I have a suspicion that Emilia is Satella the witch of envy.
I wrote about my muted suspicions several months ago that there might be a potential for Emilia to in reality be Satella. That or that Emilia was simply maybe a victim of prejudice against half elves who resembled the witch of envy. Like Subaru, during episode 35, you have to take a hard look and wonder. My original suspicions didn’t have as much evidence as they do now. Before watching in season one there were little hints here and there. There was nothing concrete, just whispers of what could be. Drops of words here and there, conversations that felt a bit out of place. Given the nature of Re:Zero itself I was willing to turn more of a blind eye, but I remember what was happening and what has been said that bothered me. Now I have more evidence to support my guess work or in other words conjecture that Emilia is Satella.
Of course others have pointed to the fact it is impossible for Emilia to be the witch of envy. It was over 400 years ago that she had lived. She was sealed away and kept from seeing the light of day. And they may be right. Satella could be long gone, or at the very least be a different entity than Emilia. After all Betelgeuse (Petelgeuse) considered Emilia to be the vessel for Satella, and not Satella herself. It was the reason for his attack on the Roswaal manor to begin with, to bring Satella back through Emilia. There are reasons to believe Emilia isn’t the witch of envy, and good ones too.
Humor my conjectures for a moment. Let’s look at the big picture for Re:Zero lore that we know from this point. The reason why Satella was sealed was because she could not be killed. The reason that Lugnica is in a moment of crisis is because the last blood descendent of the kings is dead. The royal family had originally made a contract with a dragon protector to keep Satella at bay. With that lineage gone, there is no guarantee that the dragon protector will keep the promise to continue to protect the kingdom. The main mission of the royal candidate when selected is that they would have to make a new pact with the dragon, or if that failed establish new safeguards to protect the kingdom from Satella.
Now let’s consider the fact that Roswaal wants to destroy the dragon protector of the Lugnica. He has backed Emilia for a royal candidate. Roswaal has a book that tells him the future. Subaru enters the scene as a game changer for Roswaal. And whose power does Subaru have? No other power than Satella’s power: return by death.
Stepping back, we have to consider the fact that the witches cults still are very much real. They still pose a real threat to the order of the kingdom. The essence of the witches are not gone. The gospels the sin archbishops carry are taboo. While the other witches are dead, their power is not gone. There is some unknown spell, or world mechanic that we are unaware of keeping their power around. Their spirit endures in the world at large. Considering those facts, I don’t consider it a stretch that Satella is actually alive and well.
So how does this fit into the conjecture that Emilia is Satella? Well remember the first name that Emilia actually gave to Subaru on his first adventure was actually Satella. She resembles the description of Satella. In the OVA The Frozen Bond, Emilia wakes up with no memory and is living alone in the snow. She makes a contract with Puck, a great spirit with the ability to actually destroy the world. Puck clearly has a history with her that he is forbidden from sharing with her, and by extension the audience. Emilia has powers that are inexplicable, but for now seem to be under her control.
And now for the first time we actually have something of a visual of what Satella looks like. And while we couldn’t get a complete look, Satella had an uncanny resemblance to Emilia. Why else would Subaru pause when he returns from death at Emilia’s side?
Satella appearance as an apparition while searching for her love Subaru is fascinating and disturbing at the same time. But where did that apparition come from? Why haven’t we seen Emilia separate from that apparition? Something triggered that apparition into appearing. And what if just maybe it had something to do with Emilia actually being Satella? Of course I can’t confirm what hasn’t been confirmed by the anime itself. In the words of Sherlock Holmes himself we need facts to create theories, and not theories to suit facts. I could be well off the mark, but I am confident at the very least there is some kind of connection that Emilia has with Satella. And if I am right, then Emilia has been Satella this whole time.
Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts? I want to know!
Is there anything you would like me to cover? Do you want to know my thoughts on anything? Have something I should know? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, comment below!
Fortress William 
You had mentioned this in your previous post about Return by Death that you suspect Emilia to be Satella, and I posted my response to that, so I’m not going to post it again except for a small summary.
I believe that all souls bear a unique scent, and given that Emilia does not have the same foul stench as Satella, Emilia is not Satella. And Satella’s soul is likely confined to the afterlife, so if that’s the case, Emilia and Satella are two separate people since Emilia has her own soul that is in her own body.
