Fate/stay night scenarios
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Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel are the three branching storylines found within the TYPE-MOON visual novel Fate/stay night. The decisions of the player during the game determine which of the three scenarios will be played out.
The plot of the Fate/stay night anime television series is an amalgamation of the three storylines and is discussed at the end of the page.
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[edit] Fate
Shirou and Rin agree to an alliance in order to protect themselves from Berserker, an immediate threat to their lives. The reasoning behind this alliance is simple - each of their servants are operating at a sub-optimal capacity; as part of an incomplete summon, Saber cannot use her full power; likewise, Archer is still recovering from the wounds he received while clashing with Saber. During the course of this alliance, they discover a spell has been placed on the school, one that will drain the life force of anyone within the range of the spell.
While out investigating the spell and gathering information on other Masters and Servants, Shirou discovers that his old friend, Shinji Matou, is the master of Rider. Shinji's ancestors were sorcerers, and, despite the power of their bloodline having weakened over the ages, Shinji is still capable of summoning Rider. Shinji states that he has no desire to fight Shirou, and instead gives him the information that another Servant is residing in the Ryudo Temple.
Although Shirou doesn't feel it necessary to fight the Servant at Ryudo Temple, Saber disagrees and disobeys him, rushing out to confront the other Servant. At the front of the temple, she encounters the Servant Assassin and the two engage in combat. However, as both begin to execute their special attacks, Shirou arrives, preventing them from fighting any further. This conclusion is preferable to Assassin, who mentions that he sensed a third enemy hiding behind the nearby bushes, waiting for an opening.
Soon, Shirou discovers, much to his dismay, that the Master who planted the life-draining spell at the school was Shinji. This revelation is enough to force a confrontation between the two. By this time, Shirou has begun to excel at enhancement magic and melee fighting, a fact which quickly becomes apparent, as Shinji's spells prove useless against his foe. However, as Shirou prepares to deliver the finishing blow, Rider intervenes by shoving Shirou out a nearby window. While falling, Shirou uses a command spell to summon Saber, who rescues him. Saber then goes after Rider, who is attempting to use her Noble Phantasm to retreat. After a chase, the two clash atop a skyscraper. Rider attacks Saber with her mount, Pegasus, forcing Saber to reveal her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur. With Excalibur revealed, Saber makes short work of Rider, defeating her with one blow.
After this event, Shirou begins having visions each morning; the first is of Saber in her past role as Arturia, a lonely monarch who devoted herself solely to fighting for her country. The second vision is of himself, being saved by his adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya, in a fire. Shirou's memories of his father makes him determined to become a hero, someone who can save people just as his father did; thus, he finds that he and Saber have more in common than he thought.
A short time later, Shirou encounters Illyasviel von Einzbern, another master, and attempts to befriend her. Instead, he is kidnapped and taken to her castle; fortunately for Shirou, Saber, Rin, and Archer quickly come to his rescue. During the rescue, Berserker and Ilya confront them; Archer opts to fight the pair in order to allow the others to escape. Meanwhile, the trio manage to make it to a rundown shack, where (at Rin's urging) Shirou and Saber have sexual intercourse in order to replenish Saber's low mana. Rejuvenated somewhat, Saber then confronts and attacks Berserker on a more equal footing; despite this, she is not able to inflict much damage upon him. However, while Saber distracts him, Rin attacks Berserker with a surprise attack which decapitates him. Surprisingly, Berserker regenerates. It is then revealed that Berserker's own body is his Noble Phantasm, God Hand, which grants him near-immortality and the capability to rise from death up to 12 times. Unfortunately for Berserker, it is at this time that Shirou's true magic skills awaken, allowing him to trace a copy of the Caliburn, Saber's original sword from her past, the use of which ultimately leads to Berserker's demise. With Berserker gone, Ilya is now out of the War; feeling somewhat responsible, Shirou decides to let her stay at his home.
