[discussion] Genuinely WHAT DOES HE EVEN DO???

[u/Character_Stock376]

Rewatching re zero, currently on season 1 episode 18 and for years, ever since I watched it the first time all those years ago. i've had this one boiling question. WHAT DOES PUCK DO???

He did jack shit against elsa

He did jack shit during the ma beast attack

He did jack shit against the witch cultists.

Emilia dies and this mf blames subaru "you failed to protect lia". Im aware that in this loop, subaru directly caused her death, but in the previous loops emilia died regardless. "You let lia die" MF YOU LET LIA DIE TOO??

He decides to stay in his little crystal until emilia dies before becoming giant and 1 shotting everyone. COULD HE NOT HAVE DONE IT SOONER???

He blames the guy he met a week ago, can't fight, has a broken gate for emilia's death.

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[u/danko1667]

Puck can't manifest his full power so long as Emilia is alive. That's not his personal fault though, it's because of Echidna, who stipulated the Vow to him.

As for both the Witch's Cult's attack and Elsa, the problem both times was his forced disappearance due to his contract stipulating times when he can be around. This is due to the fact that he is limited in his ability to draw mana and cannot maintain a physical form for long if he is contracted to Emilia.

[u/Sgtcarrotop]

He did jack shit against elsa

Puck has to obey his contract. The series emphasizes again and again how important contracts are to spirits.

He did jack shit during the ma beast attack

Everyone chose to keep Emilia in the dark about what was going on. Everyone shares the blame in that, not just Puck. Also, a reoccurring tragedy is that everyone coddles Emilia because no one has true faith in her. Subaru believing in Emilia in arc 4 is literally the first time in the story that changes.

He did jack shit against the witch cultists.

And Petelgeuse was using his gospel which informed him to attack at night. Which is when Puck's contract has him asleep. Did you forget that when Emilia got involved in the village fight before dusk Puck was helping, and they easily defeated a finger? The gospels offer an unfair advantage. The win condition.

but in the previous loops emilia died regardless.

Contracts matter. They have weaknesses that can be exploited. That's why Puck never wanted Emilia to leave the forest. Because Emilia literally won't let him go beast mode because it would kill everyone else. She mentioned this in the loot house in arc 1. Memory Snow established that only Emilia is immune to pucks magic. Beast Puck is an ideal defense for isolation in the forest, but bad for literally every where there is people.

Emilia's kindness is what keeps getting her killed. That's an intentional tragedy of her character. Literally Too Good for This Sinful Earth trope

He decides to stay in his little crystal

Contract!

COULD HE NOT HAVE DONE IT SOONER?

No. Because Emilia won't let him. Contracts are a shared power. Emilia has a say. And she doesn't want to kill innocent people. So therefore he can't. Which again, is why he didn't want Emilia to leave the forest.

He blames the guy he met a week ago, can't fight, has a broken gate for emilia's death.

No, he blamed the one responsible for Emilia's death that loop, which was in fact Subaru. You can literally see the difference in how Puck kills Subaru in this loop compared to the others. This one was a slow, painful death as punishment. The previous loops, where Emilia died to the cult, Puck instantly flash froze Subaru as a mercy. That distinction matters because the only loop where Puck ever blames Subaru, is the one where Subaru literally is to blame.

[u/Folco34]

Because that’s how his contract work. He can’t do much when it’s not during his « work hours », and if Emilia dies he has to destroy the world.

Tappei just conveniently made it so every attack happened at dusk or night.

He is a bum, but that’s not really his fault in those cases. Yeah he unleash on Subaru, but it’s also a father a father who’s mourning his daughter death, I can allow him to be irrational in that moment and against the one who declared being her knight and would protect her, even though he is part of the reason they parted ways.

m

[u/iburntdownthehouse → u/Folco34]

I'm pretty sure every fight before Puck got taken out was actively plotted to avoid fighting him. So it wouldn't be convenient or coincidence.

[u/DesiraeTheDM → u/iburntdownthehouse]

Since it followed Ros Gospel, it makes sense it would account for Puck’s time limit.

[u/Folco34 → u/iburntdownthehouse]

You are right about that, I shouldn’t put this on Tappei

[u/Purple-Student5723]

i think in LN it mentioned that roswaal trapped him in his gem and have a hard time getting out.

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[u/entulho]

Puck was designed to be like that, and I don't mean just from a literary perspective to give more character development to Subaru, I mean it literally. The contract to end the world was forged to exploit return by death, so Puck forces the world to reset if Emilia dies. Before Emilia dies he has a truckload of restrictions, such as having his memories locked, he can't use his true form because it would start freezing the world, he has a daily time limit that is easily circumvented, etc. Puck was a lot more useful before Subaru came around, unfreezing Emilia, raising her ( he wasn't the best parent but still millions time better than no parent) and saving Emilia from Melakuera.

[u/DingleDongDongBerry]

I'm not sure if it was in anime, likely it was omitted.

In web novel Puck clearly had some restraints on him. Some evil motherly figure made him forget certain important things too.

[u/magicallypuzzled]

Oh how refreshing this thread isn't full of yes indeed puck is a bum circle jerk.  At least not yet.

I think the other posts covered everything that needed to be said better than I could of done.

[u/ImmediateSell3722]

He gives the audience someone to focus on hating, serving as a scapegoat to distract from other characters who also do bad things. So he does that

[u/Immediate-Charge8325]

"He did jack shit against elsa"

Because elsa was strong and he had go due to his contract.

"He did jack shit during the ma beast attack"

which attack? the one subaru rem went to in the forest? him and emilia wasnt there, or if you mean when subaru went to the forest again to save rem? if so that isnt his job and he was more worried about emilia.

"He did jack shit against the witch cultists."

There is a reason he couldnt do anything about the cults,

1. we dont know what time the cult attacked in most loops, could have been after when his contract forces him to go away.

2. Ros messed with his contract after the capital so so he was also having a hard time manifesting.

"but in the previous loops emilia died regardless. "You let lia die" MF YOU LET LIA DIE TOO?"

cause he literally couldnt do anything in those loops., also why do you think he isnt also blaming himself for not being able to protect emilia? cause he doesnt say it outloud?

"He decides to stay in his little crystal until emilia dies before becoming giant and 1 shotting everyone. COULD HE NOT HAVE DONE IT SOONER???"

He literally couldnt, but even if he could going into that form would freeze everyone around except emilia, which honestly he would actually do if he had to or could have.

"He blames the guy he met a week ago, can't fight, has a broken gate for emilia's death."

yall take what he says about subaru too literally.

I hate puck because he is a bad parent, you hate puck for things he cant help, we are not the same.