Talk:Echidna/@comment-73.166.85.75-20200917010322/@comment-99.232.106.176-20200917195617

One of Echidna's known abilities is soul tranfer. After the other witches perished, it was her desire to overcome her mortality so she could continue gathering the world's knowledge. She took the other witchs' souls with her when she created the sanctuary.

The barrier around the sanctuary would protect her from the outside world that hunted her but the downside meant she also couldn't leave the sanctuary either or her soul would become trapped just the same. She could always drop the barrier but it would have exposed her in the process so it was a double-edged sword in that way. Eventually, Echidna dies in there, her soul gets remained inside the santuary, henceforth it becomes known as the Witch's Graveyard.

I suspect the Sanctuary is in between Life + Death which is how she's able to commune with Subaru, hence why she does not appear before him anywhere else, thus far. If this is true, it might also be how she was able to write the two gospels that Roswaal and Beatrice received. Time certainly isn't a limitation to a spirit and she has proven that she has some level of clairvoyance when she reveals to Subaru she had been watching him the entire time.... Maybe someone who read the WN can comment.

I can't help but get this feeling that Subaru and Roswaal are really alike, not by way of personality or abilities but by way of how they're being used for the respective witch's desire(s). Roswaal is willing to sacrifice anything and everything to bring about Echidna's resurrection where as, Subaru is willing to sacrifice himself when faced with the risk of losing a single person. Both characters show a kind of "love" aching to the twisted spirit of the witches. Subaru and Roswaal are ultimately two sides on the same coin, every flip will only see one or the other on top.