So, hey everyone! Today I’m going to share another crazy theory. It’s pretty fascinating, at least in my opinion. If you don't feel like reading it, just scroll down to the character ability breakdown—there’s a really interesting analysis of their powers there too.

# Subaru = Flugel? 

Let me say right away that in my vision of Re:Zero, Subaru is NOT Flugel. Later on, I will describe the tragedy from 400 years ago, explaining why many people know Shaula as the Sage instead of Flugel, along with other interesting lore details. By the way, I’m not claiming this is the best theory out there, nor do I think that this theory — or any other, for that matter — is 100% canon. These are just my thoughts and nothing more. After all, I can’t read Tappei's mind to say with certainty: "This is exactly what Tappei himself thinks."



# The World of Re:Zero Before the Tragedy.

 As far as I know, the tragedy involving Satella (the Witch of Envy) divided the world into a "before" and "after." It is highly possible that a proper civilization once existed, complete with the sky and stars, and the planet itself had a more spherical shape rather than its current form bounded by the Great Waterfall. In my opinion, Flugel was likely a great scientist rather than just a mystical Sage. There was probably a full-fledged civilization with institutions and science. Back then, while Flugel's knowledge was certainly unique, it wasn't a completely isolated case; theoretically, any intelligent scientist of that era could have accessed the Pleiades Watchtower.This is exactly my starting point, and the rest of my theory will be built on this baseline: before the tragedy, the world of Re:Zero was essentially just like ours, but with fantasy elements.

# The Great Calamity (2).

I believe that Flugel initially sealed himself away together with Satella (the Witch of Envy), which is why most people forgot about him and designated Shaula as the Sage instead. This also perfectly explains why she uses the word "vanished" when referring to Flugel, rather than saying he left or died. To put it simply: The Great Calamity = Flugel being sealed together with Satella (the Witch of Envy). This is the logic so far. Next comes Pandora. Perhaps she is looking for a way to unleash Satella (the Witch of Envy), or maybe that mechanism already exists? I am basing this on Petelgeuse's goals; he is specifically searching for a vessel for Satella (the Witch of Envy) (unfortunately, I don't have access to the Light Novels right now, so I'm referencing the anime here, around episodes 20-22 of Season 1). There is also a relevant quote from the Pride IF story:

>“A SOUND QUESTION. It is a test to ascertain suitability of the Witch's vessel... namely, a trial to determine whether the receptacle possesses the strength, the quality, and moreover the qualifications to host the WITCH'S SOUL!”   
P.S. (Re:Zero − Starting Life in an Alternative World from Error.)

It is worth noting that while the Cultists' Gospels are merely copies of the Tome of Wisdom, they are highly competent copies capable of distributing tasks.I believe that in this specific timeline — let's call it "Timeline 1"— Satella (the Witch of Envy) was eventually unsealed. And what do you think happened? Naturally, she just destroyed the entire world. Why? Well, it's not because she is inherently evil, but because there was a critical miscalculation: Flugel is just a human. Inevitably, by the time the seal was broken, he was already a corpse.Before that, Satella (the Witch of Envy) was able to keep him by her side, inside a sort of simulation. Yes, Subaru's world before his isekai was a simulation created by Satella (the Witch of Envy) within her Shadow Garden — which makes perfect sense, considering she should be entirely capable of doing such a thing inside her own realm of shadows. Here is the quote hinting at this simulation:

>“As for the information you didn’t know before, who knows if you hadn’t inadvertently brought them here... Are you so sure that you didn’t know about them? The letters from your parents’ old friend, can you be certain that you have never seen them? The old man who had known your father since he was a child, have you really never met him before? And have you truly never imagined an image of your father that was different from the one you knew, and never once traced it over inside your mind?”  
P.S. (Arc 4 Chapter 20)  


However, Flugel's death also brought about the death of Satella herself (or rather, the Witch of Envy persona). Yes, she completely destroyed the world in her rage, but here is the catch: if we hypothetically assume that her jealousy and envy were strictly tied to Flugel, then with Flugel dead, the "evil personality" of Satella dies as well. As for the original, gentle Satella — she likely gathered the final remnants of her Authority's power and literally sent Subaru (Flugel) back in time. Specifically, she dropped him into the exact point in the timeline where Pandora's grand plan begins to take shape. Satella herself structures and shifts his checkpoints so that he is constantly guided toward a "winning" scenario.Of course, this setup is frequently disrupted by the Witch of Envy persona of *this* current timeline, who is probably completely shocked by such audacity but seemingly unable to stop it, given that she is currently sealed. Throughout the entire story, the Witch of Envy genuinely tries to break free from her prison, though fortunately, she only manages to release a mere shadow of her true power — which is probably for the best.

https://preview.redd.it/gw48h0a2ffih1.jpg?width=189&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d7b885c5699707999ae846b4e56b3d8b85e067f

# Who is Subaru?

Naturally, we move on to the next question. In this theory and within "Timeline 1," Subaru is essentially a completely separate personality born from the fragmented remnants of Flugel's memories. Yes, he is an independent individual who forms and develops on his own. However, his fundamental knowledge comes from Flugel’s memories — his school life, studies, and stars. And what if his parents are actually modeled after other characters?   
His father could be based on Reid Astrea, and his mother on the gentle personality of Satella. I mean, why not? Their personalities are actually quite similar. Subaru was dealt the heaviest hand here: the dark side of Satella wants to drag him back to her, but occasionally, her gentle side breaks through. This gentle side understands exactly what is happening and deliberately chooses not to interfere; she wants Subaru to grow on his own. She realizes he is not Flugel or anyone else — Subaru is Subaru. And she genuinely wants him to kill her and finally put an end to his "curse".

