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I recommend everyone who liked this labyrinth arc to listen to the Mushoku Tensei Volume 12 Drama CD. You can find it on YouTube. This brings several moments of this arc from different perspectives, for example: Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective, and Paul's death from his perspective, having his last thoughts.
Paul's last thoughts.
---
"Am I dying?"
"I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least."
"Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..."
"I wanted to see them again."
"Are they going to school?"
"Have they grown up?"
"Lillia — what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..."
"Will she cry?"
"Dammit, I'm filled with regrets."
"I don't want to die..."
"Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do."
Rudy: "Father!"
"But..... Oh well..."
"It’s better than seeing Rudy die."
"Chin up, my son. Stay positive..."
He smiles one final time.
I agree. It really sold that Paul is actually dead.
No red herring, no reversal. Paul is dead dead.
I mean there are already some death flags surrounding Paul, but it's still gut wrenching to see
The whole episode was about Rudy trying to stop Paul from raising any death flags. Dumbass still said "I'm proud of you son" right before boss fight.
Honestly, I'm really glad they portrayed that yes, Paul is definitely 100% genuinely dead. Isekai fantasies usually have a tough time letting important characters stay dead.
The real death flag was Rudy saying "I'm not going to let him drop any bombshells before the big fight. That can wait until after we get home."
When he said that, I suspected Paul would die.
Then, after the first encounter with the Hydra, when Paul told Rudy "Save your mom, even if it kills you," I knew Paul was going to die.
dude Paul had more red flags than 10 more shonen characters combined .
"Rudeus i have something to tell you" " Save Zenith even if it kills you " Speaking to party " This will be the Last time lend me your hand ( Rudeus took that last one literally)
He was trying to break some kind of record for red flags
It's funny that mushoku is an OG isekai that influenced a lot of the genre. Yet it seems the isekai that followed learned the wrong lessons about why mushoku is goated.
It's really interesting because despite Rudy having dealt with death quite a bit, this is the first time he's lost someone very close to him.
> It's really interesting because despite Rudy having dealt with death quite a bit, this is the first time he's lost someone very close to him
And it being the death of a parent, something that all of us whether we like it or not will experience if the natural order of things plays out correctly, makes it even more painful to watch consider in his previous life, Rudy died on the day of his parents' funerals.
And Rudeus was so far gone in that life that he might not even have been aware of his parent's deaths until he was booted out of the house, and his attachment to them had been totally lost.
With Paul, Rudy actually didn't even realize how close an attachment he'd grown with him over the years even through their confrontations. The father that he didn't know he truly had.
and i am so not looking forward to the next 10-20 years in my life where i will have to face that.
I seen more white hair on my dad, my mom isnt going out to play sports as often as she used to.
>I mean there are already some death flags surrounding Paul
It was basically a death flags parade, especially given "the prophecy" and how well the fight was going to that point.
But his mom....that was surprising
It looks like she's entirely gone. It both rends Paul's sacrifice and drives home the point that Rudy, indeed, lost both his parents in the span of a week.
Paul gave up his life, and Rudy gave up his left hand, to save what is essentially an infant in Zenith's body. That was probably what the Man-God was trying to prevent (by having Paul not make any inroads towards rescuing Zenith, he'd probably have given up and survived, whereas Rudy giving him the possibility to try and fight the Hydra got him killed). That being said, had Rudy not intervened, Roxy would have died, so all in all I think coming to Zenith's aid was the right choice. There'd be regrets either way. At least this way he could save his master and allow Paul to, ironically, die without regrets.
Yeah, [that scene really hit hard](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwcezg957.png). Both [Rudeus](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdco6vvj4.png) and us, the viewers.
There's also no last words, which is realistic, and very fitting with MT's tone.
Paul probably had energy for last words, but Rudy had to spend minutes healing himself, so his energy ran out. At least he got to see Rudy alive and the hydra presumably dead.
Yeah the way you dont see the heroic sarifice or a dramatic last momnet
He saves Rudy, we or rudy dont see what happens
Then they just see him...cut in half and barely alive. He is probably barely aware of his environment and in shock etc. He likely just barely registers Rudy alive in front of him and the most primitive emotional aspect of his brain simply feels relief Rudy is alive and he manages a half smile
Then dead
The finality and quick way he is alive 1 minute then just gone in the next was really sad and brutal but realistic
Rudy's weakness in healing magic has been there since very very early on. He doesn't understand the human body so can't freely manipulate it like he does with the elements.
But I think its also a meta thing. Powerful on demand healing magic trivializes dangers. Rudy is instead a glass cannon, which makes him dependent on teammates, which is the whole theme of MT, rather than "Solo levelling" everything.
> Rudy is instead a glass cannon, which makes him dependent on teammates, which is the whole theme of MT, rather than "Solo levelling" everything.
This is what I think puts MT a step above the isekai that comes out today. Too much "MC can solo everything with no scrapes". The LN authors that took influence from MT saw the 'strong magic guy' part and not the 'is only alive thanks to the people who are with him that have their own strengths' part.
Rudeus is very powerful, borderline overpowered with his demon eye. But he’s also prone to mistakes, and this episode emphasized that. He got cocky for one moment and focus wasn’t the only thing he lost that day.
Rudy is still an otaku for most of his life, not some killer instinct warrior. He just knows how to use magic very well. He freezes up when in danger.
So he's always been protected very well by teammates. By Eris & Ruijerd, by Sara's party, by Zanoba etc etc. Its just this time the enemy is too strong.
Didn't Rudeus Hard carry in Sara's party against the bears?
Like yes for the most part he was hard carried by Eris/Ruijerd in the post mana disaster arc, and by Paul in this arc, but when he was in the frozen tundra he was the one hard Carrying
> Didn't Rudeus Hard carry in Sara's party against the bears?
But there were also times that he just froze in the middle of battle and they had snap him out of it.
Got cocky? He was getting saved constantly by his teammates because he was a mage in melee range. They knew their strategy was inherently risky throwing a mage that close to the hydra, they backed him up. He doesn't have the borderline super-powers of melee fighters in this universe and his demon eye doesn't give him 360deg vision, he has to focus to see a small bit into the future and he was preoccupied cauterizing heads. Paul specifically told Rudy to risk his life before the fight and told him specifically to get behind him.
And now even when he gets his mother, his sole living parent back, she's not even all the way back in the head...so Rudy in a way lost both his parents.
He didn't lose focus, the anime showed it poorly. He's literally just not fast enough to be that close to a Hydra. He was forced into melee range because of it's nature.
He can't stop and think for a second about even the strategy without getting blitzed.
Can you elaborate more on how it went in the book? novel? because in the anime it straight up looks like rudeus for no reason loses focus and has to be saved not once but TWICE, thus getting paul killed.
He was mid action and he couldn't even understand how the creature was moving.
He wasn't distracted, he was just too slow to keep up and his Eye of Foresight couldn't make up the difference anymore.
What could that be? Paul and the rest of the party does to the dungeon and they all die. Then nora hates him for not going or dies in the journey going there.
