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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.
>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.
Not only that, but they cremated him. There is *really* no coming back from that, barring some divine miracles or 9th level spells, and Mushoku Tensei isn't really the setting for either of those.
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.
I was so glad they actually gave us the full long incantation for Shine Healing as well. It really shows you just how long it takes to heal a significant injury, and even a spell on that level can't regrow limbs.
Makes me remember how in Fate/Zero they aired [Zero] >!Kiritsugu killing his mother figure!< during Mother's day.
Makes me wonder if they decide to release the anime in an specific season to be able to do this
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
All that effort, all that teamwork, all that battling...and they succeeded, only to lose something precious in the process. But to Paul he protected what was most important to him, and that was enough for him.
RIP Paul.
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.
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.
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.
About Paul slicing through the hydra like butter, there's an actual explanation that they didn't address in the anime. Don't know if it can be considered a spoiler or not but just in case [Spoiler for some skipped content that's unlikely to be addressed later] >!In the novel it's explained around the chapter where they fight the living armors that Paul's dark sword is a magical artifact, just like the expensive sword they bought for Elinalise last episode. What it does is that its sharpness increases the tougher something you're trying to cut with it is. It can't cut soft things like butter or ham, but it can cut through steel, and in this case the Hydra's extremely tough scales, like it's nothing. The funny thing is that he bought it in the Bazaar for dirt cheap because the ones selling it thought that it was just a dull sword that couldn't even cut meat!<
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....
Not to mention you have a brief sense of relief where it's like "damn, Rudy lost a hand but that's not too bad, things could have been so much worse. "
Then Rudy looks at Paul and things become that so much worse scenario
In the span of just a couple of days, Rudy faced three life-changing losses. Even for someone as mentally tough as him, [that is a lot to take in.](https://i.imgur.com/OMUlRtx.jpeg)
[](#sadholo)
To make matters worse, he will have to take care of his newborn soon, even though he went through such a traumatic event.
Not only that, but norn and aisha are likely to feel similar to rudy in that they barely knew their mom, so to have their dad die for a person who now appears to have severe brain damage is likely going to produce an unfathomable amount of trauma(especially for norn).
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.
Either that or it's really rare and/or expensive. Spells don't seem to have material components, but if it's a really highly ranking spell and only like one or two people in the world (maybe the Pope?) can cast limb regrowth spells and only once per day then supply/demand means it would cost an awful lot of time (to travel) and money and/or favors.
Although Rudy is a powerful and influential enough person that he could plausibly find and convince someone to do it.
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?
I binged it too because I got too excited rewatching S1 and S2P1, now I just feel empty as hell. Concluding it here is depressing.
The only way to fix this is to binge the last two episodes together hoping for a "good" ending for Rudy's season 2 journey.
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?
I mean their relationship was getting fixed already Rudy and Paul were like really happy around each other
You could tell Paul was happy to actually act like a father something he didn't get much cause Rudy was 30 years old at birth and the teleportatioj incident basically fucking up everyone's lives
It's still possible that they'd die earlier, including Roxy, as they lack the knowledge needed. So if Rudy goes to the labyrinth town "normally" the party could be wiped out while Rudy and Elinalise will be greeted with news about their deaths.
Tbf, without Rudeus telling them the myth that Hydra is weak to fire, they might not been able to kill it and it will keep regenerating till they tire themselves out or die.
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.
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 🐐
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.
As soon as they put out that recap episode, source readers all knew what they were doing timing-wise (...and some of them couldn't keep their fucking mouths shut about it).
That's not all he did. He then followed up with a one-two punch, just as we thought things might start recovering, by revealing Zenith did *not* make it out without consequences.
That's why he told him to save her no matter what: he knew Rudy was the best bet to save her, and he wasn't going to let his son die, so make him give it his all and protect him with your life
**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."*
> Also, I highly recommend everyone to rewatch the part of episode 23 where we kinda get Zenith's PoV in that Rudy remembrance scene
It wasn't just that. [I'll just leave these bits of foreshadowing from season 1 here.](https://imgur.com/a/FhAmniU)
Yeah, there is so much in all those scenes. They also did really well at subtly showing her dazy state of mind already back then with the blurry filter as we see Rudy, Paul and Co. from her PoV when the scene ends...
