I can't beleive it!!!
ARCHER!!!!
POOR ARCHER!!!
Omg, i am in tears...
;__;
Archer was the best character in Fate/Stay Night, i can't beleive they got rid of him... just like that!
I'm into Archer/Rin coupling, and the last scene of the ending made me so sad.... he kepy the jewel! That has to mean something....
sry for my rambling...
I can't beleive Archer dies.... thou he did put up an awsome fight....
Would if be possbile for you to put up enlargements of those screenshots?
Please and Thank you~
=)

Poor Archer...
;__;
The only reason i contineud watching this was bcuz of Archer... so i know what you mean when you say u've lost half ur interest...
i've actually pretty much lost all of it...
1) Shirou annoys me
2) Archer Dies...

;__;

come on! we already knew that Archer was going to kick the bucket in this fight, why are you guys so upset??

I'm an Arcehr fanboy and even tough I find his leaving sad, this episode was freaking awesome and the man went out in a blaze of glory!!

He even used his Reality Marble!! I was really afraid that we wouldn't gonna see Unlimited Blade Works animated, In all this episode Archer just kicked mayor butt.

Only badass characters die with this much style, the Special Ending was gold.

so long Archer, Emiya Shirou! and here's hoping for mor animations of UBW and HF to see you again someday!

Kocopo, if you watch the ep and put two and two together, you'll figure out why Archer has her pendant.

I thought they gave all kinds of hints for Archer's identity, not only to the viewer, but to the other characters in the show too. That's why I wouldn't be surprised if some parts of UBW still get used, even if the story seems to stick mostly to FATE.

It's too bad that he had to fight while stalling for time. I think he would have had a much better chance to win if he used UBW from the beginning, but the fight would have ended too quickly if he did that (so if he still lost the others would have been screwed). I think he supposedly didn't use UBW at all in the game for the same reason.

Archer has always been the most badass character in the story. Regardless of which arc you followed, he just flowed with badassness. Now that I know that HF and UBW cannot be fully attained anymore, I feel like I've lost alot of interest to the story and don't look forward to it as much as I use to. If it ends with the Fate arc ending, I will forever be pissed as I was with the Tsukihime's ending.

We still can get UBW and HF animated guys, Second Season/OVA/Movie anyone??

I think the most unfortunate aspect of Archer's death is that his character didn't get the chance to appear that much in the show. I was hoping to see him fighting other servants (apart from Lancer) but it's always been Saber who ends up fighting everyone.

Still, this was a beautiful episode. Probably the best amongst other episodes, which are boring in comparison. I wish the story had been a bit different. I wish it was focused more on Archer and Rin but what can you do? And in a way, Archer is still alive in spirit.

>> We still can get UBW and HF animated guys, Second Season/OVA/Movie anyone??

How will second season be possible? Alternate reality? I thought a master only gets one chance at summoning a servant. Can servant be re-summoned?

Would if be possbile for you to put up enlargements of those screenshots?

Ah, why not. It'll go up within an hour.

>>>Archer is still alive in spirit.

haha! or in body ;)

>>>How will second season be possible? Alternate reality? I thought a master only gets one chance at summoning a servant. Can servant be re-summoned?

both UBW and HF are alternate scenarios in the original game. so yeah, alternate reality it is.

So if we get an UBW animation only the first days would be similar, but can be told trough Rin's perpective instead of Shioru and then the rest of the series would go on its own path.

the same can be done for HF and Sakura.

When I first saw the pictures of this episode, I was utterly pissed off; Archer was at full health, used UBW, lost, and only managed to kill Berserker *five* times? This episode was awesome, no doubt; but I was still pissed!

Now it seems that Archer wasn't killed by Berserker; Rin's distance from him was too taxing, and he simply ran out of mana. Still, I feel for those who know nothing of the game and watch FSN; they've no idea of Archer's identity, aside from the few clues Studio Deen left us.

I say the best Anime would still have been a combination of UBW + Fate, but this episode wasn't the humilliating homage I thought it was. It doesn't taste bitter, but bittersweet. Fare thee well, Archer.

Since I've been watching this solely because of Archer (and Rin, well mostly for their pairing), I have no motivation now...
I guess I'll just read the summaries because I'm sure he will (re)appear at the end.

But I don't understand how people can find this plot satisfying since Archer was barely developed?

I am also very disappointed with this episode. I was hoping that they'll develop Archer a bit more instead of dropping him right into a big battle like this. They still have so many episodes. What could they possibly do from here to the end?

ARCHER IS...****SPOILER START****...Emiya Shirou...****SPOILER ENDS****

I'm not sure if that is a spoiler. They clearly show that from the ending of the episode. They really shouldn't have done that. Killing Archer like this. UBW is as strong as
*spoiler starts*
Gigamelsh's power.
*spoiler ends*
I just cannot understand how he can lose to Berserker. However, like some people said, if you haven't played the game, this was a great ep to be fair. I really hope they wrap this up properly...

Archer's Unlimited Blade Works actually defeated Berserker.

