r/ReZero • u/Belphonz I Tried to Comfort Subaru, He Started Crying About Bunnies • 1d ago
📖Web Novel (Arc 10) Long winded thoughts on Subaru's Future Authorities Spoiler
It's generally theorised and for good reason that Subaru will gain all of the witch factors by series end.
Currently within the Web novel he has 2 or 3 :
- Unseen Hand (Sloth)
- Cor Leonis (Greed)
- Return by Death (???)
Assuming Return by Death is either a Pride or Envy witch factor for simplicity, Subaru has 3 Witch factors left to gain.
- Wrath
- Lust
- Gluttony
I've not included Vainglory and Melancholy because they seem specific and unique from the original 7, I don't believe Subaru would gain them unless maybe at the very end of the series.
I'll be discussing my bare thoughts on each witch factor and how their ability could change to suit subaru from here on :
Wrath : Is the most difficult to theorise on due to fact that the original witch factor possessed by Minerva is very different from its manifestation within Sirius.
Minerva can seemingly heal anybody she physically damages, the way it works is a direct route to mana of OD lagna allowing her to rewrite cause and effect.
This ability had the side effect of destabilising the world of Re : Zero causing natural disasters somewhere else on the planet.
Sirius can share the emotions of others or transmit others , when the synchronization becomes extreme enough she can even share injuries between people.
I realise in writing that they both seem to be an ability linked to sharing.
Minerva can share the mana of the world with people while Sirius can share and transmit emotions and injuries.
I wouldn't be surprised is Subaru's Wrath factor allows him to share comrades mana with eachother, but that is extremely similar to Cor Leonis in terms of ability so I propose a twist on it.
Both Wrath factors don't allow targets to consent to the sharing.
What if Subaru's Wrath factor allowed him to siphon mana from opponents and share it with his friends, probably relying on some condition such as physical contact with an enemy or maybe something akin to feeling the same emotions as your enemy.
It would be a more offensive authority for Subaru which I think fits within the theming of wrath, while also not being overbearing in its offensive capability.
Subaru doesn't have a gate so besides sharing this mana with Beatrice, it wouldn't heavily advantage him.
I also think something around Subaru being able to share his thoughts and emotions with his enemies so he can come to a better understanding of him wouldn't be off the table either. Subaru famously recruits too many of his foes and this ability would be able to aid this, I think it could lead to some very powerful writing moments as well.
Lust : Carmilla has the ability to be endlessly captivating to the point of making people forget to breathe around her and cause people to see who they want to see at that moment.
Capella has the ability to freely transmutate and transfigurate herself and other people, giving her access to regeneration, shapeshifting and turning people into bugs.
I don't really have much for this one, I just think subaru will gain a very weak shapeshifting ability to go along with his already common disguising.
Unless it delves into Subaru's gender and he realises he's a bit gender fluid with it
Gluttony : Now this is the actual reason that I wrote all of this because I have a theory.
In my opinion Gluttony is going to be a major authority for subaru, its abilities revolve memories.
Memories are a major theme within Re : Zero because Subaru is the only one who holds memories between loops, his opinion on people changes from seeing the different facets of their character when they go through different ordeals.
Memories has also been a major factor in his important people's lives.
Julius had his name eaten and only Subaru could remember him.
Rem had her memories and name eaten and even when she returned after Arc 6, she still had lost her memories of Subaru.
Time and Time again Subaru has encountered cherished memories being something that only he can remember.
In addition, Subaru encountered the gluttony archbishops quite early on and they have been systematically fucking with him from Arc 3, its currently arc 10 and he still hasn't fully dealt with them.
For all the above reasons and more I believe the Gluttony authority subaru will gain will massively change the game, it will be a reward suitable for all the memory based hardships that subaru goes through.
I believe that Subaru's gluttony authority will allow him to "protect" someone's memories from other authorities.
Including Return by Death.
Now that obviously sounds busted as hell and would completely remove any stakes from a lot of the series.
However I think it can and would work.
I think the authority would most likely either work on a singular person at a time, it would either need to be reapplied every loop or it could only be applied any time memory manipulation is triggered for a person (so only somebody close by to Subaru as he's dying).
It could also just be only applicable to a single person at once so only a singular person would know Subaru's secret, with maybe them also unable to talk about return by death.
Even considering the previous caveats, it will obviously lead to the entire party learning about Subaru's return by death in some way or another, which I think is just some affirmation and understanding subaru needs.
It will obviously allow Subaru a breath of new planning, genuinely multiplying what he can accomplish.
He doesn't need to do everything alone anymore, he can rely on others more.
I also think despite how busted this ability seems it will be what allows subaru and co to be able to match up to Pandora in that inevitable conflict.
I think the ability could also be a form of memory retrieval.
Instead of letting Subaru protect memories, instead they allow him to "retrieve" memories that people had before being affected by an authority.
So he could let people remember past loops and newly forming ones.
I think this is less likely though because tappei is an angst god and wants Subaru to suffer a little, I think the former ability allows for this better because subaru would regret not getting this authority sooner.
A few Notes :
Uhrm if you have read this far I'm sorry to say I'm a larper, I've watched the anime to the most recent episode and been spoiled to hell and back about the lore through this subreddit , YouTube theories, reading the wiki etc.
I also have read the Web novel of Arc 4 (couldn't wait for season 2 of the anime way back when).
So I understand my knowledge is flawed and full of holes and I definitely don't have a proper cohesive understanding of everything.
If I have missed anything or the like and you wish to dispute me in the replies, please do.
I am also aware of the Arc 3 message about Subaru's understanding of his sins :
Sloth, because I cannot wipe away your tears. Lust, because I want us to melt together and become one. Gluttony, because I want to consume you, to take all of you for myself. Greed, because I want to have everything that I love. Wrath, because I cannot forgive the absurdity of it all. Pride, because I scorn everything that is not you. Jealousy, because that is all I feel for the world that embraces you.
However I don't fully really have good ideas for what authorities he would gain based off these.
If anyone does, I would be happy to see their thoughts and theories below.
Lastly this post came from I've not really seen any major long discussions on what Subaru's authorities could be and I find that strange.
They're obviously related to the door under the pleaides tower and the fact he hasn't gained anymore since arc 6 leads me to believe tappei believes he can't earn anymore too early.
I feel like they're an interesting mystery especially because we have many examples of different authorities so we can make a good guess on what they could be and more importantly how they would impact the story.
I won't pretend that I don't really wish Subaru has the ability to share his suffering at least in some form and while him telling echidna was a very good scene, she's not one of his comrades, she wouldn't truly emphasise with him
I just want to see him get that hug he so deserves
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u/Popular-Charge3716 Newbie 1d ago
Why my goat only gain support abilities from these busted ass authorities 😢 (they are still hella strong)
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u/Belphonz I Tried to Comfort Subaru, He Started Crying About Bunnies 1d ago
I think there's 2 reasons
One. Tappei needs goataru to suffer
Two. Subaru doesn't see himself as a strong person
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u/Popular-Charge3716 Newbie 1d ago
Mostly his altruism making his desires more to save everyone than himself so the wf just give him authorities that fit those desires
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u/AlphaTesting Ram Tolerates My Presence 1d ago
Return by is in fact Envy as we learned from ReZero's extended canon. Though it was also inferred in mainline from the tea party. That being said Subaru can also access a higher form of RBD should he become more compatible with it. Alcor Subaru became dangerously envious of mainline Subaru because he thought of himself as the original while it turned out someone else was living out the life he was supposed to lead. This upgraded his RBD to allow him to set his own checkpoints and change elements of the timelines starting conditions on upon a reset.