Soon afterward, the Emiya residence is attacked by Caster. Both Shirou and Saber go outside to fight her, but Caster is killed by someone wearing golden armor before a battle can begin. Saber identifies the killer as an Archer-class Servant. She remembers him as an individual from the previous Grail War, which was ended before its completion because the Holy Grail had been destroyed. Shirou learns that Saber was a combatant in the previous war as well; furthermore, she had been the Servant of his adoptive father and had, under his father's orders, destroyed the Grail. It is also revealed that she became a Servant shortly before her death and that her greatest desire remains to return to her life and relive it. These revelations bother Shirou, as he doesn't like the idea of her dying and redoing her life.
Shirou decides to ask Kirei Kotomine, the priest in charge of the Grail War, if a way exists to allow Saber a normal life. Kotomine explains that there is no such way, and sarcastically implies that not even the "mighty" Grail could do such a thing, depicting it as less than omnipotent, as the stories state. Dejected by this information, Shirou decides to take Saber out on a date in order to try to cheer her up. During the date, however, the two are attacked by the Archer in golden armor. Saber and Shirou soon find out he is the legendary Gilgamesh, the "king of heroes." Shirou shields Saber from Gilgamesh's initial attack, barely surviving the blow. After escaping, the desperate Saber and Shirou head to Kotomine's church to ask for advice, only to discover Kotomine's betrayal; despite his supposedly "neutral" status as the Judge of the War, he is the Master of both Lancer and Gilgamesh. In the resulting battle, however, Lancer opts to aid Shirou and Saber in escaping, resulting in his death by Gilgamesh's hands.
After this event, Kotomine decides to go into action; he kidnaps Ilya, initiating a final confrontation. Shirou and his allies discover that Ilya was kidnapped because she is the vessel of the Grail - the embodiment of its power. Soon, Rin is heavily wounded by Kotomine, rendering her unable to fight alongside Saber and Shirou. Shirou decides to return Avalon, Saber's final Noble Phantasm, which had been inside of Shirou's body up to this point, to Saber. After this, Saber confronts Gilgamesh, while Kotomine and Shirou face off. Both Shirou and Saber use Avalon simultaneously, nullifying their enemies' attacks, and then proceed to defeat them. With no opposition remaining, the pair destroy the contents of the Grail, ensuring the evil within it will never be used again.
Saber decides to return to her original time and put an end to the life she knew. Though it pains him, Shirou decides to respect her decision and sees her off.
Resolution: As this is the canon ending to the story, no other resolutions are possible in this scenario.
[edit] Unlimited Blade Works
In this scenario, the initial threat to Shirō comes not from Berserker, but from Caster. She has been gathering mana via draining the life force of people throughout the city. In addition, she has already defeated Rider. Although Rin is far more intent on killing Shirou in this scenario than in Fate, she agrees to team up with him in order to defeat Caster, the more immediate threat, first. However, before Shirou and Rin can set a plan in motion, Caster strikes, using her Noble Phantasm, a dagger called Rule Breaker, to sever the contract between Saber and Shirou so that she can attempt to set a contract up between herself and Saber. Archer and Rin attack Caster, but, much to Rin and Shirou's surprise, Archer betrays them, opting to join Caster.
Rin, Shirou, and Saber go to Ilya in the hope that she and Berserker can help them fight against Caster. Upon their arrival, however, they find Gilgamesh has just defeated the pair, ripping out Ilya's heart in the process. Eventually, with the aid of Lancer, Rin and Shirou fight Caster and her Master, Souichirou Kuzuki. Caster, however, attempts to kill Saber. Before she can accomplish this, though, Archer kills Caster and Kuzuki. Archer then proceeds to turn on Shirou. Rin quickly makes a new contract with Saber, who then fights him off, allowing them to successfully rescue Shirou.
Shirou realizes that only he can defeat Archer, because he is Archer; the servant known as Archer is, in reality, the Emiya Shirou from the future. Shirou succeeded in obtaining his goal of becoming a hero; however, he was eventually forced to make a pact with the world in order to save a group of people. This pact locked him into his current role as a Servant. Soon afterwards, he was executed due to false accusations levied against him by a former associate who had caused a war. Since the Holy Grail can draw upon heroes from any time period, Archer reappears by chance in the fifth Holy Grail war, the one that he took part in as a Master. Since Archer had come to regret his decision to become a Servant and the fact that he followed his ideals, he decided to kill Shirou, which would end his own existence as well.