*** SPOILER STARTS ***

Archer defeated Berseker. What poeple don't know, is that Ilya made Berseker use his Noble Phantasm from the very beggining of the war. His Noble Phantasm is Invulnerability. Actually, Berseker need to be destroyed 12 times to die. Archer all by himself defeated Berseker 6 or 7 times with Unlimited Blade Works. Archer... you will remain forever in our hearts. You're the man. You've ALWAYS been the man. Let this episode's sadness not leave you in shadow, never. you will remain in our spirit. Archer... We all love you, man.

*** Spoiler Ends ***

Shirou, you idiot. Do not make Archer's death be in vain. You must fight for him as well. Do better than he expected you to do. Archer will always be with us. Let's make our respects. 1 minute of silence... I mean - 20 minutes. Archer deserve our regards. Farewell, friend. We shall see you on again, I'm sure of it.

Nooo!! Archer!! ;_; I can't believe he lost to Berserker either. But in the end, does it matter if he wins or not? If someone asks you which one is the better character, then people will vote for Archer. Because even though Berserker is big he doesn't have the same appeal as Archer. The only reason Berserker can win is because he has a brute strength and not because of anything else. Archer may have lost but judging from the screenshots, it seems he gave his best and managed to injure Berserker in return.

Yeah, it doesn't make much sense for him to lose after activating UBW. But it seems I'm not as down about them going with Fate as everyone else is. I don't know why everyone's surprised. In my opinion, the anime developed archer a lot less than even the Fate scenario did. Plus, they can't shift the enemy to caster (who's probably dead by now) just to do UBW.

Now it seems that Archer wasn't killed by Berserker; Rin's distance from him was too taxing, and he simply ran out of mana. Still, I feel for those who know nothing of the game and watch FSN; they've no idea of Archer's identity, aside from the few clues Studio Deen left us.

While Rin not being able to support him with mana and recovery backup, Archer doesn't simply "run out of mana", considering it is one of the few class that has a decent rating at "independent action". He can survive in the world in his physical form without a master for around 2 days.

However, the fact is he hasn't recovered his entire form (the damage dealt to him from saber was quite severe...considering he realize who she was and decided not to fight back), doesn't get supported by his master (saber did ask shirou for some recovery after she took the gae bolg, so it's only natural that Rin should have been supporting him in a real battle), and he was fighting in a confined area (He's an archer...and he's not archer-ing save for that one caladbolg...see where the problem here is?)

And there is the whole him recovering all his memory and realizes who Ilya was (he was referring to Ilya in familiar tone) that make him not attack her (that's the easy way out really, and he's not above that) to win against Berserker.

ARCHER IS...****SPOILER START****...Emiya Shirou...****SPOILER ENDS****

Well, to be precise, he is the possible future of Emiya Shirou on Fate arc. UBW arc does not lead him into becoming the "Eirei EMIYA" because of his confrontation with archer, while HF arc does not lead into him becoming eirei because he chose to save one person instead of many.

All in all, I think it's pretty fucking bullshit that Archer dies and all (I would have loved watching the Archer vs Shirou duel in UBW arc) but they did kill him in one of the best heroic death I've seen.

Though maybe they should talk about the effect of the "12 trial" noble phantasm of berserker...and the fact that archer killed half of his lives, because as it stands right now, seeing berserker recovers the UBW like nothing make it seem like his death was a fucking waste >_>

Archer defeated Berseker 6 times by himself.
He did what he could. No one can defeat a powerful opponent more than that. Archer was heroic. I tell. I was praying for him when he died. Strange isn't it? It may be an Anime, but I still feel this "Archer personality" so touching I felt so sorry for him... Archer... I... we all love you, dude! YOU'RE THE MAN!! THE MAAAN!!!

You guys are hopeless, doing nothing but moaning at probably the best episode so far, just because Archer bites it or because it's following the fate arc. What did you expect? Do you guys really expect Archer to live through all this? Like if he like had some kind of character shield like Thunder God Kira did? That you would be absolutely pleased with the show deviating from the game, something that you otherwise abhor? You guys might as well just stop watching, because nothing can satisfy you.

Ars, that's not entirely accurate. For the current Shirou of the game, his chances of becoming the Eirei Emiya are highest in Fate, although not that high, actually. They are lower in UBW, but it's still a possibility. HF Shirou will not become the Eirei Emiya. As for Archer himself, it's unlikely that he followed one of these specific paths.

mikemil828, judging from other people's post, they mostly mourn for Archer's death instead of complaning about the episode itself. I personally thought the episode itself is awesome. Having said that, I think I'd prefer it if the writers had use UBW ending for Archer instead. It's true that the outcome is not that different but it'll be a whole lot better than leaving him like this.

Anyway, I've put a larger version of the screenshots and the ending theme in PSP format. I have to include the Berserker's growl in it though because I like that little piano tune that starts the song. I can't wait for the soundtrack to come out.

