Re:Zero guides fans through an ambitious narrative full of dead ends and terrible fates for its cast of characters. But unlike most series, the devastation of these tragedies is lessened with the incorporation of Subaru’s incredibly useful Return by Death ability. The power serves as Subaru’s greatest tool in dealing with the various dangers and challenges he’d otherwise be unprepared to face on his own.
The mysterious time-traveling power serves as an integral part of the narrative, allowing for the story to progress in the way it does through multiple timelines and alterations. Return by Death is a fairly straightforward ability, but there are various intricacies to it that can go unnoticed.
How It’s Used
Unlike most abilities, Return by Death isn’t a power that Subaru has complete control over. Rather than use it on a whim, Subaru must instead go with the flow and work with what he’s given. The power activates once Subaru dies, sending him back to a predetermined point in time with his memories intact. To Subaru, the jump is instantaneous, giving him little time to process whatever he experiences. As it was given to him by Satella, there are some caveats to Return by Death that Subaru must keep in mind.
The biggest drawback to Return by Death is Subaru’s inability to reveal its existence. Its anonymity is ensured by Satella, who seems to have set up some failsafe measure in the event that Subaru tries to open up about his power. There seem to be three primary consequences shown throughout the series so far.
In the event that he starts to acknowledge the existence of Return by Death, Subaru feels a sharp, foreboding pain and will die in some cases. The witch will also amplify Subaru’s Witch factor, and that will consequentially draw powerful and dangerous creatures to him. The last penalty seems to be exclusive to Emilia. If Subaru should tell her about Return by Death, she would die immediately by having her heart crushed by the witch’s hand.
As Return by Death allows for Subaru to carry memories of different timelines over whenever things reset, he has the benefit of knowing things that he otherwise wouldn’t. This has been invaluable in navigating through the various catastrophic events and tragedies he and his companions regularly face. This benefit seems to be something the Witch of Envy intentionally included within Return by Death. So while her motivations are still unclear, it appears as though she’s in Subaru’s corner.
As A Narrative Device
The nature of Return by Death allows Re:Zero to do some very interesting things with its narrative. The abilities reliance on repetition allows fans to experience different events and sequences multiple times, learning and picking up on new things every time. It serves as a sort of comfort for fans to know that no matter how terrible things get, Subaru can always reset things and try again. Of course, his inability to choose his starting point adds some element of tension to things.
Return by Death has been shown to take a fairly serious toll on Subaru’s mental state at different points in the series, given the typically devastating events that precede its activation. This has been a consistent source of tension and character development in Re:Zero, with Subaru constantly having to find ways to endure and overcome the mounting odds he regularly faces.
Though the ability takes a toll on him, Return by Death has been invaluable throughout Subaru’s adventures. The mental and emotional strain comes as a trade-off that allows for Subaru to work towards his ideal future, while also keeping the narrative interesting and allowing fans to see some very interesting what-if scenarios play out in the series canon.