Sounds to me like rudues going there is the best choice with least possible deaths.
They also used the hype OST from Turning point 2. No wonder it felt hype as hell. But, damn Paul...and now Zenith seems to have forgotten her memory. What a way to reunite with your family.
I think its worse than just forgotten memories, it look like Zenith might have brain damage. Could be from being trapped so many years in that crystal that it messed up her brain
all this happening on fathers day too...
The irony that Rudy lost his father and now the mother he felt the most emotionally detached from is all he has left...and she's not even 100% back as herself.
He also died with the hope from Roxy and Elinalise that Zenith would still be alive, and then seeing that Rudy had survived too at the very end as well.
It was enough to be at peace and finally happy believing his family would be safe and that his years-long ordeal of trying to bring them back together was going to be fulfilled.
This was my reaction when reading this part in the WN.
Paul had the greatest death he could have hoped for.
- Adventuring in an unbeatable labyrinth
- killing an unkillable monster
- finally saving his wife after all these years
- saved his son’s life with his sacrifice
Makes me wonder if he gets another visit of man god with the whole "told you to fuck the catgirls instead" berating
Just another stab in this whole mess
Rudy downplaying his feelings for Zenith is another great example of him being an unreliable narrator. His feelings for Zenith are so much more complex than that, unfortunately rudy isn't emotionally mature enough to understand that.
It's strange. Perhaps novel folks have it different, but with the anime we're seen very little meaningful interaction between Rudeus and Zenith except for that one vision of when he was depressed. So it's either Rudeus paid no mind to it (so the story never covers it), the anime didn't portray it (but it was in the novel), or the story never portrayed it (they actually had some bonding).
It's a nice call-out from the director: "Novel readers, this one is for you."
[*Inserts innocuous but very symbolic dialogue and actions*](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1dha58q/comment/l9pqqdt/)
He did desire to love his mother to make up for having given and driven away his previous life mother. Just as with Paul and wanting to make things better with a father that he failed to do in his past life.
While one could argue he was able to come to some closure, albeit very premature, with Paul, he now has nothing with Zenith.
That part stuck out to me too. Like since when did the mother he seemed so close to become more like a housemate lol. His face at the end told us everything we needed though.
You can see it in the op. Rudy remembers everything from the moment he was born, more than any child ever could. He remembers her playing with him, tickling his feet.
Ikr, he is still acting so childish. He was also 100% blind to how Roxy liked him even if literally everybody in the group could see it. I really don't know how some people consider him as 'a grown man', he still needs so much to become that..
Before with Sylphie getting pregnant on Mothers' Day I just thought it was a coincidence, but with Paul's death on Fathers' Day I am convinced it was intentional. Those rat bastards.
I’m going to feel bad for Norn when they get back. Paul was the most important person in the world to her. Her father who raised and protected her for most of her life. She loses him and the only thing she will gain is a mother who won’t be able to recognize her.
My knowledge of tropes makes me think that Rudy and the gang will return home, Norn will ask where dad is. Rudy will be quiet with a sad look on his face. Norn will go from fear, to denial, to sadness, to anger, and then probably back to sadness in the span of 10 seconds.
Rudy will have to hear stuff like, “YOU SAID YOU WOULD SAVE OUR FAMILY!” and “BRING DAD BACK!”, with no rebuttal.
I’m not ready for that.
Don’t forget he’s bringing Roxy back (probably). Even if nothing happens between them, I’m sure she’ll assume the worst of Rudy, just like she always does.
It tore the shit out of him. Like he could only heal the stump, and even then there was enough damage above that point that it shifted his arm a bunch under his robe.
If you play it back, notice how easily Elinalise got her arm nearly peeled off by barely grazing the Hydra at the start of the fight. They were trying to show how even light contact would shear a lot flesh off. Its eyelashes were like guillotines that sliced through his arm like butter.
I was 100% locked in throughout and not knowing what was gonna happen just really upped the stakes with all the death flags. I was scared for everyone, even the dwarf getting slung around. Paul doing his best Levy impression and tornado slicing the hydra , what a performance by him. Songs will be sung in his honor.
I'm gonna go to sleep with tears in my eyes now. Rest easy now, King.
Honestly I was the same. I can’t remember the last time I was so into a show that I was SHAKING during a fight! Like I can’t think of a better compliment to a show than that.
I really appreciate how this series tackled the death and how they handled the whole situation. What I find usually happens in similar scenarios in other series is something along the lines of: a character important to the protagonist is killed/dealt a near fatal blow. The protagonist, overcome with emotion, gets a mid battle power up and defeats the enemy.
But mushoku tensei doesn't do that. Nobody even knows Paul was sliced in half until AFTER the battle is over. There was no random power up to avenge Paul's death. The battle wasn't put on pause for several seconds while someone shouted "PAUUUUL NOOOOOO!" The hydra doesn't just conveniently stop attacking while everyone stands around, frozen in shock as Paul dramatically falls to the ground.
What happened was Rudy was kicked out of the way by Paul, and he immediately continued on with the battle. And it makes so much more sense this way too; they're in a life or death battle so of course their attention is going to be hyper focused on their opponent. Your enemy isn't just going to stand around to give room for a dramatic moment. Even the viewers don't know Paul's fate until Rudy finds out. It was refreshing to have the battle play out like this, their team won with skill, not because they got a revenge power up.
The animation and direction perfectly captured that sense of dread I got when I was reading this fight in the novels. There is no room for failure, everyone is giving their best and looking out for each other, coordinating in real time. That makes Paul sacrifice and death hit all the more hard. You don't even notice it until the battle is over and then you get that scene....
The Hydra fight was 100% what I had visualized in my head when I was reading the LN. All the visual cues and things obscured to us is how I remembered it playing out while reading. The anime didn’t have to change anything to adapt the fight choreography from the written text. At least, that’s how I remember it.
I have no intention of spoiling anything but, before they fight, and before Paul showed Rudy his resolve with “save your mother even if it kills you” Rudeus still has doesn’t fully feel the loss of Zenith after she has been missing for ten years. He has not really recognized her as his mother, and the clues have been all there that he hasn’t fully recognized Paul as his father either.
We all know what Rudy was doing in his old life when his siblings broke into his room and kicked him out. For anybody who doesn’t remember, it was because both of his parents passed away and he didn’t even attend the funeral. His parents from his old life passed away shortly before he was isekai’d and he never really had a chance to think too much about it or mourn his parent’s death.
My feelings/opinion are essentially that everything up to this episode has been the prequel for the real story of Mushoku Tensei. Welcome to the big leagues everybody; we’ve made it. We’re really at the next turning point to a whole new story where everything changes.
Didn't attend the funeral of his Japanese parents, now he had to cremate one of his parents after witnessing his death and his mother mind seem to be gone.
Tbh, there was a flaw in there, imo. And that is that everyone paid attention to each other, stopping at the moment Paul died. The communication died right there, I feel like
People are going to talk about the amazing animation quality, but I also want to note the more crisp artstyle in this episode.