No, they are complaining about the episode. How Archer archer used UBW and didn't completely wipe the floor with beserker. Like he isn't going to use his greatest weapon against a foe like that? Also they complain about him dying in the first place, even though he *spoiler starts*dies in ALL of the scenarios, he just dies a bit later in the others*spoiler ends* to the point of saying they won't even watch the series anymore. Good Riddance I'd say

mikemil828, I will not stop watching this series because of Archer's death. Like Garten, I found this episode being insanely awesome.
This episode just made me want to watch even more of FSN, because I'm not gonna feel ok until Shirou fulfills Archer's expectations of him. I feel sorry, yes, but I never expected Archer to be able to defeat Berseker from the beggining.
Like I said... Let our Archer sleep in peace. He, at least, will be always with us. Will we always remember of Archer? I will do my best.

mikemil828, cease your trolling. You're wrong, anyhow; Archer survived to the end of UBW, as did Saber. Now...how about hearing my opinion directly from the horse's mouth?

...

It is disappointing to see Archer struggle against Berserker when he was clearly more powerful in the game, but I am more worried about the aftermath of this episode. Clearly, with Archer and Rider dead, UBW and HF are dry veins and little or no juicy material can be pulled from them; at best, we can expect filler like with the "Rin v. Shirou" school battle. As such, though this episode was good, the short-sighted are going to be complaining for the next ten episodes because there's no way Fate's final battle could top this, and we'll regress to the "dialogue-intensive" episodes before the series finishes. Afterall, there is a "talky date" in store for us.

...

Hopefully, Studio Deen will tastefully treat the "mana recharge" scene and we viewer's won't be treated to hentai. Not only is it in the best interest of the viewers, but it will spite all those who were expecting hardcore sex to appear onscreen.

Perhaps I should have refined what I was refering to when I said 'You' and 'They', I was talking about the people where who completely ignore everything good about the episode and just trash it. Not folks like Piroko and Garten (who despite saying 'upset is an understatement' concerning Archer's rather inevitable death says that this episode was awesome...even though he made indication of this in the blog entry itself) got at least something out of it.

Malintex: Did I say that Saber died in UBW? Obviously I did not, however considering how quickly you rush to call me a troll for me being exasperated over people trashing one of the better episodes of the show, it rather obvious that you didn't read into my posts well enough. Although I admit that I was wrong about Archer, he does get defeated by none other than Shirou, which would perfer? Him getting beaten by a 9 foot giant? Or by his much shorter and much loathed earlier self?

Hopefully, Studio Deen will tastefully treat the "mana recharge" scene and we viewer's won't be treated to hentai. Not only is it in the best interest of the viewers, but it will spite all those who were expecting hardcore sex to appear onscreen.

LOL. I'm pretty sure the anime won't turn into an anime.

Oops. I meant: I'm pretty sure the anime won't turn into a hentai.

Though to think that next episode is gonna be smut-fest...it really gonna cheapens his death...

Well, here is to mana recovery!

mikemil828, the Shirou vs Archer fight is arguably the best fight in the game.

Although I admit that I was wrong about Archer, he does get defeated by none other than Shirou, which would perfer? Him getting beaten by a 9 foot giant? Or by his much shorter and much loathed earlier self?

To be fair, Fate arc Shirou is like the worst of the 3 arc.

He's a badass in both UBW and HF arc (especially HF I guess)

Tell that to the multitude folks that are hating on Shirou. Shirou, beating probably the most loved and most badass male lead just because Archer let him? More people would walk out on the series than they are now, no matter how good the fight was.

>>To be fair, Fate arc Shirou is like the worst of the 3 arc.>>

Well that's what guys like Garten seem to want, Fate Shirou beating UBW Archer, needless to say a lot of folks would be outraged. Probably even more so then with Archer vs. Beserker

I find it slightly regrettable - coming from the small faction without any prior game knowledge - that obviously their personal preference in storyline arc seems to taint their enjoyment of this piece of art of an episode. Especially the second half with the execution of the fight rates with the best of the best anime sequences I've ever seen - gripping and full of atmosphere. For me, this was utterly brilliant.

Yes, Archer went out, but he went out with a biiig bang. And the detail about who he really was also came over as a nice twist to me, and made his past irritation more than explicable.

+++ for this episode. One of the greats I will always remember by name.

I don't think people will be upset with UBW ending because in that ending Archer's real identity is revealed in full clarity. That ending is also good because it allows the viewers to see that Shirou is not the loser that they think he is.

Another reason as to why I like UBW ending so much is because it shows how different people could be when they were young and when they grow older. Ideals die and replaced by efficiency. A person can turn from a confident, ideal individual to a cynical and bitter person.

...

Well, let's see if RIN realizes who Archer was, at this point? Assuming, of course, she discovers the pendant. Of course, if Shirou realizes what's happened... maybe he MIGHT get some UBW elements. Maybe.

