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EP. REVIEW: Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- [2020-07-13]


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pip25



Joined: 22 Sep 2017
Posts: 145
PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:06 pm Reply with quote
The last episode pretty much summarized the entire season in terms of tone and approach. Lots of character development, some nice action, good things overall - yet I couldn't help but wonder if there was a better, more interesting way to portray all this, one that did not feel so incredibly slow at times.

The story arc definitely accomplished multiple things: it made Emilia relevant (both as a character in general and as Subaru's love interest), fleshed out Roswaal's character as well while giving us a truckload of information on the witches and stuff related to them. (Considering how the witches were often brought up from the very beginning of the story, this particular piece of world-building was quite welcome.) A couple of new side characters got introduced as well who seem like they might stick around for a while - while most of them are not incredibly interesting, the overall story seems to benefit from their presence, so it'll all good in my book.

Did all this truly require a 25 episode season? In my opinion, no, not even close. For all the 30-minute episodes, skipped OP/EDs, it nonetheless felt like Re:Zero wasted a huge amount of time on stuff that was not interesting or relevant at all to the big picture. This problem was made worse by the simple fact that the plot framework used for this occasion, namely the Sanctuary and the trials simply weren't all that compelling (especially compared to the conflict of the previous story arc). Despite all the character development and new info we got, the Sanctuary business felt like a sidequest compared to the other overarching plotlines (royal selection, etc.) - a sidequest which took up an entire two-cour season. Compared to season 1, which of course also had its fair share of (different) issues, it just didn't feel balanced.

Here's hoping that if and when we get a third season, it will adapt a better-paced section of the source material. Or, alternatively, it could take a more liberal approach to adapting the novels, one that isn't afraid to cut stuff when it benefits the end result.
Season 2 wasn't too bad, but I definitely enjoyed the previous one more.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:49 pm Reply with quote
OrdepNM wrote:
The author actually wrote a what if where Subaru goes for the "harem ending", aptly named "Lust If"... And then he disliked it so much that he deleted it altogheter. I really don't think thr harem ending is in the cards lol.

Or well, I dont need to look that deep into it when the author himself says there won't be a Subaru Harem at the end. [/url]


I think the Harem IF was intended to be a joke from the start, because he deleted it literally the next day and replaced it with a different passage entirely
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OrdepNM



Joined: 14 Nov 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:55 pm Reply with quote
Well, there it is, Arc 4 is concluded. I think in one way or another everyone is gonna agree with at least part of how Tappei started his afterword of Volume 15:

Tappei Nagatsuki wrote:
The book ended up a little longer than originally planned, but as a crucial chapter in how the main character's party becomes a group united with a single heart and soul, I have no complaints so long as you had fun with it up to this point


And that's ultimately what it's all about. It took 50 episodes to get here and 2 great beasts to die, but for the first time ever the Emilia Faction that we've been following since episode 3 or 4 is something that actually exists and it's members finally see eye to eye, which will be the jumping pad for all that comes next.

Incidently, this season was supposed to begin on Subaru's birthday and end on Emilia's, but instead it ended on Otto's birthday. Otto was the true heroine after all!

But let's talk about skipped content, this time around we actually there's abit more than usual:

The play by play of the fight was slightly rushed: After Beatrice and Subaru's iniital barrage proved ineffective (because the rabbits multiply faster than they can kill them), Subaru and Beatrice return to the entrance, which is being guarded by Emilia. In the second phase Subaru runs around creating the Yin "fence" while Emilia keeps the rabbits pinned down with magic. The last part is the same.

Further elaboration on the fate of the rabbits: After the kill eachother until there's only one left, that one can sense nothing except itself, until its hunger causes it to duplicate. Then one of the 2 rabbits gets eaten and the process starts anew, possibly forever.

Subaru spins around with Beatrice until he slips and they both faceplant into the snow.

Short scene with Subaru and Emilia (plus Ram, resting on Emilia's lap) before transitioning to inside the tomb with Beatrice and Roswaal. Subaru says if the royal selection business doesn't work out he and Emilia can always become travelling snow sculptors, him making the statues and she the snow.

Just in case it wasn't clear, Rosawaal has been having children and supplanting their soul with his own. Some might recall me retelling a certain scene that was heavily abridged in the anime, when Julius and Subaru were brainstorming how Petelguese might be body jumping. Julius notes he once read about one such magic - but it could not be it because it would require the gates of both source and recipient to very similar, like that of parent and child. 6 volumes later here we have it, that's the spell Julius read about. And yes, there was at least one female Roswaal in the timeline. Anything for Echidna right?