And I feel like with the art, Roxy seemed even more cuter in some scenes, which is a win. Gurl wasn't missing any chances even in the heat of battle sneaking in that one hug lmao
Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn
And then Paul, what a man he is. And what sick fucks the production committee is timing this episode with Father's Day. Really went all out to beat that hydra and went out in protecting Rudeus
It's going to be tough for Rudeus moving forward losing an arm, losing Paul, and having Zenith's condition
I also want to say, this is the first time in a while an episode has made me feel empty inside
I was wondering if he lost the arm pemanantly, he said the spell wasn't strong enough to heal lost limbs but this kind of implies there are some that are, though since he already cast healing it might no longer be possible.
If healing doesn't work on "healed" wounds it'd explain why characters like ghislaine have scars.
> If healing doesn't work on "healed" wounds it'd explain why characters like ghislaine have scars.
Or it might be an issue of how much time it passed.
> Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn
She got hit twice in the same spot. She should invest in some armor.
>Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn
Elisane: Gets half her shoulder scrapped away by the hydra
Also Elisane: *I had rougher companions if you know what I mean*
What the fuck
Did I just binge the entire anime only to catch up to an extremely depressing episode
I mean, it's a brilliant episode, but seriously, what the fuck?
Shoutout to Lilia. She took that emotional haymaker on the chin and still maintained her composure long enough to give a hug and reassurance to Rudy in that same moment.
I really thought what Rudy would regret is the birth of his child.
It makes sense, without Rudy they wouldn't be able to progress further in the dungeon so Paul would still be alive.
Cons being, Roxy might have died and Zenith would never be found.
Roxy seems like she is 10000% dead without Rudy.
Zenith could be found by Rudy years later, who knows? Her state doesn't seem to be in any urgency, so when Rudy is more powerful, he may decide to retry the labyrinth with his own party. Say with Eris, Sylphie, Ghislane, Zanoba, Cliff etc. And probably ended without any casualties.
So really, its trading Paul for Roxy. Now knowing Rudy, he would probably still make that trade...
It's more the sense of regret after someone passes that you love but don't get along with well. Like, could I have done something different? What if I had just not chosen to fight about that subject? If they had lived longer, could we have fixed things?
Paul just charged in without giving Rudeus or Geese any time to plan. As soon as he saw Zenith, any preparation they had went out the window
I'd bet he would try to solo the S rank hydra right then and there without his party around. And I think he might be able to do it if he had a way to stop the heads from growing.
What an absolute madlad. RIP to the 🐐
The party got confirmation that Zenith's condition wasn't urgent. She was sealed in a crystal for years, a week or so wouldn't have made a difference.
With a week of preparation, things might have gone differently. E.g. the hydra nullify magic, but perhaps accelerating a physical projectile railgun style with magic would have gone through.
They could have practiced the chop and cauterize formation and itemized accordingly.
It looks to me Paul's impatience is what killed him.
what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck
why did you give us hope just to throw us into despair, Rifujin-sensei? oh my god, Rudeus actually avoided the death flag the first time round but Paul had to say it
this must be a dream.
**Just like with Roxy, it took** ***43 entire episodes*** **for Rudeus to meet Zenith again.**
Rudy was separated from her at the end of episode 4 when he got shipped off to Roa with Ghislaine, and Rudeus didn't see her personally since then. He was 7 then and is 16 now, so like he said, it has almost been 10 years since he last saw her.
We, as the audience, have had a few more glimpses of her since then. We saw her once in the present time in episode 8, before Rudy's 10th birthday, and just before the Mass Teleportation Disaster happened. Then we got a brief glimpse of her in the Lilia & Aisha flashback scene at the start of episode 20. Finally, we saw Rudy remember a heartfelt Zenith moment after his falling out with Eris at the end of episode 23, which served as his sole motivation to keep on moving forward at that point in time. That's it, very little still.
**So even we, as the audience, haven't seen a single glimpse of Zenith since episode 23** ***until TODAY*** - **episode 47 - another 24 entire episodes later!**
In my comment in the discussion to the Roxy reunion episode, I said that Rudy and Roxy's reunion was one of the most highly anticipated reunions ever, and it's the exact same deal for this Zenith reunion. It's nuts to me that it actually is the same exact number of episodes since Rudy saw Roxy and Zenith last - it was 43 for both! This coupled with the episode in which Sylphy is revealed to become a mother and Rudy decides to go rescue his mother falling on Mother's Day + today's episode also falling on Father's Day [absolutely obliterates my freaking mind.](https://i.imgur.com/76ReV9e.mp4)
**Also, I highly recommend everyone to rewatch the part of episode 23 where we kinda get Zenith's PoV in that Rudy remembrance scene (episode 23 from 18:45 onwards):**
*"I'd like you to wake me up when everything's ready." - "Understood! I'll take responsibility for waking you."*
I feel like the most bitter irony is this episode acknowledges how emotionally detached Rudy is to Zenith even compared to Paul who by the end he seems to have fully accepted emotionally as his father, only to lose him and be left with Zenith as his only parent...and she didn't even come back 100% mentally.
> this episode acknowledges how emotionally detached Rudy is to Zenith
I appreciated the realism of this: Rudeus and Zenith only lived together for seven years. She's been absent most of his life. He also has memories of a past life that overshadow what he understands as "family"; I do believe his emotional attachment would have been greater if he was a blank slate.
That said, it also speaks to their personal dynamics. Roxy spent a shorter time with him, yet she had such a crucial influence in his personal development that he idolizes her. Even Paul managed to forge a somewhat decent father-son bond once they met again. But Zenith didn't have that chance and, from the look of it, things aren't going to get better.
We had 3 dungeon boss fights this year already. Frieren, Solo Leveling, and Mushoku Tensei. Two of them made me feel hype, and one of them traumatised.
So they burned Paul's body immediately cause in this world dead bodies can easily respownd as undead skeletons warrior. In this case it would be a actual horror if realized.
Which in context makes sense to burn the body but then you give your party double PTSD as you have to personally kill your party members yourselves in a sense and to you it's a second death which fucked you up and adds salt to the wound
well that was depressing af.. thank I god I don't have work today cause I don't know how to deal with this void in my heart.. RIP Paul he didn't even got the chance to see if Zenith was alive or not not...
Really the worst after taste in my mouth, i feel like shit despite all the awesome action and animation Bind delivered.
In fact, since i read Ln, i know what's coming but im still cant help but tear up a little along the episode and it hit real hard at the end.
As a Light Novel reader, I knew it was coming but damn it hit me hard. The entire episode was such a roller coaster of emotions. Probably one of the best episodes of the entire series. Happy Father's day.
They really had to drop this episode on Father’s Day huh? Fucking hell, man. How much more is the universe gonna make Rudy suffer? Hasn’t he been through enough? Man loses his hand and his dad in one day just to get his mom back and she’s basically got the IQ of a newborn. Total blank slate. What the fuck, man.
Paul wasn’t the best dad but he did try his best. He didn’t deserve to go out so undignified. Rudy didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Pour one out for the man y’all.