# Why is this theory logical? My subjective point of view.

This is one of the most critical parts of the post, and here I will passionately defend this theory. To be clear, I am not dismissing other theories, nor do I want to argue over "which theory is better." Not at all. I respect basically any theory that maintains a logical chain or has even a minimal connection to the plot and narrative of Re:Zero. However, I am not a big fan of theories that contradict established lore. I don't want to debate or pick apart other ideas; I'm simply sharing my own logical perspective.  
First of all, in my theory, characters don't suddenly become overpowered "op" entities, nor do they betray who they fundamentally are. I don’t strip Subaru of his individuality, nor do I merge Satella's two distinct personas into one. I don't invalidate Subaru's entire journey; if anything, I reinforce it. My theory is just a beautiful and cohesive framework that can be wrapped around Re:Zero without turning it into some idealized fairytale, and without reducing Subaru to a mere puppet of "destiny" or erasing his growth as a person. I leave all of Re:Zero's signature darkness completely intact —Subaru's entire journey, his suffering, and the pain of all the other characters remain untouched.   
I am simply giving it a beautiful and logical structure so that nothing feels cheap or meaningless.  
I try to utilize characters who have the potential to fully manifest themselves in the future, like Pandora in the main story. At the same time, this theory isn't disrupted if, for example, Capella burns down the entire capital in Arc 10, or if Subaru goes and saves it. Just like practically every other plot point, this theory functions as a solid standalone framework, at least in my personal opinion.



# A Mini-Breakdown of Character Abilities.

I’d like to break down how the abilities of certain characters could potentially work.   
**Let's start with Pandora.**   
Please note that I'm not claiming her power will function exactly like this in the canon story; this is strictly my own theory. In my view, Pandora’s Authority is directly tied to the emotions of her opponents — she fights with words, not with brute force. Just think back to the absolute fury both Petelgeuse and Fortuna displayed when fighting her. Even Regulus was completely enraged when he "killed" her. Isn't that strange?I mean, okay, making Regulus mad is easy.  
But Petelgeuse? At the moment he took the Witch Factor, he was fully sane. How do you trigger someone who has lived for nearly 400 to 500 years, who was part of the Witch Cult from its inception, and who was most likely Flugel's friend?   
By the way, Petelgeuse never considered himself righteous or inherently good; he deliberately led the Romanée-Conti faction and essentially killed other people just so hi сould survive. This character had seen a lot, yet he completely lost his mind at the sight of a little girl? Don't get me wrong —protecting someone while being consumed by rage is not the same as just defending them. You can protect someone with cold blood, just like Reinhard does, but Petelgeuse couldn't manage that.This leads to my next point: Pandora intentionally avoids going head-to-head with Reinhard because he is her worst possible matchup — an absolutely calm, composed, and cold-blooded knight.  
**Now, let’s analyze Satella.**  
I believe her Authority is fundamentally tied to space-time manipulation. She can distort space using her shadows — which, in my power-scaling system, function as literal antimatter that Reinhard's Gates cannot absorb. This makes them a near-absolute weapon. Time manipulation, on the other hand, manifests as Subaru’s Return by Death (RBD), though it comes with its own set of constraints.Most likely, when traveling back to the past, Satella cannot simply jump forward into the future; she is forced to live through it all over again. Let me provide a few examples:   
First, we all know that a photon travels at the speed of light. But what is the speed of light exactly? In a way, it is essentially the freezing of time — for a photon, there is no progressive "path" like the one we experience. For us, the model is: Starting Point -> Path -> Ending Point. For a photon, it is simply: Starting Point -> Ending Point. To a photon, the universe is entirely static. Just as normal humans cannot travel into the past because our world is already dynamic, Satella can travel to the past, but cannot move forward into the future.Crucial note: I am not saying Satella *is* a photon — not at all. Think of ordinary people as moving strictly from the present into the future, with the photon acting as the central axis, and Satella on the opposite side, moving from the present into the past.   
It’s as if I took a knife and split this photon right in half. This is very similar to how Fikhtengolts (using Dedekind cuts) explains irrational and real numbers at the beginning of his mathematical analysis course. Now for the most interesting part: their hypothetical battle against Reinhard? I would describe it as an immovable wall meeting a tsunami. Reinhard would simply stand his ground, being utterly immortal, deflecting Satella’s shadows, while Satella would completely engulf him like water flowing around a wall—bypassing Reinhard entirely to destroy everything else in existence.

**I also believe Typhon deserves a special mention.**   
In my opinion, she is highly underrated in terms of power. This little girl possesses a very fickle Authority: if she considers you a "sinner," or if you consider *yourself* a "sinner," you are as good as dead. Her only real bottleneck is that she needs to grab your hand.With this, she could likely kill even Regulus — the only issue being whether he would ever allow her to touch his hand in the first place.   
As for Reinhard, it would result in an endless duel of stamina, because Reinhard carries an immense amount of guilt. He would ultimately win, of course, but if we exclude the possibility of Typhon getting bored or tired, Reinhard would simply keep dying an infinite number of times —nothing more.   
To sum it up: if you view yourself as a sinner = you're dead. If Typhon judges you as a sinner = you're dead. In the tragic world of Re:Zero, her ability is just way too broken.

**P.S. Please don't judge me too harshly for any potential typos. The text was quite massive, and the translation might feel a bit "clumsy" in some places. Also, I specifically kept using "Satella (the Witch of Envy)" in the earlier sections to emphasize her duality, but I dropped that distinction during the ability breakdown.**

**Art Credits / Sources:**

* **First Image (Satella):** Shinichirou Otsuka.
* **Second Image Pandora:** AoUSA0328

Subaru = Flugel??! (Clickbait)