chips, but Crusch had imposingly rejected Subaru’s ugly pleas.

This is from Arc 10, Chapter 8.

This is Subaru's own view of what he was doing, the narrator is not saying it was objectively ugly, even if some people agree with the notion.

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No, her ideology is not "kill the weak and torture them" (?), I would understand it from Anime onlies but some of you mfers have read until Arc 10 and still do not understand a single bit of Priscilla's ideology:

>Yearning, drowning, Sphinx had subjected themself to the greatest burden in order to fulfill their own desires. The substance of this would be an abomination to the world, to the Empire, and to Vincent, but to Priscilla it was no abomination at all.

>She did not wish for the downfall of the Empire or the world, nor for the squandering of the tireless efforts of her own older brother, Vincent.

>However, the fact remained that for the sake of a desired outcome, confronting things while expending all of oneself was always beautiful.

>Even when that hatred which bordered on resentment was directed against them, it was no exception.

>All things had their proportional value.

>Those who lack the understanding of their own caliber and desire more than it can hold are often doomed. However, Priscilla wisely spoke that she did not like those who could console themselves with only what they could fit in their vessels.

>She wanted to love the way of life of the fool who sought what was beyond the capacity of their caliber, who went on a path that may lead to ruin, who aimed for the sun only for their wings to melt, regardless of whether they succeeded or failed in their challenge.

Furthermore:

>Priscilla: [How lovely.]

>All those who would risk their lives on the battlefield would not believe their ears at Priscilla’s words.

>However, that was Priscilla’s genuine intention. In the first place, Priscilla did not prefer to act or speak in ways that conspire and deceive others. She would never wish such a way of life upon her own self.

>Hence, it was genuine praise.

>All those who took up arms on this battlefield, lent their shoulders to others, shed their blood, and burned their souls, regardless of whether they were alive or dead, were to be loved.

Priscilla loved everything that was beautiful: a human being who sought more than what they would normally be able to achieve was beautiful, a person who put their lives on the line to save others was beautiful.

Everyone who was able to show beauty, to her, was to be valued and loved:

>“Rem, what do you think of a garden filled with only beautiful things?”

>“Eh?”

>“A garden filled with only beautiful things. I shan’t say it thrice.”

>Being told that bluntly, Rem’s thoughts went into overdrive from Priscilla’s words.

>Following Priscilla’s philosophy, would that not be the most ideal of gardens? If there is value in what is beautiful, then you would be surrounded by valuable things in that place. However, if that truly is an ideal place, Priscilla should be able to put together that same thing.

>While having that privilege, Priscilla holds onto Heinkel whom she had judged ugly. What is her true motive behind that? Churning her thoughts with utmost effort—

>“In a place filled with just beautiful things, the beautiful becomes common place?”

>“…”

>“You see something as beautiful, once you know something that isn’t. If that’s the case, then in a garden filled with only the beautiful, the value of what is beautiful becomes lower…or somesuch?”

>Voicing her own thoughts, Rem furrows her brow at just how prideful a way of thinking it is.

>If this logic were to be right, Priscilla is keeping Heinkel in her grasp, to keep him who she had judged ugly as a point of contrast to her beloved beauty.

>For instance that could be, as a foil to Schult the much similar servant which tags along with him.

>“I believe that…to be quite egotistical.”

>“Kuku”

>“—hk, Wh-What is so funny?”

>Putting the back of her hand in front of her mouth, a sound escaped Priscilla’s throat in response to which Rem’s eyes widened. But, she lightly shook her head to that questioning.

>“That your thoughts strayed into speculation, such that you would rebuke me was most amusing. There was also something amusive about your thoughts before that. If you gather only beautiful things, in exchange the value of that beautifulness is lowered… Not bad. However, that is just the grief of those who have no external measure of beautifulness.”

>“Ah…”

>“To those who know the world outside of the garden, that logic wouldn’t apply. Is your world something that would shrink to a single garden with just one query like that?”

>She felt like she got cajoled with sophistry, but at the same time there was also a sense of defeat from having been outargued with logic.

>What she had realized from Priscilla’s words, was the difference between the world she saw and her’s—it likely meant that, that which could be called a difference in field of view, was something in orders of magnitude.

>Not having any memories, or any reliable foundation to stand on was not an excuse.

>Rem slightly hung her head at that bitterness. Then—

>“Besides, while that certainly might be an ugly way of living… the manner in which he handles the sword is beautiful.”

Those unable to show beauty, in any of their actions, those who had no goal, ambitions or a single ounce of pride, were not beautiful. And hence she did not like them, and for some, she despised them.

Priscilla, even in her enemies, even if they were cruel, she was able to find beauty, because they would try to reach for a goal that was beyong their grasp.

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Priscilla's ideology has far more to it than "haha sadistic woman tortures weak people (which she doesn't actively do)", so stop misinterpreting her.

Read.

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They pulled the "you are allied with a terrorist" card, bro is cooked.

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Yes, he defeated the White Whale that had been roaming the world for 400 years some days after making himself look like a clown in front of most of the Lugunican Royalty, yes he sealed away the Great Rabbit less than a weak after that, yes he defeated Regulus without a single casualty in the process and stopped an attack from the Witch Cult towards an entire city despite ALL archbishops being involved, defeating a group who the Lugunicans only had ONE victory against in the past 400 years (thanks to Volcanica partly), yes he cleared the Pleiades watchtower in very short time without a single casualty...

... wouldn't that logically raise a lot of suspicions?

He seems to always be a step ahead of the Witch Cult... how?

Not only that, he befriended a Sin Archbishop, an assassin related to the organization a Sin Archbishop manages, and now supposedly is involved in the assassination of the most important sage in the kingdom, being Miklotov. He also supports the spitting image of the WOE, and loves her too.

I mean, c'mon.

Like, this does not mean that Tappei is making the kingdom artificially dumber for the sake of plot, it was inevitably gonna happen.