There had been a lot of chatter online up to this episide, about the 3D hydra, which people feared would suck. I'm glad that the hydra and the fight turned out so well.
The fight was very cool and well animated. The water shield in particular was awesome!
I recommend everyone who liked this labyrinth arc to listen to the Mushoku Tensei Volume 12 Drama CD. You can find it on YouTube. This brings several moments of this arc from different perspectives, for example: Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective, and Paul's death from his perspective, having his last thoughts.
Paul's last thoughts.
---
"Am I dying?"
"I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least."
"Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..."
"I wanted to see them again."
"Are they going to school?"
"Have they grown up?"
"Lillia — what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..."
"Will she cry?"
"Dammit, I'm filled with regrets."
"I don't want to die..."
"Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do."
Rudy: "Father!"
"But..... Oh well..."
"It’s better than seeing Rudy die."
"Chin up, my son. Stay positive..."
He smiles one final time.
It was really good and yes I can accept Paul's passing but. Why did it happen like that? It was an incredible episode but for some reason Rudy just, stops paying attention? I can get the feeling of "wow this is too easy and there's only one head left" but like, come on he's been in similar situations and it's killed others before I thought he learned this already.
Also I find it incredibly hard to believe they handle the other 20 or so heads rather easily but then one single head is able to kill Paul, cripple Rudy and injure the elf. It's one head dragging around 20 or so necks it can't be that fast and strong still. Last legs at most.
Still, good episode, just a bit unbelievable that it happened that way :/
Damnn WTF i didnt take the death flags too seriously. Why... Shit paul was such a good character. Man... This is the worst death till now in this anime.
Shit. Is this what mangod said that rudeus will regret it. Shit... This sucks.
**Happy father's day Paul.**
I'm literally tearing up right now. He always doubted himself if can be a proper dad. And ended up saving his kid while sacrificing himself.
**Paul, you were a good dad. Now, Rest in peace.**
Happy Father's Day, Paul. You might not be a great dad overall, but you still strive for one and left a legacy that affects even a reincarnated person.
The animation and frames for this episode is just off the charts. Studio Bind really did pull out all the stop for this episode and it shows by the sheer sakuga of it. Guess the lack of animations from the previous episodes are meant for this single episode. PEAK
This is probably one of the few times we actually see Rudeus fighting for his life instead of just stomping the enemies down with his vast magical talent. Not helped that the boss is mostly magic immune from distance so magicians like Rudy and Roxy are pretty useless unless they're up close. Hell, Rudy straight up sacrifices his arm to do stone cannon blast from the inside to kill the last head
I wanted to wish Paul happy Father's day, but I'm still not sure which holidays he likes and wich doesn't. And he seems to be *really* devided on this day in particular.
Holy shit, probably the best episode of the season, or the series so far for me, but that was certainly something. God damn it was a brutal last few minutes.
Happy Dad's day 💀. Was that one week delay intentional?
Damn Paul dies saving MC and Zenith loses all memories. This probably hits harder than that time MC couldn't get it hard. I wonder how long for Sylphy to cure his depression this time.
Why can only Paul cut Hydra's head? He has higher attack or better sword than Lise?
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Fun fact, remember that Rudeus named his arms Hulk and Heracles early in this season right? His left arm is Heracles
Heracles sacrificing himself to slay a Hydra and living up to his name.
Jesus Christ that is possibly the best foreshadowing I’ve ever seen. For such a silly reference too
and the right arm is going to .... smash?
Tyrion: "I'm willing if she is."
OH he did SMASH
I forgot. Thanks for pointing it out, little details like this are the cherry on top of a good narrative.
Fucking foreshadowings. I swear youd be able to read that novel thrice and still find it incredibly rich of content the 4th time.
I read it thrice and it's the first time I noticed this arm thing.
Hulk and heracles wasn’t able to save paul
They really timed this episode to air on Father's Day for maximum emotional damage.
Studio Bind weaponizing legit holidays lol.
I recommend everyone who liked this labyrinth arc to listen to the Mushoku Tensei Volume 12 Drama CD. You can find it on YouTube. This brings several moments of this arc from different perspectives, for example: Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective, and Paul's death from his perspective, having his last thoughts. Paul's last thoughts. --- "Am I dying?" "I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least." "Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..." "I wanted to see them again." "Are they going to school?" "Have they grown up?" "Lillia — what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..." "Will she cry?" "Dammit, I'm filled with regrets." "I don't want to die..." "Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do." Rudy: "Father!" "But..... Oh well..." "It’s better than seeing Rudy die." "Chin up, my son. Stay positive..." He smiles one final time.
No fucking way, the madmen
Do they even have that in Japan?
I looked into wikipedia, Japan celebrates Father's day on the same day as USA.
That frame was brutal..... They really sold it with the blood dripping down his face.....
I agree. It really sold that Paul is actually dead. No red herring, no reversal. Paul is dead dead. I mean there are already some death flags surrounding Paul, but it's still gut wrenching to see
The whole episode was about Rudy trying to stop Paul from raising any death flags. Dumbass still said "I'm proud of you son" right before boss fight. Honestly, I'm really glad they portrayed that yes, Paul is definitely 100% genuinely dead. Isekai fantasies usually have a tough time letting important characters stay dead.
The real death flag was Rudy saying "I'm not going to let him drop any bombshells before the big fight. That can wait until after we get home." When he said that, I suspected Paul would die. Then, after the first encounter with the Hydra, when Paul told Rudy "Save your mom, even if it kills you," I knew Paul was going to die.
dude Paul had more red flags than 10 more shonen characters combined . "Rudeus i have something to tell you" " Save Zenith even if it kills you " Speaking to party " This will be the Last time lend me your hand ( Rudeus took that last one literally) He was trying to break some kind of record for red flags
It's funny that mushoku is an OG isekai that influenced a lot of the genre. Yet it seems the isekai that followed learned the wrong lessons about why mushoku is goated. It's really interesting because despite Rudy having dealt with death quite a bit, this is the first time he's lost someone very close to him.
> It's really interesting because despite Rudy having dealt with death quite a bit, this is the first time he's lost someone very close to him And it being the death of a parent, something that all of us whether we like it or not will experience if the natural order of things plays out correctly, makes it even more painful to watch consider in his previous life, Rudy died on the day of his parents' funerals.
And Rudeus was so far gone in that life that he might not even have been aware of his parent's deaths until he was booted out of the house, and his attachment to them had been totally lost. With Paul, Rudy actually didn't even realize how close an attachment he'd grown with him over the years even through their confrontations. The father that he didn't know he truly had.
U MEAN PRE-RUDY
Yes of course, sorry about that!
and i am so not looking forward to the next 10-20 years in my life where i will have to face that. I seen more white hair on my dad, my mom isnt going out to play sports as often as she used to.
>I mean there are already some death flags surrounding Paul It was basically a death flags parade, especially given "the prophecy" and how well the fight was going to that point. But his mom....that was surprising
Yea like she basically is acting like she woke up from an actual coma, which is not something I’m used to from frozen fictional characters.