Subaru and Emilia's discussion about their impending parenthood becomes even more awkward when Emilia, seeing Subaru's expression asks if maybe he regrets kissing her, to which he replies with "Absolutely not. In fact, I'd love to do it again and again". Emilia goes even more redder and Subaru realizes he actually said he wants to have a whole soccer team of babies.

I was sure that the "roundup" scene where everyone decides what to do with Roswaal was gonna be the sacrificed but actually no, it's all here. Let's move on.

Skipped scene! Subaru and Beatrice discuss the terms of their pact and what can be expected of it. Ok this one is awkward, on one hand I would expect them to go back to and cover this, otherwise it's gonna create consistency holes later on, but I half expected them to just forget they skipped it and leave it to readers to explain when non readers call BS. There's not any groundbreaking information in the spoilers so read along if you care about magic/battle consistency: spoiler[Beatrice has 2 terms on the contract. 1) She's a "greedy" spirit so Subaru can only form a contract with her and her alone. 2) Beatrice needs to drain mana from him to remain corporeal, but he doesn't have that much mana to begin with so she'll be draining everything he can spare. Incidentally, she had been draining mana here and there from people who lived in the mansion for the last 400 years but she and Subaru just blew through that stock in the previous fight, Al Shamak in particular costing a ton of MP, and since Subaru isn't gonna provide any mana... A due between a spirit who can't use magic and a spirit mage who can't use magic has been born!]

The conversation with Roswaal offers a few more tidbits: first, he confirms Echidna had no family outside of her "daughter" Beatrice, but confirms the one in the coffin is the Echidna he knew 400 years ago. We also find out what happened to Maylee, she's been kept in a locked room while they decide what to do with her. More unexpected tough is his admission that he (hard to say if they'll go back to cover this but I'm thinking no) spoiler[Roswaal did hire Elsa, but only Elsa, Maylee was never part of the deal, so it's possible someone else hired her.]

Annerose Miload has voiced lines. All of those were cut from the Web Novel to the Light Novel, which I assumed was Tappei being considerate to the eventual adaptation. Some elaboration on the Miloads: They're a cadet branch of the Roswaals and as long as Roswaal remains childless, Annerose is his heir. Like the main branch of the family, the Miloads are unusual in that they support demi-humans by giving them work in the estate (you can see several demi-human maids in the ballroom and the ending montage, plus several guests) tough whle they do it out of autruism, they believe Roswaal mostly hires demis as a fetish (which is inaccurate as we've seen). Annerose herself is quite taken by Emilia and could be called her first true supporter, more on that below.

Besides his drink, Subaru had a piece of pie with him in the balcony. The pie was cooked by Garfiel and Frederica, as part of a mini quest Subaru and Emilia (and later Ram and Annerose) got into, in order to manufacture a situation where the 2 siblings would be forced to interact and get the ball rolling again on their relationship. This story was told in full in the web novel but the light novel removed it in favour of turning it into a short story.

Perhaps it wasn't entirely clear but neither Subaru nor Emilia know how to dance properly, they're just doing their own thing, ence the episode title.

Something that was briefly touched upon but not as stressed as in th books is how Emilia, despite starting her royal selection quest to save her people, has expanded her horizons and now seeks to create a nation without class or racial distinction. in that sense, the ballroom is a microcosm of what she's trying to achieve, I'll quote from the book here:

Quote:
"It was the way you looked at the great hall with gentle eyes just now. I can already tell from that."
"The atmosphere offered tranquility for nobles, merchants, commoners, humans, demi-humans, and mixed-blood people, without any discrimination of social standing or race.
"If you want to make this happen everywhere, I'll help. I think that is a good cause. If that scene becomes part of why Emilia-tan always works so hard, then I'll be first in line to help you."


As it did last season, the adaptation decided to end on a joyful note with Subaru and Emilia, rather than the Addendum that follows. I strongly expect this will be the first scene of season 3 but if you'd like to know: spoiler[In the replication facility something walks into the sunlight. Having recovered the "crystal she had her eyes on since the very beginning" and only regretting that "having been forced to borrow that thing's help, she was unable to crush her with the Trial", this is a "Ryuzu" with white robes that once entered the tomb and left with a piece of someone else's soul grafted onto her, which had been slowly taking over. Having disabled the barrier of the Sanctuary she headed outside, to a world that is "a mountain filled with treasure to satisfy her inexhaustible greed for knowledge". The Witch has been released unto the world once more."]

