L’s death is probably one of Death Note‘s most hopeless and devastating moments. The stand-off between the two titans, L and Light, seemed to come to a terrifying conclusion. Death Note is quite a fast-paced thriller, and many fans were caught up in this emotional moment, making them miss the underlying logic behind L’s death. Let’s review why Rem killed L.
- Article Breakdown:
- Rem killed L to protect Misa Amane. Light had purposefully set Misa up to be exposed as Kira by L.
- This would spell certain death for Misa, which Rem wanted to avoid at all costs as she had grown fond of her.
- This pushed Rem to write L’s name in the Death Note.
Rem’s feelings toward Misa
Rem isn’t the first Shinigami who was fond of Misa. Gelus, another Shinigami, had been watching over Misa over the years. During what was supposed to be Misa’s last day on Earth, Gelus wrote the name of Misa’s destined murderer in the Death Note. As punishment for extending her life, Gelus broke a Shinigami law and died as a result.
Rem took his Death Note and gave it to Misa, as she felt it was only right to deliver Gelus’s Death Note to the person he had died saving. Since then, Rem has kept Misa company and tried to keep her safe.Rem seems to have developed a fondness for Misa over time, as she tells Misa a lot of valuable information, including how to kill a Shinigami. Rem also instantly declared her dislike for Light and how he used Misa. Light used Rem’s feelings toward Misa to his advantage, killing L in the process.
The fake Death Note rules
It all started when Misa was taken into custody, as L suspected her of being the second Kira. While she’s under custody, Misa begs Rem to kill her. Rem is upset by this turn of events and goes to meet Light, telling him that Light has to find a way to free Misa or else she’ll kill him.
However, Light knows he can’t make any risky moves. L is already highly suspicious of him, and it’s only a matter of time until he’s taken into custody, too. He then hatches a plan to clear Misa and himself of suspicion.
Light tells Ryuk to write two additional rules in the Death Note. These rules aren’t real, but nobody but him and Ryuk would know the fake rules from the real ones.
The first fake rule establishes that if the person in possession of the Death Note doesn’t write anyone’s name in it for 13 days, the owner of that Death Note will die. The second fake rule states that if the Death Note is torn up or burnt, therefore making it unusable, every human who has ever touched that Death Note will die.
After this, Light willingly turns himself in. He and Misa are kept in different cells, isolated from each other and restrained.
Light and Misa’s memory wipe
As per Light’s orders, Rem gives the Death Note to another human who would kill to obtain more power and status, on the condition that he also kills some criminals. This ended up being Kyosuke Higuchi, a businessman who was part of the Yotsuba Group. After killing a few criminals routinely, he would kill his business competitors in various companies.
By giving up ownership of their Death Notes, Light and Misa’s memories of using them were wiped. They believe themselves to be completely innocent. They were kept in isolation for two more months, then released as the killings continued without their intervention for so long.
Light and Misa, after being released
After they were released, Light and Misa teamed up with L to catch the new Kira. After they track down and capture Kyosuke Higuchi, his Death Note is confiscated by the police.
Once Light touches the Death Note, all his memories of using it return. The first fake rule helps establish Light and Misa’s innocence, as the killings continued for months while they were incarcerated. The second rule ensures that the Death Note isn’t destroyed, as many members of the police force have already touched it.
How Light framed Misa
Light triggers Misa’s memories of being the second Kira by having her touch a second Death Note that he had hidden away and told her to resume the killings immediately. With Kyosuke Higuchi dead, L is immediately suspicious about how the killings started soon after Misa’s release.
Although he had released them, L was still heavily suspicious of Misa and Light. The biggest piece of evidence they had to prove their innocence was the fake 13-day rule. Because there was so much evidence pointing to them being Kira, L decided to see if the 13-day rule was real in the first place.
L planned to have two Death Row inmates test the 13-day rule by having one write the other’s name in the Death Note. One of them would die immediately, while they would wait to see if the writer would die after 13 days.
Rem knows this rule is fake, as she’s a Shinigami and doesn’t recognize it. She also realizes that if L finds out the rule is fake, the biggest evidence for Misa’s innocence would be gone, and Misa would be detained again.
If found guilty, L expressed his desire to have the Kiras get capital punishment or have them write their own names in the Death Note.
Rem’s sacrifice and killing of L
Rem couldn’t let Misa die after protecting her for so long. Misa’s lifespan had already been halved twice. The first time, she made a deal with Rem to obtain the Shinigami eyes, which halved her lifespan. The second time, she made a deal with Ryuk to re-obtain the Shinigami eyes she had lost after the memory wipe, halving her lifespan again.
Rem wants Misa to be out of danger and to live a happy rest of her life, but this wouldn’t be possible if she were under investigation for so long. The worst-case scenario is that Misa is eventually found guilty and killed. Rem realized these potential outcomes and was pushed to act.
Rem decides to kill both L and Watari to prevent L from testing the 13-day rule and exposing Misa as the second Kira. However, by doing this, she extended Misa’s lifespan. Shinigami are forbidden from extending a human’s lifespan, so Rem dies after killing L and Watari. Light achieved his goal of killing both L and Rem, two of the biggest obstacles limiting his activity as Kira.
Why did the police force not test the 13-day rule?
As we know, the fake 13-day rule is one factor that led to Light’s arrest, so why did the police force not test it right after L’s death? When Near brings this up later in the series, it’s revealed that they didn’t do it because they didn’t feel it was right to play with human lives for the sake of an experiment, even if they were Death row prisoners.
This is what lies at the crux of Death Note. Are some lives worth sacrificing to better others? Would you end up with better circ*mstances or just different circ*mstances? The task force felt that it wasn’t up to them to decide.
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