More like she has brain damage, which is even worse...
It looks like she's entirely gone. It both rends Paul's sacrifice and drives home the point that Rudy, indeed, lost both his parents in the span of a week. Paul gave up his life, and Rudy gave up his left hand, to save what is essentially an infant in Zenith's body. That was probably what the Man-God was trying to prevent (by having Paul not make any inroads towards rescuing Zenith, he'd probably have given up and survived, whereas Rudy giving him the possibility to try and fight the Hydra got him killed). That being said, had Rudy not intervened, Roxy would have died, so all in all I think coming to Zenith's aid was the right choice. There'd be regrets either way. At least this way he could save his master and allow Paul to, ironically, die without regrets.
Rudeus even called it last ep "people call those famous last words".
And the small smile when he saw Rudy was alive.
That was devastating, he hung on to life long enough to see that Rudy was okay. RIP Paul.
Yeah, [that scene really hit hard](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwcezg957.png). Both [Rudeus](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdco6vvj4.png) and us, the viewers.
He couldn't have asked for better final moments -- being able to confirm that Rudy was alive and the hydra slain.
He smiled cause he knew that he succeeded. Saved all his family. His missions was done and he held on too see it with his own eyes. Fucking chad
There's also no last words, which is realistic, and very fitting with MT's tone. Paul probably had energy for last words, but Rudy had to spend minutes healing himself, so his energy ran out. At least he got to see Rudy alive and the hydra presumably dead.
Yeah the way you dont see the heroic sarifice or a dramatic last momnet He saves Rudy, we or rudy dont see what happens Then they just see him...cut in half and barely alive. He is probably barely aware of his environment and in shock etc. He likely just barely registers Rudy alive in front of him and the most primitive emotional aspect of his brain simply feels relief Rudy is alive and he manages a half smile Then dead The finality and quick way he is alive 1 minute then just gone in the next was really sad and brutal but realistic
I had gotten too used to magic resolving every problem, but guess not even magic can resurrect people or regrow limbs in this world.
Rudy's weakness in healing magic has been there since very very early on. He doesn't understand the human body so can't freely manipulate it like he does with the elements. But I think its also a meta thing. Powerful on demand healing magic trivializes dangers. Rudy is instead a glass cannon, which makes him dependent on teammates, which is the whole theme of MT, rather than "Solo levelling" everything.
> Rudy is instead a glass cannon, which makes him dependent on teammates, which is the whole theme of MT, rather than "Solo levelling" everything. This is what I think puts MT a step above the isekai that comes out today. Too much "MC can solo everything with no scrapes". The LN authors that took influence from MT saw the 'strong magic guy' part and not the 'is only alive thanks to the people who are with him that have their own strengths' part.
that and very little defensive magic that you see in other isekais, he basically just spammed create water as a shield.
Rudeus is very powerful, borderline overpowered with his demon eye. But he’s also prone to mistakes, and this episode emphasized that. He got cocky for one moment and focus wasn’t the only thing he lost that day.
Rudy is still an otaku for most of his life, not some killer instinct warrior. He just knows how to use magic very well. He freezes up when in danger. So he's always been protected very well by teammates. By Eris & Ruijerd, by Sara's party, by Zanoba etc etc. Its just this time the enemy is too strong.
Didn't Rudeus Hard carry in Sara's party against the bears? Like yes for the most part he was hard carried by Eris/Ruijerd in the post mana disaster arc, and by Paul in this arc, but when he was in the frozen tundra he was the one hard Carrying
> Didn't Rudeus Hard carry in Sara's party against the bears? But there were also times that he just froze in the middle of battle and they had snap him out of it.
Got cocky? He was getting saved constantly by his teammates because he was a mage in melee range. They knew their strategy was inherently risky throwing a mage that close to the hydra, they backed him up. He doesn't have the borderline super-powers of melee fighters in this universe and his demon eye doesn't give him 360deg vision, he has to focus to see a small bit into the future and he was preoccupied cauterizing heads. Paul specifically told Rudy to risk his life before the fight and told him specifically to get behind him.
# HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
Absolutely diabolical for Bind to do that
Mother’s Day was also Turning Point 3 btw
Bringing a new life into the world and taking one away. Perfectly balanced.
And now even when he gets his mother, his sole living parent back, she's not even all the way back in the head...so Rudy in a way lost both his parents.
did they delay the episodes to do THIS?
Chances are it's a coincidence, but let's go with a "yes" anyway because it's more fun and makes Studio Bind look more despicable.
With Rudy losing his hand, and his father dying... Is Rudy anime's Luke Skywalker?
Well Zenith got the Han Solo treatment
And she speaks like Chewbacca now.
Dude 😂
Need a meme with her doing this
Man-God was NOT kidding about regretting going to the Begaritt Continent
if he didn't go roxy was 200% dead
but he left out that not going has it's own concequences so it's a lose lose situation
Hope Rudy can make that connection otherwise the regret is gonna be insane stacked on top of him losing his focus and essentially getting paul killed.
He didn't lose focus, the anime showed it poorly. He's literally just not fast enough to be that close to a Hydra. He was forced into melee range because of it's nature. He can't stop and think for a second about even the strategy without getting blitzed.
Okay thank you, the anime totally had me convinced that Rudy got Paul killed.
lmao talk i was kike no way rudy fumbled. guess thats like the only blight on this episode absolute peak otherwise
Can you elaborate more on how it went in the book? novel? because in the anime it straight up looks like rudeus for no reason loses focus and has to be saved not once but TWICE, thus getting paul killed.
He was mid action and he couldn't even understand how the creature was moving. He wasn't distracted, he was just too slow to keep up and his Eye of Foresight couldn't make up the difference anymore.
What could that be? Paul and the rest of the party does to the dungeon and they all die. Then nora hates him for not going or dies in the journey going there. Sounds to me like rudues going there is the best choice with least possible deaths.
This fucking episode went from a hype thrill ride to an emotional gut punch. RIP Paul o7.
They also used the hype OST from Turning point 2. No wonder it felt hype as hell. But, damn Paul...and now Zenith seems to have forgotten her memory. What a way to reunite with your family.
I think its worse than just forgotten memories, it look like Zenith might have brain damage. Could be from being trapped so many years in that crystal that it messed up her brain all this happening on fathers day too...
Paul sacrificed his life but they didn't even get zenith back in return. This was not equivalent exchange bros.
lobotomy ~~kaisen~~ tensei 😭 😭 😭
"Parents", such a perfect and ironic episode title.
The irony that Rudy lost his father and now the mother he felt the most emotionally detached from is all he has left...and she's not even 100% back as herself.
Paul died smiling saving the most important thing to him, family. Vin Diesel would be proud.
He was a true dad on Father's Day, and Rudy in the end couldn't help but feel the loss of a father after everything they'd been through.
He also died with the hope from Roxy and Elinalise that Zenith would still be alive, and then seeing that Rudy had survived too at the very end as well. It was enough to be at peace and finally happy believing his family would be safe and that his years-long ordeal of trying to bring them back together was going to be fulfilled.
