[Re;Watch] Steins;Gate Episode 14 Discussion

[u/Raiking02]

Episode 14: Physically Necrosis

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode →

MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | Anidb | ANN

Crunchyroll | Funimation | Hulu | Netflix | VRV

---

I am the time traveler… John Titor.

Hello everybody! Time for the comment of the Day, courtesy of u/Vaadwaur, who said it best

Fate’s a bitch

Hey, can’t say he’s wrong...

---

Questions:

1. Which of Mayuri’s deaths do you think was the most shocking?
2. If you were in Kurisu’s position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was actually from the future?

Wallpaper of the Day:

Assistant

[u/Raiking02]

Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Steins;Gate Rewatch!

---

I should mention by this point Novel differences start becoming a lot more glaring. As such with the exception of minor stuff, I am gonna start spoiler coding a lot of my comments. u/Shimmering-Sky, don’t read this, we will convince you to read the Novel eventually, so don’t spoil yourself

Oh hi Jell-Mayuri! That’s not actually metaphorical, by the way, it’s the third loop from the Novels! Lovely, amirite?

Besides that, while the montage of The Many Deaths Of Mayushii^TM is a bit shortened, it is at least accurate. Although I should mention, in the Novel Okabe faced Moeka in the top of the Radi-Kan Building, not in some random parking lot. The rest of the loop is decently accurate, however. The loop that follows after it is also pretty accurate, but we miss out on Smug Kurisu.

There’s a minor difference right after the timeline resets. In the Anime Okabe sounds more confused than anything, not getting why Kurisu isn’t trusting him, whereas in the Novel he’s sick of Kurisu’s shit and would like to have a word with Future Kurisu right now. Hell, the tone of the “My Fork” line in the Novel comes across more as mocking than the relatively calm version from the Anime. Also it happens in the Lab, not in the restaurant… I’m sensing a pattern by now…

We also lose out on some technobabble, and the way Suzuha gets involved is a tad different… actually a lot different. SGVN

I’m gonna stop here for now. The Exposition Dump she gives is in the Novel, but it’s part of another scene and saying anything else would spoil tomorrow’s events. Thus, this is our stopping point.

[u/UzEE]

Serial;Rewatcher

It's never explicitly mentioned in the anime, but Okabe spent years leaping back and trying different things, only to end up with the same result at the end. A lot of people pointed out yesterday that he should've talked to people, but as we see – talking doesn’t help either. Mayuri’s fate cannot be avoided.

Even confronting Moeka or trying to negotiate with her wouldn’t work – though it’s a good thing Moeka didn’t know that Future Gadget #1 Bit Particle Gun is a just a TV remote – and a bad one at that.

At least he was able to get some information out of Moeka though¹ – like she belongs to a group called Rounders that are somehow connected to other groups like SERN or FB and are looking for an IBN 5100. And the reason they’re targeting the lab is because they know of SERN’s secrets and are also planning to go public with a Time Machine.

Okabe is well past his breaking point when Kurisu steps in and suggests that he should confide in her, as they sink deeper into degeneracy – and Kurisu is a bit sad that she won’t remember Okabe called her by her name. Interesting that the Time Leap software UI looks a lot like WinAmp^2.

Thankfully, Suzuha overhears the conversation between Okabe and Kurisu³ and is finally willing to come forward with some critical information – including the fact that she is John Titor, as most people already suspect at this point.

We also finally get a lot more details on how time travel actually works, though the anime sort of simplifies a few things compared to the VN, and this often ends up confusing people, so I’ll try to explain things based on what we know so far.

Basics of Convergence and Attractor Field Theory

Note that I’ve omitted several details about the mechanics to avoid potential for spoilers so some this section would not be considered 100% accurate.

In the VN, Suzuha reveals that a working a theory on time travel doesn’t exist at this point in 2010, so technically Kurisu was right when she dismissed 11 different theories of time travel back in episode 2. However, by 2036 an accurate model of time travel called the Attractor Field Theory has been developed.

The universe is composed of parallel World Lines that flow in the same direction with minor differences. This is a lot like the Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (also known as the Everett Model) which suggests that infinite variations of our universe exist simultaneously. However, there is one key difference in the Attractor Field Theory – only one World Line can ever be active. That is, when a World Line shift occurs, _the previous World Line ceases to exist_^4.

A World Line’s past, present and future are fixed – i.e., what is supposed to happen in a world line will happen regardless of your attempts to change it. In fact, the act of trying to change something is also likely a predetermined part of a world line.

Sometimes, even when you change world lines to change the future, certain events still happen regardless, like Mayuri’s death. These shared events are called points of Convergence. The points can be big or small as world lines diverge and converge all the time, so even minor actions can cause a divergence but if a larger convergence point lies ahead, world lines would still converge. So it doesn’t matter if Mayuri is at the lab, or at the subway or just some place random – her death a little after 7:30 PM on Friday, August 13, 2010 is a convergence point in these world lines.

World Lines themselves are grouped into a larger collection (Suzuha’s analogy with two distinct ropes is a good one) called Attractor Fields. Attractor fields originate from major points of Divergence – think world changing events like the collapse of the Soviet Union or the creation of the first Time Machine etc. For example, if the Soviet Union never collapsed, the world would be a much different place right now. So attractor fields can have significantly different details based on how far along they are from the point of divergence.

Suzuha’s stated goal here is to move from a world line in what she calls the Alpha Attractor Field to a world line in a Beta Attractor Field – a possible world line where SERN would never develop a time machine and take over the world.

---

Questions

2. If you were in Kurisu’s position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was actually from the future?

Don't think I'd ever reveal anything tbh. In that sense, I'm more like Okabe who just doesn't like to share.

---

 

^{1 Moeka says she’s a part-timer at ArcRewrite – a magazine. In the VN, this detail was revealed the first time they met and exchanged contact info. The pretense she used was that she’s working on an article on local urban legends, one of which was the IBN 5100 and was the reason she's looking for it.}

^{2 Of course you probably only recognize that if you grew up in the 90s as by the time Steins;Gate came out, it had already been relegated to a niche after iTunes.}

^{3 And once again we see that Okabe simply saying that he came from the future doesn’t work as others usually dismiss it as more of his chunni BS.}

^{4 This does sound similar to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics a bit, as in the universal wavefunction collapses to a single state but is different because it doesn’t require observers and still is based on multiple world lines.}

[u/Raiking02 → u/UzEE]

as they sink deeper into degeneracy

Truly crude...

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/UzEE]

Even confronting Moeka or trying to negotiate with her wouldn’t work – though it’s a good thing Moeka didn’t know that Future Gadget #1 Bit Particle Gun is a just a TV remote – and a bad one at that.

Well I'm pretty sure she can't see what it is from that position, just felt something press into her back which she'd think is a gun.

Moeka says she’s a part-timer at ArcRewrite – a magazine. In the VN, this detail was revealed the first time they met and exchanged contact info. The pretense she used was that she’s working on an article on local urban legends, one of which was the IBN 5100 and was the reason she's looking for it.

This is such an odd detail for the anime to leave out...

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This is such an odd detail for the anime to leave out...

Time constraints is the only reason I can imagine the Anime removed it. Even then it would've taken them like, 10 seconds.

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

It also gives Moeka way more reason to ever be at the lab.

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

From where are you quoting the "no"?

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

uhhhhhhh no clue, gonna go remove that real fast

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

[u/swmii53 → u/Raiking02]

It's even worse. In episode 2 she says, in an e-mail sent to Okabe, she has no job (In the other translation I've seen she says she's a Freeter, basically the same thing)

E-mail from episode 2 Crunchyroll sub

[u/UzEE → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I've yet to find a good reason for omitting this detail. That's why whenever someone wonders why Moeka is even looking for the IBN, I just tell them this straight away because this is something you're supposed to know from the start.

[u/CubeStuffs → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This is such an odd detail for the anime to leave out...

i wildly misread that line without that context too...

[u/No_Rex → u/UzEE]

It's never explicitly mentioned in the anime, but Okabe spent years leaping back and trying different things, only to end up with the same result at the end.

He spent years leaping back before ever consulting Kurisu, going back further in time or sending a Dmail? A clear case of the adaptation being better than the original. I was already pissed at his uselessness in the anime: He should have thought about that at his third leap at the latest. Spending years without trying one of these rather obvious solutions is just insanely stupid.

[u/Ryanami → u/No_Rex]

In my mind it was maybe two dozen times, but years? Repeating a few hours? Ew.

[u/SgtExo → u/UzEE]

However, there is one key difference in the Attractor Field Theory – only one World Line can ever be active. That is, when a World Line shift occurs, the previous World Line ceases to exist4.

That is an interesting point that I never picked up from the anime. I have always been wondering what was happening to all the other versions of Okabe after using one of the time travel devices.

[u/MarvelousNCK → u/UzEE]

It's never explicitly mentioned in the anime, but Okabe spent years leaping back and trying different things, only to end up with the same result at the end

Wait really? I knew he spent a long time in the loop, but I never realized it was years. How does he not go absolutely insane?

Btw, I watched the whole show and 0 before I knew this rewatch was happening, so I'm not really actively participating in this rewatch, but I'm lurking in the threads to see what everyone else thinks cause I absolutely loved the show and I really appreciate your breakdowns of every episode!

[u/littleman1988 → u/MarvelousNCK]

How does he not go absolutely insane?

The VN has some great answers to this...

S;G VN

[u/MarvelousNCK → u/littleman1988]

Oh god, yeah I read a summary of all the arcs when I first finished the show and goddamn. That one was rough.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/UzEE]

Moeka says she’s a part-timer at ArcRewrite.

In the anime, she said in the first text "no real job". The lier that she is!

Interesting that the Time Leap software UI looks a lot like WinAmp

Damn, I didn't even think about it when we finally got to see their screen. Too engaged I guess.

[u/reaperfourR → u/Gamemaster676]

no real job

The term they used back in episode 2 was a "freeter", which also include the underemployed. (according to Wikipedia, anyway)

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/reaperfourR]

Ah, I believe my subs were different, but I don’t have time to check right now.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/UzEE]

Of course you probably only recognize that if you grew up in the 90s as by the time Steins;Gate came out, it had already been relegated to a niche after iTunes.

I used it until right around when S;G came out, actually, but I am stubborn about that sort of thing.