At Ilya's castle, Shirou and Archer engage in combat again, while Shirou tries to convince his older self that the path he chose was correct. During the battle, Archer remembers what he used to believe in; he then stops fighting, allowing himself to be defeated. Shirou then goes after Gilgamesh, using his reality marble to unleash Unlimited Blade Works upon him. Shirou defeats Gilgamesh, but Gilgamesh, determined to not lose, tries to drag down everyone with him. However, to the surprise of everyone, Archer jumps in at the last second, defeats Gilgamesh, and disappears with a smile, indicating his determination to keep fighting the good fight.
Resolutions: Two endings are available for this scenario.
- The "Good" ending depicts an epilogue in which Rin keeps Saber as her Servant, and the group all live normal, happy lives.
- The "True" ending shows Rin heading off to the Mage Association after her schooling ends, with Shirou joining her as her apprentice.
[edit] Heaven's Feel
A completely new character, Zouken Matou, appears in this scenario. Initially uninterested in the Grail War, he summons the servant True Assassin upon seeing Rider lose to Saber. He directs a mysterious shadowy entity after summoning True Assassin. During this time, Saber defeats Caster while the shadow assists True Assassin in defeating Lancer, and soon after, Saber herself.
Upon Saber's loss, Shirou continues to fight in the War, determined to stop the killing. He decides to join forces with Rin, but, much to his surprise, discovers that Rider has allied herself with him. She has survived because her true Master, Sakura Matou, still lives. Unfortunately, Sakura's life is in danger, as a parasite exists within her, spreading pain throughout her nervous system like a circuit; if this parasite is left unchecked, Sakura will die. In order to assure her survival, Sakura is forced to draw the life out of others. Rin is determined to save Sakura before she becomes a mass murderer, and intends to kill her. This decision is motivated by the revelation that Sakura is Rin's sister. In addition, Shirou is forced to make a critical decision - fight for justice, which would end in Sakura's death, or save someone dear to him. He sharply disagrees with Rin, and decides to save Sakura's life.
Shirou and Rin decide to ask Ilya to see if she can help fight Zouken. Upon arriving at Ilya's castle, they find Berserker on the losing side of a battle against True Assassin, the shadow, and Saber, who has been corrupted by the shadow. Unable to defeat his opponents, Berserker is quickly devoured by the shadow, who then turns its attention to the three Masters and Archer. Archer becomes critically wounded protecting Rin; Shirou manages to save Ilya, but does so at the cost of losing his left arm. The three are ultimately rescued by the timely intervention of Rider.
When Shirou returns to consciousness, he finds that Archer's arm has been grafted to his body; the Servant gave his arm to him before he had died. Since Shirou has abandoned his ideals in Heaven's Feel, Archer decided to help him instead of kill him. Thus, he protected Shirou and donated his arm, which Shirou is able to use because Archer and Shirou are the same person. Meanwhile, having lost their Servants, Rin and Ilya move in with Shirou. The three concoct a plan to trace the Jeweled Sword Zelretch, but doing so causes increasingly extreme pain for Shirou, to the point that Ilya warns him that continual usage of Archer's arm will ultimately kill him.
It is soon revealed that the murderous shadow is none other than Sakura herself, who has been completely consumed by the parasite. Gilgamesh confronts Sakura and impales her body with countless Noble Phantasms from his Gate of Babylon. However, with her new powers, Sakura regenerates at an alarmingly fast rate and kills Gilgamesh. Shirou confronts Zouken, discovering that he had implanted the Vessel of the Holy Grail from the previous war into Sakura as a worm, and that her current form is the result of this. Worse, she is out of control, and killing Zouken will solve nothing, as the shadow cannot be killed and will continue to feed upon people, Servants, and Masters. The only way to stop the shadow is to kill its host, Sakura. Upon hearing this, Shirou is again forced to consider his choice, feeling that if he continues to choose to save Sakura, he will betray the sense of justice that he has always believed in.
