@@AnimeDateNightit was revealed in the Mushoku Tensei Mobile game and it was called Paul Gaiden: Runaway Arc (gaiden = spinoff). Long story short, Paul ran away from home at a young age and his mother got sick, died, and Paul regretted not being able to save her hence what he said to Rudy.
@@AnimeDateNight the Paul Gaiden's first arc had his early childhood. His mother Valentina (Sauros' sister) was a warm, nurturing, yet doting personality while his father Amarant as a regional lord tried (and absolutely failed) to be strict with him. After Pilemon's birth he started acting out and skipping school (except for swordsmanship classes) because lessons didn't interest him and the other students were arrogant children of various ranks of nobility. As he turned 10 he became a womanizer, having been seduced by one of the guests at the party. His antics made Amarant compensate various nobles whose betrothal plans were being messed with by Paul's shenanigans, running debts for the Notos house. Eventually he was placed under house arrest and Valentina came to console him every night. This taxed her health. He eventually offered a formal apology to his father, but didn't reform, and spent time in the slums instead, becoming a gang leader. After learning Valentina had become bedridden, he tried to find a doctor who made his rounds in the slums, but failed. By the time he got back, she was dead. Amarant and Pilemon blamed him for it. Paul's standing in the family declined, with Pilemon continually reminding him of both this and how he'll be the heir instead. At some point Amarant was going to place him under house arrest again for him visiting the slums, leading to Paul renouncing his lineage. Pilemon mocked him for being a waste of a son and how not even Valentina could have loved him in the end. Paul beat the ever-living shit out of his brother for that and fled the house. This turned into a regret for Amarant that eventually took him to his grave. He tried to get Paul to visit him one last time, but he kept sending the servants away. Eventually Elinalise persuaded him to at least listen. Paul received a letter of apology Amarant had written just before he died.
The Hydra was covered in scales sharp as razor - just brushing off against it could cut off a finger. When Rudy plunged his hand, the Hydra's eyelid came down like a hydraulic press.
Yeah, and I think in the LN Paul saved Rudy from the unexpected attack of a headless neck and that was what cut/grated away his lower body, but I guess in the anime this sharp scales thing was not that obvious so theymade Rudy space out a second time.
@@eralfion5316 Yes and if I'm not mistaken Rudy drives his arm into an already decapitated head as it's still controlling the headless Hydra. It's actually pretty cool because Rudy is using his future sight eye. And all of a sudden he sees the Hydra's head up close to him. He has no idea why or why. Then a second later Paul kicks him out of the way of a headless Hydra neck that was about to kill Rudy. That's the hit that Paul takes for Rudy. Thus the kick sends Rudy flying towards the decapitated Hydra head... so the reason Rudy saw the head so close to him his future sight was because paul kicked him to save his life. Then yes Rudy shoves his arm into the eye and it blinks and removes his hand.
Yeah, in the moment, it sounded incredibly selfish of Paul to ask Rudy to put his life on the line for Zenith. But my personal theory is that Paul knew no matter what happened, he would've protected Rudy with his life, so he said it as a way of asking Rudy to put all of his fear aside and go in with all he has. To ask a mage to go into point blank range against a creature that could attack from 9 different angles is basically that, asking them to commit suicide. Still, Rudy picked up what Paul was putting down - he knew his father wanted him to resolve to save Zenith with his all, and that's the only mental state where he was able to risk his hand to kill the thing.
_"Paul knew no matter what happened, he would've protected Rudy with his life, so he said it as a way of asking Rudy to put all of his fear aside and go in with all he has."_ Oooh that does make sense and it's backed by Paul's own ending. He was watching out for Rudy. He would not let Rudy die if Paul had anything to say about it
@@AnimeDateNight Paul was looking out for everyone but mainly Rudy. He saved/protected Rudy a total of 3/4 times, the elf girl 1/2 times and the dwarf once. Paul was also always in the line of fire, he never had a break from the hydra's attention. Ironically the only time he did was when the hydra was mainly targeting Rudy.