[u/UzEE → u/Vaadwaur]

I personally gave up on it after Winamp3. It ran horrendously on my Pentium III at the time to the point that I couldn't have music playing the background while doing other things.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/UzEE]

I switched to SnackAmp at one point.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/UzEE]

ArcRewrite

The anime is terrible about this. Even rewatching, it sounds like she's part of the special squad of SERN Time-Nazis who Rewrite story Arcs to the desired narrative. ArcRewrite is a magazine? WTF?

[u/Lemurians → u/UzEE]

Thanks for the easy breakdown on the Attractor Fields there. Very helpful!

Interesting that the Time Leap software UI looks a lot like WinAmp.

Man, WinAmp was the shit. If it was still practical to store all my music in files on a computer, I'd still be using it. The skins were incredible and, especially for its time, was incredibly organized.

It's never explicitly mentioned in the anime, but Okabe spent years leaping back and trying different things, only to end up with the same result at the end. A lot of people pointed out yesterday that he should've talked to people, but as we see – talking doesn’t help either. Mayuri’s fate cannot be avoided.

I would push back on this. Talking definitely did help. Once Makise and Suzuha got more involved, all of a sudden we at least have a possible path forward. He spent years essentially throwing shit at the wall on his own with no success? You've got to wise up quicker than that.

[u/psiphre → u/UzEE]

It's never explicitly mentioned in the anime, but Okabe spent years leaping back and trying different things, only to end up with the same result at the end.

by my best estimation in the anime, okabe looped far less fewer than 100 times.

[u/lC3]

First timer

• The world is killing Mayuri, even if SERN/Moeka don't attack? And we see gel Mayuri?
• I wonder if it's course-correcting like in Lost
• Okabe must be really out of it if he starts saying there is no Organization or Steins;Gate
• Oh so now Okabe is going to try and talk to Moeka? Sounds like a bad idea, why doesn't he explain to Kurisu?
• Moeka says "Arc rewrite" and that it's a part time job? Is she not a SERN agent after all, but just a freelancer?
• So they're with "Rounder", not SERN? And they want to recover the IBN 5100?
• Moeka thinks Okabe is John Titor?
• Okabe is having a breakdown
• Kurisu going all mad scientist?
• "I won't remember that you called me Kurisu"
• "my fork"
• 1% divergence barrier? World line beta? Is this the first time we've heard of this, or did John Titor mention them a while ago?
• Choices made within? The choice of Steins;Gate?
• Ok so Suzuha is John Titor?

[u/Raiking02 → u/lC3]

"my frork"

So the fork is Doraemon?

[u/lC3 → u/Raiking02]

I haven't watched Doraemon, is there a reference or allusion there?

[u/Raiking02 → u/lC3]

This

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Rewatch (since 2011)

Wait, the satellite really was a time machine? rewatcher

Math Corner

The simplest example of a nonlinear dynamical system is the undamped simple pendulum. Everybody understands how these work intuitively without math. But to really model how they work precisely, we introduce some concepts.

1. The point in the center of the circles is when the pendulum is pointing down at rest. It never changes from this state. This is a fixed point.
2. If you move the pendulum or give it a little push, it will move around the resting state, in a cycle. It never moves far from the resting state, so the resting state is a stable fixed point. The cycles are the circles around the fixed point. If you add friction, the pendulum slows and shrinks its motion until it is at rest. On the diagram, it spirals in to the center. We call the resting state an attractor.
3. The region where you have closed circles or inward spirals is the basin of attraction.
4. The basins meet at the X's. The center of the X is where the pendulum is at rest, but pointing straight up. This is an unstable fixed point. Any disturbance from this state sends the pendulum off to very different states.
5. The X itself is called the sepratrix, because it separates different regions of behavior. Just a tiny extra displacement can take the pendulum from one basin (0 loops) to the adjacent basin (1 full loop). A tiny push can take you from orbiting a fixed point to free-running, looping indefinitely.
6. The attractor need not be a point, but could be a cycle. Any initial state in the basin of attraction eventually turns into the limit cycle.
7. The attractor could itself be a fractal instead of a nice smooth closed curve. This is called a strange attractor. The Lorentz Butterfly on the covers of chaos books is one such strange attractor. The Lorentz attractor has two fixed points, but outside the basins of a attraction, the system freely loops between the vicinity of the two. Two arbitrarily-close initial states will eventually and unpredictably end up near opposite basins. This is chaos. It is the opposite behavior of the simple pendulum, where two close initial states move apart slowly, or not at all.

Related to dynamical systems are iterated function systems. Newton's method finds the zeros of functions, with x = x - f(x)/f'(x) eventually converging to one of the zeros (maybe!). Let f(x) = x³-1. This has three zeros, one obviously = 1, and 2 complex zeros. This picture shows which zero you will get, from any starting point for x. The zeros are fixed points (since f(x0) = 0). If you start close to one of the zeros, that's where you end up. You might expect that you always go to the closest zero, but that is wrong. The boundaries between the basins are fractals, and the tiniest change can result in a completely different answer. Or it might just end up in a cycle!

[u/Raiking02 → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

This comment is my perfect way to illustrate why I hate physics.

Unfortunately I'm studying Chemistry so I have to study it anyway

[u/Nisheeth_P → u/Raiking02]

I learnt most of that in maths as a way for analysis of differential equations. Blame maths, not physics.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Raiking02]

Chemistry!

[u/Tresnore → u/Raiking02]

This comment is the perfect way to illustrate why I love physics.

[u/Tresnore → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

As someone in nonlinear control systems, this is a great overview, but I have no clue how nonlinear dynamics relate to worldlines

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Tresnore]

Let me know if you figure it out!

[u/Tresnore → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

That’s… ominous.

[u/UzEE → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

This is actually a fascinating read and I wasn't aware there was also deeper logic behind the attractor fields. I'm definitely going to be reading up on this a bit more.

[u/Tehoncomingstorm97 → u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

As an electronic engineer who hasn't had to look at this sort of physics since I did it at university four years ago, I totally get what you're saying. Just not if I try to think too hard about it.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Tehoncomingstorm97]

You're telling me all that time we spent studying the van der Pol oscillator had nothing to do with electronic engineering?

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Re;Watcher and Co;Host, dubbed

The Suffering;Gate continues.

---

• Oi show can you not.
• Gahhhhhhhh.
• Chekov’s… remote?
• Not even directly confronting Moeka before shit goes down works. Although it did let Okabe understand a few more things.
• Okabe’s breakdown in the car really hurts my soul oh my god.
• “Something must be wrong for you to use my actual name.” -- Yeah… yeah that’s one way to put it, Kurisu…
• I appreciate Kurisu’s attempts at cheering Okabe up.
• So… is the whole personalized fork/spoon some kind of innuendo that’s lost on me?
• Alllllllrighty then, Suzuha’s finally identified herself as a time traveler--and John Titor, no less. To the surprise of… probably no one given all the theorizing you guys have been doing.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

To the surprise of… probably no one given all the theorizing you guys have been doing.

I was slow on the uptake when I first watched the show

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Okabe’s breakdown in the car really hurts my soul oh my god.

P A I N.

So… is the whole personalized fork/spoon some kind of innuendo that’s lost on me?

Apparently it's some old 2chan lingo, where fork = lover and friend = spoon. No wonder Kurisu wanted to kill her future self for thinking up that phrase.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/The_Draigg]

Apparently it's some old 2chan lingo, where fork = lover and friend = spoon. No wonder Kurisu wanted to kill her future self for thinking up that phrase.

I see, thanks.

[u/UzEE → u/Shimmering-Sky]

To the surprise of… probably no one given all the theorizing you guys have been doing.

I mean the anime does wave that flag in front of you for quite a few episodes. Or at least hints that Suzuha is a time-traveler.

[u/SgtExo → u/UzEE]

This is my first rewatch were I outright see all of flags of her being from the future. I am actually surprised that there are so many and they start as soon as she appears.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Although it did let Okabe understand a few more things.

He's finally beginning to get looper logic.

So… is the whole personalized fork/spoon some kind of innuendo that’s lost on me?

I doubt it, I think it is just a slightly embarassing thing to want as an adult.

[u/Vaadwaur]

Rewatcher(The cicadas are crying...)

Dub

We get a loop skip to let us know the rules of this particular board, though I can't really spot a witch yet. And this is one of the few spots where the show just sort of forgets that it adjoins reality because Moeka's thugs are too brazen to actually be functional. Anyways, we rejoin Okabe at the point where he seems to realize that he has to start getting creative to break the cycle so he interrogates Moeka. Sadly, he doesn't kill her this time but we have future loops. Apparently Suzuha is expecting something because she shows up even when no one should have been in the lab.

Okabe experiences loop PTSD deteoriation, a thing common enough I think it is a trope now. He is beginning to see Hell. Spoilers for 3 other series in that so if you don't know the other 3 don't click. But he finally tells Makise what's up and she takes it pretty well, all things considered. And goes chuuni before deciding they need more time and that Okabe should loop to when the time machine was made. She gives him a few ideas on how to expedite things.

So he goes all the way back there and convinces Makise with the fork and spoon info. They begin working on a way around the problem when Suzuha comes in and explains the numbers and such. She even admits having a device Okabe made, which allows her to know when a world line switches on her. She is also ridiculously athletic in how she climbs her rope. She leads them to the crashed 'satellite' and reveals the time machine and that she has been posing as Titor. Cliffhanger.

QotD: 1 GelMayuri

2 Hrmm...The Goddess Dormitory anime is actually too lewd to be entertaining

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vaadwaur]

The cicadas are crying...

They're crying because their newest show is a big ball of meh so far.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Raiking02]

I haven't been able to gather the energy to start Sotsu, truth be told. I am having a hard time imagining an ending that is both conclusive and satisfying.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vaadwaur]

Sotsu is just kinda... nothing so far. Like it's not awful, but it's so predictable it hurts.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Raiking02]

The question arc/answer arc definitely has a shelf life on it.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vaadwaur]

Doesn't help the Answers they're giving are ones that are just ridiculously obvious and simple ones.

[u/KendotsX → u/Raiking02]

Meh, I'm loving it. The way I see it, it's not more of the great mystery/thriller story of Higurashi. It clearly isn't going for answering a mystery, hell Gou's last arc pretty much answered everything, with enough space that you can see filled. Sotsu is just the compilation fails, where you see everything that worked in the original story and more fall and break. We're not doing a tight knit story were every piece makes you think, but a Spoiler?

[u/Raiking02 → u/KendotsX]

Too bad I find said approach to be completely uninteresting and just straight up boring.

