PAIN

Delaying the release of this episode to air it on Father's Day was *NASTY* work 💀

You lost your hand, your dad and now your mom is a vegetable. Happy Father's Day Rudy!

The reason Rudy froze is because the hydra started using the necks to attack and they were not within his field of vision, so his eye of foresight was seeing a bunch of destruction confusing tf outta Rudeus since the necks until that moment were basically just dead weight, and unlike Paul he does not have insane reaction time.

The LN explains that Rudy saw a multi vision with Hydra going crazy and he couldn't comprehend it so he froze. Leave goat Rudy alone

The person who decided to release this episode on Father’s Day definitely has dad issues.

Yes The studio released the episode where Rudy was announced to have a child on mother's day And likely decided skipped a week just so they could release this episode on Father's Day We might just be witnessing a Goated studio at trolling

"geese ran off" geese is not a fighter, he is the scout/trap finder/mapper/inventory manager of the team. he stays behind during fights

I gotta give massive respect to Lilia, you just know she was emotionally destroyed the moment she heard Paul didn't make it back, but she still kept her composure and made sure to tend to Rudy first. She's lowkey been more of a mother figure for him than Zenith, due to obvious circumstances.

When they come back to Rudy's house its going to be awkward: Norn: "Hello Mother, where is father?". Zenith: "🥕🥦🥬"

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="544">9:04</a> i saw somebody say that in the light novel it was explained that the headless hydra parts were fucking with Rudy's future sight so he couldn't see when and where the actual attack came in

to explain why he paused, they didn't really show it well but, From the LN "It was then, just as I was using my magic to cauterize the second to last stump, that the hydra’s body trembled. I didn’t know what that movement meant. I could see it with my Eye of Foresight, but I didn’t understand it. The creature was too big." TL;DR the hydra was too big for Rudy to decipher it's next move when it was up close

Fun fact the arm rudeus lost was named Hercules! The legend of Hercules gave him the idea of defeating the hydra.

guys remember this is a Paul who retired. he was this nasty. now imagine his peak. wow

"Yo man god bro you didn't tell me I was gon lose my WHOLE DAD!? And my mom has the IQ of a fvking spinach?"

The reason he froze was because he was trying to read the hydras movements with his eye of foresight. But it was thrashing frantically and extremely desperate.

The fact that this episode was aired on Father’s Day too.. they were so sick for that but it worked out really well for the added pain 😭

Rudy was using the eye of foresight the entire fight, and it was keeping him out of harms way. At the end it started thrashing uncontrollably, and overloaded his eye, the same way it did in his fight with Orstead.

"On Father's Day, I'm proud to give my life for my son" -Paul

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="524">8:44</a> The reason Geese ran off after the breath attack is because he's not a good fighter. He'd just get in everyone's way if he got close to the hydra. Geese handles traps and mapping for the team inside dungeons, and logistics, gathering info, etc, outside of them. My man knows his role and is acting accordingly during the battle.

Rudy made the right choice, if he hadn’t gone there Roxy would have defo died, Zenith wouldn’t have been found and the party could have easily gone through the wrong portal. Also, Paul would have just been straight up depressed, even though he died, he was at least happy.

Paul = became just "GO/" Zenith = cascad Rudy = gutsed

Paul really said: "Nah, I'd win"

Others already mentioned why Rudy froze, but another little detail is shortly right after when Rudy sticks his arm in the eye of the hydra, he does that because he’s triggered by his ptsd of Orsted who has the same pupils.

Everything happens so fast so the confusion is understandable, but Rudeus "freezing up" was because the Hydra basically switched up its attack patterns on the final phase of the boss fight and he couldn't process what was going on. The Hydra started swinging its decapitated necks everywhere which put the mages, who had to stick close to the front lines, in danger and would've killed Rudeus and Roxy if it weren't for Paul and Talhand protecting them. And the final head went for Rudeus at the end cuz it knew Rudeus was both its biggest threat and the easiest target.

I don’t know this myself I just read a comment, but apparently Rudy froze because the Hydra started attacking with its stumps when there was one head left, and it threw him off guard. Probably explained more in the light novel.