This was my reaction when reading this part in the WN. Paul had the greatest death he could have hoped for. - Adventuring in an unbeatable labyrinth - killing an unkillable monster - finally saving his wife after all these years - saved his son’s life with his sacrifice
Only thing he missed wad the birth of his grandchild, who if a boy I bet will be named Paul
he gave up so many red flags , even saying save her even if it kills you. But at the end it was him saving his son even if it kills him...
In the UK. It's Fathers Day. it's a lot harder.
That wasn't a gut punch. That was a repeated stabbing, pulling out only to shove the knife back in again.
Peak. So fucking peak.
This episode is truly the zenith of Mushoku Tensei.
Too soon my friend...
Turning Point 3 heard you all talking shit about how it didn't live up to the trauma of the past Turning Points.
Makes me wonder if he gets another visit of man god with the whole "told you to fuck the catgirls instead" berating Just another stab in this whole mess
Lol this makes me want to see an abridged series where man God is just CONSTANTLY popping in to talk to him
Give him a "clingy boyfriend/girlfriend" personality.
Makes me think of all the Joker sequences in Arkham Knight lol
Small correction: Pursena is a doggo. But carry on
Catgirl is basically a catch all for all kemonomimi at this point.
Rudy downplaying his feelings for Zenith is another great example of him being an unreliable narrator. His feelings for Zenith are so much more complex than that, unfortunately rudy isn't emotionally mature enough to understand that.
Yup, boy loves his mama even if he thinks otherwise.
My man just forgot she was the reason he got out of his depression after Eris left
what the relation between his depression after Eris left and Zenith?
He needed a reason to get back up and what came to his mind was Zenith. He saw a vision of her and that managed to get him back on his feet
It's strange. Perhaps novel folks have it different, but with the anime we're seen very little meaningful interaction between Rudeus and Zenith except for that one vision of when he was depressed. So it's either Rudeus paid no mind to it (so the story never covers it), the anime didn't portray it (but it was in the novel), or the story never portrayed it (they actually had some bonding).
it's worth noting that was anime only
It's a nice call-out from the director: "Novel readers, this one is for you." [*Inserts innocuous but very symbolic dialogue and actions*](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1dha58q/comment/l9pqqdt/)
He did desire to love his mother to make up for having given and driven away his previous life mother. Just as with Paul and wanting to make things better with a father that he failed to do in his past life. While one could argue he was able to come to some closure, albeit very premature, with Paul, he now has nothing with Zenith.
That part stuck out to me too. Like since when did the mother he seemed so close to become more like a housemate lol. His face at the end told us everything we needed though.
You can see it in the op. Rudy remembers everything from the moment he was born, more than any child ever could. He remembers her playing with him, tickling his feet.
specific 💀
Ikr, he is still acting so childish. He was also 100% blind to how Roxy liked him even if literally everybody in the group could see it. I really don't know how some people consider him as 'a grown man', he still needs so much to become that..
I am not Daijoubu.
The studio execs who scheduled the episode to be aired on father's day : ALL ACCORDING TO OUR PLAN!
Studio Execs: When did you think this wasn’t apart of our plan? We’ve been planning this since you first reincarnated… Rudeus Greyrat.
Before with Sylphie getting pregnant on Mothers' Day I just thought it was a coincidence, but with Paul's death on Fathers' Day I am convinced it was intentional. Those rat bastards.
Missed chance for Keikaku
Man! You destroyed a perfect "keikaku means plan" moment!
I’m going to feel bad for Norn when they get back. Paul was the most important person in the world to her. Her father who raised and protected her for most of her life. She loses him and the only thing she will gain is a mother who won’t be able to recognize her. My knowledge of tropes makes me think that Rudy and the gang will return home, Norn will ask where dad is. Rudy will be quiet with a sad look on his face. Norn will go from fear, to denial, to sadness, to anger, and then probably back to sadness in the span of 10 seconds. Rudy will have to hear stuff like, “YOU SAID YOU WOULD SAVE OUR FAMILY!” and “BRING DAD BACK!”, with no rebuttal. I’m not ready for that.
Don’t forget he’s bringing Roxy back (probably). Even if nothing happens between them, I’m sure she’ll assume the worst of Rudy, just like she always does.
"I fucking knew it!" Norn probably
Yeah, Norn gonna be devastated. Paul basically raise her up by himself for the last 5-6 years.
Goddamn, i never seen anyone either from anime or film got their arm chop off from a blink from a monster?
And that was such a brutal arm chop too, like lifting rudy up with his eyelid and flinging him around like a ragdoll
It tore the shit out of him. Like he could only heal the stump, and even then there was enough damage above that point that it shifted his arm a bunch under his robe.
I like how Rudy went beast mode and just straight up punched the thing to use his drills. He lost a hand but it was epic.
I am pretty sure thats cause of his PTSD. The hydra eye looked like a Dragon eye which probably reminded him of Turning point 2
He used the biggest stone cannon he could conjure out of that trauma
They did say Hydra was a kind of a dragon. I'm guessing it's the case of every fantasy lizard=dragon ... until they bring out the dinosaurs.
Not to mention they had the turning point 2 music playing during the scene
To Rudy's human wrist, the Hydra's heavy eyelid may as well have been a hydraulic press.
I love that, I never thought about that this way but it makes total sense
Nice pun lol
If you play it back, notice how easily Elinalise got her arm nearly peeled off by barely grazing the Hydra at the start of the fight. They were trying to show how even light contact would shear a lot flesh off. Its eyelashes were like guillotines that sliced through his arm like butter.
this is the most intense fight I ever watch in anime for a long time. I'm legit shaking and nervous the entire time
I was 100% locked in throughout and not knowing what was gonna happen just really upped the stakes with all the death flags. I was scared for everyone, even the dwarf getting slung around. Paul doing his best Levy impression and tornado slicing the hydra , what a performance by him. Songs will be sung in his honor. I'm gonna go to sleep with tears in my eyes now. Rest easy now, King.
Honestly I was the same. I can’t remember the last time I was so into a show that I was SHAKING during a fight! Like I can’t think of a better compliment to a show than that.
I really appreciate how this series tackled the death and how they handled the whole situation. What I find usually happens in similar scenarios in other series is something along the lines of: a character important to the protagonist is killed/dealt a near fatal blow. The protagonist, overcome with emotion, gets a mid battle power up and defeats the enemy. But mushoku tensei doesn't do that. Nobody even knows Paul was sliced in half until AFTER the battle is over. There was no random power up to avenge Paul's death. The battle wasn't put on pause for several seconds while someone shouted "PAUUUUL NOOOOOO!" The hydra doesn't just conveniently stop attacking while everyone stands around, frozen in shock as Paul dramatically falls to the ground. What happened was Rudy was kicked out of the way by Paul, and he immediately continued on with the battle. And it makes so much more sense this way too; they're in a life or death battle so of course their attention is going to be hyper focused on their opponent. Your enemy isn't just going to stand around to give room for a dramatic moment. Even the viewers don't know Paul's fate until Rudy finds out. It was refreshing to have the battle play out like this, their team won with skill, not because they got a revenge power up.