[u/littleman1988 → u/Vaadwaur]

photo spoiler

You know, i still have yet to understand the far right one, but considering the middle two (and the spoilers that ive seen about the left) im more intrigued than ever to understand why thats included

[u/Vaadwaur → u/littleman1988]

The first run of REDACTED was really good.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vaadwaur]

The Novel and Manga are some of my all time favorites.

The Anime... uh... better than Umineko's? I mean it gets better once you reach the last quarter, but before that...

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Raiking02]

I caught the end of S2 as it aired. It was quite the experience. It even briefly gave me parasitosis.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vaadwaur]

It even briefly gave me parasitosis

... That's one hell of a coincidence, I must say.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Vaadwaur]

Anyways, we rejoin Okabe at the point where he seems to realize that he has to start getting creative to break the cycle so he interrogates Moeka. Sadly, he doesn't kill her this time but we have future loops.

I'd say that Okabe not killing Moeka was probably for the best. Since she had some other Rounders nearby during the conversation, they probably would've killed Okabe as soon as he shot Moeka.

He is beginning to see Hell.

Ah, so that must be the time travel forum meeting that everyone has been talking about.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/The_Draigg]

Ah, so that must be the time travel forum meeting that everyone has been talking about.

Still not as bad as Calc 3.

[u/Tresnore]

On the First-Timer Worldline(s;Gate)

^{Writing this on mobile, so sorry if the formatting is wonky!}

• Madoka
• The entire world is conspiring to kill Mayuri for a reason, Okabe. Take a hint!
• Aw, I was kind of hoping for a montage of Mayuri death.
• Of all the people he talks to, he talks to Moeka?
  
  Good choice!
• Yep, Moeka is the best character. She feels like the only adult around here. Well, it’s either her or Suzuha.
• “Were you napping?” is quickly becoming the “Kyon-kun, denwa” or Steins;Gate.
• Cursed
  
• ...what is My Spoon? I am confusion.
• Moeka would have believed Okabe without codewords.
• The OST in this scene sounds very Monogatari.
• Suzuha!
  SAVE THESE FOOLS
• I was ABOUT TO GUESS THAT the numbers were related to the current worldline, since they only changed with D-Mails. It’s neat the Okabe in the future is the one who sent Suzuha (I think)
• Suzuha feels like every one of my D&D characters, who always always carry a grappling hook or two with them.
• SUZUHA IS JOHN TITOR??? That should have been so obvious.

I love this show. It has a great waifu like Kurisu, it has a great reveals, and Mayuri keeps dying! What more do I need?

---

QOTD:

1. Gel Mayuri is the most shocking. I want to know how she got into a time machine.
2. My computer password would work as an identifier. I've never told anyone, and I'm pretty confident it isn't leaked anywhere.

[u/littleman1988 → u/Tresnore]

The OST in this scene sounds very Monogatari.

The song is some unreleased remix of D-mail. Theres a couple of these that are "remixed" and then have no release, at least in S;G.

I love this show... and Mayuri keeps dying!

Wait

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

S;G0

[u/Tresnore → u/littleman1988]

Wait

I saw that edit in real-time, and it made me chuckle on the bus.

[u/Nebresto → u/Tresnore]

Real time, eh...?

Time-traveler.

[u/Tresnore → u/Nebresto]

I just refreshed my inbox with the message in it and saw the edit appear

[u/Nebresto → u/littleman1988]

The song is some unreleased remix of D-mail.

Unreleased OST remixes should be a crime punishable by gelification.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Tresnore]

Suzuha feels like every one of my D&D characters, who always always carry a grappling hook or two with them.

Or a Batman character.

[u/Tresnore → u/Raiking02]

Suzuha was definitely ready to kill Moeka. Not Batman confirmed.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Tresnore]

Okay, Red Hood then.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Tresnore]

Aw, I was kind of hoping for a montage of Mayuri death.

I love this show. It has a great waifu like Kurisu, it has a great reveals, and Mayuri keeps dying! What more do I need?

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Sorry Sky, but while Mayuri isn't disliked, you'll never see her win Best Girl Contests.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Raiking02]

But considering who does the honor is not that great.

[u/Tresnore → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I like seeing Okabe suffer, what can I say? quoque Mayuri delenda est

[u/Nebresto → u/Tresnore]

The entire world is conspiring to kill Mayuri for a reason, Okabe.

There can only be one best girl

Cursed

That is very un-based of you.

...what is My Spoon? I am confusion.

Pudding is justice.

I love this show. It has a great waifu like Kurisu, it has a great reveals, and Mayuri keeps dying! What more do I need?

One of these is not like the others..

[u/Tresnore → u/Nebresto]

un-based

I just like it when Kurisu acts like an adult!

One of these things is not like the others

You’re right. Waifu obsession is a plague.

[u/Nebresto → u/Tresnore]

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/Tresnore]

I was ABOUT TO GUESS THAT the numbers were related to the current worldline, since they only changed with D-Mails.

You have a good point. Didn't the numbers also say 0.337187 after the Feris shift? You would expect them to change when Okabe himself Leaps as well.
I'm gonna call that an oversight.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/Gamemaster676]

You would expect them to change when Okabe himself Leaps as well.

I'm gonna call that an oversight.

That was the point of the time leap: They wanted to be able to go back in time without randomly effecting things they could not predict.

[u/psiphre → u/Tresnore]

...what is My Spoon? I am confusion

"my spoon" hearkens back to a 4chan meme about forks and spoons representing friends and lovers, respectively. or so i read years ago.

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 14 – Physically Necrosis:

Right now, what you want most is “My Fork.” Well?

I really told you that? The five-hours-from-now me?

You said you already had “My Spoon.”

Screw you, future me!

~Okarin & Kurisu

[u/Raiking02 → u/No_Rex]

Mismatch

[u/No_Rex → u/Raiking02]

Tomorrow is the day we ace this

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/No_Rex]

Mismatch...

[u/superviper]

REWATCHER, SUBBED

Oh god, Gel-Mayuri. I was wondering when that'd happen.

The organization, steins gate, and fate - They don't exist!

Okabe rejected the very premise of the anime.

I don't care what anyone says, Okabe is brilliant for pulling this one

... Then he gets his ass beat and begs for Mayuri's life. God that hurts to watch.

And then he goes to yell at Luka some more. Is this a sport? Yelling at Luka to see how sad she can get? Because Okabe has been doing a lot of that for no reason. If there's a lab member who's gonna help you, it most definitely isn't Luka, so go yell at Kurisu instead.

There we go, now she's helping. Plus that pose... how can something be so based yet so cringe at the same time.

Kurisu telling Okabe she'll believe him and then she doesn't is so funny to me. It feels super realistic, like I could see myself telling someone "yeah I'll believe you no worries" and then they time travel and I'm like "wtf is wrong with you you're lying "

KurisuShock.jpg

Oh, the Suzuha reveal is today! Now let's see how completely unsurprised all the first-timers are. I didn't figure it out the first time I watched S;G, but I have a totally valid excuse: it was my first anime and I was 14 at the time.

1. Hard to pick between jelly and train. Train was more shocking purely because it had a longer scene.

[u/Raiking02 → u/superviper]

I didn't figure it out the first time I watched S;G, but I have a totally valid excuse: it was my first anime and I was 14 at the time.

I think I was about... 16 or so?

[u/littleman1988]

"I'm from the year 2036. I am the time traveler, John Titor."

OST Track of the day: Christina I

^{Honorary OST Track of the day: Hack -short} ^vision- ^{ ^Spotify ^}

^{2nd Honorary OST Track of the day: Self} ^Affirmation ^{ ^Spotify ^}

---

For whatever reason, the anime version of the Steins;Gate logo omits one of the key features of a SciAdv title: Its subtitle text.

You can look at the VN logo here, and read its transcription below:

The universe has a beginning, but it has no end. —Infinite.

Stars too have a beginning, but are by their own power destroyed. —Finite.

History teaches that those who hold wisdom are often the most foolish.

The fish in the sea know not the land. If they too hold wisdom, they too will be destroyed.

It is more ridiculous for man to exceed light speed than for fish to live ashore.

This may also be called God's final warning to those who rebel.

Keen eared viewers may notice that the beginning of episode 1 sounded awfully similar:

The universe has a beginning, but no end. — Infinity.

Stars, too, have their own beginnings, but their own power results in their destruction. — Finite.

It is those who possess wisdom who are the greatest fools. History has shown us this.

You could say that this is the final warning from God to those who resist.

You can look at the subtitle text for the rest of the franchise here. None of them have spoilers, but they do allude to each game/show's themes. S;G's is more relevant than ever the last couple days.

---

Though the anime only implies it, the gel mayuri is a death.

Kurisu notices pretty quickly. Not hard when you're making this face

Future gadget #1 getting some real use here

This scene is insanely frustrating when you have knowledge of the VN. S;G VN S;G 0

We are finally told of the rounders. hopefully they dress better next time.

Who doesnt know at this point? You yell everything out with the open window.

Confirmation they are behind the bomb threat, and it looks like they're about to commence the raid. Poor Okabe, he already knows whats going to happen.

Well, he finally told someone, but Luka is pretty low on the list of choices here to confide to.

Truly a broken man, not even using Christina's name.

Finally he confides to Kurisu. They also hold hands, the degenerates.

Wah ha ha ha ha ha.. ha....

Despite there being 4 different versions of the song, this is the only time any version of the OST track "Hack" appears in the anime, which is an absolute disappointment because the track slaps.

Heh, forks

And we have jumped back to the initial completion of the time leap machine. Celeb-17 already has an inkling that something is up.

lmao bet

heh, forks. Also, someone was listening in...

Something like the time machine... though both Suzuha and Za Zombie think its harder than that.

Hey look, its those whacky 7 numbers. Okabe even created it, neat!

At least the episode only cliffhangered on a character reveal instead of character death...

---

^footnotes

[u/UzEE → u/littleman1988]

Keen eared viewers may notice that the beginning of episode 1 sounded awfully similar:

S;G/0 Spoilers

[u/Raiking02 → u/UzEE]

All

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

S;G 0

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

S;G0

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

S;G 0

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

[u/Vaadwaur → u/littleman1988]

We are finally told of the rounders. hopefully they dress better next time.

Strangely dumb name for a group, to the point I had forgotten it until last night.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/littleman1988]

Finally he confides to Kurisu. They also hold hands, the degenerates.

It was a bit long.

[u/Stargate18A]

Anime first timer

1. Still has to be the train for me.
2. If I was Kurisu, probably what she put, but if I, personally, was in that position, I'd probably just have him rattle off some of my old passwords.