We'll see how they play with this, although it's almost like they're doing the "I'm stealing your Servant" thing with Saber there in the pics above, to judge by her expressions, rather than the 'I need to recharge her mana' thing. :D

From the pics also, looks like Rin is out of commanding spells now, so taking over Saber would be a little hard. (i thought she still had one, and that masters keep them even if their servant vanishes?). But yes, giving Saber to Rin would be the best way to replenish the mana without going on the "other" path ;-)

In ep. 13 they gave a lot of screen time to Saber's swords, and Shirou wanting to hold them and thinking about a method for giving them form. I don't think they will keep dropping hints like this just because, so is still possible that Shirou will learn some tricks, and soon.

Well, still two days until i get to see this chapter...

A W E S O M E
episode

The Archer battle is one of the most (if not the most) beautiful scene I've seen on anime.
10/10. Omega. Left me with my mouth open in front of the monitor.The final touch with Rin's jewel adds even more greatness.
I'm in total awe of this.

FighterDoKen - it appears that finishing Shana gave some subbers insomnia, so they finished it while we were sleeping. :D Not even 13 hours... it's insane.

STill, I AM wondering if Shirou'll realize Archer's identity through all the hints he's dropped, almost as if someone was in a position to advise their earlier self...

Um, to Piroko:

*spoiler starts
Berserker is NOT the strongest servent out there. If you played HF, this becomes quite obvious. Gilgamesh is the most powerful one. He just didn't come to this war for "You know what" reason. Also, Archer who is defeated in the anime, can defeat Gilgamesh as it was shown in HF. So to put it simply, Archer is stronger than Berserker. That said, It would be unfair to show that when none of the audience knows this. ~_~
I'm NOT saying this episode was bad. Episode itself was great. Especially if you haven't played the game, this would have been the best so far. I'm saying that Archer is unfairly weak in the episode. well, but like someone already said, it might be because of long distance between Archer and Rin.

OH! and Saver can beat Berserker ^^
*spoiler ends*

Err... some of you are having false game memories.

Archer was always one of the weakest servants. Even his profile stats show that. The point is that despite being an underdog all his life, his heart is strong enough to carry on the path he has chosen and thus, make a difference.

Archer himself said that UBW would not be THAT effective on other servants sans maybe you know who. He's not Saber. He doesn't have an instant win noble phantasm.

Plus, he's injured as stated many times before. No, he never fully recovered.

Totally overestimating UBW you people are.

It's powerful and it speaks wonders that he's even able to kill Berserker, much less 5 times over (+1).

***SPOILERS***

Let's examine UBW. Each weapon created is 1 level lower than the original. The two strongest single attacks belong to Gilgamesh and Saber. Those have been traced and are in fact available. But they can't beat the original owners.

In any case, tracing (as UBW is the utlimate form of) isn't the best Shirou can do. Imaging is what allows him to own because it can be used to transcend his own limitations. With UBW, a fast character can simply kill him before he's even able to fully attack. With imaging, Shirou gets to do that to any of his opponents instead.

T_I is right. I guess 95% of the people who complain about storylines and characters being not strong enough have never played the game. Just because you read a summary doesn't mean you understand the finer details or circumstances of a situation.

Tracing = imaging. Gilgamesh's Air can't be traced. Excalibur can, but is weaker. People complain Archer didn't use UBW earlier, but technically he was using it the entire time when he traced weapons. It's just easier to do in the Reality Marble.

Saber's Excalibur - A++ - 150 dmg
Archer's - B++ - 120 dmg

Even reduced that's still enough to kill any servant in one shot. Berserker can regen though. Honestly, while Archer himself isn't that strong, his ability is broken, it's just that he jobs. As for UBW, even if his sword spam is one rank weaker than Gil's, it's still sword spam. All he'd have to do is keep chucking his highest ranked traces (anything above B. so, A or B+)at Berseker to pierce the godhand. It would be simple if he were willing to target Ilya with it since Berserker would have to stay put to protect her. Other than that he still has a ton of options like Nine Lives Blade Works, or even using the Rule Breaker to take out the contract.

Tracing = imaging. Well, for Shirou it is, but I don't think tracing normally gives you the memories =P

And isn't there a distinction between UBW and tracing? UBW is the reality marble while tracing is the ability to create items from magical power.

Despite encoding the show for Eclipse, I've always tried very hard to stay away from spoiler pages, and so I was very much unprepared for what happened. To be honest, it took me a long long time to grasp the significance of the amulet, and to add up 2+2. It may have hurt me that I had to watch the episode raw 2-3 times before I got access to the translation.

Eventually, I think it was on the 3rd pass, I watched the ED in its entirety, and when I noticed the jewel left behind by the dematerializing Archer, it struck me like a bolt. I rewatched the episode one more time and grew increasingly certain that my conclusion about his identity was correct. Finally, I asked a friend who knows the game to confirm it to me, and there it was.