Not so fun fact: Rudeus had to cremate Paul's corpse and crush his remaining bones because there was a high chance that the mana dense environment of the labyrinth would've reanimated Paul as a zombie or a skeleton. Even less fun fact: there is a canon audio drama that gave us Pauls POV for the Hydra fight, alongside his final thoughts.
Btw they didn't burn Paul just for respect but so he doesn't turn into a ghoul/undead, that can happen inside a dungeon. Also, after burning him they had to crush his bones too so he doesn't turn into a skeleton instead. Rudeus has really been through a lot in this episode.
Not sure if anyone explained this but in the novel it explain that adventures are normally cremated where they die in high mana areas like labyrinths because they can become animated monsters. A Paul strength monster would not be a fun tactically or emotionally to defeat.
15:50 There's an older audio drama, the Mushoku Tensei Drama CD, that does Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective and the hydra fight from Paul's perspective, *including his dying thoughts* "I don't want to die! There are still so many things I wanted to do! But... Oh well, better this than Rudy dying. Keep your chin up..."
The Voice actor of Paul did a fantastic job in that drama cd if you ask me. Only heard about the it from a comment after watching the episode and immediately looked for it on youtube. I am kinda hoping that something similar will be in the next episode but I kinda doubt it.
The hydra's scales are so hard and heavy, it was so sharp it chopped Rudy's hand like a guillotine. Also its blood is acidic. Extras about Paul's sword Paul's new curved short sword is a magic item. It can't cut something soft like dried meat, but it can cut harder opponent's armor because the sharper the cutting edge gets with its Armor Break ability. It gets treated like a dull butter knife so Paul bought it for few copper coins in Rapan because the merchant couldn't identify it.
That's cool!! Hopefully Rudy took the swords then, not to be funny but Sylphy would use that if she had to. It could also be a memento from his dad 😭😭😭😭
I was waiting for your reaction on this! One of the things that sadly they didn't put in the show is that the reason why Rudy froze is because when the hydra had one head left it started trashing all around in desperation and that overloaded his demon eye because it was so big and so close it just froze him in place trying to process all that info. He was pushing his eye to the max and in the end that made him get overwhelmed. Also When Paul told him he needed to get his mom back even if he died he knew he was being super selfish and he was not talking to him as a father but as a husband he knew what he said was fucked up and yet at the end he sacrificed himself to save his son so even trying to be selfish he put his son first which was one of his biggest worries (not being good enough of a dad which at the end he proved he was). The hydra's blood was acid so they had to deal with that as they were hurting it too. Get ready for what comes next because it just get better from here!
_"the reason why Rudy froze is because when the hydra had one head left it started trashing all around in desperation and that overloaded his demon eye because it was so big and so close it just froze him in place trying to process all that info"_ that makes so much sense!! The same thing happened when Rudy faced Orsted, there was too much future stimuli for Rudy to process.
This is what Paul thought on the CD Drama before he died "My vision has turned completely dark" "I can't breathe..." "... can't talk either" "Am i dying? "At least... i wanted to confirm... whether Zenith is alive or not" "Not only that... Norn and Aisha..." "I wanted to see them again..." "Are they going to school...? Have they grown up...?" "Lilia... what kind of face will she make? Even if it's only troublesome... will she cry?" "God damn it... I'm filled with regrets..." "I don't want to die..." "Still there are... so many things... I wanted to do..." "But... Oh well... It's better than Rudy dying..." "Stay positive..." *paul smile*
This is THE BEST episode of Mushoku hands down. It's also the most pivotal in season 2 since it is the start of Rudeus becoming the person he needs to be, especially when things get real in the future. But man this episode is just... Bruh Like... - Rudeus lost a limb. - Paul died believing he was a bad father - Paul also did all this, pooled so many resources and effort, just to rescue a vegtable - Healing magic heals the body BUT NOT the mind. So they're literally gonna be forced to take care of a constant reminder of their failure - Technically, Rudeus lost both his parents. - Rudeus caused his father's death, both by disobeying the mangod and by slipping mid-battle - Rudeus is already very mentally weak and breaks easily. So imagine this situation man... - Also, when you think about it, he lost 4 parents now. - ALSO, HE NEEDS TO TELL ALL THIS TO HIS SISTERS, ONE OF WHOM RELIED ON HIM TO SAVE THEM
SO MUCH. This is going to hugely impact the girls and Rudy, Sylphy is still pregnant, and now I expect the fam will move in with Rudy. I don't think anyone considered Zenith would be alive but not sentient. I also have to wonder whether or not Rudy actually "caused" Paul's death. Rudy saved the party like 2 - 3 times. Paul would have been spread thin without Rudy. And Rudy won't consider that 😭
@@AnimeDateNight He is definitely not the type to consider that. He's more the type to cherry pick the negatives and hang himself with it. We've seen him break a lot of times already to know that this is the case. Except this time, it's a way worse situation.