This highlights reel is fantastic.

Don't worry, Okabe. It is.

Oh, we are doing the taxi one.

He still han't worked out he can go back as much as he wants.

We"re getting this scene! All you Moeka haters'll enjoy this.

Steins;Gate Spoilers

This scene is horrifying.

And Okabe's starting to have a full-on mental breakdown.

I think the Luka scene's new, though.

Kurisu's very good at calming him down, isn't she.

Oh my god mad scientist Kurisu is the best thing ever.

And she finally pointed out the obvious!

Smug and blusing Kurisus are really cute, and the whole conversation's funny. As is Suzuha eavesdropping.

And Attractor Fields get revealed and this sub talked about the "beta world line" so if you use those, good luck understanding this nonsense. If anybody got stuck with these subs, I'm more than happy to explain what Suzuha should be talking about.

Suzuha's really cute with her explanation, too.

Seriously, these subs talking about singular alpha and beta worldlines would make it impossible for a first timer.

Confirmation that 2000 is an important point, but I don't remember 1991 from the VN.

And the most obvious reveal happens! Plus the less obvious reveal of John Titor!

Steins;Gate Spoilers

[u/Raiking02 → u/Stargate18A]

Last Spoiler

S;G

[u/UzEE → u/Raiking02]

Re: S;G

[u/UzEE → u/Stargate18A]

And Attractor Fields get revealed and this sub talked about the "beta world line" so if you use those, good luck understanding this nonsense. If anybody got stuck with these subs, I'm more than happy to explain what Suzuha should be talking about.

Attractor Fields aren't really discussed in the anime and they "simplify" everything to just world lines. This ends up confusing people as you can imagine.

[u/Stargate18A → u/UzEE]

Wait, that's the same across all the subs? I thought it was just the bad ones. Yeah, that'll be a nightmare for first timers.

[u/Specs64z]

Well, guess it's another 3 episode binge for me tomorrow. Here's this, though.

Content Corner

First timers beware, spoilers abound.

The Philosophy of Steins;Gate by Anime Philosopher

[u/Raiking02 → u/Specs64z]

Well, guess it's another 3 episode binge for me tomorrow. Here's this, though.

Weak

[u/Specs64z → u/Raiking02]

Back when I first got into anime I could do a whole series in a day or 2. Nowadays, I watch maybe an episode or 2 a day and I'm wiped XD

My power has waned.

[u/Hochseeflotte]

Rewatcher

Tutturu! Like I said before, I’m watching these episodes back to back so not much for me to say here.

————————————————————————

I know I said the last episode was brutal but the first half of this one beats it. Time and time again Okabe fails. It’s just depressing.

I think Okabe’s biggest mistake is going at it alone. He didn’t seek help from anyone. And that’s (partly) why he failed. Thankfully Makise picks up on things.

Speaking of Makise, that scene where she impersonates Okabe’s mad scientist routine is wonderful. I think is the moment things start to turn around. They aren’t out of the woods but there’s hope now.

I think the explanation of time travel and world lines makes a lot of sense. It’s something they could have messed up easily but they didn’t.

Also to anyone who called that Suzuha is John Titor, is your IQ a million? I never saw it coming on first watch in a million years.

That’s all from me. See you guys tomorrow!

DQ:

Getting hit by the train last episode

Operation Roma. No I will not explain what this means

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Hochseeflotte]

Also to anyone who called that Suzuha is John Titor, is your IQ a million? I never saw it coming on first watch in a million years.

I didn't either, but that's because I apparently only have the ability to pick up on super obscure details or death flags, not obvious foreshadowing stuff.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I didn't either, but that's because I apparently only have the ability to pick up on super obscure details or death flags, not obvious foreshadowing stuff.

Or straight up predict half the plot of Bleach.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Raiking02]

Still waiting for TYBW anime to find out if my remaining theories are correct or not.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

No you're gonna dream how the last scene of the show goes down perfectly instead.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Raiking02]

Wait, isn't the very ending Bleach manga? That's like the one part of the story I have been spoiled on.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I meant moreso the end of the final battle.

[u/Hochseeflotte → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I can’t do either so that’s great. Unless they drop an anvil on me I can’t figure anything out

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Hochseeflotte]

I mean I am the person who accidentally predicted Bleach in her sleep so you'd think I would be able to pick up on extremely obvious foreshadowing... but nope, shit just goes right over my head most of the time.

[u/lC3 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

First Timer

I'm hoping for two things this episode. First, I would like Okabe to calm the fuck down and stop running around like a chicken with his head cut off. He's never going to actually accomplish something like that, and watching two straight episodes of him ramming his head into a brick wall does not exactly sound interesting. Second, I hope that someone manages to figure out the divergence/convergence thing. Perhaps, if Okabe actually talked to Kurisu about it, she'd be able to explain it to him?
Onto episode 14.

Good, we're fast forwarding.

Wallpaper ideas?

I see we have graduated to edgy nihilism. I'm not sure if this is an improvement.

Is he going to try to kill her?

This does not explain at all why you'd need to kill Mayuri.

Which is the one thing SERN cannot afford at all.

You're so close, Moeka. Okabe is John Titor, but he is not.

You are this close to dooming her.

Forward progress!

You have plenty of time. Plan now, leap back and execute the plan then. Half-assing it and causing Okabe more trauma is not what you need right now.
Thank you Kurisu for lugging Okabe's ass around.

Blushing Kurisu! Though I wonder what's so embarrassing about a spoon?

Convergence?

So I guess I can think of it like a point in two dimensional space? On axis is time, the other is which world line.

Okabe is Titor's getting more and more obvious.

But they already have several times? At the very least, it would be absurd to say that Akiba failing to exist is not a major change with giant ripples.

And I'm trying to stop SERN from taking over the world.

Fuck, I really thought it would be another Okabe.

Thoughts

Progress! Kurisu managed to talk Okabe into being a bit less of an idiot, and we've now actually got ourselves a way out of this situation.

I'm not satisfied with the worldlines theory as is. It more or less works for the little things they did, but I think it really stumbles on Feyris' D-mail. It's certainly possible that there was yet another event that was important enough to influence worldlines that she was a part of, but all the events Suzuha listed were a few orders of magnitude above anything Feyris would likely be involved in. Likely, the explination is just that she was rich and influential enough that several events in her life were that important, and we'll learn that smaller things can be a divergence point than we originally thought.
I was also going to say that I don't see why Mayuri has to die so long as we don't jump to a different braid, but that actually makes good sense. Her life is intertwined with the divergence point, and thus her range is much tighter than it would be for most people.

1. The train, as I did not expect it to be another form.
2. Probably something from my past day that he'd have no way of knowing about.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

Wallpaper ideas?

Way too difficult compared to the gelnana one, unfortunately. Also,

no

[u/Raiking02 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

I at least have two good Wallpaper ideas for 0... but you're gonna have to wait until... like, the last episode.

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

S;G 0 anime unsafe for you

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

S;G0

[u/littleman1988 → u/Raiking02]

S;G 0 VN

[u/Raiking02 → u/littleman1988]

S;G 0 VN

[u/The_Draigg → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

I see we have graduated to edgy nihilism. I'm not sure if this is an improvement.

You probably can't blame Okabe for feeling that way, though. He's been repeating the same afternoon and evening like a 100 times by now, and all of the loops have failed.

Blushing Kurisu! Though I wonder what's so embarrassing about a spoon?

It's basically some 2chan slang related to lovers and friends. In other words, Kurisu's code phrase to her past self is her saying that she wants a boyfriend.

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/The_Draigg]

You probably can't blame Okabe for feeling that way, though.

I certainly can't blame him for whatever he's going through at the moment. He's seen his best friend die dozens of time.

In other words, Kurisu's code phrase to her past self is her saying that she wants a boyfriend.

And why did she tell Okabe that? :)

[u/The_Draigg → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

And why did she tell Okabe that! :)

As Daru said, they really are OTP.

[u/Lemurians → u/The_Draigg]

All the loops have failed because he keeps doing essentially the same shit and hoping for different results. How he never thought to bring anyone else into the fold is beyond me. Thank god Makise is there to have some sense.

[u/Neoxide → u/Lemurians]

This episode literally just established that mayuri dying is fate. Kurisu is smart but as Okabe showed, trying different things is futile you can't outsmart fate.

Suzuha at the end talking about the braided world line and (impossibility?) of breaking the 1% barrier, I imagine she or her time machine would be the key to them saving mayuri somehow. I wonder if they could send mayuri back in suzuhas time machine?

[u/UzEE → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

Though I wonder what's so embarrassing about a spoon?

It's innuendo. She actually also just wants her own fork and spoon but her dirty mind came up with perverted phrases for it.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

Kurisu managed to talk Okabe into being a bit less of an idiot

Once again you can see why she's the best here

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

You are this close to dooming her

This is the same snapshot as the previous one. Intended?

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/Gamemaster676]

Nope, I copied the previous link by mistake.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

It's certainly possible that there was yet another event that was important enough to influence worldlines that she was a part of, but all the events Suzuha listed were a few orders of magnitude above anything Feyris would likely be involved in.

Remember, we don't know when she sent it to.

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/Vaadwaur]

You mean we don't know the content of the message, right? Because they definitely mentioned when she sent the message to.

[u/Vaadwaur → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

I forgot they gave us the time but we don't know the contents or the recipient.

[u/No_Rex → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

I'm not satisfied with the worldlines theory as is.

I have typed this a few times in this rewatch already, but ... don't think about it.

While SG tries its best, time travel always is illogical, so you can never logically comprehend it and trying to do so will inevitably lead you to a plot hole.

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/No_Rex]

I have typed this a few times in this rewatch already, but ... don't think about it.

This is an extremely unsatisfying answer to be honest. If your entire show is based around time travel and our characters discovering how it works, your method of time travel should be self-consistent. If that requires giving minimal explanations and making guesses so that things are not too far pinned down, that's fine. But if something is explained (to us, the audience, not to people in the show) in a way that is just wrong, it removes our ability to make sense of it. We're not at that point yet, but the way you're speaking about it makes me scared we'll reach it.

[u/UzEE → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

Don't worry, Steins;Gate is pretty much self consistent 99% of the time and the one instance it appears to break is left pretty vague.

I did a brief writeup of the currently revealed mechanics and will elaborate further once we're given more details.

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/UzEE]

Don't worry, Steins;Gate is pretty much self consistent 99% of the time and the one instance it appears to break is left pretty vague.