Lastly, about the whole kiss makes babies thing. Yes, its an anime trope but Tappei actually went a step further and wrote a short story depicting how this came to pass. I'll spoiler-tag it because there's always the small chance that it'd be adapted in an OVA, but I find that unlikely. Either way, here's a sumary of "Emily's Maid Path":

spoiler[The story takes place while Emilia, Puck and Roswaal are en route from Elior Forest to the Roswaal Manor. While on the road (Emilia can't fly), Roswaal is recalled urgently to the capital and flies off, leaving a letter of introduction and instructions for Emilia and Puck to wait for him at the nearby Miload Manor. At the Manor, Annerose tosses the letter aside, surmising that Emilia is another demi-human human for Roswaal's "collection", much to the admonishment of Frederica, who is staying there temporarily (you might recall she and Emilia knew eachother). Annerose thus decides that Emilia should start training at once, asks her to introduce herself but she only gets as far as "Emili" (thus becoming Emily for the rest of the story) before she's cut off and told to go get changed.

Puck believes there must be some misunderstanding but Emily wants to go through with it, believing it must be some kind of test. That said, as expected of someone who lived all her life in the forest, Emily's housekeeping work is abysmal. Annerose, who practices magic in anticipation of having to one day inherit the Roswaal name (as the current Roswaal shows no signs of wanting to get married), calls upon Emily because it's said elves are particularly skilled at magic, but Emily is just a spirit mage and instead introduces her to "her dad" Puck, who might help (but she just ends up playing with him like a cat). One day, Annerose is by the window, spying on a couple making out outside and calls Emily over to watch, telling her that's how babies are made, when a man and a woman kiss. She asks if Emily's mother is a cat like Puck but she says that Puck is like her father but he didn't really marry and kiss her mother and asks him to confirm. Puck confirms he hasn't and tries to bring up the kissing=babies thing but... "Nevermind... too embarrassing.".

Later, Roswaal arrives and is dumbfounded to find Emilia working as a maid. She recieves apologies from all present for the misunderstanding, including Annerose, but the two part on friendly terms and both treat eachother as Emily and Anne.

Interestingly, this story takes place one month before the royal family all perished due to an unexplained illness.]


And that's where we leave off. Next season, if it exists, will be once again different in tone. If I had to describe its tone, I'd say its closer counterpart so far is the early episodes of Arc 3, the return to the capital, except Subaru and the rest of the Emilia Camp are very different persons than they were back then. Arc 4 was very balanced in the "vertical" and "horizontal" aspects of character driven storytelling, both developing the existing characters and introducing new characters and aspects of the world. Arc 5 tough definitely leans more to the horizontal side of things. The world will expand once again, we'll meet again with several familiar faces and meet a few new ones and I guess Twitter is gonna go on the warpath over a certain bard. Hope we get to talk about it here someday!
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Iron Maw



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 482
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:55 am Reply with quote
This episode was a masterclass example how make a well earned ending.

Subaru, Emilia & many others went through one of most harrowing but life-change moments of their lives to get to this point coming out better, wiser and more mature people then their were before in S1. It why the ending to me so good to me, we witness the struggles the cast had with internal and external demons to lasted from anywhere form 400 to just 10 years ago or even another world all entirely that threaten enguff them trap in an uncertain dark future. But through solidly built bonds, understanding, growing self-awareness, encouragement and a bit of luck they broke the figurative & literally shackles around themselves ultimately the sanctuary. Even Roswaal who saw no way to achieve his ambitions but relying on the last vestiges of the woman he loved and throw everything else changed a bit.

Its why this arc as a whole is very much a personal journey as much as it narrative one.
Now the Emilia Camp exist in more than just a name, but it also family.
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:56 am Reply with quote
Before starting the season, if I had been spoiled that I'd see Roswaal taking punches from everyone and rolling around the floor, with his just accepting it, I would have called BS. He's the last person I expected to see in such a Subaru-esque situation.

I didn't expect them to actually show Echidna's face... did she look chubbier and with smaller eyes or is it just my mind playing tricks because Emilia didn't recognize her? Seriously, what was up with that? (and I guess Satella didn't her devour that thoroughly... not as much as Daphne would have).