I recommend everyone who liked this labyrinth arc to listen to the Mushoku Tensei Volume 12 Drama CD. You can find it on KZfaq. This brings several moments of this arc from different perspectives, for example: Roxy's rescue from Rudeus' perspective, and Paul's death from his perspective, having his last thoughts. Paul's last thoughts. --- "Am I dying?" "I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least." "Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..." "I wanted to see them again." "Are they going to school?" "Have they grown up?" "Lillia - what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..." "Will she cry?" "Dammit, I'm filled with regrets." "I don't want to die..." "Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do." Rudy: "Father!" "But..... Oh well..." "It’s better than seeing Rudy die." "Chin up, my son. Stay positive..." He smiles one final time.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="397">6:37</a> To be fair to Paul here, Rudy has a weird habbit of being so emotionally detatched that is seems like he "doesn't care" about his family (as we saw in this very episode when he says he doesn't really feels consider Zenith his mom as much as someone he grew up with) and Paul knows it. Remember back in S1 when Paul and Rudy reunited for the first time and Rudy seemed waaay more concerned with Sylphy than he did his own mom and sisters? By asking Rudy to "save his mom even if it kills him", Paul basically asks Rudy to focus on their family *for once* - thats how much saving Zenith means to him.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="688">11:28</a> I saw this explanation from another comment section and wanted to put it here so here it is “If you notice Rudy was being saved left and right throughout this entire fight by either Elinalise or Paul, he just couldn't keep up with those two with superhuman strength. At the end he was distracted by the Hydra attacking with it's necks so he didn't notice that he drew aggro on the remaining head.”

"Yo man god lemme talk to you for a sec you didn't tell me I was gon lose my whole dad?!"

Realistically this was probably the best outcome apart from everyone surviving. If rudy didnt come roxxy would have died for sure, they probably would have struggled to find another mage and eventually started going back in. More could have been hurt or killed but Paul wouldn't have left until he knew for sure and he would have just got more self destructive until he probably died in the dungeon. Rudy might have heard in the future that roxxy died in a dungeon if he did he'd probably find out that it was the dungeon Paul had taken her to in order to find Zenith. He would blame himself for not going and it would tank his reputation with anyone involved that Paul's party needed a good mage and Rudy his son and an amazing mage wasn't there it would be like some cosmic tragedy. Rudy needed to be there for better or worse because last time he never looked at his parent's faces in the funeral he needed to see their faces in this life to complete part of his arc.

When we first learned Eris’s grandfather got killed and her family was dead as well i remember thinking “and of course Eris’ family is dead but Paul is alive (i know he suffered hardships) and they will probably find Zenith as well because Rudy is the main character so of course his family survives” I TAKE THAT BACK. My bad and apologies, there was no main character plot armor. And the fact that they released this in father’s day of all days 😭

Paul wasn't the greatest father ever however he was exactly what Rudy needed to become a better person and live life to the fullest

According to the novel, Rudy saw (with his demon eye) the Hydra do something. It was going to fling its severed necks around like a whip. He saw but couldn't react to it quick enough and Paul had to kick him away. Here it is word for word: It was then, just as I was using my magic to cauterize the second to last stump, that the hydra’s body trembled. I didn’t know what that movement meant. I could see it with my Eye of Foresight, but I didn’t understand it. The creature was too big. “You moron!” “Wait-!” Before I realized what was happening, Paul had slammed me out of the way. Something enormous came crashing down right in front of my eyes. But…it didn’t have a head anymore? No-there was no head, but it did still have a neck. The hydra was slinging its headless necks around like spiked whips- all eight of them! Every one of them was coated in tough scales that could shred flesh like a cheese grater. It whipped those necks around all at once, mowing down anything in the vicinity. “Ruuudyyyyy!” Paul screamed, driving his foot into me to kick me out of the way. Almost simultaneously, a thud resounded as something smashed to the ground right where I’d been a moment ago, in the once-empty space that had existed between Paul and me.

Paul's death was spoiled to me in the worst way possible: Instagram recommendations. Just a single frame in a sea of images. Man was I mad... I tried really hard to forget it, but of course it was impossible. It was the first and last spoiler I ever saw of Mushoku too. On the other hand, I was only expecting it from this episode, so the Zenith twist really got me

There’s actually an audio book on KZfaq of the light novel. You can hear Paul’s final thoughts while he’s dying if you’re interested in hearing that

It’s rough because if Rudy didn’t go then Roxy would have died but if he didn’t his dad survives… Impossible decision considering how much both mean to him

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="695">11:35</a> yea he technically saw everything that was about to happen and couldn't process it fast enough. The hydra started throwing everything at the wall . Never back a dangerous creature into a corner and all that

Errbody cried. Even those of us who've read the novel and knew what was coming, it was still hard to see. Paul was an absolute beast during this fight and was the most down to earth character in the novel. He will be sorely missed and I won't be watching this episode again 😭

