Re:Zero Season 3 Episode 12: Little King, Big Fall

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Re:Zero, Season 3, Episode 12, “Regulus Corneas”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

With Priscilla and Liliana claiming victory over Sirius, the Archbishop of Wrath, in the previous episode of Re:Zero, the focus shifts back to Subaru. In the previous episode’s post-credits scene, Subaru was still taunting Regulus, the Archbishop of Greed, about his powers. Emilia was still nowhere to be seen, but the scene ending with a shot of the church was a big hint.

In Re:Zero season 3, episode 10, “The Crusade Against Greed”, Subaru discovers what Regulus Corneas’ Authority does. Dubbed “Lion’s Heart”, this ability enables Regulus to stop the flow of time for his body, making him seem invincible. Learning how his powers work is great and all, but does Subaru have a plan to get past it? Especially since Reinhard is still out of commission from when Regulus launched him sky-high.

The previous episode had some pretty shaky animation in some parts, but fortunately, episode 12 once again has the beautiful animation Re:Zero fans want. There was still a bunch of cut content from the light novels, including some cool action scenes by Subaru and a more detailed Regulus backstory, but the content that did get animated was done so really well.

Related

Re:Zero: 17 Strongest Characters In The Anime (So Far)

From the Witch of Envy to the Sin Archbishops, there are many characters in Re:Zero who display a stunning degree of power, and more are sure to come.

Setting the Little Kingdom Free

Without His Kingdom, the King is Nothing

Subaru figured Regulus, the Little King, would have his weakness in his “Little Kingdom”, AKA his harem of wives. So, while Subaru fought and distracted Regulus, Emilia returned to the church where they were supposed to be married. The scene hasn’t changed much, as Regulus’ 53 wives remain unmoving, waiting for his return.

The scene of Emilia convincing all the wives to stand up for themselves and embrace freedom was incredibly empowering and hits you right in the feels, which is what Re:Zero does best. The scene that followed, with all the wives finally admitting they hated Regulus’ guts was also just really satisfying to watch.

Emilia soon discovered that Regulus’ heart was within Silphy, and if anything were to happen to her, it would simply move to another of his wives. The girls were all willing to end their lives just to weaken Regulus, but fortunately, it didn’t have to come to that. Emilia used her ice magic to freeze all of them and stop their hearts from beating. Now it was time to face Regulus once more.

Related

Re:Zero – Best Divine Protections In The Anime (So Far)

The following Divine Protections are some of the most powerful so far in the Re:Zero anime.

The Sloth Gambit

Checkmate

Upon returning to the battlefield, Emilia attacked Regulus, only to see that he was still untouched by time. She already knew why though, as she had some spirits check for her; Regulus’ heart had attached itself to her. Regulus mocks Emilia and Subaru, saying that if they wanted to beat him, Emilia would have to die first. Regulus even bragged that Subaru’s feat of beating Petelgeuse, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, doesn’t mean anything in the face of his power. And that arrogance is exactly what led to his downfall. Subaru remembered that he now had Sloth’s Authority, the Unseen Hand, which he used to destroy Regulus’ heart within Emilia, finally rendering him vulnerable.

The following scenes of Emilia absolutely destroying Regulus were animated beautifully. Reinhard, who jumped back to Earth from the moon, because of course he did, continued to give Regulus the beating of his life, eventually launching him into the sky, probably as payback. Regulus’ speech as he fell to the Earth was pathetic, and so was his death, buried in a tiny hole in the Earth and left to drown as water slowly poured in. No one heard the final cries of the little king, and just as when he was alive, no one cared.

How Did Subaru Discover Regulus’ Authority in the First Place?

Some viewers may have a hard time figuring out how exactly Subaru discovered that Regulus’ power was to stop time for his body. Admittedly, it can be pretty hard to understand how he reached that conclusion on the first viewing. First, Subaru noticed that nothing could affect Regulus’ body. Reinhard kept striking him down, but he just kept getting back up. But that’s not all. Regulus fell into the water, got hit by giant icebergs, and got slammed into stone structures. Yet, not only was he undamaged, but he remained dry and clean; even his clothes were unbothered.

There were still a few possibilities at that point. Maybe Regulus could just generate a force field around his body, or perhaps he could turn back time and keep reverting to his pristine form. So, to test his theory, Subaru had Reinhard check for a pulse, and after confirming Regulus didn’t have one, he concluded that his body was frozen in time, and he could do the same for anything within close proximity, like his clothes.

Now for his weakness, how did Subaru figure that out? Well, in comes Regulus’ nickname, “Little King”. As you’ve probably noticed, the Sin Archbishops are named after stars, and Regulus is named after the brightest star in the Leo constellation, whose name is Latin for “Little King”. Subaru figured that if he was a “king”, he must keep whatever he valued most within his “kingdom”, which turned out to be his many wives.

Related

Re:Zero: Lye Batenkaitos’s Powers and Abilities Explained

Lye Batenkaitos is a Sin Archbishop of the Witches Cult representing Gluttony. What secrets does his exquisite taste in souls hold?

Re:Zero Season 3 is now available to stream on Crunchyroll, Muse Asia, MeWatch, and several other streaming services. The release date for Re:Zero season 3, episode 13, is set to be March 5, 2025, at 7:30 AM PT.

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-

Release Date

April 3, 2016

Network

TV Tokyo, AT-X

Directors

Hiroyuki Tsuchiya, Kazuomi Koga, Yoshito Mikamo, Masaharu Watanabe, Yoshinobu Tokumoto, Masahiro Shinohara, Hideyo Yamamoto, Manabu Okamoto, Takashi Sakuma, Daisuke Takashima, Naoko Takeichi

Writers

Yoshiko Nakamura

Cast

• 

  Yûsuke Kobayashi

  Subaru Natsuki (voice)

• 

  Rie Takahashi

  Emilia (voice)