Also surprised they gave up on Shima so nonchalantly, specially considering she's the only one who could have shared some long chats with Betty. Or that it was necessary to sacrifice her at all.

OrdepNM wrote:
Perhaps it wasn't entirely clear but neither Subaru nor Emilia know how to dance properly, they're just doing their own thing, ence the episode title.

Oh, it was all too clear Laughing
Speaking of dances, Beako dnacing with Petra was all too cute.

And wait, Roswaal's collection? The only demi-human we've seen working for him is Frederica!
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
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Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:20 am Reply with quote
Yuvelir wrote:
And wait, Roswaal's collection? The only demi-human we've seen working for him is Frederica!


400 years have passed at the Roswall mansion. I don't know the timeline for Ram and Rem's arrival at the mansion, but it was probably at the tail end of it. Conceivably, Roswall could have had many mansion staff over the generations.
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OrdepNM



Joined: 14 Nov 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:27 am Reply with quote
Yuvelir wrote:

I didn't expect them to actually show Echidna's face... did she look chubbier and with smaller eyes or is it just my mind playing tricks because Emilia didn't recognize her? Seriously, what was up with that? (and I guess Satella didn't her devour that thoroughly... not as much as Daphne would have).


Yes, the faces of the Echidna that Subaru and Emilia met at the trials and the one resting at the tomb are noticeably different, something that Subaru and Emilia are aware of but can't quite process at this point. As I noted above, Roswaal comfirms to Subaru that the one physically in the tomb is the face he remembers from 400 years ago.

Yuvelir wrote:
Also surprised they gave up on Shima so nonchalantly, specially considering she's the only one who could have shared some long chats with Betty. Or that it was necessary to sacrifice her at all.


Well one of them had to act as the sacrifice to disable the crystal acting as the source of the barrier, those were the instructions Echidna left them with as the overseers of the Sanctuary. The thing is the moment the spell protecting the Crystal went down Shima self appointed as the one to do it, even over the protests of the other Ryuzu. At this point there's not alot to be done, both Shima and the crystal Meyer was in are gone. Of course, as I noted in the cliffhanger spoiler above spoiler[having Shima rush the crystal was Echidna's plan to pass her Shima's Echidna tainted soul onto Meyer, take over her body and physically separate her from the rest of the group, so Echidna can slip back into the world unnoticed]

Yuvelir wrote:
And wait, Roswaal's collection? The only demi-human we've seen working for him is Frederica!


Ram and Rem may blend abit better than your average furry but as Oni they're still part of the demi-human catch all race. Also Roswaal said way back when that he dismissed most of his staff in antecipation of supporting Emilia's candidacy. Point is, the Mathers family got abit of a reputation with the Miloads for going around collecting demi-humans, when they were actually bringing mixed bloods to the Sanctuary, while this Roswaal was thought to be making his personal harem of demi maids.
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Sven Viking



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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:28 am Reply with quote
Subaru just running around the perimeter of the horde without getting swarmed looked pretty impossible to me (was I missing the “Emilia keeps them pinned down with magic” part during that, or was it just not shown well?), and I wish they’d made it clear in the episode that Beatrice was using up 400 years’ worth of stored magic on the fight because without knowing that it just appears as if she and Subaru are now overpowered, but apart from that I thought it was a great ending. Nice to see everyone happy for a while after everything else. I wonder what the chances are that it’ll take less than four years for a third season?

I can kind of understand how the way they ended up stuck on the sanctuary stuff wasn’t what you expected at first and felt frustrating at times — I mean, it was basically what I would have expected from an arc but this arc took an entire season whereas the first season contained multiple arcs. However there were so many twists and revelations and dramatic events and new mysteries and changes to characters that I don’t really get people saying that not much happened. The quasi-flashbacks were also like mini-arcs in themselves.

I thought parts of some of the emotional conversations could have been made even stronger and more plausible by being a bit less theatrical and probably shorter in consequence — I thought the same about From Zero — but they were still good scenes as written and various parts did find just the right balance and fully hit home for me.

Yuvelir wrote:
I didn't expect them to actually show Echidna's face... did she look chubbier and with smaller eyes or is it just my mind playing tricks because Emilia didn't recognize her? Seriously, what was up with that?

Apparently her face is supposed to be unrecognisable (why is a mystery for now, presumably), but they’ve animated it as being a quite subtle difference.
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Key
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:57 am Reply with quote
Yuvelir wrote:
OrdepNM wrote:
Perhaps it wasn't entirely clear but neither Subaru nor Emilia know how to dance properly, they're just doing their own thing, ence the episode title.