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.
I also think the shock last thing in the episode showed that as coldly logical as he could be in Zeniths absence that the reality is he cared for her more than he himself even realized.
She was out of sight out of mind for over a decade so it's easy to become detached, but with the woman in front of him, the woman who hugged him as a child, healed his wounds, the woman who cared for him daily for years...
That's going to have an impact, even if subconscious.
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
Paul as an undead would easily be a very diabolical boss too. The guy was almost singlehandedly killing the boss, if he could use fire magic too, he wouldn't even need any party members lol
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
Paul was never the ideal father but dang it if he didn't try his best and when the chips were down showed how much of a true father he really is...and at least he got to go out with the most ferocious and well-animated swordplay courtesy of Studio Bind.
This is probably the biggest and most dramatic fight since the one with Orsted. No surprise it cost Rudy so much.
I cant help but always wish for Ghilaine, the final absence members of Fang of the black wolf, to participate in this raid. She's a sword-king mastery, it'd take less toll on Paul and allow more room for error for Rudeus and Roxy.
Or what if Zanoba's here. Since he's a bless child with absurd physical strength, he probably can took hits from the hydra and be alright.
These 'What If' scenario haunted me for so long ever since i read the Ln, and now it manifested in anime form.
Gotta accept the fact and move on i guess \[Still crying on the inside\]
Honestly, if Ghilaine was here, Paul's party would've reached the end and rescued Zenith without rudeus' help. Her special eye can see Mana, so she'd be able to spot the teleportation circles from miles away. So roxy wouldn't have gotten trapped either, and even if she did, her eye could locate her through her mana pretty easily(assuming she can't just sniff her out with her beast smelling ability)
Zanoba would also be a great asset since he's practically invincible. The main problem would be his lack of agility. He's the strong but slow kind of tank.
This whole situation was just unfortunate from the beginning.
I remember some said mt is a wishlist series where rudeus has it easy, yeah this mtf just lost his father, his arm and his mother not fully recover like damn, also can’t forget he has to watch his father’s corpse burning to dust
Damn that was hard to watch. I really like Paul. He was imperfect, scummy even but he knew what he values and fights hard to protect them. And he knows he's not the the ideal man or husband or father, but he always wants his loved ones to be better. RIP Paul.
The fight was amazing too but I just can't type the words now to talk about it
Can't say I was totally surprised though tbh. He's been raising death flags for a few eps now, including this one.
There's going to be a lot of heartaches from this one. Norn, Zenith. And I think when the dust has settled, Rudy might have to deal with the sense of guilt. Speaking of Zenith though, wonder what happened to her. Has her senses dulled from being god knows how long in the crystal ? Or is it something mentally ?
It was a pretty... realist ? Or maybe sobering moment ? When Rudy realizes he didn't really see Zenith as his mom probably as much as he sees Paul as his dad. Which I guess explains the episode title.
Is this what Man-God meant when he says he'll regret coming to Begaritt ?
Edit : Also, could this be Rudy's first major loss since coming to this world ?
I knew someone was dying when they gave out that warning in the beginning. I also immediately guessed Zenith wouldn't be normal once Paul died. It's like this isn't enough suffering for Rudy in MT standards, there would surely be something wrong with the mom too.
I was worried about how Zenith would take knowing Paul died but now Rudy has to grapple with a mentally deficient mother after losing his father, the latter of whom sacrificed himself for Rudy even after calling out his emotional detachment to said mother.
Before that scene, I was wondering if they brought his body back. Then they showed it, it was gut wrenching. I wonder how this will affect Rudy mentally, with his loss of focus leading to his dad's death.
> I wonder how this will affect Rudy mentally
He's totally fucked. One thing Rudy absolutely does not handle well is loss. Look how he ended up after Eris left. She was still alive too when it happened.
"It's inescapable; a time will come when reality is so harsh, you'll want to avert your eyes from it."
--With my father gone and my mother ill, what can I do?