With it, all the little tidbits suddenly made sense, and this is one more reason why I'd rate this episode a straight +++: The fact that Archer was so cynical (obviously, he got bitten by his naive idealism before). That he was always at Shirou's throat (he couldn't stand his former image). That the key line "I thought I had thrown it away" suddenly made sense: He had thrown away his memories of old times, and also discarded his ideals. Now, however, he came full circle again, and REVIVED his old ideals. It did cost him his life, but he went out with a bang, and clearly fulfilled.

An episode so chock full of great animation, great atmosphere, created by great music - AND such an awesome and unexpected twist... I'm utterly delighted.

AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Archer NEVER lost to Berserk.

He DEFEATED him 5 times.

*spoiler starts*He ONLY ran out of mana from killing Berserk all those times and using his REALITY MABLE with that distance from his master.

Even Ilya has never heard of someone defeating Berserk even once but Archer did it 5 TIMES and with his left arm broken no less.
*spoiler ends*

ARCHER IS THE MOST HOTTEST MALE CHARA and he wasn't even the main chara but he got his own ED. How cool is that!!!?

I think I figured out a way to fill in Archer's backstory without actually rezzing him. Note that this is what I WANT to happen, not necessarily what WILL happen.

Possibly
*** SPOILER STARTS ***
but probably more speculation.

1- Shiro traces Archer's twin chinese swords.
2- With them come Archer's memories, since he's tracing Archer's version of them. But they only come a piece at a time, every time he traces them.

From there, I'd like the following to happen:

3- Archer comes from a timeline where he tried to save everyone, but in doing so saved noone, and lost Saber, Rin, and Sakura. Hence his jadedness.
4- Shiro finally figures out he can't save everyone, and picks Saber/Rin/Sakura. Head to Fate/UBW/HF.

What do I not want to happen?

3- Someone can rez evil versions of servants who've been defeated
4- Shiro has it out with Copy Archer in UBW showdown.

I don't want Archer back, they gave him too nice a sendoff to ruin it by rezzing him.

*** SPOILER ENDS ***

Ok for all the people whining about Archer dying and being sad about it, let me tell you something:

First off, i know how you feel partially because i'm pissed archer died and is no longer in the series, and ddamned if anything but they shoul have developped Archer more. Archer's reality is most bittersweet, and i think this line from his incantation: "Have withstood pain to create many weapons, yet those hands will never hold anything" sums his reality pretty well, for he is Emiya Shirou that suffered through many Grail battles while retaining his memories, and remember all the suffering and the lives he couldn't say

But the fact is, Archer didn't die in the truest sense of the word. He was a servant when he died, and would be continually summoned in other battles, and if you check out the article on wikipedia, he's a special case because he retains the memories of the previous grail wars he's been in.

Man I got spoiled too badly by you people. So Archer is Emiya Shirou, huh? Well, there so many hints there in this fantastic episode. Unfortunately I got spoiled right before I watched this episode...Maa-ne, it can't be helped. But this makes Fns very very interessting! So Shirou becomes like this *hot and masculine XD* and is summoned by Rin from the future? (if I understood it correctly Archer is the future form of Shirou?)But though Archer is gone this episode surely is a VERY VERY AWESOME AND FANTASTIC episode with a nice special ending only made for Archer. What else do you want? Studio Deen gave him a special ending! I am definitely not upset (since I didn't played the game) about it.

3- Someone can rez evil versions of servants who've been defeated

HF scenario has this...but even in that scenario, Dark Archer didn't exist iirc since he was like the one servant that dies and return to the "true" holy grail vessel instead of the false one.

Though dark berserker did appear...and Shirou used his "Imaging" to off him in a matter of seconds...

Even Ilya has never heard of someone defeating Berserk even once but Archer did it 5 TIMES and with his left arm broken no less.

Well...in retrospect...berserker kinda suck anyway, he got owned by the "previous archer" (Gilgamesh) in UBW, dies in one caliburn blow by Saber in Fate, and get owned in seconds with Shirou imaging "Hundred Head Killer" in HF.

And if you go by the game, Archer killed berserker 6x without UBW while wounded, instead of the 5x with UBW and perfect condition.

Ars, Gilgamesh is the spoiled rich kid of FSN; he's got a magic chain that was designed to bind divine beings (like Berserker). Berserker couldn't even fight back; in HF, Berserker was not only weaker, he was blind. Shirou's Nine Lives Blade Works nearly killed Shirou as well.

As such, we're all underestimating Berserker. We know Berserker was a bad match for Archer, but tracing Caliburn, Excalibur, or simply using tons of Broken Phantasms could have done him in. Archer took a fall to preserve his past; we didn't see his face, but I wouldn't be surprised if he died smiling.

i just wish to kick shirou's butt man.. Archer died in glory.

awesome episode!

*spoiler starts*

Well, to berzerker's credit, dark berzerker is actually a downgrade of the original berzerker, because berzerk has a high divine value and going dark weakens him.

This high divine value also makes him weak against Gilgamesh's chains, something that Archer's UBW doesn't have.

Shirou's HF power is absurdly powerful though. I find his UBW path power cooler and more similar to Archer.

*spoiler ends*

thkm - Archer can't trace the chain of heaven? Is it EX rank?

