Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation S3 Ep 13 Review
…
…
…You know, I have spent three years keeping my mouth shut about the big twist in Mushoku Tensei and how the Man-God has it out for Rudy and his family. I kept quiet about everything because I was hoping that, when the time came to see the diary of Future Rudeus, the anime wouldn’t just tell us what happened. It would show us the future Rudy avoided in all its horror in some sort of extended episode or OVA. Yet while we only got it in the form of a regular episode, Studio Bind still managed to deliver us a nightmare that nearly became reality.
A Nightmare
The entire episode is framed from the perspective of Future Rudeus’ life up to the moment he went back in time to change history. While it starts off with the Greyrats celebrating the news that Cliff and Elinalise are going to have a baby, but it already sets us up for the tragedy about to take place, courtesy of the body of a petrified cat. From there, it then moves to Roxy inevitably getting the Petrification sickness, Rudy’s desperate attempts to find a cure, and the misfortune that will destroy his life and family.
I remember reading the light novels a few years ago, so I already knew what was going to happen. However, it’s one thing to read about something and another to see it happen. Studio Bind took full advantage of that by adding additional moments not found in the light novel. There is the moment when he first sees Eris again and yells at her to get lost, but I think the most impactful was an original scene after Sylphie died. Much like his dad after the Teleportation Incident, Rudeus turned to drinking alcohol and lashed out at his remaining family, to the point where they couldn’t take it anymore. Save for Aisha, they all left for their own safety.
Rudeus always had that darkness to him
The hardest part of watching all this and seeing just how awful he became is the fact that we know that Rudeus is capable of ending up like this. He’s always had that darkness in him, and he’s worked hard in his second life to grow and become a better person. Even after Roxy died, it was still well within his power to turn his life around and cherish his family and loved ones even more. The problem is his dependence on Roxy. First, she helped Rudy heal from the trauma of his past life, and then she pulled him out of despair when his father died. Ergo, in Rudy’s mind, Roxy was the emotional rock that kept him stable. Once she was gone, there was nothing to stop him from not only reverting to what he was like before his reincarnation, but becoming even worse. Worse than what even the anime showed.
As dark and sickening as the anime shows us what Future Rudeus’ life became, it was actually pulling its punches. There are several passages from the diary that were either skipped over, such as Eris’ intervention in Asura led to Rudy getting captured by Luke’s dad and thus unable to make it in time to save Sylphie. But then there are the things that the anime doesn’t show us. Seeing Rudy’s home destroyed and his only friends left dead was already horrifying, but the state he found Aisha’s body in was even worse. The Temple Knights hadn’t just kill her and Julie; they dismembered their bodies and left the pieces behind for him to see. The anime shows that Rudy killed the knights responsible, but the light novel revealed that he went beyond that. Future Rudeus would go on to massacre the entire leadership of the Millis Church, effectively wiping it out.
The rest of the pages are shown to be filled with accounts of Rudy picking fights, bullying, and killing people for no reason as well as SA’ing women. Yes; Oldeus was not only a killer with a body count in the thousands, but also a r****st.
Eris…
The real kicker, though, is seeing Eris’ death protecting Rudy from Atofe. In the light novel, the diary describes how she was sliced in half by the Demon King’s attack, but I think her death in the anime is just as traumatic. She dies smiling at Rudy, who is left in complete shock at what happened.
Now, I don’t actually hate Eris Greyrat. I like how strong and loyal she is to those she loves, and I do think she had the right idea wanting to go on a training arc since she didn’t want to keep leaning on Rudy. As frustrating as seeing her leave Rudy was right after they slept together was, though, that’s not why I’ve kept throwing shade at her. I’ve kept throwing shade at her because what we saw in this look at what the future could’ve been is the result of her dumbass being unable to say what she should’ve said. And not knowing Rudeus well enough to understand that her leaving the way she did did more harm than good. Combined with the fact that she spent the rest of her life pursuing Rudeus, to the point where she inadvertently prevented him from making it in time to save Sylphie, is it any wonder why Rudy began to see Eris as an enemy and servant of the Man-God?
What happened between Rudeus and Eris in this dark future is nothing less than a tragedy, moreso because of how easily it could’ve been prevented. Had Eris shown up right as Rudy and his friends left to get the spellbook to save Roxy, she could’ve gone with them and prevented Cliff’s death. Had Eris gotten through to Rudeus after Roxy and Sylphie died, she could’ve been his second chance at being happy. Instead, we had to watch as the last person who cared about Rudeus died for him. AND IT HURT.
It should also be noted that this episode released on National Wife Day, a day when we’re supposed to appreciate our wives. Studio Bind did this on purpose for extra tragedy.
I don’t think I can watch this Dubbed.
This entire episode is just one long tragedy. It’s heartbreaking to watch, I know for a fact that it’s left fans in tears, and frankly, I don’t even know if I will have the strength to rewatch it in dubbed form. It’s one of those things that I never want to see again. But it’s also the best episode in the entire series, as the Internet seems to think. I had to spend two weeks avoiding posts about Mushoku Tensei on social media, but what I saw was nothing but praise for the episode.
It’s a good thing that the last episode of the first half of Season Three is already out. I don’t think I could have waited another week to see the next part of the story get animated. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go finish what I started.