Oh, it was all too clear Laughing
Speaking of dances, Beako dnacing with Petra was all too cute.

I didn't notice on the first watch-through, but yeah, those aren't the most graceful dance moves, especially by Subaru. But I was paying more attention to how radiantly beautiful Emila looked when all dressed up, so. . .

I did notice the Beako/Petra thing and agree that it was quite cute. So was seeing how red-eared (as well as red-faced) Emilia was when she thought she was pregnant earlier in the episode.

I also agree that this was a satisfying rounding-out of the second series, as it brings to a resolution a lot of the character development that has happened to this date. Team Emilia is going to be much more of a force to be reckoned with when they return to the capital for the Royal Selection. If more gets animated, I am definitely going to be back on board for it.
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OrdepNM



Joined: 14 Nov 2018
Posts: 242
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:24 am Reply with quote
Sven Viking wrote:
Subaru just running around the perimeter of the horde without getting swarmed looked pretty impossible to me (was I missing the “Emilia keeps them pinned down with magic” part during that, or was it just not shown well?), and I wish they’d made it clear in the episode that Beatrice was using up 400 years’ worth of stored magic on the fight because without knowing that it just appears as if she and Subaru are now overpowered, but apart from that I thought it was a great ending. Nice to see everyone happy for a while after everything else. I wonder what the chances are that it’ll take less than four years for a third season?


Yeah, the fight with the rabbits had a very obvious time limit and they had to streamline it to the main beats, even leaning on one of my anime pet peeves by having Subaru verbally signaling Emilia over both a long distance and a raging blizzard, in the books he and Beatrice blink back to the entrance and he tells Emilia what he's planning.

As for the stuff about Beatrice's mana, yeah. I hope that someone at White Fox's screenwriters room or w/e put a sticky note on the Re:Zero folder for a possible S3 because if they don't address that early in the next season, the first time Subaru and Beatrice run into someone of ill intent and don't shower them with El Mynia, people who didn't read the books are gonna call shenanigans.
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SP654



Joined: 07 Apr 2020
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:40 am Reply with quote
When will there be season 3,we want more!!!
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Juno016



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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:45 pm Reply with quote
Btw, I was too tired at the time to notice at first, but there may have been a mistranslation in the official English subs on a crucial line during the Roswaal/Subaru talk that changes EVERYTHING about how we're supposed to think of Roswaal as an ally. I'm going to confirm this mistake tonight before I say exactly what it is, though. I watch with a friend, so we use subs and I wasn't paying enough attention because I had just gotten out of work and was tired.

So I'll be back to report tonight unless someone else gets to it first. The lines were extremely different in the English light novel and the English subs of the episode, but I don't know which one is the actual mistranslation.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:07 pm Reply with quote
Really enjoyed the ending. I thought Emilia was too cute when she turned red from the whole kissing=babies thing.
Everyone punching Roswaal was nicely cathartic.
It was a little odd seeing Rem in her maid outfit over a regular dress, though it's even odd bringing someone who's essentially catatonic to a party. I understand wanting her to be included, but it still seems off.
I thought the dancing was just the two having fun over being more formal, but it also isn't surprising Subaru doesn't know how to dance. You'd think Emilia would have been taught among her (presumed) lessons relating to the royal selection though.

Only disappointing thing was the lack of a mention of season 3. Hopefully that is just because of covid causing so many issues. I really hope we get a 3rd season, if only to hopefully see those conversations with Subaru and Emilia Smile

Thanks for all the info OrdepNM Anime smile
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NeverConvex
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:53 pm Reply with quote
Given that I've felt this past season has meandered more than a little bit, I was a little shocked at how satisfying I found the knighthood scene. Subaru finally, in fact, earned a pretty happy endin-- er, early-ish midpoint sorta thing? That small bit of redemption and well-earned pride's been a long time comin'.

I could do without Emilia playing out the super naive "What's sex?" trope, but otherwise I rather like how their relationship is evolving. It's a bit messy, and moving forward in fits and starts, all pretty coherently and naturally.
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Sven Viking



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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:52 pm Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
though it's even odd bringing someone who's essentially catatonic to a party. I understand wanting her to be included, but it still seems off.

In reality, there are cases where bringing a comatose person to an interesting place with interesting sounds has triggered something that wakes them up, although that may not be the case with magical comas.
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