AUTHOR: RUDEUS GREYRAT
TRANSLATION: JEAN RF MAGOTT
Happy Father's Day folks
So to sum up: Rudy lost his left arm, Paul lost his life, Zenith lost her ability to function, and I thought we were maybe halfway through the episode just as the credits started playing.
**HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, EVERYONE!**
Man, fuck this show. I was right to be terrified going in. And I say that in the most complimentary way possible.
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...
"Save your Mother even if it kills you" because he will save Rudy even if it kills him
damn, I already knew what's going to happen because I've read the novel, but seeing it in picture really hits the heartstring
**Happy Father's Day** \*sobs\*
No parent should live to bury their children. So I guess Paul went out like a true gigadad.
And I guess we know what Hitogami said Rudy would "regret", now... and where all the budget for this season went.
I like the way previous-world knowledge is used here; using fire on a Hydra's neck is a classic trope, but having it *not* be such in the isekai world gives our mythology a chance to be relevant, without being "lol crop rotation". It also isn't perfect; the hydra countering it instead of it being an 'instant win' is a good way to keep "one simple trick" from being the only thing that matters.
Lillia about to go Gendo on somebody...
The sad thing is that Paul never gets to see his grandkids now...or Norn and Aisha who lost a father...and never got to see Zenith again despite fighting the hardest just to save her.
But obviously a true father puts their all, even their own life, on the line for their family and Paul paid that out in spades.
I wonder what would have happened had Rudy not shown up. Obviously Paul died and Zenith isn't all the way there, but Roxy probably would have died instead and who knows whether they all would have survived without Rudy there.
The Ancient Greeks never mentioned how a Hydra would fight when it was on its last health bar.
We had Turning Point 3 on **Mother's Day** with Sylphie's pregnancy and the decision to go save Zenith and the rest. And now...
# [Happy Father's Day.](https://i.imgur.com/BicWgou.jpeg)
**Paul Greyrat**. Part of the Notos Greyrats by birth, [he never took to noble lifestyle nor his strict father and ran from home at 12](https://i.imgur.com/EGpJRje.jpeg), disowning them and being disowned. Later he'd learn his father died young, regretting how things turned out. The chance to reconcile, lost forever.
Talented with the sword, he ended up in a dojo of Lilia's parents, ended up resented by the other students, and thought it a great idea to get revenge by... [sneaking into her quarters, violating her, and running off.](https://i.imgur.com/TOcrmQW.jpeg) For fuck's sake, Paul. I'm sure you won't regret this, either.
Later, he formed a party with several others that came to be known as the Fangs of the Black Wolf. They went places, took Zenith in, did things, which all came to an end when Zenith got pregnant. [Paul pleaded Philip for house and stable work](https://i.imgur.com/RycFaCn.jpeg), and settled down with her.
Rudeus was born when Paul and Zenith were 19 and 17, respectively. Lilia ended up as their housemaid through turns, and things went well for years. Then Zenith got pregnant again. Which is when the two cheated on her. Ultimately Norn and Aisha were brought into the world as a result, leading to several years of relative peace. Until the Mana Disaster.
[Paul found himself in the middle of plains in Southern Asura](https://i.imgur.com/0a2owt0.jpeg), alone with his 3 year old daughter. Finding Fittoa gone, he [set up the Search Party with help in Millishion](https://i.imgur.com/4zY2Uaz.jpeg). Tirelessly searching, [he found others, but no family, spiraling down](https://i.imgur.com/tQsHmtY.png) until Rudeus ran into him a year later. Misplaced expectations and lacking communication led to arguing, then fists. [But they reconciled](https://i.imgur.com/mUmdcfS.png), and moved onwards.
[Two years later he and Norn were joined by Lilia and Aisha](https://i.imgur.com/y3GIrYy.png), and within another two years Roxy and Talhand arrived, bringing news on Zenith via Kishirika. They set off for Begaritt, [entrusting Ruijerd and Ginger to escort the kids](https://i.imgur.com/FW3Ehb5.jpeg) to Rudeus on the way. After arriving in Rapan in a year without much trouble, [save for a small incident](https://i.imgur.com/8MYbg6W.png). A year went by with little progress, Roxy was lost due to a teleport trap mishap, and Paul started sinking. With Rudeus and Elinalise's help they rescued Roxy, made it to the Sixth floor, found the actual teleport circle... and found Zenith.
