#maybe you WOULD have partial immunity to gluttony if it happened to you a second time

[marchlilacs]

I am absolutely obsessed with witch cult victim theory. I also think it would make a lot of sense to the cast, especially if it was combined with the theory that Subaru got his name and memories eaten.

Although this is more just what I think would make sense with what the rest of the cast knows about Subaru. Not nessasrally what they might actually think about him. Although I'll also consider that.

He would undergo the typical witch cult victim theory shenanigans (torture) while in the witch cults custody, which I think could include having his name eaten. He may have also had some of his memories eaten as part of this, but I prefer to think he lost them due to insanity. Although I don't actually think he really "lost" his memories in this hypothetical situation. I think it would make more sense that they were just...jumbled up in a way. He may remember things like his relationships with the people he cared about, what these people were like, certain aspects of how the world works, some things about his hometown, and the sorts, but none of it really makes sense anymore. He knows he cared about Emilia, but he can't remember her name. He knows he was her knight, but he's not quite sure what a knight actually is anymore. Or how one is supposed to act. Written words don't make any sense. Details about his homeland that may have seemed a bit strange or unique to the average person get twisted and blown out of proportion to become fantastical.

So basically, I think it would make sense if he was from some village that got destroyed by the witch cult (like what happened with Rem and Rams village). This village may have been pretty isolated, with very little or almost no contact with the rest of the world. This might explain why no one has ever heard about anything he mentions as being "from his hometown."

I do also think some characters probably think they knew Subaru before, but then his name got eaten. So It could be that he fled when his village was destroyed, somehow got involved in the royal selection (probably by becoming Emilia's knight), and then got kidnapped by the witch cult as he was hunting them down for revenge. Or, he may have left his hometown for any other reason, became Emilia's knight, and then went back to visit his village and was there when it got attacked. Either way, he ends up being kidnapped by the cult.

Anyways, like I've said, I don't think anyone in Re: Zero would have it that thought out, to the point where they've basically just written an angsty fan fiction in their head about Subaru’s hypothetical Tragic Past. This is just what I think would make the most sense considering what they know about him.

I also like the idea that the witch cult probably put him under some sort of taboo so he's not able to tell anyone about any of this.

What are your favorite plausible in-universe theories that the characters have to explain Subaru’s many eccentricities? I’ll go first:

Subaru was a soldier of some sort who served Lady Emilia as one of her only subjects, but after an encounter with the White Whale he lost his Name and thus nobody remembers anything about him beyond the day he saved Emilia from an assassin. The Whale also stole almost all of his memories, which is why he’s illiterate and also lacks common sense most of the time.