Meanwhile, Sakura, unwilling to see Shirou in so much pain, confronts her grandfather, Zouken, herself. Unfortunately, she has completely given in to her dark side when she killed her brother Shinji as he tried to rape her like before. This made her realize nothing can stop her. Instead of dealing with Zouken, she decides to kidnap Ilya in order to complete the Holy Grail.
With Kotomine's help, Shirou heads off to save Ilya, taking on Dark Berserker, while Kotomine fights True Assassin. Kotomine stalemates Assassin and is able to defeat Zouken by purifying his soul; however, Kotomine becomes mortally wounded by Sakura, and dies shortly after rescuing Ilya. Shirou is able to release the power within his grafted arm to defeat Dark Berserker nine times by imaging Berserker's special technique: "Nine Lives: The Shooting Hundred Heads", but doing so causes intense damage to his own body, which slowly begins to kill him.
Upon her rescue, Ilya informs them of what is transpiring: since the third war, the contents of the Grail have been tainted by Angra Mainyu, and the completion of the Grail will cause immense, world-wide pain and suffering. Upon this revelation, it is decided Sakura must be killed before the Grail is completed. Shirou remains set on saving her, and Rider, upon hearing this, offers her services. In the interim, Sakura has turned on and killed True Assassin and destroyed Zouken's mother worm inside of her body.
The final confrontation occurs in a cave beneath Ryudo temple; this site was the place where the original ritual of the Holy Grail took place. Together, Shirou and Rider defeat Dark Saber, while Rin uses the Zelretch to fight Sakura. Rider was able to fully nullify Sabre's Noble Phantasm with the help of Shirou imaging the shield of Rho Aias. This gave Shirou a chance to remove Saber from her misery. Shirou is initially hesitant to land the killing blow, but the corrupted Saber pleads with him to end her life, as she is no longer in control of her body and is in constant torment. Finally, Shirou agrees, and kills her with the dagger of Azoth. Rin continues to fight Sakura, but at the last second decides to not kill her and instead suffers a near-fatal blow. Sakura, realizing that she is still loved and thus seeing the mistakes she has made, surrenders. Shirou, barely alive at this point, joins them and uses his diminishing power to trace the Rule Breaker in order to separate Sakura and Angra Mainyu. During this, the Grail becomes complete, forming the Grand Holy Grail, which is on the verge of releasing Angra Mainyu. Shirou moves to destroy it, but the corpse of Kotomine intervenes. The two fight, hand to hand, ending with Kotomine defeated and Shirou on the verge of death. Shirou, knowing he is about to die, begins to trace Excalibur in order to destroy the Grail once and for all.
Resolutions: Heaven's Feel has two endings.
- The "Normal" version depicts an epilogue with Shirou sacrificing himself so that he can destroy the Grand Holy Grail. Sakura vows to wait for him to return, because they promised to view cherry blossoms in the spring. However, years pass while Sakura ages and waits faithfully for his return. In the end, it becomes clear that Shirou never returns.
- The "True" ending depicts an epilogue where Ilya sacrifices herself, the embodiment of the Holy Grail, in order to save Shirou and close the gate. Shirou is able to get a new body from a puppet master (this is a reference to Aozaki Touko in TYPE-MOON's earlier work Kara no Kyoukai) and live a normal life with Sakura and Rider. Rin becomes a sorcerer at the Association.
- There is also a "simple" ending that occurs when Shirou is unable to form a pact with Rider. In the "simple" ending, Shirou unleashes the true power of Kanshou and Bakuya and wins the one-to-one duel with Dark Saber, but this causes him to have a mental breakdown.
[edit] Anime plotline
The plot of Fate/stay night anime television series has generally followed the Fate storyline, with some minor variations due to amalgamating parts of the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel scenarios. The series has been divided into arcs based on the various enemies seen at different points in the story.
Also, while the Fate/stay night PC game has hentai scenes, the anime does not. The anime has some sexually suggestive scenes, but nothing as explicit as the hentai scenes in the PC game.
