WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1, Episode 4 of Tower of God, "The Green April," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
At the end of Episode 3 of Tower of God, Bam thinks he spots a familiar face from across the battle arena of the Crown Game: Rachel. Rachel is the mysterious blonde-haired girl who Bam formed a familial relationship with outside of the Tower. When she entered it in the hopes of seeing stars at its summit, Bam followed after her like a lovesick puppy. Until now, her whereabouts were unknown. But if her closing words in Episode 4 are anything to go by, Bam ought to think twice if he's expecting a happy reunion.
We're first reintroduced to Rachel -- her face hidden under a dark hood -- just before the Crown Game begins. Partnered with two unnamed individuals, Rachel makes it through the Tower's deathmatch on the second floor with shocking ease -- slaughtering the hundreds of Regulars taking part in the test in just half an hour. They then progress to Lero-Ro's bonus test where they've been biding their time in a waiting area while the other teams fight among themselves. Lero-Ro and the other Rankers administering and monitoring the tests seem both suspicious of and curious about this deadly group, and their inclusion in the Crown Game could be a way to expose its shrouded members.
One thing's for sure: They certainly don't act heroically. As Anak, a Princess of Jahad, passes by their waiting area for the start of the third round, one of the trio -- a brunette with colorful eye make-up -- taunts her by mouthing the word "imposter," taking pleasure in riling up the reptilian girl. As the Crown Game kicks off again, the girl asks her other teammates if it's okay for them to kill everyone. Rachel pauses, her eyes falling to Bam sitting on the throne in the center of the battle. "Yes," she replies, "of course."
At this point, we still know far too little about Rachel to get a handle on her true motives. Like everyone else climbing the Tower, she could simply be thinking of her own survival -- even if achieving this means tossing aside the young boy she grew close to in the outside world. There are also some clues that this relationship might have been less wholesome than Bam remembers it being. For instance, he tells Khun that Rachel once warned him to never betray anyone while referring to himself as "weak and useless." It could be that Rachel will end up heeding her own advice and is merely putting on a tough front to make it through a harsh, competitive environment. Or, it could be that she was manipulating Bam, feeding his low self-worth and fostering an unhealthy dependence in him that might serve her interests in the future.
Hero, villain or something in between, there's still plenty for us to discover about the elusive Rachel.