Re:Zero - Episode 20 (Review)

By: TheJewphin

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

[yasr_multiset setid=11]Have you grown tired of Subaru? Want to watch a Re:Zero episode where he is more ancillary than the side characters? Well, do I have something to offer you! Episode 20, while containing some scenes with Subaru, is mostly the story of Wilhelm and his revenge.Episode 20 starts off with the introduction of a young Wilhelm and a young woman whom we can all assume is going to become the master swordsman. For a moment I thought this episode would be an entire episode of Wilhelm backstory, just as we once had an episode mostly devoted to Ram and Rem's backstory. Fortunately, after a brief scene with the two, the episode shifts back to the battle against the white whale.Throughout the episode, we switch off between the battle against the white whale and Wilhelm's backstory. It's a nice juxtaposition which gives stronger emotional impact to each one of Wilhelm's strikes. In fact, there does not appear to be one scene of backstory that does not either follow or precede an attack by Wilhelm.Wilhelm's flashbacks are well done, giving us only the information needed to tell the story of his relationship with Theresia. As she stares wistfully at plants, he practices to become a great swordsman so that he can protect others. Unfortunately for Wilhelm, his first battle as a knight goes poorly and he has to be rescued by Theresia, who is just as awesome as we have been led to believe. The knowledge that this beautiful woman is also a master swordsman angers Wilhelm who feels partially betrayed by Theresia's deception and partially angered by the fact that someone so loving of peace should have to wield a blade.Back in the current time, our heroes battle the white whale. Well, everyone other than Subaru who either acts as a decoy or stands off to the side to provide commentary. While Subaru's team contains an entire army, the vast majority of the fight is between the white whale and five heroes: Crusch, Wilhelm, Ricardo, Mimi, and Hetaro.Crusch uses the fight to show off her weapon, the intangible sword, which allows her to slice her opponents at range. This allows her to stand with her main force while Wilhelm, Ricardo, Mimi, and Hetaro fight in melee range. Mimi and Hetaro were a slight disappointment. They had set themselves up to be wildly different in personality and ability, but those differences did not seem to translate to the battle.The VIPs of the battle were Ricardo and Wilhelm. Ricardo spent a lot of the fight either slicing up the White Whale or providing support to Wilhelm so that he could slice up the White Whale. Given that the two generally fight for different armies and have had no time to practice with each other, it was odd for the pair to be so well coordinated in battle. I would expect coordination between Ricardo and the twins, but not with a general of a different army.Wilhelm's fight seemed to be more about catharsis than damage. He spent much of his time running up and down the White Whale's flank, slicing as he ran. While the Whale did little to stop these attacks, it also did not seem to take much damage. Given its size, the many lacerations it received were probably only flesh wounds. Well, until Wilhelm cut out its eye. Then things got serious.The White Whale showed off two major attacks this episode. The projectile fog it fires from its skin erases the victim from existence. This helps explain how Rem had been erased last episode but Wilhelm still recalled his wife. It was enjoyable to see Crusch's army adapt to this attack. While they were unable to know who had been killed, the army generally knew the numbers brought to battle, which allowed them to calculate losses by how many remained.The Whale's second attack was an ear piercing scream that caused half of the army to go crazy. The attack itself did very little, other than force Subaru to play decoy. It's not like the affected members of the army had been doing much anyways.The episode itself was fairly well done. The fight showed actual progression and the backstory with Wilhelm's eventual wife added emotional investment. Given the character development with Subaru, it is likely that this life will be his last one of the segment. That fact alone adds greater impact to the losses suffered by Crusch's and Anastasia's armies. Hopefully Wilhelm is a descendant of Jonah.