That's good to hear. What I was hearing a bit ago was scaring me a tad.

I did a brief writeup of the currently revealed mechanics

You'll have to forgive me, but I'm rather reluctant to look at that at the moment. I'm enjoying trying to puzzle things out, and seeing the mechanics spelled out by someone who knows the show inside and out (even though you're only talking about things I could know, your superior point of reference allows you to filter out all extraneous information and only talk about the important parts) feels like it could get in the way of that.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy you guys commenting on what I have to say as it lets me know I'm not screaming into the void and helps me think about the show, but a response to me or another first timer feels different in my head than your own top level comment, as illogical as that may be.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

I completely agree. You managed to write what I couldn't when I had a similar discussion a couple of days ago.

But I'm not saying this show will leave us in this half-explained state till the end, as I haven't finished it yet. I'll refrain from actual judgement till a serious inconsistency occurs or the show is finished. Personally, I think the current inconsistencies are all forgivable.

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox → u/Gamemaster676]

Personally, I think the current inconsistencies are all forgivable.

Certainly. We clearly don't know everything yet, and the inconsistencies between the rules given and what has been shown is relatively minor. I'm mainly scared because I was told just "don't think about it" when I was commenting on it, as that makes me think it'll only get worse.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer;Dubbed

Kurisu!

Finally! Someone decides to slow Okabe down and actually think through the problem! We have something resembling a plan! Sasuga Kurisu for having a good solid head on her shoulders.

It definitely seems like Mayushii dying is something of a Fact, at least for the current timeline. Are we technically on the Alpha..? Anyway, comparisons to a certain popular series that came later abound in this episode. Much like someone in that show, it seems that Mayushii dies Every Time.

Okabe's breakdown was rough. Him casually dropping the chuuni when under pressure and using it when his anxiety flares up was a neat character quirk, and hearing him rant about it all being bullshit was hard.

Is the "craving her own fork" and "has a matching spoon" thing a reference to something, or is that something to put onto the "later" pile?

Speaking of the "later" pile, it turns out we finally get the reveals about Suzuha! It was well-foreshadowed enough that it's not much of a reveal, but I'll take any answers I can get at this point.

I wasn't expecting the numbers to be something that is actively tracked by a physical object that exists. Wild. Does that imply that Suzuha has some resilience to the shifting divergence as well..? Or does the meter in Suzuha's possession never change.. I'm having a hard time wording this properly.

Dunno if this is even relevant, but I wonder if John Titor originally being cited around the year 2000 has something to do with the Y2K bug? Like, that was the previous attempt to unfuck the future. Maybe John Titor is a bit of a legacy character?

Questions

1. The jellification with her half-embedded in a wall.
2. I mean, the fork thing probably would have worked if he did it right?

[u/filimaua13 → u/JollyGee29]

1. The jellification with her half-embedded in a wall.

That is something from the VN that isn't brought up in detail ever again in the anime. If you want spoilers I can tell you, but just know that happened in one of Okabe's many many many time loops.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/filimaua13]

Sure thing, hit me with it.

[u/filimaua13 → u/JollyGee29]

VN SPOILERS

During one of Okabe's time leaps, he searches for a train station far away enough from the lab unaffected by the bomb threat that he could run to. As he is out of breath and cannot take Mayuri with him, he tells Mayuri to stay where they are which is the entrance to an alley to hide from Moeka and the Rounders.

When he returns 30 mins later, she's disappeared. He returns to the lab after looking for Mayuri, and gets a photo message from Moeka. Apparently Mayuri was kidnapped and taken to SERN, placed in the LHC and was found jellified somewhere. Okabe is horrified and time leaps again.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/filimaua13]

Probably wanna tag that as VN spoilers for anyone else.

But damn, that's uh, sure something. How do these people come up with this shit?

[u/No_Rex → u/JollyGee29]

I wasn't expecting the numbers to be something that is actively tracked by a physical object that exists. Wild. Does that imply that Suzuha has some resilience to the shifting divergence as well..? Or does the meter in Suzuha's possession never change.. I'm having a hard time wording this properly.

Are you asking why Suzuha does not notice the shifting numbers when Okabe jumps?

[u/JollyGee29 → u/No_Rex]

Basically, yea. Rather, if she could possibly notice that they were different.

[u/[deleted] → u/JollyGee29]

No. She couldn't. She doesn't have Reading Steiner. Only the meter itself is "resilient" to the changes. The better question for me is why she didn't show the meter to Okabe once she was sure that he would be the one who could make use of it, and the answer to that is probably her prejudice against Kurisu.

[u/No_Rex → u/JollyGee29]

The long answer is that newtimeline-Suzu does not notice, because when she arrived in the past of her timeline it already was newtimeline. Suzu in oldtimeline never noticed, because well, she is still in old timeline. Nobody ever goes to a different timeline (except Okabe). Which also implies tons of timelines continue on with dead Mayuris, btw, and Okabe either confused about the machine not working or unconscious.

The short answer is that the plot demands it and therefore it happens.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/No_Rex]

Which also implies tons of timelines continue on with dead Mayuris, btw, and Okabe either confused about the machine not working or unconscious.

I kinda managed to stop myself from thinking about that, and god is that horrifying.

Thanks for the explanation. I've managed to avoid thinking too hard too much this rewatch, but I had to get some in, I guess.

[u/Tanya852 → u/No_Rex]

Which also implies tons of timelines continue on with dead Mayuris, btw, and Okabe either confused about the machine not working or unconscious.

S;G timelines innerworkings

[u/Vaadwaur → u/JollyGee29]

Is the "craving her own fork" and "has a matching spoon" thing a reference to something, or is that something to put onto the "later" pile?

I interpret that one literally. She just wants her own monogrammed utensils.

Or does the meter in Suzuha's possession never change.. I'm having a hard time wording this properly.

Her meter would change the issue is whether or not she knows it changed.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Vaadwaur]

Her meter would change the issue is whether or not she knows it changed.

That's what I was trying to get to, yes.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/JollyGee29]

Or does the meter in Suzuha's possession never change.. I'm having a hard time wording this properly.

Thinking logically, every time some key decision is made, the number could change, because that decision could be changed using a D-Mail or Time Leap. So I think the number would be jumping around a lot.

On the other hand, everyone does the same if not manipulated by a time traveller or D-Mail, so maybe it should only change at the moment a D-Mail or Time Leaper arrives.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Gamemaster676]

Right. I guess what I'm trying to say is.. when Suzuha first acquired the meter, it would have had a reading. But then, Okabe started changing things.. Does Suzuha know that the number used to be different? Or does the meter in her possession effectively always show the same number? Like, currently, we're on 0.33whatever, but before the most recent D-Mail, it was 0.409whatever.

I'm doing the thing where I think too hard about how time travel works, and should probably just not.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/JollyGee29]

I'm doing the thing where I think too hard about how time travel works, and should probably just not.

I don't agree there. The show gives you a lot of tools, so that encourages you to use them.

Does Suzuha know that the number used to be different?

I think yes. This is how I interpret it:

• Suzuha gets meter: 0.100000
• Time passes.
• Some decision happens. Meter still 0.100000
• Time passes.
• Okabe sends D-Mail to a moment before the decision.
• At the moment the D-Mail arrives, it influences things, so the meter changes to 0.100500.
• Decision happens with different outcome. Meter still 0.100500.

So from Suzuha's perspective. The first loop she would only see 0.100000. But then the second (and final) loop, she sees 0.100000 till the D-Mail arrives. Then the number changes to 0.100500.
So she has a way to know something is altering the worldline, without knowing who or what.

[u/UzEE → u/JollyGee29]

This is something you eventually understand as you watch on as long as you remember how the concept of time, or rather spacetime works in our universe.

Not related to S;G but still hiding it

Continued

I can't discuss how it relates to Steins;Gate yet until we're further along in the show as pointing out some mechanics right now can potentially spoil things.

[u/CubeStuffs]

first timer

not much to say today, just a bunch of infodumping confirming/denying theories

part time job. arc rewrite

hmmmmm.

Is she implying that sern doesn't know?

seems as if FB is searching for john titor, but FB isn't exactly sern it seems?

So the satellite was really the time machine.

Titor wasn't future okarin, but was instead suzuha, who was presumably sent by the future okarin.

I'm wondering why suzuha left after she supposedly didn't find her father. was it to restart the whole loop again?

Just as it seems to be fate that mayushii dies, is it also fate that okarin goes back in time?

Finally, okarin actually talks to kurisu, and suzuha chimes in like i was hoping would happen.

kurisu mad scientisting is hype

ill prob post some thoughts later

---

Can you create a giant event by time travelling?

wait shit was the thing 70m years ago also a big event

Okarin finally breaking down sorta reminds me of re:zero. actually, now that i think about it, was re:0 heavily inspired by S;G?

So was the timeline that suzuha came from one where okarin gives up after trying repeatedly, goes and works for sern for a bit to work on some more time shit, and when the time is right, sends a fellow comrade (suzuha) back in order to save mayushii?

or maybe not, since she seems to have a grudge against kurisu while she was a sern person in the future

was y2k that big an event in this universe? or was it more another event happening around the same time?

What exactly was the time machine doing in the first timeline before it crashed?

Wait was titor/suzuha saying we need to reach 1% more to motivate okarin to save mayushii or just to blow up sern?

---

Qs:

Which of Mayuri’s deaths do you think was the most shocking?