Now I'm wishing his dad said he wanted to say before they went in😔 "Save your mom even if it kills you" only for him to be killed

Tl;dr for the last bit of the fight: >Hydra attack pattern changed (started using ALL of its stumps) >Hydra big af so it going wild compltely blocked his normal vision + foresight >Rudy's not physically capable to react upon the sudden change >he had no one to tank for him since they're protecting Roxy >Hydra's eyelids were heavy and sharp like a guillotine which snapped Rudy's arm

Had me staring up at the ceiling for a solid 5 minutes after it ended

Some fun fact, cut content and insight from the novel: -In the start of the season he named his arms Hulk and Hercules. His left arm was named Hercules. -For those saying that Rudy 'spaced out' at the end... not really; it's more that the Hydra went 'off script' and caught him off guard with something new when down to the final head. It attacked with its neck stumps (you can barely see that in the anime as there's a neck stump slammed into the ground) which caught him off guard; he even had trouble telling what it was doing via foresight until it was too late. -The smaller sword on Pa/ul's left hand is a magic sword, it can't cut through butter, but it can cut steel. The harder the target the sharper it gets -Also the anime has never once mentioned touki (translated as battle aura), which is basically people subconsciously wrapping themselves in mana, giving them superhuman capabilities, like how Paul and Elinalise can move so fast and jump so fucking high. Orsted's is especially strong, which is how he blocked that Stone Cannon and it only grazed him, and a bit of dialogue from Badigadi was cut about it - he asks Rudeus if he was able to injure Orsted, and wanted to see how an attack from Rudeus would do against his own touki and got split in half. Rudeus tried using touki, but has been unable to use it with every attempt. -"Save your mother, even if it kills you!" Paul isn't saying that just to Rudeus. He's telling himself that. Paul's mother died when he was 11, and she was pretty much the only person in the family whom he loved and felt loved by. When he started getting closer to Zenith, his image of her started blending with the memory of his mother, for they were similar in appearance and demeanor. He fell in love with Zenith because he felt the same kind of kindness and warmth from her as he did from his mother. So by rescuing Zenith, he'd be saving his mother.

for those saying that Rudy 'spaced out' at the end... not really; it's more that the Hydra went 'off script' and caught him off guard with something new when down to the final head. It attacked with its neck stumps (you can barely see that in the anime as there's a neck stump slammed into the ground) which caught him off guard; he even had trouble telling what it was doing via foresight until it was too late.

Also the reason why Geese aint fighting is because he'd just be in the way, so he'll just support from time to time, its explained in the novel, but anime cuts info

Yo did they pull a Casca on Zenith ? That's going to be tough for Rudy lost your dad, your arm and now mom is in this mental state. All his missing now is a mechanical arm, losing one of his eyes and great sword and he's the new generation Guts.

Fun fact the only reason Paul was able to cut the heads off was because his short sword has a skill on it which get sharper the harder the thing he cutting is.the hydra scales are like diamonds or harder then that I forget.Kinda weird they didn’t cover that here

The fact that this episode came out on Father’s Day is crazy.

Lupas cut is sharp as hellll did geometry in ur head boy damn

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="808">13:28</a> Speech doesn't go away after you loose your hearing. Deaf people that can't speak were usually born deaf.

The reason Rudeus froze up wasn't clearly shown in the anime. But in the LN thr Hydra pulled a little trick that confused him and caused him to froze up

Listen to Paul(lol), one of those swords is the reason why they could even cut the hydra. they skipped the explanation when fighting the skeletons in the earlier floors. Yes it was a metaphor but it is true in both sense.

That they dropped this episode on farther day was diabolical. At least Paul died smiling knowing his son was safe

Delaying the ep and releasing it on Father’s Day is wild😭was a great episode

That episode felt like the real Turning Point 3. Sad to see Paul go, but at least he was able to go out in a blaze of glory. The animation on him blitzing that hydra was incredible, we've known he was a solid swordsman most of the series but he was going nuts. Not to mention his VA was absolutely KILLING it; from the screams of anger, to the somber moments with Rudy, and just the sound of pain in his voice after they had to bail from the labyrinth the first time. Took them almost the whole season but this episode was straight fire.

Everyone forgets that if Rudy didn't show up to help his dad find his mom, Roxy would have totally got murked in that one bug room

Nah they popped off with this fight. You can feel the tension knowing anyone could get clapped any second. RIP the goat Pa/ul

I personally think that rudeus would woulf regret it more if roxy died. He was having a panic attack just hearing that she fell into a teleportation trap

Geese's role was to stay within range of the teleporter and if the party gets wiped out report back to the guild + lillia and crew. He has no battle aura and no magic so would be more of a liability in the actual fight.