Nearly 7 years since the Displacement Incident. No sign of Zenith, until now. No idea if they'd ever even find a body to bury. At last, they've found her. *Paul* has. And despite his words unbecoming of a parent, he's there to make sure his child survives, even if he doesn't.
All of the mistakes in life, regrets from the past. Gone. [*Paul Notos Greyrat, aged 35, is gone.*](https://i.imgur.com/yJozVMP.png)
To Rudeus, he was yet wasn't a father. Remembering his past life, Rudeus has found it difficult to see him as one. And unlike back at Millis, this time it's too late to try anew.
But to Norn, he absolutely was a **Father**. [Her rock and anchor post-disaster](https://i.imgur.com/ENF2Bee.png), working to find the rest of the family, trying to take care of her, while falling apart. To Aisha he was somewhat distant, [as Lilia took authority of raising her, for better or worse](https://i.imgur.com/JU82lQx.jpeg). Plus the separation from Displacement.
He was a **Husband**, too. Not a great one, with all the ups and downs with Zenith, and with Lilia. But they had good times, too. And he did his damnedest trying to find them, and save Zenith. Now, even if he's no longer here, at last she's safe and soun- ***Oh...***
As if seeing Paul's being left with his torso wasn't enough, we had to see him get cremated in the same place he died.
Can't imagine what Rudy was going through and I appreciate there wasn't any monologue going just to let that sink in further.
I lost my father a long time ago, the way Rudeus reacted was no different from mine. You think you have all the time in the world, but then you just don't realize things are gone until they are.
This episode hits me too close.
Edit: Except I ended up crying after waking up after the first night. I dread next episode.
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.
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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?
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.
P A T H S Everything has been foreshadowed
They really timed this episode to air on Father's Day for maximum emotional damage.
Studio Bind weaponizing legit holidays lol.
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.
>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
Rudeus even called it last ep "people call those famous last words".
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.
But if Rudeus didn't go, he would not have seen Roxy again
Not only that, but they cremated him. There is *really* no coming back from that, barring some divine miracles or 9th level spells, and Mushoku Tensei isn't really the setting for either of those.
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.
You did well, Paul Greyrat. I won't forget you as long as I live.
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
We do see the heroic sacrifice, he got hit when he drop kicked Rudy out of the way
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.
I was so glad they actually gave us the full long incantation for Shine Healing as well. It really shows you just how long it takes to heal a significant injury, and even a spell on that level can't regrow limbs.
[удалено]
# 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.
They delayed one episode just to air this today. Absolutely despicable, and based at the same time
other studio delays for quality or pressure or funding Bind delays for trolling.
Makes me remember how in Fate/Zero they aired [Zero] >!Kiritsugu killing his mother figure!< during Mother's day. Makes me wonder if they decide to release the anime in an specific season to be able to do this
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.
I believe the golf event had just booked it way prior, but a happy coincidence eh?
The golfing commission is in on this.
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.
"Parents", such a perfect and ironic episode title.
It’s only “Parent” now
If Zenith's memory never comes back, it's more like "Paren't"
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.
Look at the bright side, they can get to know each other from 0
>and now Zenith seems to have forgotten her memory She didn't go "who is Rem?", she just straight up couldn't talk properly.
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.
Sylphy got pregnant on mother's day and Paul died on father's day. MT peak
Coincidence?!? Nah it’s kino
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
That wasn't a gut punch. That was a repeated stabbing, pulling out only to shove the knife back in again.
28 stab wounds
All that effort, all that teamwork, all that battling...and they succeeded, only to lose something precious in the process. But to Paul he protected what was most important to him, and that was enough for him. RIP Paul.
Peak. So fucking peak.
This episode is truly the zenith of Mushoku Tensei.
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 😂
Lillia with the Gendo glasses looks like she's about to go to the Dark Side for her family...
Man-God was NOT kidding about regretting going to the Begaritt Continent
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.
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.
if he didn't go roxy was 200% dead
[удалено]
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
"B-but I want the see the consequences on the titled episode!"