IMO, archer should have opted for evasive and defensive tactics to buy time. Especially since the upper levels of Castle Einzburg are not actually able to support Berserker's weight. I have not played the game so I can only speak from traditional RPG experience. But an Archer normally tries to keep AWAY from his melee opponent, while throwing out arrows (or swords which he can pull out of nowhere). Normally works best if you have a melee ally to slow down/distract melee opponent, but unstable flooring may work just as well. He may not win in the end, but he won't die so quickly. And if he can buy enough time to get Rin and friends out, then he can dematerialize and escape himself, so everyone survives.

That, and he refused the many chances to attack a certain ruthless loli. So he may not be as ruthlessly efficient as he would like to be.

Interesting. Nobody pointed out the Saber/Rin reference because they thought it's a joke. *Spoiler* Well, if you do think it's a joke, you're in for a surprise next episode. *End spoiler*

Also, TOO........ MUCH........ FANBOYISM........ CANNOT........ COPE........

numbers: Berserker would have to stay put to protect her. Other than that he still has a ton of options like Nine Lives Blade Works, or even using the Rule Breaker to take out the contract.

The Rule Breaker is a C rank weapon, and given that Beserker's Godhand gives him immunity for B+ and lesser weapons so it wouldn't do jack. The Rule Breaker requires piercing in order to play its effects.

vin.dictive, a contract works both ways. He just needs to make an opening to poke Ilya with the Rule Breaker.

Ahh... my bad then. I thought he meant using the Rule Breaker on Beserker. ;p

Archer can't and won't ever try to harm Ilya, even if he has the chance... are you guys forgetting who he really is?

My only gripe in this episode was that archer's final fight scene was "too cool" for his "death." I mean, he keeps on pulling off these nice moves, yet in the end, its as if it did nothing to berserker.As a person who didnt play the game, the mention of defeating him five times was too fleeting, hence it didnt really feel like archer had some impact on berserker.

Tekkaman Zero, if you mean what we were just talking about, it's just a matter or piercing the command seals. Absolutely not lethal.

It looks like in the next episode, Rin looks very determined to strengthen Emiya (with his ability) and Saber (with her mana). She also looks very pissed so maybe she might confront Emiya about his standpoint between Saber and herself. Hence the last shot of her and Saber. Rin is obviously talking to someone else in that scene(I'm assuming she's talking to Emiya). I could always be wrong though but we'll just have to wait and see.

*possible spoiler*

One more thing, Rin might even give Saber her own mana as a last resort, possibly through a kiss. Possibly. even sacrificing herself because Archer is gone now. Which could mean that she loves/loved Emiya and could be jealous of Saber? Possibly.

*possible spoiler end*

The Rule Breaker is a C rank weapon, and given that Beserker's Godhand gives him immunity for B+ and lesser weapons so it wouldn't do jack. The Rule Breaker requires piercing in order to play its effects.

Broken Phantasm-ing it would probably gives the C rank up a notch or 2

Kinda weird that while Archer has the "Eye of the Mind (True)" ability, which basically gives him all possible combat analysis of the situation and draw a winning scenario from it even if it has only 1% chance of succeeding, but this whole fight against berserker seem to has waaay too much bad move on his part.

Berserker can regenerate himself 12 times, and a lethal move can only work once against him, and that makes him a formidable foe.

However...Archer's UBW offer unlimited amount of noble phantasm that can pierce through berserker, it's practically impossible for him to lose.

Maybe he's just holding back too much...

Is there a site somewhere that posts the storylines from the game and the endings? I wasn't sure what teh pendent meant but after reading this stuff..its really interesting.

If anyone really really wants to spoil themselves on wikipedia someone wrote the entire storyline and spoilers for the 3 games in alot of detail.

good read :D

I'm beginning to think that the 5 deaths for Berserker is deliberate. The anime might be a modified ending after all.

Furthermore, I don't see any further injuries on Archer, nor was Berserker in any state to move. It may be that Archer simply exhausted his mana maintaining his reality marble and disappeared.

Well, the Curtain Raiser trailer shows Archer fighting Berserker in a graveyard. So unless they completely redid this fight to make it inside the castle, I think we may see Archer again in the future.

And if not, their is always the possibility that Emiya could discover the UBW ability himself closer to the end of the series.

That's my think on it anyway.

I never cared that much for Archer. Not because I didn't like him, but because we never saw enough of him for me to really get a chance to start liking him. The fact is, Rider had more screen time than Archer. What annoys me about Archer's defeat is that this takea Rin out of the war except as a supporting character to Shiro. Well, she was just his supporting character before, but now it's official. So what I guess I'm saying that I liked it better when she was at least a nominal competitor.

But it took me 5 days to get aound to watching this episode which tells me that this show is really starting to lose me. It's just boring. 14 episodes and, let's see...5 or 6 battles, most of them very short. Only 2 real battles so far. And not to mention the lack of drama. SO far the show has been mostly forgetable.

