Fate/stay night ep.19

May 13, 2006 | 37 Comments

The main battle in the first half of this episode is amazing. I think the last time around I felt this way was the episode with Acher's death. Of course it helps that there are two major events happening within this one episode so the animators probably felt that they have to up the quality a bit. Also of note is the soundtrack, which is especially notable when it switches to a Egyptian/Mesopotamian style tune during the new character's introduction. Overall, the episode quality is quite impressive and made me wonder why Studio Deen can't give the same amount of quality control to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Anyway, with only 5 more episodes left, I wonder if the new character introduced this week will be the last nemesis for Shirou and the others to fight.

The episode begins with two major battles: Saber vs. Assassin and Shirou vs. Souichirou. Asssassin cleverly pretends to block Saber's attacks and slowly makes his way to an even ground so he can attack Saber using Tsubame Gaishi move again. Saber, however, somehow manages to block the attack and ends up killing Assassin instead. Well, she lost a few hairs in the process of doing this but at least she's not scalped. Meanwhile, Shirou is overwhelmed by Souichirou's metal fist and ends up falling down next to Rin after getting beaten up by his teacher. Just as Shirou and Rin are about to be roasted by Caster, Saber appears and blocks the attack. However, because Caster has used Rule Breaker on Saber, Saber can't use her sword on Caster. Shirou pleads to Souichirou to stop Caster because if she gets her way, everyone in the city will be killed. Souichirou, however, doesn't seem to care.

The gang, however, is saved when a blonde warrior suddenly appears in the horizon, complete with red portal filled with swords and knives. The warrior claims that there is something that belongs to him down there before pointing out at Saber and claiming that she is his possession. Blondie then claims that he will make those who lays hand on his treasure disappear and proceeds to shower Caster and Souichirou with swords and knives. Caster tries her best to protect herself and Souichirou using a barrier but unfortunately, Blondie then produces 3 swords which he then throws to Souichirou. These swords manages to penetrate Caster's barrier and as a result, Caster decides to protect Souichirou with her own body. The problem is, this effectively destroys Caster's barrier, causing both her and Souichirou to become the recipients of various swords and knives. Caster then remembers the time when she was telling Souichirou about her identity.

Back then she wondered if Souichirou believes in what she said. Souichirou told her that he has no command spell nor he has any interest in the Holy Grail but if Caster needs help, he's willing to give a hand. In the present time, Caster asks Souichirou if he's safe. Caster is happy when Souichirou tells her that he is fine and tells the guy that she can't stand the idea if something bad happens to him. Souichirou also tells Caster not to grieve because he only wants her to achieve her wish. Souichirou then promises to continue Caster's wish as her body turns into sparks and eventually disappears from the place. Unfortunately she doesn't know that a few minutes later, Souichirou also falls down to the ground due to the injuries that he received from the attack. It appears that he lied to Caster about being safe from harm, presumably so that she died happy thinking that she managed to protect him even if that is not the case.

After Caster died, the city that was built using her magic power end up disappearing as well so Shirou and the others decide to run for their lives. Before they can do this, however, the blonde warrior greets Saber and tells her that it's been a while since they met, He also wonders if she still remembers him, especially his intention back then. Saber can't help but gritting her teeth upon hearing this. Blondie asks her if she's going to tell him that she's not prepare yet. He then complains that she made him wait for the answer for 10 long years. However, since the entire place is collapsing, Saber decides to not continue the conversation. As Shirou is about to leave with Sakura in tow, he notices that Souichirou is not dead yet. After a hesitation, however, he decides to leave him behind. After the group returns safely to Shirou's house, Saber reveals that she knows the new Servant. The guy's class is Archer and that he and Saber fought against one another 10 years ago.