Lupa hair was lined up by God himself

They didn't show it in the anime very well, but the reason Rudy "froze," which caused Paul to kick him out of the way and take the hit, was because his eye of foresight got overloaded again. Like when he first used it against Ruijerd and in his fight with Orstead. Basically he was in so close and the Hydra was beginning to flail at the same time using it's severed necks as weapons, Rudy was seeing necks coming at his from several sides. He couldn't see the main head coming at him at the same time.

Happy Father’s Day to the G.O.A.T Paul

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="664">11:04</a> well Roxy would've died, Zenith would still be trapped, and Paul would have gotten very very depressed, desperate and possibly die trying to save Zenith. Without Rudy they couldn't reach her to begin with and since Paul wouldn't give up on his wife he would have died trying to get to her. Just a theory but it makes sense imo

This series does a good job at building you up with happy moments just to immediately tear you back to despair with some of the most depressing shit

Hello sadness, my old friend. The return of Rudy depression hours has commenced.

apparently they scheduled the episode to drop on fathers day

They didnt mentioned but the reason why rudy was stun it was bc he didnt understand the hydra movement (with the eye that can see 2 seconds in the future)

Rudeus froze because the hydra focused on killing him with all the stumps and the remaining head, so his magic eye only showed up futures of him dying, and he had to pay attention to find an opening It also happened with Orsted, whenever Rudeus is going to die the eye overloads and then shows nothing

You see IF Rudy didnt go I think they still would have found the boss room though it would take way way way longer without the book and rudy. So heres where the whole mangod thing where he says that he would have regretted going there doesn't work. If rudy didnt go Roxy would have died, Then they would've only had paul, geese and talhand and the 2 girls, Paul most certainly would have still died because he was not going back without zenith, and maybe his whole party would have died though that depends on if they would have left paul in there by himself with the hydra. Sure rudy would still have his left hand but im pretty sure he would have regretted it far more if he didnt go.

Turning Point 3 heard everyone talking shit about it and took it personally.

They knew what they were doing this season. This on Father’s Day and the pregnancy announcement on Mother’s Day

This episode legit left me shocked , in pain, and at a lost for words. Legit haven’t felt like this in years over an episode 😭!

Man who decided to save this for father’s day is a genius

Paul told Rudy to save his mother, even if he had to die for it. Rudy is a mage and doesn't have the superhuman strength that Paul and Elinalise have. So, he was in a vulnerable position all fight due to how close he had to get, and he put his life on the line. Once the hydra went all out for Rudy, he was going to die to save his mother until Paul saved him at the last second. Everything makes sense. That is how the story was written; there is no "this is so stupid why didn't Rudy just dodge." Why does anything happen in a story? Because there would be no story otherwise.

@yaboyroshi in the Light novel the reason Rudy freezes is because he hears/sees the hydra is about to swing its severed heads around and before that happened it let out a high pitched cry.

The first time Rudy just got distracted by thinking too hard in the moment about how well they were doing, and didn't noticed one of the heads coming in from above. The second time he saw Roxy almost get taken out, just barely being blocked in time by Talhand, and that's what distracted him and caused Paul's death.

Paul's last thoughts: "Am I dying?" "I want to confirm if Zenith was alive or not, at least." "Not only that, but Norn and Aisha..." "I wanted to see them again." "Are they going to school?" "Have they grown up?" "Lillia - what kind of reaction will she have to this? Even if it's a pain..." "Will she cry?" "Dammit, I'm filled with regrets." "I don't want to die..." "Still... there are.. still... so many things I wanted to do." Rudy: "Father!" "But..... Oh well..." "It's better than seeing Rudy die." "Chin up, my son. Stay positive..." He smiles one final time

The thing is, I think Paul was definitely happy to see his son was alive, but I think another part of him was happy to see Rudy cared about him, and a third part of him just wanted to be strong for his son in his final moments. Crazy how much can go into a simple smile.

It's funny that rudy named his left arm Hercules and that's the one he lost to the hydra

In Russia we say Half of the Paul on the floor which sound like Pol pola na polu

So the anime didnt show it properly, but Rudy wasnt frozen or anything. He was trying to see what the Hydra's next actions were gonna be with his Demon Eye but the Hydra moved faster than he could register.