omg... we saw his reaction @ Eris... for all his talk about his parents not being his parents, and being more like roommates but I think he's (unknowingly) full of shit. Like, Rudy thinks he means that. Until he loses them. Rudy really cared for Zenith when he was smaller - and he was sentient then too. His adult brain was someway in that child body. He did care for her, and Lilith - it's why he stepped up so hard when they were both pregnant.
@@AnimeDateNight I know right. That's a really good observation, especially since, at its core, since season 1, Mushoku Tensei has always been about family. Rudy doesn't know it yet, but he values family way more than he thinks and this tragic situation might finally force that into his heart. It's tragic, such a late realization.
anime didn't convey the "freeze" vs the hydra part good at all. rudy was using his demon eye from the get go. he was way too focused on his eye and at that point the hydra was going ham moving the tail, all of its stumps etc... and rudy simply got overwhelmed from tunnel visioning into his foresight and he froze. about the regret thing... he went , gave it his all, saved roxy and zenith but lost the left arm(hand, which btw he named Heracles) and his dad. if he didn't go i believe the regret would be SO MUCH BIGGER. Roxy would be dead, nobody would be able to find her, let alone save her. Paul was hellbent on finding Zenith, the group would still be by his side trying to help find Zenith and they would eventually all get wiped somewhere between the 4th or 5th stratum. Rudy would be kicking himself and blaming himself till the end of days knowing he could help them and he didn't bother. so pick your poison between a) lose your left hand and your dad dies or b) Your Dad dies, Roxy dies, Elinalise (who mind you went there for your sake) dies, Geese dies(who helped with you and your dad getting back in good terms), Talhand dies(ok he doesnt know him) and Zenith is still gone. p.s the first time before they entered the hydras lair... paul wanted to say something to rudy and rudy told him not to say anything. Paul wanted to say "I'll save you even if it kills me" So when they returned to talk about tactics... paul is giving that speech to everyone and then singles out rudy and finishes it with a "Save your mom even if it kills you" The whole thing coming from paul was "Save your mom even if it kills you" and "i'll save you even if it kills me"
okay so Madison wondered about the regret part! Cos Rudy brought that book with the teleportation circles. Without that, the entire team is likely wiped out. _"The whole thing coming from paul was "Save your mom even if it kills you" and "i'll save you even if it kills me"_ 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
@@AnimeDateNight for sure... especially without the knowledge of burning talfro roots... the devouring devils in the 5th stratum would tear them apart.
Rudy lost his hand because the Eyelids weighed a ton and were as sharp as the rest of the Hydras scales and then the jerking motion ripped it off, So basically it was crushed, Ripped off and then burned by Roxy, if he was able to retrieve it he could've reattached it with that same spell he used to grow a nub.
@@AnimeDateNight Narration. The book kinda differentiates monologuing and narration, even when it's clearly in the character's POV. And yeah, the chapter both before and after that cutoff is absolutely heartrending. How Rudeus blames himself for Paul, and his conclusion of how there's nothing left of Zenith and that he wouldn't be able to share the burden of grief with her. He could still somewhat hobble on after Paul, but losing Zenith is what breaks him. I look forward to how they adapt Rudeus' introspection/spiralling next episode.