Saber, however, admits that she couldn't defeat the guy, much to Shirou and Rin's surprise. Since in each Holy War there are only 7 Servants, Rin believes that this particular one must have obtained the Holy Grail during previous Holy War. Since they can't figure out who invited him to this Holy War, Rin wonders what is the Servant's intention. Saber reveals that the guy actually proposed to her the last time around but she rejected him flat out. After Rin goes to check on Sakura, Saber and Shirou decide to have their own discussion. Shirou wants to know if Saber can remain here after the Holy War ends. Awww, how romantic. Unfortunately Saber tells him that she can't stay behind. After she obtains the Holy Grail, she will have to return back. Shirou wonders if it means a different King will be chosen. As he said this, Saber remembers how her people once said that King Arthur doesn't know the desire of the people and how they object being ruled by such King.

Saber tells Shirou that King's duty is to protect its country but she feels that she doesn't have enough power to do the task at hand. Because of this, the least she can do is to have another King chosen instead of her. Shirou, however, doesn't care about her duty and believes she should do what she actually wants to do in this world. He tells Saber that if she wants to change herself, she should do it in the present day not by changing the past. Saber tells Shirou to stop talking about this because she can't remain in this time. She then reveals that blondie could not possibly have gotten his hand on the Holy Grail back then because Saber destroyed it. She also tells Shirou that back then her Master was Kitsurugu Emiya, Shirou's adopted father. Back then, Kitsurugu betrayed Saber by using his command spell. Saber also reveals that unlike the man that Shirou knows, the Kitsurugu that she knew was a mage who did not hesitate to kill his enemies.

Although Kitsurugu destroyed the previous Holy Grail, Saber believes just like Caster that a new one can be forged. This time around, however, she will ensure that she obtains it and will not allow anyone to get in her way. Shirou, who is disturbed about the entire situation, decides to visit Kotomine Kirei at the church. Through the guy, Shirou finds out that when Saber made a contract to become a heroic spirit, she was still alive. Upon hearing this, Shirou wonders if Saber can become complete if she gets her hand on the Holy Grail. Kotomine tells Shirou that if Saber doesn't want to become a servant anymore, this will be easy. If Saber drinks from the Holy Grail, she will be able to remain in this period as long as her Master remains alive. Shirou realises that in the end, he needs to obtain the Holy Grail to achieve this. Before he leaves, however, Shirou has another question for Kotomine. He wants to know about the identity of the 8th Servant.

Impression:

The best part about this episode is definitely Caster and Souichirou's scene. Everyone has been asking what's the purpose of her character if she simply ends up dead in the hand of blondie boy but I think her character is there to emphasise that even villains have feelings. As cliche as it may seem, the scene was quite touching to see. It's true that these two don't love each other in the normal sense of the word but one can easily see that they care for each other. This makes me wonder about the wish that Caster had prior to her death. Considering her background story as Medea, I suspect she simply wants someone who loves her. Because of this, I think it's unfortunate that she didn't know that Souichirou did try to make her happy. He pretended as if he's fine even though there are two big gaping holes on his back. It shows that even though he doesn't look like a person who's capable of expressing his emotion, Souichirou does have some kind of feeling for Caster.

The second half of the episode is basically where Shirou gets slapped with a dose of reality. Actually there is a small scene before this which shows how different the current Shirou to the one that we first saw in the series. In this episode, Shirou knew that Souichirou is still alive but decided to leave the guy for dead anyway. The scene suggests that he finally realises that he can't save everyone and that maybe some people are not worth saving. The hard slap, however, comes in the revelation that his kind foster father is probably not such a benevolent individual after all. While it's hard to judge him without knowing the full story, he did use his command spell to force Saber to destroy the Holy Grail. In addition to this, I am starting to question Shirou's obsession with keeping Saber in this time period. At the moment, however, I'll simply assume that this is because Shirou wants to be with Saber but unable to find the right words to tell her.

Preview

On next week's episode: Kon from Bleach intends on extending his plushie appeal to more viewers by making a guest appearance on this show. Please look forward to it!!

© memento 2003