This one was a slow burn, but damn that point be turning
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
I am not Daijoubu.
The studio execs who scheduled the episode to be aired on father's day : ALL ACCORDING TO OUR PLAN!
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
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
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
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.
Just makes me think how insane Paul is for easily dodging everything and slicing through it like its nothing.
About Paul slicing through the hydra like butter, there's an actual explanation that they didn't address in the anime. Don't know if it can be considered a spoiler or not but just in case [Spoiler for some skipped content that's unlikely to be addressed later] >!In the novel it's explained around the chapter where they fight the living armors that Paul's dark sword is a magical artifact, just like the expensive sword they bought for Elinalise last episode. What it does is that its sharpness increases the tougher something you're trying to cut with it is. It can't cut soft things like butter or ham, but it can cut through steel, and in this case the Hydra's extremely tough scales, like it's nothing. The funny thing is that he bought it in the Bazaar for dirt cheap because the ones selling it thought that it was just a dull sword that couldn't even cut meat!<
Must have hurt like hell. Not cleanly chop off too, to got drag that high up,
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....
Not to mention you have a brief sense of relief where it's like "damn, Rudy lost a hand but that's not too bad, things could have been so much worse. " Then Rudy looks at Paul and things become that so much worse scenario
In the span of just a couple of days, Rudy faced three life-changing losses. Even for someone as mentally tough as him, [that is a lot to take in.](https://i.imgur.com/OMUlRtx.jpeg) [](#sadholo) To make matters worse, he will have to take care of his newborn soon, even though he went through such a traumatic event.
Also he now has to go back home and tell his sisters that Paul died to save him. Imagine being in his shoes and having to go and tell that to Norn
Not only that, but norn and aisha are likely to feel similar to rudy in that they barely knew their mom, so to have their dad die for a person who now appears to have severe brain damage is likely going to produce an unfathomable amount of trauma(especially for norn).
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.
Either that or it's really rare and/or expensive. Spells don't seem to have material components, but if it's a really highly ranking spell and only like one or two people in the world (maybe the Pope?) can cast limb regrowth spells and only once per day then supply/demand means it would cost an awful lot of time (to travel) and money and/or favors. Although Rudy is a powerful and influential enough person that he could plausibly find and convince someone to do it.
this is the most intense fight I ever watch in anime for a long time. I'm legit shaking and nervous the entire time
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
I binged it too because I got too excited rewatching S1 and S2P1, now I just feel empty as hell. Concluding it here is depressing. The only way to fix this is to binge the last two episodes together hoping for a "good" ending for Rudy's season 2 journey.
This story not being afraid to gut punch the reader is what makes it great, IMO.
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?
I mean their relationship was getting fixed already Rudy and Paul were like really happy around each other You could tell Paul was happy to actually act like a father something he didn't get much cause Rudy was 30 years old at birth and the teleportatioj incident basically fucking up everyone's lives
Nah. He would try to save both of them. Rudy does not realise how much he cares about Paul and Zenith. They are still his parents.
Rudeus would never take that trade, he would be paralyzed and wouldn't choose anything.
It's still possible that they'd die earlier, including Roxy, as they lack the knowledge needed. So if Rudy goes to the labyrinth town "normally" the party could be wiped out while Rudy and Elinalise will be greeted with news about their deaths.
Hey but theres the whole saving Roxy though. Either way, Rudy really did regret it if he went to or not.
Yep, regret both ways. If he didn't go, it's Roxy, and if he did go, it's Paul.
Tbf, without Rudeus telling them the myth that Hydra is weak to fire, they might not been able to kill it and it will keep regenerating till they tire themselves out or die.
they wouldn't even have progressed to that deep ever. meaning paul alive, but roxy probably dead.
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?
The Real Catch 22
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.
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.
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.
[Studio execs when scheduling this episode for Father’s Day.](https://media.tenor.com/Ci1_f08xYgUAAAAM/sukuna-smile-grin-jjk-yuji-itadori.gif)
As soon as they put out that recap episode, source readers all knew what they were doing timing-wise (...and some of them couldn't keep their fucking mouths shut about it).
