Before becoming a lovable and dependable ally, Rem was a cold killer when it came to Subaru. She killed our protagonist in the first loop at Roswaal Manor.

And if not for other means, Rem would have been responsible for Subaru’s death a lot more times.

This event marked the beginning of Subaru’s tumultuous week at the mansion. Gotta love how Rem had the dual job of being a perfect maid in the day and a murderer by night.

Rem and Ram did show some dislike towards Subaru as soon as he woke up in the mansion. Seriously, these twins have some creative insults, don’t they?

Moreover, Rem particularly was not very fond of having Subaru around at all. But her adverse hostility came as a shocker when a mysterious killer with chain sounds killed Subaru the first time.

What was the reason all this transpired?

Why did Rem kill Subaru?

Rem killed Subaru because she sensed (smelled) the miasma from the Witch of Envy, Satella, on Subaru’s body. It led her to believe he was a member of the witch cult, making him an enemy.

Subaru’s first death and the mansion came sooner than he (and we) had expected. Like, way too soon; he died in his sleep due to debilitation and woke up to Ram & Rem once again.

However, his second death was painful. Very, very painful for a multitude of reasons.

In fear of losing his life, Subaru stayed up until the curse on his body kicked the debilitation in. As soon as it did, he nearly crawled to seek help.

But in his weakened state, he lost his life to an unidentified opponent. It was not until his third death that we came to know that this enemy was none other than Rem herself.

This reveal was a shock because Rem and Subaru had shared a touching moment in Earlham Village on the very same day.

Did you also feel kinda sad that the soft moments we saw in Earlham village were not true at all? Because damn, that ONE smile!

We come to know that Rem had not trusted Subaru at all; instead, she intended to kill him from the start. In fact, Subaru’s death the third time told us that Rem really hated Subaru because of the witch’s smell.

She tortured him to the point that Ram had to step in and put him out of misery by killing him. But why did Rem hate how Subaru smelt so much? Side note: Subaru get a body perfume, friend.

Rem’s aversion to the witch’s scent

The witch’s scent on Subaru was basically a declaration that he had seriously untoward intentions. Before anything else, she had the duty to protect the mansion and the people of it.

Plus, Subaru knew a lot of things he wasn’t supposed to know, and his mannerisms were off.

Moreover, Ram and Rem’s village and family were brutally murdered by Witch cultists. It would not be an understatement that Rem hated (and was in her current position) because of Satella’s followers.

Her horrible memory of losing everything probably drilled the witch’s scent from the cultists into her head.

And then comes along a complete stranger densely reeking of the witch’s scent; he knows too much yet too little, wants to get close to Emilia, and has nothing to his name.

How could Rem not be suspicious? Her incessant stares in the days Subaru worked or stayed at the mansion were proof enough that she did not trust Subaru.

Ram mitigated her sister’s actions on multiple occasions – like commenting on Subaru’s “bad” hair. She even explicitly told Rem not to do something without giving a thought.

Ram had held her emotional side back until it got better of her. Weren’t we all sure Ram was more of that kind of person?

I mean, we can’t blame her for wanting to kill Witch Cultists in the worst way possible. Plus, every time Subaru came back, the witch’s smell on him got worse (or better? I see you Satella lovers).

The worse he smelt, the more it indicated that he was pretty closely linked with Satella or the Witch Cultists.

Thus, Rem was looking for any and all opportunity to kill Subaru. It was not until the Demon Beast incident that Rem finally began trusting Subaru. Pretty sure a question is lingering in your mind too:

Why and how does Subaru have the witch’s scent on him?

From Subaru’s initial loops in the Re:Zero universe, we come to know that the Witch of Envy is the biggest taboo. In fact, the Witch Cult – most importantly the Archbishops of Sins – is a source of disgust, fear, and anguish for the people.

In a world where even taking Satella’s name is unforgivable, reeking of her scent will surely not lead you to anywhere good. Maybe to a finger cracking/eating bishop, if I had to say. That is because logically, only the Witch Cultists can emanate the Witch’s miasma.

But Subaru has the shortest end of the stick possible and has a thick aura of the witch on his body. While he does strategically use this disability to his benefit sometimes, where does it even come from?

The anime nor the books have clarified the exact reasons behind why Subaru smells so much. Take a bath, duh.

But whenever Subaru tries to tell anyone (weeeell other than Echidna) about Return By Death, the witch’s miasma increases its presence.

Subaru temporarily gets surrounded by a shadow, and a hand reaches out to his heart every time he does that. Even his Return By Death is thanks to the Satella, it seems.

So, what does it tell us? Perhaps that Subaru has a dissociative personality disorder, and his alt ego is actually the Witch Cult member? Fine! I know my humor sucks.

There is definitely some relation between Subaru and Satella – which the story makes even more obvious further down the line. We see the figure in the darkness mentioned earlier getting clearer as Subaru uses more of this power. Should I even call it a power; a squeeze to the heart must not feel all that nice, right?

Let alone deciphering the mysterious figure, we also got a whole confession from Satella to Subaru. Aisheteru, aisheteru, aisheteru. I know you can hear it too.

However, knowing all that still does not solve our question. How did Subaru get the Witch’s scent on his body if he had never met her before or was in cahoots with the Witch Cult?

One possible explanation we think could be that it was none other than Satella who summoned Subaru to Re:Zero’s world. It would make sense, too, that Satella has some personal attachment with Subaru.

This theory invokes all sorts of new questions like “is Emilia herself Satella?” or “are there parallel timelines in Re:Zero?”

But that discussion is for another article! At least now you know why our kawaii maid Rem killed Subaru, if not about Satella. Let me go grab my tissues to cry over Rem again while you comment your thoughts on this article below. Until next time *sniff*!