#had to stop both my '98 and Stampede rewatches 'cause Too Feeling

[dozenssporks]

spoilers for '98 but I was just thinking about when Meryl calmed the mob and stopped them from hurting Vash. In that moment Vash sees and hears Rem echoing Meryl. I've heard people theorize that this meant Meryl was Rem's reincarnation, or that the ghost of Rem was speaking through her, or just that Vash sees her as a replacement for Rem.

To me it seems obvious that Meryl is herself alone. Those are her words about what she has learned from being around Vash and how her beliefs have been shaped by her experiences.

Vash lives his life upholding Rem's ideals and keeping her alive that way. With Legato's death he feels he has failed and completely lost Rem.

Then Meryl steps up and her words are not a shallow repetition of Rem's. They are new in her, grown from the old. Vash realizes that the people Rem saved, kept alive, now keep Rem alive by embracing her ideals.

Rem lives on in Meryl.

Rem lives on in every person on No Man's Land that believes in love and peace.

(I could also read into it that Vash was finally able to face Knives because even if Vash died Rem would no longer die with him.)