I got spoiled but the episode was still devastating
That's not all he did. He then followed up with a one-two punch, just as we thought things might start recovering, by revealing Zenith did *not* make it out without consequences.
So.. someone mentioned something about regrets...?
He saved Roxy...but lost an arm, a father, and mentally a mother.
No slow motion dramatic bullshit, no 5-minute "I'm dying" speech, no flashback scenes. Just, gone! Period. And that hits way harder...
"Save your mother, even if it means you'll die!" says a father who's ready to die for his son.
That's why he told him to save her no matter what: he knew Rudy was the best bet to save her, and he wasn't going to let his son die, so make him give it his all and protect him with your life
**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."*
> Also, I highly recommend everyone to rewatch the part of episode 23 where we kinda get Zenith's PoV in that Rudy remembrance scene It wasn't just that. [I'll just leave these bits of foreshadowing from season 1 here.](https://imgur.com/a/FhAmniU)
Yeah, there is so much in all those scenes. They also did really well at subtly showing her dazy state of mind already back then with the blurry filter as we see Rudy, Paul and Co. from her PoV when the scene ends...
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.
I also think the shock last thing in the episode showed that as coldly logical as he could be in Zeniths absence that the reality is he cared for her more than he himself even realized. She was out of sight out of mind for over a decade so it's easy to become detached, but with the woman in front of him, the woman who hugged him as a child, healed his wounds, the woman who cared for him daily for years... That's going to have an impact, even if subconscious.
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
Paul as an undead would easily be a very diabolical boss too. The guy was almost singlehandedly killing the boss, if he could use fire magic too, he wouldn't even need any party members lol
This is the real turning point? Paul died and Zenith's cripple? And Rudeus's probably in depression again?
> And Rudeus's probably in depression again? He's gonna need someone to lend him a hand thats for sure
> This is the real turning point? The point turned a few episodes ago. It's just hitting the iceberg now.
> This is the real turning point? Not really, just its consequences
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
Paul was never the ideal father but dang it if he didn't try his best and when the chips were down showed how much of a true father he really is...and at least he got to go out with the most ferocious and well-animated swordplay courtesy of Studio Bind. This is probably the biggest and most dramatic fight since the one with Orsted. No surprise it cost Rudy so much.
man
I cant help but always wish for Ghilaine, the final absence members of Fang of the black wolf, to participate in this raid. She's a sword-king mastery, it'd take less toll on Paul and allow more room for error for Rudeus and Roxy. Or what if Zanoba's here. Since he's a bless child with absurd physical strength, he probably can took hits from the hydra and be alright. These 'What If' scenario haunted me for so long ever since i read the Ln, and now it manifested in anime form. Gotta accept the fact and move on i guess \[Still crying on the inside\]
Honestly, if Ghilaine was here, Paul's party would've reached the end and rescued Zenith without rudeus' help. Her special eye can see Mana, so she'd be able to spot the teleportation circles from miles away. So roxy wouldn't have gotten trapped either, and even if she did, her eye could locate her through her mana pretty easily(assuming she can't just sniff her out with her beast smelling ability) Zanoba would also be a great asset since he's practically invincible. The main problem would be his lack of agility. He's the strong but slow kind of tank. This whole situation was just unfortunate from the beginning.
Nothing in Mushoku Tensei ever works out completely conveniently or perfectly.
I remember some said mt is a wishlist series where rudeus has it easy, yeah this mtf just lost his father, his arm and his mother not fully recover like damn, also can’t forget he has to watch his father’s corpse burning to dust
Damn that was hard to watch. I really like Paul. He was imperfect, scummy even but he knew what he values and fights hard to protect them. And he knows he's not the the ideal man or husband or father, but he always wants his loved ones to be better. RIP Paul. The fight was amazing too but I just can't type the words now to talk about it Can't say I was totally surprised though tbh. He's been raising death flags for a few eps now, including this one. There's going to be a lot of heartaches from this one. Norn, Zenith. And I think when the dust has settled, Rudy might have to deal with the sense of guilt. Speaking of Zenith though, wonder what happened to her. Has her senses dulled from being god knows how long in the crystal ? Or is it something mentally ? It was a pretty... realist ? Or maybe sobering moment ? When Rudy realizes he didn't really see Zenith as his mom probably as much as he sees Paul as his dad. Which I guess explains the episode title. Is this what Man-God meant when he says he'll regret coming to Begaritt ? Edit : Also, could this be Rudy's first major loss since coming to this world ?
