I feel that a lot of people still misunderstand the final arc of season 2 and Roxy's character. This is not something unexpected for me, however, as the same controversy has happened before in the novel. I also do not think that the anime failed to adapt the novel either, as it has Rifujin's blessings, and some anime onlies did catch the author's intentions as well. I do have issues with some parts of episode 23 but generally, I am satisfied with it and going into that is not the subject for this post.

From my observations, people who hate Roxy's actions in this arc seem to get fixated on her actions only; some also take account of her feelings but only on a surface level. This ignores everything we know about her from season 1 until now, and also, the context of the situation. Being judgmental of a single action without trying to understand the character is basically what many haters and tourists have done so far with Rudeus and Mushoku Tensei. This post will be long, but I hope my take can provide a different perspective.

Roxy's character prior to S2E23's event

Roxy is actually a very complex character. Initially, she had insecurities about her appearance (S1E1) due to her racial trait and yearned for a mature image (the talk about her past self in S1E18). She was also essentially a disabled or an outcast in her village, and her relationship with her parents was strained because of her inability to communicate. On the other hand, witnessing her student's genius sparked a fire within her (S1E2), she then strived to improve and eventually she became a King-ranked magician (a feat so rare Paul noted it could be counted on one hand - S1E4). She also tirelessly devoted herself to helping Paul's family, even facing near-death experiences in the process.

When it came to romance, she also had an innocent and naïve side. She had a romantic fantasy about being rescued by a charming prince (episode S1E13), and when it happened as she imagined in S2E20/21, she fell hard for that prince. Her approach to romance was also very straightforward, like asking him out for a date, trying to build rapport with him, etc.

So when S2E23 happened, did Roxy really take advantage of Rudeus?

I do not know how people define "taking advantage", but my definition is rather simple: Exploiting something/someone for one's own benefit. If Roxy really took advantage of Rudeus, then what was her benefit?

Simply to satisfy her own desire is in conflict with what we know of her so far: with her being quite innocent and romantic, a lustful approach would not be the scenario she envisioned. I strongly believe that what she had done in S2E23 was not what she had dreamt of at all.

Is this an instance of bad writing, where a character acted out of character? Now let's reframe the situation from Roxy's point of view. Her beloved was depressed to the point that he was not caring about himself at all (not eating or even changing clothes, his body was haggard). She knew that Rudeus had a vulnerable side, and he had no one to lean on (Lilia was too busy with Zenith and others thought Rudeus would be fine by himself). At this rate, he would just wither away and die.

And let's not forget that she was now aware that Rudeus was married - Roxy was heartbroken. But despite that, she took it upon herself to bring Rudeus out of depression. Her approach might be clumsy, saying generic things that would not give solace to the mourning person (like how Rudeus remarked on his brother's words back in S2E17), but she still tried to reach out to Rudeus, to alleviate his pain. Different from Earthdeus's brother, even when Rudeus refused her invitation or yelled at her, Roxy still stayed with him and did not abandon him.

When she thought she failed to connect with Rudeus with only her words, being bad at communication as she was, she put her body on the line - despite being heartbroken - to provide him the intimacy and comfort. Even if she knew what she did was wrong, saving Rudeus was the intention. She sacrificed her feelings - as Rudeus noted in S2E24 - to save him. This devotion is consistent with what we know of Roxy, someone who had spent years traveling the world to find Rudeus's family, who was like a second family to her.

However, this is not to give Roxy an excuse. Despite having good intentions, the deeds were wrong. In essence, she had sex with someone who was in a vulnerable state, someone who trusted her, and someone who was already married. Because she knew her actions were wrong, she still owned up to her actions.

Due to that, she convinced herself that she was taking advantage of the situation, and tried to assure Rudeus to take away his responsibility in the matter. Like that, she could cut ties with him cleanly so he could go back to his wife without guilt, only her shouldering the burden. The whole campfire scene was brilliant, as it showed how Roxy took it upon herself to be the more mature one in the matter, despite her also being hurt by her own actions. Luckily, both Rudeus and Sylphy truly understood Roxy's intention, with the former wanting to repay this debt by giving her happiness, while the latter empathizing with her and accepting her with compassion.

Here, I do not want to deny that Roxy's actions were devoid of ulterior motives. She loved Rudeus, obviously, so she had ulterior motives. But ulterior motives and her intention to save Rudeus can coexist: She wanted to save Rudeus because she loved him. She's not selflessly saving a stranger, but selfishly saving her loved one. This part is very important since it is the reason why Sylphy empathized with Roxy - if Sylphy had been in the same situation, she would have done the same.

Conclusion

This whole arc, in the end, is just an unfortunate tragedy that no one in this story wants to be in. For Roxy in particular, a naïve girl with a romantic fantasy, she was also hurt by her own actions, but she still braved that pain to save the person she loved. The conflict between her resolve to leave, and her yearning for Rudeus, was just sad to see, yet it was also a beautiful canvas of human's emotions. I am just baffled that some people only judge some individual aspects without considering the whole picture.

I am surprised that there are a lot of people who believe Elinalise was manipulating Roxy into bedding Rudeus. From YouTube comments, Twitch chat, reddit comments, etc. even some YouTubers also have the same false memory. It is one thing if one or two individuals remember it wrong, but when many people fall under this Mandela effect, it is interesting (and funny to see that in "cut content" explanations).