[edit] Introduction
(eps. 1-6)
These episodes introduce the story, world, and characters of Fate/stay night. Most of the major Masters and Servants are introduced, although a few appear later. Shirou Emiya and his servant Saber are introduced as the main characters, with Rin Tohsaka and her servant Archer as important supporting characters. Also introduced are Ilya von Einzbern, Sakura Matou, Lancer, Kirei Kotomine, and Taiga Fujimura. Taiga and Sakura visit Shirou's home nearly daily to make food for Shirou. When Saber makes her appearance, Shirou pretends that Saber is a distant relative of his, much to the dismay of Taiga.
[edit] Rider Arc
(eps. 7 - 12)
The servant Rider is introduced in this arc as the primary villain, along with her master, Shinji Matou, Sakura's brother. Caster and Assassin also briefly appear, but do not play an important role until a later arc. The final battle with Rider closely follows the one seen in the Fate scenario. Rider, who uses her powerful Noble Phantasm to summon Pegasus, puts Saber at a severe disadvantage. The battle ends with Saber using her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, which soundly defeats Rider but drains her mana to the point of endangering her life. Shinji attempts to escape, but is killed by Ilya and Berseker, who were observing the battle and felt he was unworthy to continue living. Meanwhile, Sakura witnesses a bright flash of light from the end of the battle, implying she has sensed the death of Rider (her servant, according to Heaven's Feel).
Saber's use of her Noble Phantasm causes Shirou to see Saber's past as Arturia through his dreams; he learns of the difficult decisions she made as King of Britain. Meanwhile, her failing health forces Shirou to consider the possibility of her disappearance; eventually, he turns to Rin for help, since he is unwilling to sacrifice human souls to replenish Saber's mana as Rider and Shinji were doing. However, he is stopped from taking any further action by Ilya's sudden appearance and her capture of Shirou by paralyzing him with a spell.
[edit] Berserker Arc
(eps. 13 - 16)
Shirou has been kidnapped by Ilyasviel von Einzbern and taken back to her manor; she intends to use use him as bait so that she can destroy Rin and Saber. Shirou, attempting to use his newly developing imaging powers, tries to escape while Rin, Saber, and a contemptuous Archer stage a rescue attempt. They reunite with Shirou and try to escape. Ilya's servant, Berserker, appears to stop them. Archer stays behind to fight him, giving the others time to escape. In the ensuing battle Archer uses his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, and heavily damages Berserker, killing him five times; this is not enough to defeat Berserker, as he possesses the ability to revive himself twelve times. As Archer fades away, he refers to Ilyasviel as "Ilya", a name used only by her close friends; all that remains of the Servant after he fades away is the red jewel pendant Rin once used to save Shirou. These facts imply Archer's identity as the future Shirou, as stated in Unlimited Blade Works.
Shirou, Rin, and Saber escape through the forest and rest in a small hut that Archer had found earlier. Rin reveals that Shirou's magical circuit must be sacrificed in order to restore Saber's mana. Saber refuses, but Shirou does not care. Rin prepares the ritual by kissing Saber and Shirou, and then has Saber and Shirou lie together in bed. Shirou finds himself plunging into Saber's consciousness, where he encounters a giant dragon, which seemingly represents Saber's inner self. The dragon ruthlessly tears off Shirou's arm, and as the blood pours out, Shirou's circuit pours out as well. Shirou and Saber wake up embarrassed, but Saber's mana has been restored. The three then formulate a battle plan against Ilya and Berserker. Rin proposes that she uses her jewels as an ultimate attack on Berserker, taking him out and then going for Ilya afterwards.
Saber and Berserker face off while Rin hides and waits for the right moment. Shirou, because of his desire to help Saber, tries to help her by using his tracing ability to create a bow and arrow, but finds it does little damage. When Rin finally finds an opening, she attacks with her jewels and manages to kill him once. However, Shirou, Saber, and Rin had not known of Berserker's Noble Phantasm, God Hand, which allows him to regenerate his body twelve times, thus granting him an effective thirteen lives. After previously being defeated five times by Archer, and another one time by Rin blowing away his head, Berserker would still need to be struck down a total of seven more times. Rin, caught in Berserker's grasp, is about to be crushed to death.