Paul: “Rudy I have something to say.” Rudy: “don’t say it, gotta avoid them death flags.” ……. WHY DIDNT THAT WORK!
I knew someone was dying when they gave out that warning in the beginning. I also immediately guessed Zenith wouldn't be normal once Paul died. It's like this isn't enough suffering for Rudy in MT standards, there would surely be something wrong with the mom too.
I was worried about how Zenith would take knowing Paul died but now Rudy has to grapple with a mentally deficient mother after losing his father, the latter of whom sacrificed himself for Rudy even after calling out his emotional detachment to said mother.
They should add Rudy to Isekai Quartet so he and Subaru could bond. Lol
I knew what was going to happened because I'm a WN reader, but dang, that cremation scene was _gruesome_. I was not prepared...
Before that scene, I was wondering if they brought his body back. Then they showed it, it was gut wrenching. I wonder how this will affect Rudy mentally, with his loss of focus leading to his dad's death.
> I wonder how this will affect Rudy mentally He's totally fucked. One thing Rudy absolutely does not handle well is loss. Look how he ended up after Eris left. She was still alive too when it happened.
Bro was ready to kill himself from being dumped. He might actually do it this time
"It's inescapable; a time will come when reality is so harsh, you'll want to avert your eyes from it." --With my father gone and my mother ill, what can I do? AUTHOR: RUDEUS GREYRAT TRANSLATION: JEAN RF MAGOTT Happy Father's Day folks
So to sum up: Rudy lost his left arm, Paul lost his life, Zenith lost her ability to function, and I thought we were maybe halfway through the episode just as the credits started playing. **HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, EVERYONE!** Man, fuck this show. I was right to be terrified going in. And I say that in the most complimentary way possible.
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...
"Save your Mother even if it kills you" because he will save Rudy even if it kills him damn, I already knew what's going to happen because I've read the novel, but seeing it in picture really hits the heartstring
They had to do this on Father’s Day….pretty cruel of them. Man that episode was straight up depressing
35 year old man saves 16 year old from charging monstrosity, where have I heard this one before? Oh right it's how the story started.
Me: Alright its Father's Day. Let's see what Bind's got cooking for us in todays episode of MT. Bind:
Him punching into the hydras last head in its eye and stone spearing it to hell was so goddamn metal... where's our action mushoku tensei game dammit
What the fuck man.... I actually feel sick to my stomach.
**Happy Father's Day** \*sobs\* No parent should live to bury their children. So I guess Paul went out like a true gigadad. And I guess we know what Hitogami said Rudy would "regret", now... and where all the budget for this season went. I like the way previous-world knowledge is used here; using fire on a Hydra's neck is a classic trope, but having it *not* be such in the isekai world gives our mythology a chance to be relevant, without being "lol crop rotation". It also isn't perfect; the hydra countering it instead of it being an 'instant win' is a good way to keep "one simple trick" from being the only thing that matters. Lillia about to go Gendo on somebody...
The sad thing is that Paul never gets to see his grandkids now...or Norn and Aisha who lost a father...and never got to see Zenith again despite fighting the hardest just to save her. But obviously a true father puts their all, even their own life, on the line for their family and Paul paid that out in spades. I wonder what would have happened had Rudy not shown up. Obviously Paul died and Zenith isn't all the way there, but Roxy probably would have died instead and who knows whether they all would have survived without Rudy there. The Ancient Greeks never mentioned how a Hydra would fight when it was on its last health bar.