I knew that Paul was going to die since I have read the novels but seeing everything animated hits me in a different and painful way, not to mention that the way Paul fought, cutting off the heads of the hydra without hesitation, you can tell that he was a great warrior. and very powerful, It is assumed that he had become weaker from spending several years searching for everyone in Villa Buena and he still fought like a damn final boss. rest in peace Paul. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

I knew it was coming, but i didn't expect to see paul die without saying anything, just a fainting smile of a man that managed to protect his son and was proud of it😢 And just like Paul said before, he wasn't the best father at first, and he wasn't the smartest, but even still, he did what he could to improve his life and be a better person and a father, so for someone like me who had a similar situation with mi own father who sadly passed away months before i got the news, not being able to know his final thoughts, it is something that hits hard in the end

They really shattered our expectations on both of his parents! . Like we all saw Paul's death coming or in that momeny saw the hit where it was clear, but then they hold it off till revealing he's upside down split in half still barely alive for a few more seconds... Then with Zenith we all knew Something would be different/wrong, she then wakes up with the a confused look and we all think she forgot Rudy or lost a bunch of memories, but then it ends up being Literal Total Memory Lose like regressed to an infant...

Morbidly interesting detail to add from the LN: When they were cremating paul, elinalise said that his bones could turn into a skeleton so rudeus had to BREAK his own father’s bones and put them into a vase made of earth.

Zenith's expression was disfigured and she couldn't communicate, but from Zenith's point of view, she felt healthy and there was nothing wrong with that. I think it's the curse of the dungeon or the crystal

Roxy would also have died if he did not go, and who knows, maybe even Paul would have died trying too much to save Zenith while not having a group able to do it

Sheera misunderstood paul so much that she hates him to the core

Have to remember, if he didn't go. Roxy would have died. They wouldn't have had found the teleporter so mom never would have been saved and everyone else probably would have died due to constantly going back in. He was just told no matter what choice he made there would be regrets, he was never told how severe.

just an additional note that was skipped, Paul didn't say to Rudeus 'even if it kills you' only for resolve. Paul lost his mothr and has been hauntd by not being able to save her for his entire life. He doesn't want Rudeus to also experience that

I've been waiting for yah reaction to this episode fr. It's a top 3 episode in the series for me. Everyone that worked on it did an amazing job.

The regret is when if he goes he loses paul, but when he doesnt go instead of paul he loses roxy so its just a lose lose situation no matter what he chooses. Its just a matter of who he wants to save between the two

In the LN, Rudy doesn't just freeze, the Hydra starts targeting him and using it's headless necks as whips so he is in bigger danger towards the end of the fight, Paul only shoves him once, not twice.

Rudy freezing was kinda foreshadowed in the beginning when he told Roxy "I spook easily". I think he relaxed once he saw there's only one head left. Kinda like how gamers relax when the boss is about to get beaten and then the boss reveals a final move and then they're dead

This episode made sure that I gave my dad a hug on Father's Day.

the one two punch of absolute frustration this episode left me cant be understated

They dont make it clear in the anime. But Rudeus was using his eye to help with seeing what the Hydra was gonna do, but he can only "see predictions" of what is in his field of view. The Hydra started acting erratic in the end flaying with its stumps and tail and Rudeus didnt see the final head attacking from that angle so Paul kicked him out of the way. The Rudeus freaked out because what the Hydra was going to do before he plunged his hand into its eye to cast stone cannon from inside. They also do explain that the Hydras scales and super sharp which why it ripped of his arm when it closed its eyelid and why just a craze when Elinalise blocked its head caused her a wound

To answer Lupa's question about Rudeus freezing, basically one of the severed heads of the hydra went "off script" thrashing around, Rudeus couldn't process that information in time due to lack of experience which led him to freeze like that. So about Zenith, what (mostly) happened to her is that her mind has regressed to a child like state, she is fully conscious of her surroundings, I won't say any further.

In the anime it wasn't shown well but rudy couldn't tell what was going on his eye could only see what's in front of him when the hydra got to one head its started wildly moving all its neck and with rudy directly next his eye couldn't process all that information nor could he see all of it. going even further rudy doesnt have battles aura the ability to coat your body in mana so he can't enhance his speed/strength so its not like he could just duck in out of the fight like paul and the others funny enough it was because of this battle aura that paul died as a kick he used would actually pushed them both out the way if he didnt have it but ended up leaving paul in place Tldr rudy wad focused the whole time and didn't space out

"You will regret it if you go. But you will regret it if you dont go."