Fate/Zero Season Two episode 12

Ready for tears?!

XO I has no time for a starter paragraph! Not when I have so much to say about this episode! So lets get right to it! Fate/Zero Season Two episode 12! Spoilers for almost everyone being miserable YAY!

So Emiya has decided to put aside his murderous ways...and this happens.

Episode Summary: Saber reflects on the fact that Emiya doesn’t know her at all and really never tried. She lets her blade fly and the Grail is destroyed and Saber disappears thinking this is her punishment for not understanding the feelings of others. Much to Emiya’s horror the black goo in the cup is not destroyed and falls to the ground, turning into some lava crap. Archer is quickly consumed along with Kirei as the lava spreads everywhere. Illya wakes up from a dream, where she is a cup and is filled with 7 lumps. Her mother (a voice) tells her it will be okay. So Illya promises to sit and wait for him, her hero. As Illya talks Emiya loses his mind and races towards to the destroyed areas of town, desperate to find anyone!!! While this is all going on Kariya has made it back to his father’s home, saying to Sakura he has come to rescue her. He is suddenly in the park where the entire family is reunited and Aoi thanks him. In reality Kariya has fallen into the worm pit dead. Sakura smirks as this is what happens to traitors.

I wonder what would have happened to Emiya had he not been able to rescue ANYONE!

Kirei wakes up not dead to find a naked Archer looking at him. Apparently the goo brought back Kirei and gave Archer a stable way to stay in the world. Kirei wants to know why this has happened and takes it as a sign that he is to do great (evil) things in the world and the Grail understands that. He basically loses his mind while Archer has an orgasm. Kirei eventually decides that this is the conclusion he wanted but he needed to see the math, not just get the right answer. Kirei sees Emiya and thinks it is time for part two of their battle. But Emiya is looking in the rubble, trying to find anyone and is basically a broken person. Kirei and Archer leave disgusted. Emiya does find someone though as Shiro states. Shiro thinks back to how Emiya was so happy to find him in all that rubble, that he had a reason to live now. The next day Waver tells the fake grandparents he wishes to stay with them a little longer. He then goes upstairs and sees a lot of Rider’s things. Waver smiles…and plays the game Rider bugged him to buy.

:( Poor little Chibi Rin.

Kirei officiates Tokiomi’s funeral. Rin looks very mature and even takes care of her wheelchair bound mother. Kirei smiles and goes on and on about how brave Rin must be to take on all this responsibility. Kirei then gives Rin the knife he used to kill her father with. Rin finally breaks down and Kirei nearly licks up Rin’s tears from the sidewalk. Saber is on the bloody field, unable to die. She thinks back to how she lost the Grail at the last moment and what Lancelot said to her before he died. She says she will never stop seeking the Grail so she can change the fate of all her people. She basically cries a lot saying it is her fault. Emiya thinks back to how he was unable to rescue Illya but his life was not a total lose. He raised the boy from the fire, Shiro. Years later Shiro and Emiya are chillin on their porch looking at the stars. Emiya talks about how he wanted to be a hero when he grew up but that is a dream you can only have for a little while. Shiro agrees, that being a hero is for young people. He volunteers to be a hero for Emiya. Emiya smiles, unable to tell him the truth about what the word really means. Emiya thinks back to Shirley and THE END!!!

Well....she isn't dead....

X______X This episode did not go the way I thought it was going to go. I mean not sure what that means or what I thought was going to go down but…yeah. That was interesting. As every other episode that proceeded it. XD Shall I begin with the review?

Insane? But yes I forgot all about you from Fate/stay Night.

First off…I really think that forgetting almost everything about Fate/stay Night really helped me enjoy this series. I remember so few details from the first…well I guess “sequel” that its pathetic. I remember THAT Archer chanting in English (which sounded way cooler to me than Kirei’s prayer), that Rin was trying to summon Saber, that there was an ugly Berserker, Emiya was Shiro’s dead father, and Saber liked to sit on the storage room floor a lot. And I BELIEVE that Shiro told Saber to destroy the Grail and she did so willingly. I believe that is what happened. That is about it folks. So while I should have known a lot more about this show I really didn’t. So everything was almost new for me. I knew this War wasn’t going to end well but I didn’t remember or know why.