The animation and direction perfectly captured that sense of dread I got when I was reading this fight in the novels. There is no room for failure, everyone is giving their best and looking out for each other, coordinating in real time. That makes Paul sacrifice and death hit all the more hard. You don't even notice it until the battle is over and then you get that scene....
The Hydra fight was 100% what I had visualized in my head when I was reading the LN. All the visual cues and things obscured to us is how I remembered it playing out while reading. The anime didn’t have to change anything to adapt the fight choreography from the written text. At least, that’s how I remember it. I have no intention of spoiling anything but, before they fight, and before Paul showed Rudy his resolve with “save your mother even if it kills you” Rudeus still has doesn’t fully feel the loss of Zenith after she has been missing for ten years. He has not really recognized her as his mother, and the clues have been all there that he hasn’t fully recognized Paul as his father either. We all know what Rudy was doing in his old life when his siblings broke into his room and kicked him out. For anybody who doesn’t remember, it was because both of his parents passed away and he didn’t even attend the funeral. His parents from his old life passed away shortly before he was isekai’d and he never really had a chance to think too much about it or mourn his parent’s death. My feelings/opinion are essentially that everything up to this episode has been the prequel for the real story of Mushoku Tensei. Welcome to the big leagues everybody; we’ve made it. We’re really at the next turning point to a whole new story where everything changes.
Didn't attend the funeral of his Japanese parents, now he had to cremate one of his parents after witnessing his death and his mother mind seem to be gone.
Tbh, there was a flaw in there, imo. And that is that everyone paid attention to each other, stopping at the moment Paul died. The communication died right there, I feel like
People are going to talk about the amazing animation quality, but I also want to note the more crisp artstyle in this episode. And I feel like with the art, Roxy seemed even more cuter in some scenes, which is a win. Gurl wasn't missing any chances even in the heat of battle sneaking in that one hug lmao Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn And then Paul, what a man he is. And what sick fucks the production committee is timing this episode with Father's Day. Really went all out to beat that hydra and went out in protecting Rudeus It's going to be tough for Rudeus moving forward losing an arm, losing Paul, and having Zenith's condition I also want to say, this is the first time in a while an episode has made me feel empty inside
I was wondering if he lost the arm pemanantly, he said the spell wasn't strong enough to heal lost limbs but this kind of implies there are some that are, though since he already cast healing it might no longer be possible. If healing doesn't work on "healed" wounds it'd explain why characters like ghislaine have scars.
> If healing doesn't work on "healed" wounds it'd explain why characters like ghislaine have scars. Or it might be an issue of how much time it passed.
> Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn She got hit twice in the same spot. She should invest in some armor.
Wdym????? You want her to fight without agility +500 miniskirt !?!?! Are you crazy?
>Elinalise with the "tis but a scratch" mentality with like half of her shoulder losing skin damn Elisane: Gets half her shoulder scrapped away by the hydra Also Elisane: *I had rougher companions if you know what I mean*
What the fuck Did I just binge the entire anime only to catch up to an extremely depressing episode I mean, it's a brilliant episode, but seriously, what the fuck?
Oh man waiting weekly somewhat reduces the impact but I can't imagine what binging RN would feel like
Shoutout to Lilia. She took that emotional haymaker on the chin and still maintained her composure long enough to give a hug and reassurance to Rudy in that same moment.
Maybe fucking the dog or cat girl was the right choice....
I really thought what Rudy would regret is the birth of his child. It makes sense, without Rudy they wouldn't be able to progress further in the dungeon so Paul would still be alive. Cons being, Roxy might have died and Zenith would never be found.
Roxy seems like she is 10000% dead without Rudy. Zenith could be found by Rudy years later, who knows? Her state doesn't seem to be in any urgency, so when Rudy is more powerful, he may decide to retry the labyrinth with his own party. Say with Eris, Sylphie, Ghislane, Zanoba, Cliff etc. And probably ended without any casualties. So really, its trading Paul for Roxy. Now knowing Rudy, he would probably still make that trade...
Honestly I don't think even Rudy realized how much he really cared about Paul until he lost him like that.
It's a formative moment for him and it definitely changes the way he views a lot of things.
It's more the sense of regret after someone passes that you love but don't get along with well. Like, could I have done something different? What if I had just not chosen to fight about that subject? If they had lived longer, could we have fixed things?
Paul just charged in without giving Rudeus or Geese any time to plan. As soon as he saw Zenith, any preparation they had went out the window I'd bet he would try to solo the S rank hydra right then and there without his party around. And I think he might be able to do it if he had a way to stop the heads from growing. What an absolute madlad. RIP to the 🐐
The sad thing is this entire arc really emphasized how much Paul cared about/loved Zenith, as well as his son, but he never even got to see her again.
The party got confirmation that Zenith's condition wasn't urgent. She was sealed in a crystal for years, a week or so wouldn't have made a difference. With a week of preparation, things might have gone differently. E.g. the hydra nullify magic, but perhaps accelerating a physical projectile railgun style with magic would have gone through. They could have practiced the chop and cauterize formation and itemized accordingly. It looks to me Paul's impatience is what killed him.
Cruelty for Rudeus in episode 22, last time in S1 he got dumped, now his dad's gone Fear the episode 22 for anime onlies i guess?
what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck why did you give us hope just to throw us into despair, Rifujin-sensei? oh my god, Rudeus actually avoided the death flag the first time round but Paul had to say it this must be a dream.
**Just like with Roxy, it took** ***43 entire episodes*** **for Rudeus to meet Zenith again.** Rudy was separated from her at the end of episode 4 when he got shipped off to Roa with Ghislaine, and Rudeus didn't see her personally since then. He was 7 then and is 16 now, so like he said, it has almost been 10 years since he last saw her. We, as the audience, have had a few more glimpses of her since then. We saw her once in the present time in episode 8, before Rudy's 10th birthday, and just before the Mass Teleportation Disaster happened. Then we got a brief glimpse of her in the Lilia & Aisha flashback scene at the start of episode 20. Finally, we saw Rudy remember a heartfelt Zenith moment after his falling out with Eris at the end of episode 23, which served as his sole motivation to keep on moving forward at that point in time. That's it, very little still. **So even we, as the audience, haven't seen a single glimpse of Zenith since episode 23** ***until TODAY*** - **episode 47 - another 24 entire episodes later!** In my comment in the discussion to the Roxy reunion episode, I said that Rudy and Roxy's reunion was one of the most highly anticipated reunions ever, and it's the exact same deal for this Zenith reunion. It's nuts to me that it actually is the same exact number of episodes since Rudy saw Roxy and Zenith last - it was 43 for both! This coupled with the episode in which Sylphy is revealed to become a mother and Rudy decides to go rescue his mother falling on Mother's Day + today's episode also falling on Father's Day [absolutely obliterates my freaking mind.](https://i.imgur.com/76ReV9e.mp4) **Also, I highly recommend everyone to rewatch the part of episode 23 where we kinda get Zenith's PoV in that Rudy remembrance scene (episode 23 from 18:45 onwards):** *"I'd like you to wake me up when everything's ready." - "Understood! I'll take responsibility for waking you."*
I feel like the most bitter irony is this episode acknowledges how emotionally detached Rudy is to Zenith even compared to Paul who by the end he seems to have fully accepted emotionally as his father, only to lose him and be left with Zenith as his only parent...and she didn't even come back 100% mentally.
