WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Season 1, Episode 12 of Tower of God, "The Underwater Hunt: Part Two," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
As Tower of God devotees know, no character in the show's large cast attracts as much derision as Rachel does. Now, as of Episode 12, anime fans might have finally been let in on what manhwa readers always knew, as Rachel betrays Bam in the worst way possible -- sending the Irregular plummeting into the darkness of the sea.
At the center of Tower of God's complex world of empire, mysticism and gatekeeping, is Bam and Rachel's relationship. When Rachel left Bam to "see the stars" at the top of the tower in the anime's first episode, Bam was compelled to go after her. But while his feelings for her have never wavered, Rachel has played her cards very close to her chest. In the series' penultimate episode, she finally shows them -- and Bam is left wishing, sorely, that she hadn't.
While previous tests have relied on their competitiveness against one another, the Underwater Hunt has been the Regulars' most complex test of their teamwork yet. The various groups -- scattered across a vast, water-hugging land -- all face-off against a variety of enemies; from angry amphibians to an assassin, Lo Po Bia Ren, sent to recover Anak's Green April. A surprise reappearance from Princess Yuri, who has been in hot pursuit of Bam since Episode 1, saves her fellow princesses, Anak and Endorsi, from Ren's murderous plot. However, it's not enough to stop the Royal Enforcer from sicking the predatory Bull on Bam. "I can't allow an Irregular to live," Ren gasps with his (presumably) dying breath.
At first, it looks like Ren's plan might well claim the Irregular's life, but after enduring a brutal beating from the toothy monster underwater, Bam uses the same risky tactic he did in the Ball test. Staring danger in the face, he creates a golden ball of Shinsu and allows the Bull to swallow him whole. As the ball explodes, so does the creature -- expelling Bam back into the bubble in which and Rachel had been safely situated. As the pair ascend higher and higher, Bam renews his vow to climb the tower with her. They hold hands... only for Rachel to suddenly stand up out of her wheelchair and push Bam back out of the bubble.
While shocking, Bam might have seen this coming had he been paying closer attention before. We've had strong hints about Rachel's true agenda ever since she, along with Endorsi, massacred her way through the deathmatch test. Later on in the Crown Game, she explicitly sanctioned Bam's death. Even Khun, though respectful and supportive of Bam's decision to stand by Rachel's side, warned him that she was nothing but trouble. Outside of the show's universe, meanwhile, it's hard to find a social media post from Tower of God's official channels that doesn't have a comments section littered with anti-Rachel rhetoric.
Short of a very good explanation for her grave betrayal in the season finale, Rachel may have just outed herself as Bam's true enemy all along.