Nah Paul has a point. He's been suspicious of Rudy since Ep1, he doesn't behave like a normal baby or kid or young man. Paul has always known there's something off about Rudy and the way Rudy had no emotional reaction to finally finding Zenith just felt weird to him. Paul was reckless and just ran straight in to fight the hydra sure, but Rudeus wasn't being calm because "it's the smart thing to do" he was calm because he doesn't particularly care like a normal son should and it rubbed Paul the wrong way. Rudy admits to not really thinking of her as much more than a roommate which is understandable but Rudy hasn't really reconciled with himself about how he treated his old parents and feels about his new parents...yet
I have to say, this is a load of shit, no offense. I hope you don't have that sort of thinking if you are or will ever be a parent. People can be very different, kids included, and process things very differently from each other(Norn and Aisha are very different, for example - and Aisha is an actual genius, unlike Rudeus). It doesn't have to be a "reincarnated" person. If anything, Paul is lucky it Rudeus was like that, considering multiple really bad things Paul did - could have done serious damage to the family or even broken it apart. If it was an average child. Namely, ep.3, ep.4 - Things that could have gone horribly wrong for multiple people if not for Rudeus helping the situation or being able to handle it and understand it. Then ep. 16 is another one. (and this ep. 22) (Ep 16) Don't even get me started on that one. Paul wasn't even happy to see Rudeus and that he is safe. While having compromised his ability to even look for his family through getting drunk in a tavern a lot of the time. For Paul, Zenith>everyone else. If he saw Zenith show up, he wouldn't care what so ever if she (someone with actual experience in the world and S class adventuring experience) did impossible things to look for others. He would be over the moon instantly and figure out the rest later. (Can write 20 times this on this episode alone if I were to break down properly in regards to how Paul acted toward Rudeus, not to mention the sever gaslighting, made worse by the fact that Rudeus, is child, is a very easy target for it. Just by seeing how he looked Eris was shocked and extremely angry for a good reason.) This one too would have ended really badly if not for Geese. Who went extremely hard, dropping some facts, and was close enough with Paul to be able to do that. With A LOT of effort push him towards not being a shithead. Then the bartender came in a bit clutch. (unfortunately the gaslighting after effects were still there, but it is what it is) Paul is a very mixed bag, and when things get serious or difficult, he usually fumbles it. Even in this episode, when he saw Zenith, he didn't care about anyone else and risked the lives of everyone in the party by blindly rushing an unknown threat. Elinalise had to save him, risking her life, then Roxy had to save them as she got stuck. Lucky that Roxy and others were that capable and experienced adventurers to barely make it. He is a well written character, but he is a pretty messed up person. Who has the fortune of having many good and capable people around him to pick up the slack. As a side note, don't take what characters say as if they are fully self aware fact spitting machines. Rudeus says a lot of things(especially in the past), a lot of them are not quite true in practice. He thought the same things about Paul, see how that affects him now in practice. Among other things in the future regarding Zenith. I won't post spoilers. Though plenty should be somewhat clear, if you can see better the depth.
@@HiddenStr3ngth nah nothing I said was wrong. I never said Paul wasn't a flawed father. You and I both know Rudeus doesn't fully accept this life as his actual life yet. He doesn't accept these parents as HIS parents. He hasn't even reconciled the deaths of his earth parents yet.
12:50 all monsters have intelligence. And malice. Animals would be a threat if they perceive _you_ to be a threat to their safety, territory, offspring, food, or mates, or if they perceive you as food. Monsters see you as something that they must kill if at all possible. Higher-rank monsters can coordinate lower-rank monsters like pawns (like in the fight Roxy was in).
Theoretically they could have retached the hand if they still had the hand but when the head was burning Rudy was like: "Yep that ship has sailed." Also getting a healer to regrown limps would be way too expensice. Probably something only high ranked nobles can afford. Lot of people talk about Pauls regret regarding his own mother which is understandable to his motiviation, but its still a shitty thing to say as a parent. Justification or not.
fuuuuu---!!! I (Madison) am hoping that one of Rudy's OG powdered friend may be able to help him later. Even if they can't regrow the arm, I feel like Nanahoshi could help with a prosthesis
You would have to find someone capable of casting really high level healing magic. Which is probably next to impossible even if you have the money to pay for it. Orsted could do it, as we saw in s1 ep.21. Healed him from a huge hole in his chest, while being next to fully dead. Early on, when Roxy reached King class in water magic, Paul said you can probably count all king class mages on one hand. And healing magic seems to be more difficult to reach high level in. Sylphie is better at it than Rudeus, but still not that high. And both of them are considered insanely gifted mages.