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It seems extremely likely from the sheer amount of “wink wink, nudge nudge” moments from both the anime and manga that Emilia is indeed Satella as the only thing that disproves it is the fact that Satella lived some 400 years before the first episode… which is basically irrelevant since Satella seems to be the only being in the world of Re: Zero who has the ability to travel in time (how else could she give said power to Subaru without her possessing an equal or stronger version of it?)
The stench emanating from Satella is not actually what her soul smells like, but the smell of the power she possesses as the Witch of Envy or the ability she uses, as the witch’s “miasma” grows stronger the more Subaru converses with other witches/ uses Return By Death.
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Sounds good enough. Here is my take on how the timeline keeps its integrity while still having Satella exist in the present as a witch. Basically: Satella did not turn to Emilia but the other way around.
The theory starts in a different timeline where Subaru was not transported specifically to save Satella, perhaps the world just needed a hero to deal with another threat, or Subaru was already living there.
Emilia and Subaru lived their lives well into adulthood and might have even had children but a series of events caused Subaru to sacrifice himself, hence why during the Witches’ tea-party Satella told Subaru to also respect his own life.
Mourning Subaru’s death, Emilia went crazy and desperate and sought out the help of the Witch of Envy or whatever force the powers originated from to try to get Subaru back/ change this future and somehow go back to the past to undo what must be an utterly complicated series of events that almost guaranteed Subaru to die. She got Envy’s powers, but since Emilia wasn’t compatible with the miasma, she got a serious split-personality disorder and went on a murder trip until she was finally sealed away as per lore.
When Satella realised what she had done, she went back in time once again and imprisoned herself (Emilia)
so Subaru could somehow solve this. Satella then summoned Subaru and gave him the ability to return by death so he could have a better chance at sorting this mess out and saving her.
What she didn’t expect though was a fuck-up so huge, Subaru’s psyche/ memory got damaged. Satella went “oh fuck” and made his Return By Death bring him back to the point where he was first summoned AND made him reset his memory or to a point in time right before he was summoned to this world, then brought to a place later in time (the market with Mr. Savepoint Guy) so Subaru could meet Emilia afterall to perhaps give him the emotional support he needs. (we know that the only things that can ruin Subaru’s ability are him being imprisoned or losing his sanity)
This created a time paradox where Subaru and Emilia are trying to stop Satella, while Emilia is a completely different person now from all the hate and isolation she suffered as a child be it directly or indirectly from Satella’s efforts to contain her and spare Subaru as she was afraid that the reason Subaru failed so badly before was because he had to deal with his feelings towards Emilia (Satella) and protect her.
This means that 1) the first time we saw Subaru appear on the market and die was not his first time in this world, it’s just that he himself lost all memories of his previous lives. 2) At the minimum the show takes place after the second time this world and Subaru were reset by Satella.
Now, if all of this is true then Roswaal would also HAVE TO know about how Subaru’s future involves Satella as important as she is in this story and thus why Roswaal is supporting Emilia in the Royal Elections. He isn’t really supporting her for the elections themselves but because he has to be close to her to be able to effectively manipulate her and Subaru’s actions.
TL;DR: Satella is Emilia from an alternative future. Between the moment Subaru closed his eyes at the mall and opened it in Lugnica, he”s been trying to save Emilia/ Satella for a possibly years but last time he died in a way that either reset his memory from the sheer damage to his soul itself or made him go crazy and Satella had to reset his memory to save him. Roswaal likely knows ALL OF THIS, hence why he wants to manipulate Emilia and Subaru according to his gospel. Fuck this is still too long. Trying again.
TL;DR 2: Satella = Emilia from an alternative future where Subaru died.
Subaru’s been trying to save her for possibly years now but his last try made him lose his memories.
Roswaal likely knows all of this.
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I like the ideas presented. Thank you for sharing. It’s not an angle I had considered before.
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Considering the newest episode (41) that is out, Emilia went to do the sanctuary trial again and we see her meeting Echidna. Now Emilia has her memories back, since Puck broke the contract, and she said to Echidna that she is the Frozen Witch and that she is not going to give in to the malice of a “fellow witch”. That made me question if Emilia is actually Satella or if maybe she is her daughter or biologically connected with her, hence the resemblance in appearance. The ending of this episode made my brain hurt lol
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