> this episode acknowledges how emotionally detached Rudy is to Zenith I appreciated the realism of this: Rudeus and Zenith only lived together for seven years. She's been absent most of his life. He also has memories of a past life that overshadow what he understands as "family"; I do believe his emotional attachment would have been greater if he was a blank slate. That said, it also speaks to their personal dynamics. Roxy spent a shorter time with him, yet she had such a crucial influence in his personal development that he idolizes her. Even Paul managed to forge a somewhat decent father-son bond once they met again. But Zenith didn't have that chance and, from the look of it, things aren't going to get better.
We had 3 dungeon boss fights this year already. Frieren, Solo Leveling, and Mushoku Tensei. Two of them made me feel hype, and one of them traumatised.
So they burned Paul's body immediately cause in this world dead bodies can easily respownd as undead skeletons warrior. In this case it would be a actual horror if realized. Which in context makes sense to burn the body but then you give your party double PTSD as you have to personally kill your party members yourselves in a sense and to you it's a second death which fucked you up and adds salt to the wound
This is the real turning point? Paul died and Zenith's cripple? And Rudeus's probably in depression again?
man
well that was depressing af.. thank I god I don't have work today cause I don't know how to deal with this void in my heart.. RIP Paul he didn't even got the chance to see if Zenith was alive or not not...
Got to hand it to Rudy. Paul was also a cut above the rest. What a fight
> Got to hand it to Rudy. Paul is also a cut above the rest. 💀
Really the worst after taste in my mouth, i feel like shit despite all the awesome action and animation Bind delivered. In fact, since i read Ln, i know what's coming but im still cant help but tear up a little along the episode and it hit real hard at the end.
As a Light Novel reader, I knew it was coming but damn it hit me hard. The entire episode was such a roller coaster of emotions. Probably one of the best episodes of the entire series. Happy Father's day.
This hits home even harder since my dad’s name is Paul… taking the old man to dinner but think I’m going to head over early…
My dad’s name was Paul, too. RIP, dad.
They really had to drop this episode on Father’s Day huh? Fucking hell, man. How much more is the universe gonna make Rudy suffer? Hasn’t he been through enough? Man loses his hand and his dad in one day just to get his mom back and she’s basically got the IQ of a newborn. Total blank slate. What the fuck, man. Paul wasn’t the best dad but he did try his best. He didn’t deserve to go out so undignified. Rudy didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Pour one out for the man y’all.
There had been a lot of chatter online up to this episide, about the 3D hydra, which people feared would suck. I'm glad that the hydra and the fight turned out so well. The fight was very cool and well animated. The water shield in particular was awesome!
I recommend everyone who liked this labyrinth arc to listen to the Mushoku Tensei Volume 12 Drama CD. You can find it on YouTube. This brings several moments of this arc from different perspectives, for example: Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective, and Paul's death from his perspective, having his last thoughts. Paul's last thoughts. --- "Am I dying?" "I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least." "Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..." "I wanted to see them again." "Are they going to school?" "Have they grown up?" "Lillia — what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..." "Will she cry?" "Dammit, I'm filled with regrets." "I don't want to die..." "Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do." Rudy: "Father!" "But..... Oh well..." "It’s better than seeing Rudy die." "Chin up, my son. Stay positive..." He smiles one final time.
It was really good and yes I can accept Paul's passing but. Why did it happen like that? It was an incredible episode but for some reason Rudy just, stops paying attention? I can get the feeling of "wow this is too easy and there's only one head left" but like, come on he's been in similar situations and it's killed others before I thought he learned this already. Also I find it incredibly hard to believe they handle the other 20 or so heads rather easily but then one single head is able to kill Paul, cripple Rudy and injure the elf. It's one head dragging around 20 or so necks it can't be that fast and strong still. Last legs at most. Still, good episode, just a bit unbelievable that it happened that way :/
Damnn WTF i didnt take the death flags too seriously. Why... Shit paul was such a good character. Man... This is the worst death till now in this anime. Shit. Is this what mangod said that rudeus will regret it. Shit... This sucks.
Ngl when I saw Paul's gauntlet in (who I assume is) Zenith's lap in the opening I was hoping I was wrong that he was gonna die :(
Happy Father's Day!
Happy fathers day!
Guess I'm gonna be a bit more clingy this fathers day...
**Happy father's day Paul.** I'm literally tearing up right now. He always doubted himself if can be a proper dad. And ended up saving his kid while sacrificing himself. **Paul, you were a good dad. Now, Rest in peace.**
Happy Fathers Day :)
Happy Father's Day, Paul. You might not be a great dad overall, but you still strive for one and left a legacy that affects even a reincarnated person. The animation and frames for this episode is just off the charts. Studio Bind really did pull out all the stop for this episode and it shows by the sheer sakuga of it. Guess the lack of animations from the previous episodes are meant for this single episode. PEAK This is probably one of the few times we actually see Rudeus fighting for his life instead of just stomping the enemies down with his vast magical talent. Not helped that the boss is mostly magic immune from distance so magicians like Rudy and Roxy are pretty useless unless they're up close. Hell, Rudy straight up sacrifices his arm to do stone cannon blast from the inside to kill the last head
I wanted to wish Paul happy Father's day, but I'm still not sure which holidays he likes and wich doesn't. And he seems to be *really* devided on this day in particular.
What the fuck man.... I actually feel sick to my stomach.
I felt so emotionally numb like Rudy that I didn't think it could hurt any more until we saw what was left of Zenith. Jeez.
I can't scream because it's night here, so all I could do was [draw how I felt](https://www.reddit.com/r/sixfacedworld/s/Zor1mCmr1i).
Man i got spoiled about this episode a year ago but that still hit hard... Happy Fathers day!
God damn we got slapped in the face with this episode
Holy shit, probably the best episode of the season, or the series so far for me, but that was certainly something. God damn it was a brutal last few minutes.
They had to do this on Father’s Day….pretty cruel of them. Man that episode was straight up depressing
Press F to pay respect
My God today's episode was fucking kino and despite knowing about Paul's death, I wasn't ready to see it animated
ALL I CAN SAY IS FUCK AND HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
Happy Dad's day 💀. Was that one week delay intentional? Damn Paul dies saving MC and Zenith loses all memories. This probably hits harder than that time MC couldn't get it hard. I wonder how long for Sylphy to cure his depression this time. Why can only Paul cut Hydra's head? He has higher attack or better sword than Lise?
Peak Mushoku Tensei, nothing else to say.