Just to clarify Rudy wasn't to slow too move he couldn't react in time because the hydra was using its stumps as a whip and rudy's eye couldn't see it coming. As for what they did with pauls body they had to burn it because the mosters could have possessed making him an undead. And unfortunately yes zenith is in full vegetable mode. Memories and abilities to do anything on her own
The Hydra's body is Hard Elinalise sword is enchanted with shockwave magic cannot go through Only Paul is the only capable of slashing the Hydra because his second blade is enchanted by magic that negates durability
You’re misunderstanding Paul’s “save your mom, even if it kills you”. But it’s understandable that you did. Because remember, Paul is like Eris. Neither one of them are very good with words. It was his way of trying to impart one final lesson on his son. That lesson being that family will sacrifice everything for family. He’s not actually telling Rudy to sacrifice himself, so Rudy’s right that he’s saying that to show his resolve.
If Sylphy were trapped in the crystal instead, Rudy would become as impulsive as his father. It's just human nature. Even if they went back and took a lot of time to prepare thoroughly and find stronger people, it would still be impossible to face the Hydra without any casualties.
@@AnimeDateNight Paul would be happy to know, and it's shown in the episode that he was happy, his sacrifice resulted in saving his beloved son and wife at the end of it all. This episode has made me tear up and cry with every reaction I watch. Phenomenal episode, probably the best anime episode l've seen in years. As a LN reader I knew it was coming, but they did a superb job, and it literally made me have goosebumps with the visuals, soundtrack, and especially voice acting.
Rudeus doesnt have super strenght like the warriors so his reaction time and movement are the same as a regular person, the hydra has super strenght so even the eyelid can chop the arm off with its hard scales The magic eye can show the future, but without super reaction speed Rudeus has to pay close attention to the futures he sees, so he can get overloaded The labyrinth originally was just a standard "cave with monsters" type of dungeon, but as it expanded it fused with some teleportation ruins in the area and became a teleport dungeon My personal theory is that Zenit was teleported to the labyrinth, but as it already has active teleport magic, she got "rerouted" to the center of the network, the crystals on the boss room
It’s not brain damage, so don’t worry about that. But it is *something.* Do you remember when Elinalise mentioned in this episode that she knew someone who was in a similar situation to Zenith’s? Yeah, we’ll find out from _her_ what’s wrong with Zenith, since she has a little experience with this kind of thing. It’s not something you’d expect.
For the burried of Paul, everything in this world is made of magic, so if they let his corps, it would have become a zombie, and if they let his bone, it would have become a skeleton, that's why they had to do it here directly
Next emotional nuke: Turning Point 4! Look forward to it! P.S.: If this episode broke you, TP4 will *shatter* you. Everything you’ve seen in this show up to now are *nothing* compared to TP4.
@@AnimeDateNight Yeah. Turning Point 3 is my favorite Turning Point, mostly because it leads to this episode, but Turning Point 4 blows it out of the water in terms of immediate events, similar to how the best parts of Turning Points 1 & 2 were immediate. So basically imagine this episode, but as a Turning Point instead of the _results_ of a Turning Point. Or better yet, imagine the ED arc, but times a thousand. It’ll blow your mind with how insanely emotional it gets.
Love your content, but gotta debunk you a little bit here You can't defend rudy by saying he cares for zenith as a mother, when he literally states shes more like a roommate and i havent seen her in like 10 years Its another ep 16 situation, paul is emotional (obviously) i mean hes now seen zenith and hes determined to leave with her, whether that means rescuing her alive or retrieving her dead body from the labyrinth
lmao I wish they were fake. Hatred is strong word, I was irritated with him and didn't necessarily like him. Doesn't mean I want him dead. Anywho, we really appreciate you comin through! Fr - this was an amazing ep and it's great to share this journey!! :D
@@AnimeDateNight i enjoyed my journey, but considering how sensitive you guys are to these subjects, you'll probably be one of the few reactors dropping it next week and if not then you'll definitely avoid season 3 because thats when it really GETS DARK