But you being a cup is something important to remember....

Second…I am going to make the previous paragraph not matter at all. XD This series was really made for fans of the games. Each episode it seems someone had to comment or explain to me what was going on. That topics were never explained fully. One would assume by watching this series that the Grail was just interpreting Emiya’s wish really wrong. Or the Grail was evil. But players of the game or readers of the novel were like Um no, there is a big reason why the Grail was acting like that, that no matter who “won” destruction was going to be the answer. Sure the name was mentioned but it was in passing and really made no sense to me. Like oh okay Angra Mainyu….

I knew something bad happened in the 4th War but not this. X___X

So does that make the show hard to watch for people like me, someone who has never played the games or read the books? Slightly. While I understand that it is hard to cross over into different medias (IE the Hunger Games) I feel as if a LOT of details were left out. So much time was spent on killing Caster and Archer and Kirei making love with their eyes I felt confused on some of the terminology or why Rider was talking the way he was to Saber. Perhaps this was the best that could be done given how complex some of the concepts were. But if one was just watching the show I don’t think they would get the actually purpose of the Grail, the War, and a bunch of other topics.

I know way too much time about this....hot mess of a situation.

Now that I got ALL of that out of the way lets talk about this episode! XD I spent a great deal of the day reading and clicking various links about this show that I probably forgot half of what happened in this episode. X___X My brain is so full of knowledge and information on a crazy person who thought up this entire series.

I wish she could have screamed one last thing at Emiya.

I thought that there was going to be more Saber in this episode. That maybe Archer was going to stop her from destroying the Grail. I didn’t think Archer was going to die but I didn’t think Saber was going to explode it and herself in 10 seconds. I thought there was going to be something more between Saber and Emiya. Like a plague on both your houses type deal. Archer trying to stop his….love or whatever Saber was to him.

Saber tries to be a good King and she punishes herself forever. Fair.

That makes me sad of course. My favorite character in the entire series is Saber (as probably is for most people) so a pretty Saberless episode was a bit sad. Especially given the state Saber was in. After all my internet learnings I have a better understanding of what is going on with Saber. That she is a special kind of Servant as her time has stopped and her desire for the object called the Holy Grail is what allows her to be summoned more than once. That she doesn’t get to move on like the other Servants. She is stuck in a state where she can’t die or won’t die I should say. As long as she wants the Grail she will be stuck on that field, wishing to change her lot in life.

Can ANYONE catch a break in this show?!

In the end I am going to say the exact same thing about Saber that I have said from day one. Even though I don’t hate Rider as much as I did before….I really can’t get down with Saber being all upset with herself. I don’t see her as a horrible King. I have said this before but Saber being a distant King doesn’t bother me. If she wanted to put aside her emotions and be a King from a distance that is fine. Her subjects turning on her was…I don’t know if uncalled for was the right word. She didn’t want to blame her favorite people for “betraying” her and she can’t be blamed for the civil unrest their sexy times caused. I guess I am done with that topic but I hate how Saber goes on and on about her being a weak King and that somehow she deserves this.

What did I do to deserve this life?!

So now that we have covered 10 seconds of the show on with the rest. X__X Poor Emiya. He thought he was saving people by destroying the Grail. His whole life he played a numbers game and thought the Grail would be the ultimate miracle, to stop all the suffering when he could only do small things. After he decides that his wish won’t be made and he has made the tough decision to destroy his last hope…it turns into a steamin pile of lava and destroys a great portion of the city. Emiya clearly is going to suffer more than Kariya simply because Emiya lives longer and has more “innocent” blood on his hands.

Some sexual healing or something....

This was magical lava though. It destroyed buildings and people and the ground yet Archer comes out okay. Of course he is magical too so that might not matter. Also the fact that the Grail was sitting there deciding who won the War when it was missing two Servants makes me think it can do whatever it wants. So if it wants to eat Archer’s clothes and leave him in this world semi permanently I guess it can do that.

This zombie conversation would be more interesting if Archer was wearing clothes.