Archer is definitely dead...but I'm worried about how they're going to pull off or explain continuity if Emiya is able to pull off his own Unlimited Blade Works. Maybe after he witnesses *spoilers* Gilgamesh' Gate of Babylon? *spoilers* Or maybe after he traces Archer's weapons? ...Bleh, that last one doesn't sound reasonable.

What I'm interested in, though, is whether Rider is still alive or not, because that could pivot the whole series to Heaven's Feel. She's one of my favorite Servants, and it'd suck to just have her magically dead when there's still the mystery regarding her true Master and of Rider being a Servant when she's not an Eirei.

I'm also quite frustrated at how Lancer is just a watchdog in the whole series. -_- Come on Lancer, at least try and do something. His battle with Archer during the first episodes was awesome, but now he's just a shadow. I'm thinking they're going to give him a role when Gilgamesh arrives, then have him killed off either by himself, or by another Servant.

At least Caster and Assassin have a nice excuse - they can't leave the shrine.

I still seriously wish that they'd have room for the other plot events that happened in UBW and HF, but Archer's death totally erased all possible Archer versus Shirou (unless Shirou takes Archer's comments at heart and fights a mental image of Archer).

What'd happen though if HF does push through, and Saber becomes Dark Saber? With her screentime, she'd hardly get killed off.

I think the reason that people gave up on this series after the first few eps is because F/SN has a basic lack of disposable threats, ie monsters of the week.

Most action series start off with highly episodic stories to flesh out the characters while keeping the action up with momentary and in the long run unimportant problems. This then changes about halfway in when everything turns out to be the doing of the Main Boss, who they then fight for the rest of the series.

But F/SN is structured so each of the seven servants and masters have a large bit of backstory, and thus can't be cannon foddered without angering the original fanbase.

Given that there are a maximum of 12 character deaths, (someone has to win, right? :) and there are 24 episodes, the best plan would be to lopside the deaths at the end. (See: Zeta Gundam) This is much better than putting most of the action at the start and meandering afterwards. (See: Gundam SEED Destiny)

That and people expect this to be your generic action anime.

Which is in truth, it's not. Really. There's action but it's the convolution (not the best word for it) and resolution of the plot that's so beautiful in Fate and Tsukihime (the games, not the anime).

You shouldn't be surprised the anime would take the FATE route. It's made some subtle deviations here and there, but overall it has followed the scenario.

But don't worry, if the anime does well enough. Hopefully they'll animate UBW or maybe even HF.

Ok, I just started watching F/SN 9-14....and I was happy where the series was going...especially after Shiro's stubborness was minimized....until episode 14. This episode made me so angry because I feared this would happen in the beginning of the series. I have always hoped that Saber and Archer would duel it out in the final...but who am I kidding...as if that would ever happen. Since I've never played the game, I don't know where they are heading with this. However, I don't like the pace of servants dying after the first servant (Rider) died. The pace should be set consistently...take a look at Gundam Seed and Destiny. They messed up the pace so badly because many characters died either at the 2nd last ep or the last ep. I just hope F/SN doesn't go towards that road. I will still watch the series, although it's sad to see Archer gone...it's good to see Tohsaka trying to attempt some yuri with Saber :P

*Warning Heavy Spoilers Ahead*

Just because Archer can use the UBW, does not necessarily mean that he is automatically more powerful than Berserker (since Gilgamesh's Gates of Babylon defeated Berserker with ease, but Shirou defeated Gil with the UBW.. in the UBW story arc). If one had followed the UBW story arc more carefully, one should have realized that Shirou's attempt on the UBW against ol' Gil had one specific condition: Gil's not a swordsman of particular prowess. GoB just hurls all kinds of enchanted weaponery in a 'cluster bombing' fashion - and that's the reason why he was summoned under the 'Archer' class in the first place. He's not a fighter - just a guy with a lot of pointy objects that fly by themselves. It's literally quantity(of weapons) over quality(of fighting) that made him so powerful over other summoned spirits.

Howeverm Shirou entraps Gil into the UBW where he has enough 'copied' weaons with quality high enough to match the Gil's own, as they enter the realm through the 'Gate'. He basically manages a stand-off by matching every weapon coming through the portal with his ownm, right by his side (literally, 'unlimited blade works')... until the 'black hole' incident rips Gil apart from the inside.

That means, despite UBW, if the enemy servant has a higher grade of skill and power in swordsmanship or whatever choice of weaponery the servant wields, Archer may not be victorious. Archer's sort of like the wildcard - he's not necessarily as powerful as the other melee-type servants, but it just turns out that the only servant which Archer/Shriou does have a real chance against, is none other than the most powerful servant of them all. Talk about your ironies!

What's a Reality Marble? D: I'm so lost.

That means, despite UBW, if the enemy servant has a higher grade of skill and power in swordsmanship or whatever choice of weaponery the servant wields, Archer may not be victorious. Archer's sort of like the wildcard - he's not necessarily as powerful as the other melee-type servants, but it just turns out that the only servant which Archer/Shriou does have a real chance against, is none other than the most powerful servant of them all. Talk about your ironies!