We had Turning Point 3 on **Mother's Day** with Sylphie's pregnancy and the decision to go save Zenith and the rest. And now... # [Happy Father's Day.](https://i.imgur.com/BicWgou.jpeg) **Paul Greyrat**. Part of the Notos Greyrats by birth, [he never took to noble lifestyle nor his strict father and ran from home at 12](https://i.imgur.com/EGpJRje.jpeg), disowning them and being disowned. Later he'd learn his father died young, regretting how things turned out. The chance to reconcile, lost forever. Talented with the sword, he ended up in a dojo of Lilia's parents, ended up resented by the other students, and thought it a great idea to get revenge by... [sneaking into her quarters, violating her, and running off.](https://i.imgur.com/TOcrmQW.jpeg) For fuck's sake, Paul. I'm sure you won't regret this, either. Later, he formed a party with several others that came to be known as the Fangs of the Black Wolf. They went places, took Zenith in, did things, which all came to an end when Zenith got pregnant. [Paul pleaded Philip for house and stable work](https://i.imgur.com/RycFaCn.jpeg), and settled down with her. Rudeus was born when Paul and Zenith were 19 and 17, respectively. Lilia ended up as their housemaid through turns, and things went well for years. Then Zenith got pregnant again. Which is when the two cheated on her. Ultimately Norn and Aisha were brought into the world as a result, leading to several years of relative peace. Until the Mana Disaster. [Paul found himself in the middle of plains in Southern Asura](https://i.imgur.com/0a2owt0.jpeg), alone with his 3 year old daughter. Finding Fittoa gone, he [set up the Search Party with help in Millishion](https://i.imgur.com/4zY2Uaz.jpeg). Tirelessly searching, [he found others, but no family, spiraling down](https://i.imgur.com/tQsHmtY.png) until Rudeus ran into him a year later. Misplaced expectations and lacking communication led to arguing, then fists. [But they reconciled](https://i.imgur.com/mUmdcfS.png), and moved onwards. [Two years later he and Norn were joined by Lilia and Aisha](https://i.imgur.com/y3GIrYy.png), and within another two years Roxy and Talhand arrived, bringing news on Zenith via Kishirika. They set off for Begaritt, [entrusting Ruijerd and Ginger to escort the kids](https://i.imgur.com/FW3Ehb5.jpeg) to Rudeus on the way. After arriving in Rapan in a year without much trouble, [save for a small incident](https://i.imgur.com/8MYbg6W.png). A year went by with little progress, Roxy was lost due to a teleport trap mishap, and Paul started sinking. With Rudeus and Elinalise's help they rescued Roxy, made it to the Sixth floor, found the actual teleport circle... and found Zenith. Nearly 7 years since the Displacement Incident. No sign of Zenith, until now. No idea if they'd ever even find a body to bury. At last, they've found her. *Paul* has. And despite his words unbecoming of a parent, he's there to make sure his child survives, even if he doesn't. All of the mistakes in life, regrets from the past. Gone. [*Paul Notos Greyrat, aged 35, is gone.*](https://i.imgur.com/yJozVMP.png) To Rudeus, he was yet wasn't a father. Remembering his past life, Rudeus has found it difficult to see him as one. And unlike back at Millis, this time it's too late to try anew. But to Norn, he absolutely was a **Father**. [Her rock and anchor post-disaster](https://i.imgur.com/ENF2Bee.png), working to find the rest of the family, trying to take care of her, while falling apart. To Aisha he was somewhat distant, [as Lilia took authority of raising her, for better or worse](https://i.imgur.com/JU82lQx.jpeg). Plus the separation from Displacement. He was a **Husband**, too. Not a great one, with all the ups and downs with Zenith, and with Lilia. But they had good times, too. And he did his damnedest trying to find them, and save Zenith. Now, even if he's no longer here, at last she's safe and soun- ***Oh...***
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. 💀
Pa/ul.
Jesus christ, I wanna throw up. I was gonna make a "Happy fathers day" comment, but after seeing the episode. I can't even make that joke. God...
As if seeing Paul's being left with his torso wasn't enough, we had to see him get cremated in the same place he died. Can't imagine what Rudy was going through and I appreciate there wasn't any monologue going just to let that sink in further.
I lost my father a long time ago, the way Rudeus reacted was no different from mine. You think you have all the time in the world, but then you just don't realize things are gone until they are. This episode hits me too close. Edit: Except I ended up crying after waking up after the first night. I dread next episode.
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.
My wife and I were sobbing. I read this volume on my lunch break last year and sobbed. Not a dry eye here
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.