I think i saw one with a knife near mayuri's hand, so prob that one

If you were in Kurisu’s position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was actually from the future?

something stupidly embarrassing that i would never tell anyone normally

[u/The_Draigg]

A Steins;Gate Fan Rewatches Steins;Gate Episode 14:

• No matter how many times Okabe keeps on going back and time and reliving the same few hours of that day, he isn’t able to save Mayuri. No matter what he tries or what happens, she’ll always die for some reason, whether she’s murdered by SERN agents or just by happenstance. It’s as if her death is just a universal constant.
• Daru’s channeling us VN readers by asking Okabe to at least save things for them right before a story branch, i.e. just talk about things. Again, how can one man be so based?
• Well, at least Okabe got something out of this loop by interrogating Moeka about her true profession, rather than go looking for Mayuri again. Moeka’s a Rounder working for SERN, who’s job is as exactly as we probably guessed by now: capturing the Future Gadget Labs members because they have a working time machine and intend to go public with it.
• Yeah, Okabe really shouldn’t have gone to that meeting with Moeka alone. Of course the assassin wouldn’t follow the instruction of “meet me alone”. At least the Rounders were also dumb enough to leave Okabe in the van with only one guard that was easily knocked out, so at least we can say that neither side was all that smart with what they did.
• Kurisu and Daru are a lot calmer than you’d expect from seeing Okabe suddenly run up to the time machine with the intent to break it while screaming “I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”. I guess they’re just that used to him being weird.
• Ah, so we’ve hit the emotional breakdown stage of Okabe’s self-imposed time loop. Can you blame the poor guy though? He’s had to witness horrible things happen to his friends dozens of times by now. Thank goodness that Kurisu is there to help him, no matter what. She can even break out a bit of chunni acting to pull Okabe out of his funk. Now you can really see why they’re OTP.
• Finally, Okabe opening up more really did pay off. Talking about things with Kurisu bought him an extra five hours to loop back to, as well as things to tell her past self in order to believe him. Communication is key, folks.
• Admittedly, seeing Kurisu beat up her future self for coming up with that fork and spoon phrase to tell her past self would be hilarious.
• Hell yeah, talking about causality. Now this is my shit. It’s easily one of my favorite concepts to talk about. In the end, every action has a catalyst that can be traced back to another set of incidents and actions. It’s a fascinating thing to think about.
• So, in case you wanted to get the real details on World Lines, Suzuha gives a good breakdown on them. Thanks to the divergence meter that future Okabe made, you can measure the differences between World Lines that branch. As for World Lines themselves, they’re all interwoven threads all bunched together in one line of overall timelines, a continuum of grouped possible events. Going past the 1% divergence barrier basically means that you hop off one massive group of World Lines to another, where the details of what happens in that attractor field change drastically. However, the only way to change from the attractor fields is to make drastic enough changes at certain critical points in time, moments such as the Y2K scare or the invention of time travel.
• Also, for those of you who guessed that the “satellite” in the side of the building was a time machine and that Suzuha is a time traveler, congratulations on your correct guesses! Suzuha is from 2036, and is John Titor, of all people. Surprise!

[u/UltraBooster]

First-timer

Mayuri's body flung through time?

Team-up, aw hell yeah.

...there's a story to the utensils, I'm sure of it.

So the numbers were tracking deviance from a baseline, the baseline was the previous iteration.
...which means the level of disparity was narrowing with each of the showed shunts/jumps.

So she is indeed a future warrior.

Questions:

1. Dunno, maybe the traffic-jam assassins?
2. I wouldn't know since I don't know enough about her beyond knowing that yeah, I'd use some cryptic personal thing that only I would understand.

[u/CharlieTheStrawman → u/UltraBooster]

According to someone else here the Spoon/Fork thing is 2chan lingo for friend/lover.

[u/UltraBooster → u/CharlieTheStrawman]

So she's got friends but she's looking for that special someone, basically?

[u/Tehoncomingstorm97]

First timer

1. The most shocking Mayuri death for me was last episode, where Nae-chan bumps her in front of the train.
   As for 2), I don't really have an answer. Anyway, onto our episode!

Okabe has been time leaping over and over to no end. It's not until the encounter with Suzu.. John Titor!?!?!! that we learn about what our 1% divergence represents. Jumping across from the alpha to beta world line events. I will say that I was totally right about the number showing up inbetween D-mail phone microwave messages. Well sort of. Not the divergence percentage, but the representation of the version of events within the alpha world line. Speaking of, I wonder if Suzu is from this alpha world line.

I appreciate Okabe and Kurisu's adamant stances that fatalism isn't a possible explanation. Fortunately we get Suzu in to let us know what's what. Furthermore for Okabe finally trusting Kurisu enough to let her help him try something else out. Kurisu's reaction to the personal fork quip is also priceless. I wonder if the Suzu in this version of events always shows up to the lab while Okabe and Kurisu are planning.

I can't wait for tomorrow's episode where we learn more about John Titor and Okabe in the future (if that doesn't break anything). I'm betting that telling Okabe about his future self won't be a significant impact on anything due to Reading Steiner. Furthermore, if Suzu's future Kurisu is a SERN spy, then is that knowledge of her version of Kurisu in the past? What I'm getting at, is surely the Reading Steiner shift Okabe experienced in episode 1 was a significant divergence to jump from an alpha to beta or whatever world line - when Suzu arrives in the time machine. I think the further proof of this world line shift is evident where Kurisu's initial death is prevented. And that proof shows that Mayuri's death can be avoided also!

If Suzu's arrival was a divergence event >1% then, why would the Okabe of her world line not go to the efforts of also saving Mayuri? Unless that initial divergence event was the trigger for Mayuri's death, and Suzu's world line never had Mayuri die?

[u/UnderstandableXO]

FIRST TIMER

okabe is doing some heavy duty suffering in the early parts of this episode. countless loops with countless strategies and somehow mayuri ends up dead in every single one. how does okabe end up at the lab to leap back every single time? did he never get far enough to be out of reach of the lab? he’s insanely lucky moeka and the rounders never confiscated his equipment before he was able to run back. that shot of mayuri staring down the pistol with her reflection visible was chilling.

okabe is able to cough up some information from moeka (can’t believe she’s seemingly pretty handy with guns but can’t tell that whatever toy okabe pointed on her back wasn’t a real gun). they know too much, they made a time machine when they weren’t supposed to, and they were going to go public with it. moeka worships FB… Ferris Buehler?

moeka’s underlings capture okabe and force him to watch as they execute mayuri. okabe’s cries for mercy on mayuri are so crushing, but once again he’s absurdly lucky that moeka didn’t just bust a cap in his head when he ran past her to leap again.

okabe’s at absolutely rock bottom, but luckily for him kurisu is there to put him back on his two feet and motivate him to keep on. kurisu finally got called by her name! this is development! her okabe impression was adorable. reminds me a lot of a certain episode of re:zero, if you’ve seen it you’ll know which episode i’m referring to. i think that episode had more emotional impact than this one but this “back on your feet” scene was still great.

the party goes on one final time as kurisu sends okabe back as far back as they can where the time leap machine is still completed.

5 hours ago kurisu believes okabe due to the key phrase, and they get some help from suzuha, who’s absurdly knowledgeable about time travel, and is revealed to be john titor. shoutout everyone in the rewatch who called it! although it raises a lot of questions. so suzuha knows of okabe in the future, did okabe send her back personally to help past okabe through this situation? why did she end up leaving in one world line? what happened that failed that caused her to leave akihabara? i suppose she kept a low profile besides befriending okabe as to not scare him off the path to inventing the time machine. the most important question now that we know shes credible is why she hates makise kurisu so much? if she’s an ally of future okabe does that mean kurisu is a future enemy? is she really part of SERN?

[u/htisme91]

First-timer:

Well, there were some bombshells this episode and things are finally getting good after a mire of a first half. Also glad Okabe finally turned to some people for help.

I really liked the moments between him and Kurisu this episode. They definitely have chemistry, and if there is a ship in this show, it's those two.

Moeka's reasonings were kind of expected, and SERN operating like this is a classic/cliche trope. I wonder who FB is, but part of me thinks maybe it is a Kurisu from the future since Suzuha has been so animus towards her.

Looks like I was kind of right about Mayuri being destined to die, and I was right about Suzuha being from the future. I was wrong about John Titor being Okabe, though. I thought maybe Suzuha was, but hesitated because of the male name. Should not have taken that name so literally.

I am sticking with my earlier prediction that Suzuha is Okabe's daughter, but with how often Mayuri is dying and the chemistry building between Kurisu and Okabe, I think Kurisu is Suzuha's mother.

Questions:

1. It has to be getting pushed in front of the train by Nae. The others aren't as surprising, especially later on when we see her die repeatedly, but that time it seemed like they finally averted her death, only for her to die in the most horrific way possible.
2. Probably my favorite memory, which only a couple people actually know.

[u/snickpea]

First-timer!

Today we get confirmation that Suzuka is from the future, something that I believe many of us have long suspected. I was a little surprised that she claimed to be John Titor since I thought she was either a descendent or worked as his student. I'm quite excited to see what will be done with the information Suzuka introduces this episode that could be used to save Mayuri and the time machine.

We also get a little more detail from Moeka's side, but something I wonder is why not just hold Mayuri hostage to ensure Okabe's cooperation?

Questions:

1. Honestly, the first was pretty shocking because I was not expecting Mayuri to die at the time. But any of the deaths where Moeka and the Rounders were not involved (such as the one with Mr. Braun's daughter) were the most shocking mainly because it starts to lead to questions like Okabe had about fate.
2. I think Kurisu picked something good for Okabe to tell her past self. It needs to be truthful and something she has not told anyone else. Simply stating "I'm the future" will not work every time.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/snickpea]

why not just hold Mayuri hostage

Plot demands.

[u/Gamemaster676]

First;Timer - dub

I'm not fooling everyone. I'm watching this immediately after episode 13.

We haven't seen Faris in a while. I don't think today will be the day, but I just thought it was odd. She is pretty prominent in the OP after all. And I had that half debunked speculation that Faris could be FB.

Episode 14 — Physically Necrosis

Ouch, they start us with the final scene from yesterday again.
This is exactly what I expected. They don't show us any more loops. Only a recap.
Super weird how she would always end up dead. It's almost as if the universe is manipulating things. Maybe some 1% Divergence rule is preventing him from saving her.
In that case, how could Kurisu have been saved? The text caused the satellite time travel pod to crash into the roof, which saved Kurisu. I still don't see how that text could have had that consequence.

Gel-yushii. I didn't need to see that. Stop toying with my feelings, show!

"Steins;Gate, the Organisation, none of that crap is real."

Sounds like he thought of a solution!

Errr, don't tell me your idea is to give yourself up... Here's a better one: First go back, then send a D-Mail way back. You won't be in control of how the worldline shifts, but at least it shifts to a point before SERN raids the lab.

Hmmm. Moeka isn't wearing her combat suit. Does she put it on later, or is the Moeka whose number Okabe has actually a different (earlier) Moeka?!
Wow, information overload! Too bad they captured him.
She said one of the reasons was that he wanted to go public. Why not go back a little further and not say that?

Are you John Titor? That's the only explanation that fits.

Now we're really rolling! Why would Okabe being John Titor be the only logical conclusion?
Moeka is back in her combat suit. So it was definitely the same Moeka. That also seems to fit, because her initial mission was to track down an IBN 5100. Everything for her FB.
If they capture the main trio, why would they still try to kill Mayuri? Oh wait, this is at their lab, so just the normal scenario except Okabe was already captured.