Out of desperation, Saber attempts to use her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur. Shirou stops her with one of his command spells, knowing that it would not help in this situation and would only drain her. Shirou focuses on the picture of a sword in his mind and images Caliburn, which he uses to slice off Berserker's arm and save Rin. However, in doing this, the imaged Caliburn is shattered. Shirou images a stronger Caliburn and wields it alongside Saber. Together, they manage to deal a blow to Berserker that is so powerful that it kills him seven times, thus depleting the rest of his lives. Berserker regains his sanity and reveals that he is only an illusion of his former self. He fades away and Ilya is defeated.
Note: It is Shirou's intention to image a sword "supreme" to Berserker. Though he succeeds in creating such a sword, he is unable to use it until Saber adds her strength to his, because he lacks fighting skill at this time. The first imaged sword moved automatically with its own will, but the second sword was created completely and the sword had no will of its own. As this sword was "supreme" to Berserker, an alternate possibility for Berserker's defeat with one blow is that the power to do so came not from Shirou and Saber together, but rather from the sword itself. In the PC game, it is stated that the strike from Caliburn killed Berserker nine times, which is two more times than what was needed.
[edit] Caster Arc
(eps. 17 - 19)
After returning home, Shirou makes the decision to take Ilya in rather than eliminate her as she expects him to. Rin tricks Sakura and Taiga (again) by claiming Ilya is her cousin from overseas and they allow her to stay in the house without question. Meanwhile, Caster has decided that it is time to make her move.
After a series of strange incidents in town, Shirou, Saber, and Rin find themselves fighting one of the teachers from school, Souichirou Kuzuki, who happened to be a former professional assassin before becoming a teacher. As Rin tries to launch a surprise attack on Kuzuki, Caster intervenes. Even though he's fighting for Caster, rather than the other way around (he states that he does not care about the Holy Grail), Caster acts as his Servant. Caster stops the battle and offers Shirou, Rin, and Saber a chance at the Holy Grail, in return for sacrificing Rin as part of the ritual to complete the Grail. After they reject Caster's offer, Caster and Kuzuki disappear, saying that there was another magician strong enough to be used. Shirou orders Saber to protect Ilya, whom everyone believes to be Caster's target.
Saber arrives at the Emiya house, only to find that Ilya is not the target, but Sakura. Sakura, under Caster's control, stabs Saber with Caster's Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker. Due to this, Saber is rendered unable to use Excalibur. Shirou and Rin arrive as Caster takes Sakura away, intending to sacrifice the girl to summon the Holy Grail. Shirou, Saber, and Rin go to the Ryudo Temple to rescue Sakura. Shirou fights Kuzuki and Saber takes on Assassin, while Rin goes to free Sakura from Caster. Using Sakura's suppressed memories (which heavily imply Sakura and Rin are sisters, as revealed in Heaven's Feel) to manipulate her, Caster has Sakura use her formerly dormant powers to fight Rin. Rin is stabbed, but manages to destroy Sakura's magic circuit in order to prevent Caster from draining the rest of Sakura's magic. Caster finds that it is only a minor setback; Rin's magic circuit will do since Sakura's has been destroyed - had Rin not been so tomboyish, Caster would have chosen her in the first place.
Saber defeats Assassin, but Rin and Shirou are at the mercy of Caster and Kuzuki. Suddenly, a golden Servant appears and fatally injures Caster and Kuzuki. Shirou, Rin, and Saber escape with Sakura.
[edit] Gilgamesh Arc
(eps. 19 - 21)
The golden Servant, because he is the eighth Servant to appear, is quickly deduced to be a Servant who remained behind from the previous Grail War. He and Saber happen to be mutual acquaintances; the golden Servant is revealed to be Gilgamesh, who had wished to marry Saber.