I don't know though...even with the whole weakened copied weaponry deal, Archer is still able to fight a lot of of other servant on a pretty even field.

In fate arc, he killed gilgamesh 6x on his still damaged state from saber and without the use of UBW. It's really is unfair to say that Archer's power is lacking outside his UBW on this basis alone.

In UBW arc, he was able to block the supposably unblockable Gae Bolg with his Rho Aias, also able to force Saber into a stalemate on the condition that even if she kills him, the force of 2 excalibur facing off each other would kill other nearby (namely shirou), and as you said, the UBW concept practically destroyed Gilgamesh on this arc.

In HF, he dies kinda early on, however the memory of his arm that was attached to shirou gives him enough technique to take down Dark Saber (the 3 pair of Kanshou&Bakuya tracing tech, also the "Chikara, yama o nuki. Tsurugi, mizu o wakatsu" that he used in episode 14 on one of the possible HF bad end) While the imaging of the "Hundred Head Killer, Nine Lives Blade Works" on Dark Berserker might have been entirely Shirou's, it was only enabled through the use of Archer's arm, and who's to say that Archer couldn't have done something similar to that on his own, considering he was Shirou in the future.

The reason he took damage from Saber on Fate arc was that his memory returning the night after he was summoned, and he decided not to fight her seriously.

Well...that's my somewhat biased Archer fanboy analysis on the matter anyway.

What's a Reality Marble? D: I'm so lost.

The japanese name is "Koyuu Kekkai" which literally translates into "Innate Bounded Barrier", which maybe an easier name to grasp the idea with.

It is an artificial reality created through thaumaturgy (or sorcery...whatever, about every type moon site come up with their own name to translate majutsu) that reflects the user, which in archer and shirou's case is a desolate wasteland filled with unlimited swords.

Which is in truth, it's not. Really. There's action but it's the convolution (not the best word for it) and resolution of the plot that's so beautiful in Fate and Tsukihime (the games, not the anime).

And the whole bitchy descriptive writing that is fucking hard to read and understand courtesy of Kinoko Nasu.

That's what I like about the anime...no reading (beside the sub...if that)

Can anyone up the special ending theme of Archer for me ?

Never played the games so have no idea about this stuff...

But why did Rin lose her command spells? Especially since Masters are supposed to be able to get a new servant if they have command spells left?

Did Rin actually use her's to save/help Archer or something or is this just one of those unexplained things?

the last scene with Rin's jewel reveals the true identity of Archer, he knew it at the end when he said: "Ilya you still the same" and she was confused when he said that. The reason is than Shiro became the champion in the next war and he now is a hero spirit, so he was summoned as a servant, the servants can be summoned of any time, past, present or future. In firsts episodes, Rin said to Archer "You make a nice tea" and also she said to Shiro once "Your tea isn't good, you should learn how to make it better" and he made it, also Archer was very dissapointed of Shiro's attitude, because he was Shiro, and because of that he bottered him in one episode and tell him that before die with Berserker. And he doesn't forgive his past attitude with Saber, because he loved her, for this he tryed to tell Shiro to be more careful

I just can't understand it but Rin should have forced summoned Archer when they were already far from the castle and near the town to avoid Archer's death. Servants' battles cannot occur when people are present so Berserker could not possible attack them in the city, so it makes sense that Rin summoned archer near her (using 1 command is probably better than making your servant die.). I just can't understand why she let archer die when she knows that it would be harder to face Berserker without her since her magic can really help Archer. Anyway, I do not really get how those people think, but I have to admit that I was surprised when Archer died like that when we only had little knowledge about him. Oh well, that's life.

wow! i love this episode..!! why did Acher have to go..!!?? i almost cried...rin and acher make a cute couple..

can one of u tell me where to find the UBW and HF?
please and tq!

man u should add more episodes.n put archer up 2 more fights.that will truly rock the series.archer UBW CAN defeat beserker.bt u only let him destroy 5,6,or 7 lives.watebout shirou?he extingguish all the lives in 1 hit...un logical rite?

Sheesh.

Archer should have used Rho Aias at least once to deflect Berserker's attack/s. Oh, man, that would be so 1337!

allow me to just say, it SUCKS so much that Archer dies!!!!
He is my fave character along with Rin.
So when he died i cried, yes i said it, i cried.
(Stupid huh?)
Any way moving on, personally I think Archer may have had feelings for Rin cuz the last person he thought of before he died was her!
Also if you look close at Rin's face as Archer tells her he dosen't mind fighting to buy time for her and the others to escape , she has tears on her cheek, I thought that was sad. Cuz it shows that deep down she didn't really WANT Archer to fight.
=^.^=

Sadness...I understand what you mean. He was half the reason I wanted to watch this show too. He was the coolest character. I love the RinXArcher pairing. This sucks...I almost cried. I can't believe he's not in the show anymore. It makes the rest of the show kind of boring.