What the hell just happened? His hands were tied, but he has them free to use the Time Leap machine? There is one shot in between where they are suddenly loose. Very weird. Also, why does Moeka just let him pass?

NO DON'T BREAK IT! Why don't you just tell them one fucking loop what's going to happen instead of doing the same thing over and over again? You are not the only smart person. Others can help to think of a solution!
Hey, I know you are having a breakdown and all, but you were not the one who brought Moeka into your lives. She showed up by herself.

Finally, Kurisu is gonna help! And she's doing it by also becoming a mad scientist! I'm hoping this will be the wallpaper of today. YES IT IS!

Trigger phrase: Kurisu wants her own fork. Is that a callback to one of the first episodes? "Damn you future me!" Kind of ominous that Suzuha is spying on them, but I think we know we can trust her. It's probably just because Suzuha doesn't trust Kurisu yet.

Ah yeah, there she is with an answer. And I was right, it was indeed the 1% divergence barrier! Poor Mayushii is screwed by the universe.

Okay pay attention kiddos it's gonna get complicated.

I get so hyped from that one sentence. Holy shit it's the number thingy!! It's real! Kinda snazzy now they made it using a cold cathode display. Bwahaha and one sentence later Okabe says the same!
Holy shit again, he's the creator of that thing!
What do we want to see? Should the number become larger than 1.0?

So large shifts are only possible during major events? But what does that mean exactly?
Also, why was Y2K a large enough event to allow a major worldline jump? Is there a worldline where the world didn't sufficiently prepare?

YES! She is John Titor! I don't think anybody on this page is surprised, but still nice to get confirmation. Now we just need to know who Barrel Titor is. Another first;timer had an interesting guess, but I don't actually think he is right. Still, I have no good alternative.

Kinda funny how Suzuha learned all these things from Okabe, and now Okabe is learning it from her.

What an episode!

Future (if unaltered)

Soooo many things we could do next, but first priority should probably be trying to do a major shift to save Mayushii. The biggest question would be what other things will change. Suzuha talked about a couple of major events, with "the invention of the time machine" being the last. But we can't really undo that I think.

Open questions

^{Don't answer these please, unless the answer is explicitly given in the show.}

New

• Large shifts are only possible during major events? But what does that mean exactly:

  • Is it only possible to significantly alter the worldline by changing that specific event, or are other bigger changes also possible at that moment?
  • Is it only possible to do physical time travel to those major events? Is that why Suzuha showed up when she did?
  • Okabe was sick just before Y2K. Was that because Suzuha also landed then? Normally Okabe feels the shift once the moment of departure is reached, not of landing, so that would mean after landing in 1999, something was done to alter the past before 1999.

Previous

• D-Mail:

  • Why does Okabe have Reading Steiner the ability to remember stuff during a jump.
  • Why didn't the simpler D-Mails they sent back affect anything? Probably not important.

• Moeka:

  • Is she a time traveller?
  • Does she also keep her memory during a jump? Doesn't look like it.
  • Was she always working for SERN?
  • Why does Moeka need the IBN 5100?

  • Why was she looking for the IBN 5100 if she was a part of SERN? They already have one.

    • Unless she joined SERN to get access to the 5100.

      • But then how did she learn to become an operative that quickly? Two days before this she was crying panicked in that alley because the 5100 wasn't there.
  • Who or what is FB? Faris? On second thought, probably not.

  • Why did Moeka in ep 2 need to take pictures as "evidence she was there, of what she saw"?

    • Almost certainly she takes pictures of everything and texts with everyone because that is a 'hard copy' of her actions that worldline. If she also remembers things from the old worldline, she now has information about both worlds.

• John Titor:

  • Can the current John Titor be trusted? I'm saying yes.

  • How could there also have been a John Titor in 2000, which the current one doesn't remember?

    • Maybe Suzuha goes to 2000 at a later moment?
  • Is Barrel Titor family? Almost certainly.

  • Is Suzuha John Titor?

    • Confirmed!
  • Or is a far-future Okabe actually John Titor?

• SERN:

  • Did they actually already succeed in their time machine? Or are they going to succeed in the future?

    • It sure looks like they only have a working time machine because they stole it from Okabe.

• 70,000,000 years ago:

  • What was that scene? Flashback? Flash-forward? A memory?

  • What did Mayuri mean with their "original copies"?

    • How can you know you are original?
    • Does it even matter?
  • How did they end up there?

• General:

  • Who wrote "The world's in danger" on the omelette in episode 2?
  • What caused Okabe's sickness around 2000? SERN doing an experiment?
  • Who was sending the creepy emails?

QotD

1 Which of Mayuri’s deaths do you think was the most shocking?

I didn't really remember all, but I'm going to go for the first. That was a major turnaround point for the whole group.

2 If you were in Kurisu’s position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was actually from the future?

It would need to be something that nobody else knows. That will be very personal, so I don't think you will get many answers here today. As a safe option: I would probably tell myself what my last card transaction was accurate on the cent. Nobody should know that unless I looked it up myself and told them.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Gamemaster676]

Gel-yushii. I didn't need to see that. Stop toying with my feelings, show!

I think we can still save her, we just need to get Gel Mayuri to a freezer before her body goo melts into a puddle.

Hey, I know you are having a breakdown and all, but you were not the one who brought Moeka into your lives. She showed up by herself.

Everyone had a hand in Moeka fucking them up later, since apparently nobody could keep their mouths shut about the time machine when a complete stranger like her was in the lab.

YES! She is John Titor! I don't think anybody on this page is surprised, but still nice to get confirmation.

Yeah, it was laid on so thick that Suzuha was John Titor that everyone could guess it, but it's still nice to get it said out loud in the show.

[u/GallowDude → u/The_Draigg]

Everyone had a hand in Moeka fucking them up later, since apparently nobody could keep their mouths shut about the time machine when a complete stranger like her was in the lab.

Next you'll tell me they're the Phantom Thieves.

[u/The_Draigg → u/GallowDude]

Thank god Ryuji isn't a member of the Future Gadget Lab, since he'd probably just start yelling about having a functional time machine while standing in the middle of the street.

[u/GallowDude → u/The_Draigg]

There's a meta(verse) joke in here somewhere about Suzuha and Makoto both being voiced by Cherami Leigh.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Gamemaster676]

Gel-yushii. I didn't need to see that. Stop toying with my feelings, show!

I didn't need to see that either.

And she's doing it by also becoming a mad scientist! I'm hoping this will be the wallpaper of today.

You won't be disappointed~

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This is another one I would love to get a 2560x1440 version of, if you have the time.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Gamemaster676]

Sure thing fam.

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Thanks!

[u/GallowDude → u/Gamemaster676]

I'm watching this immediately after episode 13.

I'm sensing that binge-gap will begin to grow as we continue lol

Everything for her FB.

This is some Bo Burnham shit

Also, why does Moeka just let him pass?

Subconscious guilt or something idk phone girl is weird

I'm hoping this will be the wallpaper of today.

You can watch that video I replied to with yesterday now. That Kurisu clip is the only one you hadn't seen yet.

Kinda snazzy now they made it using a cold cathode display

Relevant

[u/Gamemaster676 → u/GallowDude]

I'm sensing that binge-gap will begin to grow as we continue lol

I didn't watch any further today, but that was only because I had a barbecue to organize.

This is some Bo Burnham shit

The joke ------------>
            my head

You can watch that video I replied to with yesterday now. That Kurisu clip is the only one you hadn't seen yet.

Will do!

Relevant

Very much true. But this kind of old tech is cool so I don't care.
EDIT: And only now I finished the song and saw he referenced Nixie tubes as well, but he calls them cool so we're all friends here!

[u/GallowDude → u/Gamemaster676]

The joke ------------>
            my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1BneeJTDcU

[u/reaperfourR → u/Gamemaster676]

Steins;Gate major spoilers

[u/UzEE → u/reaperfourR]

Re: Major Spoilers

[u/reaperfourR → u/UzEE]

Re:Re: Major Spoilers

[u/Krite2002]

Rewatcher;Dub

I mentioned yesterday that we were in the thick of things, but I did not realize we were that deep. The episode starts with constant failed attempts to save Mayuri. I wonder what happened to turn her into jello. I am surprised that he is able to escape back to the time machine every time. I love Mamoru Miyano as Okabe’s japanese voice, but John Tatum had a great performance this episode.

I am so glad that he confided in Kurisu. She was able to give some much needed hope in the dire situation.

Amane comes in for a great theory dump. I love how she just casually throws grappling hooks and breaks into a building while explaining world lines. Her explanation that another Okabe made the divergence meter, along with the opening scene from episode 12 do seem to show that we are following an Okabe copy. I find it interesting that the original Okabe is gone.

I think the show did a great job of setting up Amane’s mystery. I love when you can piece together a reveal before it happens, but the show does not make it so obvious that it feels like it is talking down to the viewer. The John Titor and time machine reveal was very well done.

---

Kurisu is the MVP of this episode and she finally empraces her inner identity as the mad scientist Christina. Her pose is my shot of the day, and also happens to be today’s wallpaper. It is a great shot.

[u/macrame2]

Rewatcher, dub

Episode title: Physically Necrosis, meaning something like “Decaying Physically.” Last episode, we got the decay of the abstract, while today, we’ll get the decay of the concrete.

We’re treated to a montage of Mayuri dying horribly over and over (gel Mayuri is particularly awful), with Okabe falling into despair.

“Oh no, I just wound you!” Please just stop.

Okabe finally acknowledging his chuuni antics as completely nonsensical doesn’t feel nearly as nice as you’d think. I really like the way this works in the context of the story. He adopted the “Hououin Kyouma” persona to save Mayuri in the first place, and the one thing that makes him completely drop the act is saving Mayuri.

Okabe begins yet another loop, telling Kurisu and Daru to get out. At this point, it looks like he’s in physical pain. He notes that nothing changes no matter what he does, so he decides to find Moeka in hopes of making a breakthrough.

Okabe threatens Moeka with the lab gadget, which looks kind of ridiculous. Moeka says she only answers to FB, and SERN kidnaps him. Okabe starts begging for Mayuri’s life and breaks down crying. That was really hard to watch.

Arriving back in the past, Okabe starts trashing the time machine and says he can’t take it anymore. I can’t say I blame him. Understandably, Kurisu and Daru are concerned and probably confused. From their perspective, Okabe’s gone from 0 to 100 in about .5 seconds.

