I find the association of knowledge with greed fascinating.
So yes we know that Echidna is the Witch of Greed, but what does that mean for Subaru? It means she has a wealth of information about the world that couldn’t be learned otherwise. And as is typical of Subaru he wastes his opportunities to learn more. At the first meeting with Subaru at her tea party she dumps a lot of information on Subaru that he can’t process. As a member of the watching audience it’s too much as well. She dumps information about the other witches that we didn’t know about. If you watch it at normal speed, you lose lots of information that seems relevant to the mystery surrounding the witches. At the very least I would love Subaru to have a real conversation with the Witch of Greed, so we could figure out more about this world and what is actually going on.
Subaru has been trapped in the sanctuary for some time now. He leaves to go to the mansion sometimes, and he stays in the sanctuary sometimes. Although this last time Subaru is forced against his will to stay in the sanctuary. Letting on more than he should have, Subaru goes from inconvenience to threat in the mind of Garfiel. Until Garfiel understands Subaru he is determined to not let him escape. We have been trapped with Subaru in the sanctuary when all that Subaru wants is to return to the mansion.
There are two seemingly disconnected stories, but I am expecting the two stories to be one by the conclusion. So where does Echidna play into all of this?
So right now she seems to be the only one who knows what is happening. She has been watching Subaru from a distance. To be more specific she has been watching Subaru from the realm of death. It explains why he is able to talk about his return from death ability there without consequence. If he is in the realm of death it poses no threat to reveal that information there. The restriction for revealing that ability seems bound to the world of the living. She says she knows about the ability and even tries to communicate more with Subaru. Overwhelmed by the pain of the burden all Subaru can do is cry when he can finally talk about it for the first time.
Being able to talk about something is a powerful therapeutic tool, but keep in mind that Echidna is not a therapist. As revealed before she wants to know everything, that includes any information that Subaru can give her about the return from death ability. Subaru is vulnerable and I am imagining soon he is going to tell Echidna more information about his own feelings and experiences. But what does Echidna plan to do with this information? Is she actually someone we should trust? Is she merely curious for curiosity’s sake? I wonder what more we will learn about Echidna as time goes on.
Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts? I want to know!
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Fortress William 
While I believe that Echidna is at least somewhat curious about Subaru, I assume that Echidna still has her own goals in mind. Her soul is trapped in the Witch’s Graveyard, and I think it’s likely that she’d prefer that that not be the case. If her soul was freed, she could potentially reincarnate, and she’d be able to live again. I get the sense that knowing more about the Sanctuary, including why it keeps half-bloods trapped inside the Sanctuary barrier and why the barrier exists in the first place could be important information. Echidna must have set the barrier up for a reason. Since it’s Re:zero, and most plot details are important, there’s probably even a reason why there are three trials for freeing the Sanctuary residents instead of just 1 or 2. I wonder if Echidna had something in particular in mind in setting up the trials the way she did. Is Echidna testing for something in particular? Or did she just set up the trials on a whim, which I doubt was the case?
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The trials have to serve some purpose. It would be really interesting if it was all set up for her to reincarnate. I too have questions about the barrier. There is always so much Subaru doesn’t know, which means we don’t know it either. I don’t think its a good idea to have Echidna and Subaru alone. I don’t trust either of them. Echidna is up to something suspicious and Subaru doesn’t think things through. It makes for a bad mixture.
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