Shirou, who finds that he is in love with Saber, tries to convince her to give up her wish to obtain the Holy Grail, but she adamantly refuses. He does manage to take her out on a date, which ends sourly when they start arguing over their goals. Shirou admits his love to Saber and wants her to forget trying to relive her past, but Saber refuses. Eventually, Shirou gets frustrated and goes home. However, by evening, Saber fails to come home. Shirou becomes worried and goes into the city to look for her. Shirou finds her and they reconcile, only to be interrupted by a jealous Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh easily outclasses both Master and Servant and leaves them both injured. Through Shirou's sheer determination and love for Saber, he manages to image a sword scabbard for Saber's sword. Saber immediately recognizes the scabbard. She rushes to Shirou's side, and they put Saber's Excalibur into the sheath, just as Gilgamesh launches a powerful energy attack on them. The combined Excalibur and sheath reflect Gilgamesh's attack back at him. Gilgamesh is injured by his own attack and flees. Saber realizes that Shirou is the vessel of Avalon, her sheath and the most powerful Noble Phantasm.
After experiencing another one of Saber's past memories where she has just killed a young woman (a gender-changed Mordred) who resembles her and dies calling Saber "Father," Shirou tries to dissuade Saber from her wish again, but is met with another refusal. She is determined to fulfill her responsibility and refuses to stay with him unless she can achieve this. As she cries, he kisses her. The next day, Shirou goes to the church to meet with Kirei Kotomine again, but instead finds himself at the receiving end of Lancer's weapon.
Through investigation, Rin reveals to Saber that Lancer's Master is dead and that someone stole his or her command seal. The fact that Lancer is still involved means that the person who stole the command seal is acting as Lancer's new master. Saber, from Rin, discovers that Shirou is at Kotomine's church and goes after him. She finds him injured in the church's basement along with Lancer attempting to stop her.
[edit] Kotomine Arc
(eps. 21 - 24)
Kotomine reveals himself to be the one who stole the servant's command seal from Lancer's master, as well as the master of Gilgamesh. He offers Shirou and Saber the Holy Grail, in return for their succumbing to their wishes. Shirou refuses it, though it would prevent the massive fire of his youth that killed his family, as it would not change who he was and cheapen what everyone went through. Saber, on hearing this, realizes the error of her wish and decides that all she wants is Shirou. Disgusted with their reactions, Kotomine reveals the Holy Grail is actually a corrupt weapon that only grants wishes through destruction (based on the Heaven's Feel scenario). He orders his Servants to kill Shirou and Saber. Lancer, at the last moment, defies Kotomine and steps between Gilgamesh and the duo. He has chosen to fight for his own beliefs now and urges the pair to make their escape.
Lancer is quickly killed by Gilgamesh. As they flee, Saber reveals to Shirou that he carries Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, within him. When they arrive home, they find a badly injured Rin, who had been attacked by Kotomine. She apologizes for being unable to protect Ilya, who has been taken by Kotomine, and for not realizing that Kotomine was the seventh Master. She gives Shirou some final pieces of advice: Kotomine intends to use Ilya as the vessel of the Holy Grail; he has likely gone to the Ryūdoji Shrine, where the Holy Grail was first summoned; and, most importantly, Shirou is no match for Kotomine. Seeing that Shirou intends to fight Kotomine all the same, Rin gives him her Azoth, a dagger she received when she became a mage, and instructs him on how to use it. She had known that she would not win the war and hid the weapon until the end for Shirou to use; soon after, Rin falls asleep from exhaustion.
Saber reluctantly asks to remove Avalon from Shirou, but is hesitant, as, even with the sheath, she may not be able to defeat Gilgamesh and Shirou will lose his healing ability. Shirou tells her to remove it anyway, saying that people should die when killed and that he has become too dependent on it. At Ryūdoji, Shirou leaves Saber to fight Gilgamesh while he goes after Kotomine, both knowing that as long as either the Servant or Master is defeated, neither will be able to obtain the Grail.
