Re:Zero Episode 25

A Story That's Just That (ただそれだけの物語) is the twenty fifth and final episode of the first season of the Re:Zero anime.

Plot
With his senses connected to Subaru's, Julius was now able to cut down Petelgeuse's Unseen Hands with his swordsmanship. Furious that his devotion was being belittled by tricks, Petelgeuse began summoning more and more hands to know that his fingers have been killed. In the process, he managed to injure Julius' leg, stomach, and shoulder. As the battle was occurring, Emilia is in the dragon carriage with the children. Wilhelm had a brief discussion with her, where in the end she offered her assistance. He warmly rejects the offer and tells Emilia to not let go of the children's hands before saying that they were truly master and servant. As Emilia questioned him on this, she found out that Wilhelm had already left.

Returning back to the fight, Subaru starts feeling the pain from Julius's wounds and bemused that they must be crazy to entrust their lives on such an outlandish tactic. Julius merely responded that he was starting to get accustomed to the feeling and told Subaru that he would be raising his speed. Using Al Clauseria, Julius eliminated the Unseen Hands as he made his way to Petelgeuse. In response, the Archbishop of Sloth was forced to use earth magic to summon up a shield. However, Subaru threw a magical stone to ignite past the defense, allowing Julius to stab Petelgeuse in the stomach. Julius remarked that his downfall came from viewing Subaru simply as weak. Once again, Petelgeuse tried to possess Subaru's body. Feeling this happen, Subaru quickly told Julius to undo Nect. This time, Subaru tried to reveal his Return by Death ability, which took both of them to a shadowy place. At first, Petelgeuse was ecstatic over being able to meet the Witch of Envy. However, Satella, under the appearance of a dark silhouette, kicked Petelgeuse out of Subaru's body. Returning to his original body, Petelgeuse couldn't understand why the witch rejected him, and began retreating to the rock face to escape from Julius. Not having any energy left, he let out one last Unseen Hand that eventually destroyed the rock face above him, causing the rocks to fall down onto him and crush him to death. Confirming that he was dead, Subaru told Petelgeuse that he had been slothful.

Afterward, Subaru picked up and briefly flipped through Petelgeuse's gospel before Julius told him that they should head back to the village, since Ferris had contacted them. They inform Subaru that the fire magic stones in the merchant's inventory were gone and someone had likely loaded it into Ketty's carriage, which was currently being used to transport Emilia and the children. Otto added that the amount of explosives is enough to blow away a small village. Hearing this, Subaru takes Otto's offer to transport him on the fastest route to the dragon carriages without hesitating. Julius, who was still injured from the fight with Petelguese, lent them his Fire Spirit, Ia, to detect the fire magic stones. Chasing after the merchants' Dragon Carriages as fast as possible, Subaru spotted Petelgeuse pursuing them using his Unseen Hands to forcibly move his dead body, intent on claiming Subaru's body once again. Not having any other way of fighting back, Subaru threw a pot of Otto's oil at the madman, then used Ia's power to set it on fire, creating an explosion that hit him straight on.

Still, Petelguese refused to yield and continued to cling onto the carriage while demanding Subaru return Satella's love to him. As a result, Subaru threw Petelgeuse's gospel book, causing him to use an Unseen Hand to catch it and was subsequently hit by powerful wind resistance that forced him to fall back. Subaru followed up by delivering a punch straight through his face, knocking Petelguese off of the Dragon Carriage. However, a portion of his robe was stuck on the carriage, causing Petelgeuse's body to be dragged along the ground as the friction began to break his body apart. Nonetheless, he still refused to give up, prompting Subaru to write "the end" underneath the last entry in the gospel book with his own blood, and at that moment Petelgeuse's robe ripped free from the carriage. Unfortunately for him, his robe got tangled up in the carriage's wheel, dragging him underneath the carriage where he was crushed to death for the second time, this time for good.

As Subaru and Otto continued forward towards Emilia's carriage, Wilhelm and the others were busy facing off against the leftover members of the Witch Cult. Wilhelm instructed Subaru to head towards the Great Tree. In the meanwhile, the kids accidentally let it slip that they had to take care of Emilia for Subaru's sake. Hearing this shocked Emilia, who wondered why Subaru would go so far to save her after all of the pain and suffering that he underwent. At that moment, Subaru arrived at the carriage and grabbed the bag of fire stones hidden within the carriage. Emilia questioned why he was here, but Subaru merely replied that he loved her, much to her shock.

Racing on top of Patrasche with the bag of explosives in toll, Subaru quickly arrived at the dead carcass of the Hakugei. There he threw the bag with all his might so that the explosion could detonate at a safe distance from the others, getting caught up in the blast as Patrasche shields him. When he later woke up, Subaru found himself laying on Emilia's lap. Subaru commented that he felt like he had a long dream. Subaru apologized for his actions back then, saying that he was only thinking of himself. However, he reconfirmed the only thing that he wasn't wrong about was his desire to save her, once again confessing his love for Emilia. She replied that she was a half-elf and had a self-motive for becoming king. Still, Subaru said that he would continue to love and support her despite what anyone else said about her. Overjoyed upon hearing this, Emilia said that this was the first time she had received special treatment that made her happy, and tearfully thanked Subaru for saving her.

Characters

 * Emilia
 * Petra Leyte
 * Meina
 * Lucas
 * Mild
 * Cain
 * Dine
 * Wilhelm van Astrea
 * Conwood Melahau
 * Natsuki Subaru
 * Julius Juukulius
 * Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti
 * Satella (shadow)
 * Ferris
 * Otto Suwen
 * Ketty Muttart (flashback)
 * Plum Risch (flashback)
 * Puck
 * Beatrice (flashback)
 * Ricardo Welkin
 * Mimi Pearlbaton
 * Tivey Pearlbaton

Anime Differences

 * Scenes beyond this point in both episodes 24 and 25 is anime original as the ninth volume of the light novel wasn't released until September 25th.
 * The conversation between Emilia and Wilhelm was moved to during Subaru and Julius's fight against Petelguese instead of after Petelguese was defeated by Subaru when he chased Subaru and Otto.
 * Felix assisting Julius and Subaru during Petelguese's Possession was cut.
 * The outline of Satella's head is shown rather than it being covered with shadows.
 * Subaru's meeting with Satella was cut.
 * Parts of Subaru, Felix, and Otto's conversation was cut. Felix healing Subaru and Julius was also cut.
 * A conversation between Emilia and Puck in the carriage was cut.
 * Wilhelm fights the fingers during the escort whereas, in the light novel, Wilhelm defends Subaru while he reaches the carriages.
 * Subaru yanks the carriage's floorboards without Puck's help. Also, Puck's idea to transform into his true form to contain the blast was cut.
 * The epilogue was cut.

Director's Cut

 * The interlude that was cut from the original anime was added.

Trivia

 * STYX HELIX replaced Stay Alive as the ending, which was used as an insert song instead.