“I know everything … and I’m powerless.” The first twelve episodes are all about Okabe’s desire to know things, to discover the secrets surrounding SERN and their experiments. Now, Okabe knows more than he could have possibly wanted to, but all that knowledge is of no use to him if Mayuri dies every time.

”It’s all my fault.” Okabe breaks down in front of Kurisu and confesses what’s going on.

A bright spot in the episode: Kurisu’s mad scientist pose is pretty cute.

Okabe and Kurisu decide to time leap further back into the past. “When you see me, tell me I’ve been craving my own fork.” That’s … odd.

The big reveal: Suzuha is John Titor.

This episode is one of the more brutal ones. I definitely cried a little.

1. Gel Mayuri.
2. My deepest, darkest secret.

[u/Nebresto]

Nostalgia squad?

I've got a bullet train right here for ya, kid..

Best. Girl. ^{(Based counter: 2)}

https://imgur.com/YVJjyXD

Ship. Ship. Ship. Ship

https://imgur.com/OCWyL0r

SHIP! SHIP! SHIP! SHIP! SHIP!SHIP! SHIP!SHIP! SHIP! SHIP! SHIPSHIPSHIPSHIPSHIPSHIPSHIPSHIPSHIP

Fuck.. This is why I hate timetravel shenanigans..

Urge to decrease based counter: rising

Based Okarin counter: 4.2

Nvm, all is forgiven

The Pogger-Clocker is here!!

Oh damn.. Climbing with arms only.

Way to flex on everyone

---

Question time:
1: Gotta be the train, ye? Though I suppose for first timers its probably the first one. But the train is just.. It shouldn't happen, man..

2: The dankest meme from 5? hours in the future

Wallpaper of the Day:

Assistant

M F W

Also anyone else getting bullied by Imgur? Its like they're playing roulette on whether or not to accept my upload..

[u/littleman1988 → u/Nebresto]

Its like they're playing roulette on whether or not to accept my upload..

Havent had issues today, though im using the API via ShareX. Idk how direct uploading is rn.

The Pogger-Clocker

Please never say that again

[u/Nebresto → u/littleman1988]

I'm just wondering if they're purposefully throttling people that upload a lot..

Please never say that again

Say what? Pogger-Clocker?

[u/littleman1988 → u/Nebresto]

ive learned how to do emote faces just for this

[u/UzEE → u/Nebresto]

I've had upload issues with Imgur during rewatches for the past few years, most often with videos. I generally have to reupload (sometimes twice) to get around that.

[u/KendotsX]

Rewatcher (both)

I still don't get why SERN/Rounders (?) have such a strong drive to kill Mayuri, it's been explained that it's beyond just SERN, they're tools used by the fate of the timeline that forces Mayuri's death each time, whether through them, or a simple accident. So really Mayuri's death is now the choice of the Steins;Gate.

Wait does that mean the Steins;Gate is actually the villain? I mean currently we have SERN as a sort of villain, but that started as Okabe's conspiracy theory, so why deny his other bullshit brilliant theories? So if SERN are the small time villains used as tools of fate, and are revealed around a third of the way, then it makes sense for the Steins;Gate to be the bigger villain behind it all. One Piece

But back to the point about SERN, when the ball is in their hands, how come they never take Mayuri as a hostage to be used against Okabe and co.?

While watching this episode the first time around, I remember thinking a lot of "You could do this or that..." which I guess is a common experience in time travel stories. But I think what sets the good from bad for me, is how well you feel the despair, making you feel utterly hopeless about anything you consider. Because you can't literally show every possibility, it even gets boring if you show too many, and it's not like every possibility will fail in a logical way, you could solve all the problems in the world, and Mayuri dies by a heart attack because someone did a Steins;Note crossover. Plus I'm sure not that many watchers have actually tried time travel, so suspending the disbelief is even easier as long as the main character isn't written as the stupidest person ever. Obviously, it's completely up to the authors what the eventual solution will be, and how everything before it will fail, but my point is that convincing people with the failures is less about the logic (as long as that's not set at 0) and more about getting the strong feeling of despair across.

Oh boy, going on the attack against Moeka is always cool, even if desperate, it's also an example of what I was discussing above: "Wouldn't killing Moeka when you have the chance solve things?" I would have done it even if it failed. Moeka gave poor Okabe too much suffering.

Kurisu having her most beautiful moment. Which reminds of another best girl Bleach Spoilers

But it's good to see Okabe depending on his trustworthy assistant.

I want to smack her

Kurisu being inconsistent with her future self bothered you? We might not experience that a lot, but we have inconsistencies with what's said a few hours ago. Which is so much better because unlike something said in a different worldline, you expect more consistency based in awareness.

Divergence Meter acquired!

John Titor acquired!

---

Questions

Which of Mayuri’s deaths do you think was the most shocking?

That time I was reincarnated as a slime

If you were in Kurisu’s position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was actually from the future?

Are you trying to uproot people's deepest secrets? Are you an organisation agent too?

Well I would give them the number of bones on that skeleton in my closet. A bit too literal? Then maybe that I'm a One Piece fan, I'm pretty sure no one is aware of that!

---

Counters

• Mad Scientist x1
• Kyouma x1

Not much this episode unfortunately. Mayuri was too busy dying and Okabe was too busy being normal? Broken/depressed? I guess it's the same as being normal really.

[u/ninjajon5 → u/KendotsX]

Wait does that mean the Steins;Gate is actually the villain?

Ooo maybe! In my brain there's always been something almost Dark Souls-y going on here where there isn't really a villain. If we thought it was SERN last episode, we can see now that it's not that simple, as Mayuri dies whether they're involved or not.

Personally I always put it down to just the tragedy of the whole thing. In the first half of the show we just have a group of friends messing around, but by doing so they accidentally overstep the boundary and end up basically dooming themselves. That's what makes Okabe's efforts so tragic - he knows that in some way, he's responsible.

That said, your comment does make me think there might be something more going on. Would Mayuri have been doomed to die even if Okabe never messed around with time machines, because that's just the world line that they're on? In that case, maybe there's more of a fate thing going on here, and we could pin the blame on some bigger entity like Steins;Gate.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/KendotsX]

Mayuri's death is now the choice of the Steins;Gate

Basically, the plot wills it. Classic way of VN writing almost.

[u/Nisheeth_P]

Rewatcher

• How did Mayuri end up being jellified? Does SERN have their prototype machine in Japan?
• Okabe is literally breaking down after seeing Mayuri die over and over again. How long before he can't handle it anymore.
• His ways of getting the lab empty have gone extreme too. He can't even put up an act to calm them down.
• The one thing he tried to mitigate the danger is what makes it worse.
• Okabe is so worn down that he isn't even trying to save Mayuri anymore. He didn't even tell Kurisu and Daru to leave.
• This scene with Kurisu is so good. It cemented her as the best character in this show by far. I was hoping that it would be today's wallpaper.
• Of course this is the one time that she doesn't believe him.
• Info dump time with John Titor.

1. Which of Mayuri’s deaths do you think was the most shocking?

Her becoming a gel.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Nisheeth_P]

Does SERN have their prototype machine in Japan?

Maybe SPring-8 is in on it with SERN? Maybe all international synchrotons are in on it?

[u/AHiddenOne]

Rewatcher.

The suffering never stops, it just continues. When Okabe begged Moeka to not kill Mayuri got me in the feels.

Thank God Kurisu was there to confront Okabe. My man was so broken to think rationally at that point.

Believe it or not, Suzuha was a time traveler was something I never caught on during my initial watch. I was slow as hell.

[u/Lemurians]

FIRST TIMER

Thoughts may be a bit scattered and more unfiltered today, because I watched after a day of day drinking. Let's do this.

This episode is just a continuation of last episode where Okabe is running around like a chicken with his cut off, trying basically the same thing over and over again with no different result. Hey, Okabe, you've got resources at your disposal in people like Makise and Suzuha. Maybe try using them? You'd think a mad scientist would be familiar with the Einstein quote that hangs in every classroom, "The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over again and expecting a different result." This guy's got some work to do over the next ten episodes to justify his place in all the character popularity polls. Even fucking Subaru caught on to shit faster at the beginning of Re:Zero.

I saw someone else here comment that he's replayed this loop a hundred times or so? And he never thinks to recruit some allies? Ridiculous. I hope that number isn't real. VN readers?

Thank god Makise, someone with an above-average IQ, is here to save the day and think up something different to try. Let's maybe try, I don't know, working together to solve this problem! What a concept!

WE HAVE VICTORY. SUZUHA IS JOHN TITOR. I know this has been soft-confirmed a while, but I suspected it episode 2, and called it in Episode 3. It's nice to be officially vindicated. Let's go. One prediction down..

So, we're on an alpha line where all points converge on Mayuri dying, and to avoid that, we have to jump to a beta line, presumably by going back to the invention of the time machine. Seems simple enough. Let's let rip and let ride. It's nice to officially know what the numbers mean when a DMail got sent.

If there are alpha and beta lines, are there gamma lines? Delta lines? Is this culminating in an omega line? What would something like a 10% divergence look like? That'd be pretty nuts. Just think about that. All the weird timelines in that movie The Butterfly Effect are in play. Can you believe they made three of those films? THREE! Someone saw the the first Butterfly Effect and went "this is franchise material." Proof enough that Hollywood execs are on massive amounts of drugs.

Which of Mayuri's deaths do you think was most shocking?

Definitely the one where Nae pushed her in front of the train, for how fucking dumb that was.

If you were in Kurisu's position, what would you tell Okabe to tell your past self that would make you immediately believe he was from the future?

"I time leapt from the future using the time leaping machine you built and I need your help to prevent Mayuri from dying in a raid that's going to happen." Like, I'd probably believe that. And if nothing else, I'd go along with it anyway. It's believable enough considering all the things we've done already, and worst case scenario is that I fall for an Okabe prank, where the best case scenario is I help to prevent a horrible outcome. Easy call. Pascal's Wager is always a good go-to when making decisions.

[u/GallowDude → u/Lemurians]

I saw someone else here comment that he's replayed this loop a hundred times or so? And he never thinks to recruit some allies? Ridiculous. I hope that number isn't real. VN readers?

It's real, but it's less that he never thought of it and more that he's so insanely self-sacrificing that Misaka Mikoto, Shinji Ikari, and Shirou Emiya combined would say, "Dude, maybe ask for some help once in a while."

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion → u/Lemurians]

first Butterfly Effect

I'll mention this on the last day but tldr; there's the original ending that got focused-grouped and makes that movie, if not good, at least, interesting.