He finds Ilya, set up to become a vessel for the Grail, and Kotomine below her, surrounded by an overflowing black sludge that represents the cursed power of the Holy Grail itself. The summoning system created by the Einzberns has made the Holy Grail very difficult to summon and the complete Grail has never been seen, due to either failed summons or the Grail's destruction, like Kiritsugu Emiya had done in the previous war. Kotomine believes that summoning the Grail to bring disaster is the true desire of humanity itself, and that the destruction resulting from this is a beautiful expression of this desire. Kotomine attacks Shirou using the sludge, reveals his hatred of Kiritsugu and the fact that he killed the latter, and calls for Angra Mainyu to destroy Shirou as the sludge surrounds him.
Gilgamesh gains the upper hand in his fight with Saber, revealing that he has no wish for the Grail and only desires Saber. Saber refuses to give up and is able to fight him on an even level with Excalibur until Gilgamesh unleashes his Enuma Elish. He tries to tempt her with the Grail's cursed power to become the same as him and enjoy a second life, this time married to him. Gilgamesh acknowledges their differing ideologies, especially considering that Gilgamesh destroyed his country while Saber's country destroyed her. Gilgamesh picks Saber up with her right leg, and she angrily retaliates by delivering a kick to his face; enraged, he decides to stop holding back. He fires his Enuma Elish as Saber uses Excalibur again, and a bright light surrounds both of them. Saber is overpowered, but fights back against Enuma Elish using Avalon, along with Excalibur and defeats Gilgamesh before he can unleash Enuma Elish again.
At the same time, Shirou breaks free of the sludge and stabs Kotomine to death with Azoth. Kotomine recalls how he had given Rin Azoth all those years ago as he dies. Shirou saves Ilya and Saber arrives and is prepared to destroy the Holy Grail. After some deliberation, he orders Saber to carry out her final duty using his last command seal - to destroy the Grail once again. With the Grail destroyed, Saber will disappear at sunrise back and return to her own time. Before she disappears, Saber confesses her love for him.
[edit] Conclusion
Life goes on. Ilya stays with the Emiya household. Rin and Sakura have recovered and returned to their daily lives. Shirou also know that life goes on, but he'll cherish the time he spent with Saber, even if they become distant memories as he gets older. He continues to view the world optimistically.
Meanwhile, Saber has returned to her past, as Arturia. She is brought to the time shortly after she has been mortally wounded from battling Mordred. Found sitting against the foot of a tree by Sir Bedivere (who has a female voice actress and can be inferred to have had a sex change, like Arturia and Mordred), Arturia tells Bedivere about a wonderful dream she has had. Bedivere tells Arturia to rest while she sends for reinforcements to save Arturia. However, Arturia tells Bedivere to give Excalibur back to Vivian in the lake. In the following scenes, Bedivere is shown riding her horse to the lake and giving Excalibur back to Vivian, while leaves fall in the forest. Arturia is shown slowly falling asleep, but she no longer regrets the life she has chosen and is thankful for the memories she had with Shirou. Bedivere completes her task and returns to Arturia, who reveals her sleep will be a little long. As Arturia falls asleep, Bedivere says the final line of the show, "Do you behold... King Arthur... the continuation to your dream?" It is implied that Arturia has died.
[edit] External references
- (Japanese) Official Website for the Fate/stay night Anime Series
- (Japanese) TYPE-MOON's Official Homepage for the Fate/stay night Game
- (Japanese) Fate/stay night Walkthrough
- (English) AnimeNFO's Entry on the Fate/stay night Anime Series
- (English) The Moonlit World
- (English) Fuyuki, an English TYPE-MOON Wiki
| Fate/stay night (TYPE-MOON) |
|---|
| Characters |
| Shirō Emiya | Saber | Rin Tōsaka | Archer |
| Illyasviel von Einzbern | Berserker | Kiritsugu Emiya |
| Sakura Matō | Rider | Shinji Matō | Zōken Matō | True Assassin |
| Kirei Kotomine | Lancer | Gilgamesh |
| Sōichirō Kuzuki | Caster | Assassin |
| Taiga Fujimura | Bazett Fraga McRemitz | Avenger | Caren Ortensia | Zelretch |
| Minor characters |
| Information |
| Scenarios | Voice actors | Fate/hollow ataraxia | Fate/Zero |