Since the Grail was being random it brought Kirei back to life. Well I am not sure that is the correct choice of words if Kirei has no heart beat. Is he a zombie? Quick get Daryl! Okay he is probably not a zombie. But he is something…not completely human. Perhaps the Grail sensed the potential for true evil in him and so wants to make him a Master again in the next War. Or maybe the Grail just wanted to make another Archer and Kirei moment.

Your mortal enemy is just a shell now.

While Emiya and Kirei both seem….well evil I think their true nature shined after the lava. Kirei was ready for another battle, that he could destroy something. But Emiya was no longer his opponent. That man was gone. Kirei instead saw a broken man who lost his dream and was searching for one tiny glimmer of hope. Just ONE person to save. After spending years playing a numbers game Emiya broke. He could no longer hide his emotions even if his face looked blank. So while Emiya went around killing a lot of people to save TONS and he appeared to be an emotionless person he deep down cared the most about people.

OKAY! Now he is dead!!!!!

Speaking of suffering…I was wrong. Kariya didn’t die last episode. He just didn’t have enough mana to keep Berserker alive. But he did have enough energy to drag himself back home to save Sakura. Or make it to the steps, say he was going to save Sakura, and die right in front of her. At least in his delusional state he thought he had saved her so maybe he died happy? What I didn’t like about making Kariya suffer more was Sakura’s face. To me it seemed she was smiling at the punishment Kariya received. My learnings have showed me that she was merely noting help was not on the way and if she acted out of line this was going to be the result. I think that could have been portrayed better, to show that Sakura was sad and not going to the dark side.

This would be Waver...playing video games. After all of that.

Amidst all the chaos and pain….Waver gets to live people! Woohoo! He must have cried all his tears last week because this week he was able to think back fondly with his time with Rider. Pulling out that video game and free shirt without crying. Asking the fake grandparents if he could stay there a little while longer. I am not sure if he knows the extent of the crazy that went on during the War and that might affect how much he changes and grows as a person. But I am glad that his rash decision to join the war didn’t kill him. People make mistakes but I don’t think he deserved to die. He grew as a person, saw Rider as a real person, and in the end will be more grateful for the life he does have. So out of all this suffering Waver will be okay. Yay for miracles?

Through my learnings I understand that Emiya was slowly dying when he was raising Shiro. That whole curse from Corrupt Evil Grail man. So evil. I suppose the real tragedy is that Emiya never got to save his daughter Illya. She was probably raised thinking the worse about her father but that is to be expected. So even though Emiya was trying to live the rest of his life to the fullest, giving back instead of taking, he was never going to be happy. NEVER!

Everyone go AWWW!

Emiya must have done something right though. Checky little Shiro (while implying older people get no dreams at all) volunteers to take on Emiya’s dream ,that he will be a hero. Now apparently Emiya DIES after giving Shiro his blessing. I didn’t get that impression from watching the show and quite frankly I might be traumatized for life if I was Shiro. Like I agree to do something and you smile and die? Um no I am going to cry for the rest of my life.

He feels better that he didn't carry on the Mage Killer legacy?

But apparently that is supposed to be a bitter sweet moment. Emiya knows that Shiro wishing that or taking on the role of a hero will probably leave him broken. Not in the same way (hopefully) but Emiya probably figured that if he (Emiya) was trying to be a practical hero and failed no one else had a chance with the traditional save everyone and be a hero route. Emiya smiles though. He thinks well what could this boy get into really? He taught him a little magic but probably thought that Shiro would be long dead or removed for the next Holy Grail War…. 

So there you have it folks. Longest post ever. XD This series was great though yes? Beyond amazing art quality, a story that kept you on your toes, and deaths galore. The show could have done a much better job explaining….well a lot of things. But overall I really had a great time blogging and watching this show as well as all the discussions that took place on my blog. XD Who knows when a super solid show like this will happen again…hopefully soon. Thanks for reading!!! XD

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Fate/Zero Season Two episode 11

Happy Father’s Day to those speaking to their Fathers. Or have positive older male adult role models in their lives. That would make for a long holiday name though wouldn’t it? As for me…yeah. XD Just another lazy Sunday of blogging and maybe cleaning. Yes organizing needs to get done in a house of many collections. I could just limit down my collections to….5 I guess…but I don’t see that happening. XD

The face of our happy hero?

Anime time! Then I shall clean. Fate/Zero Season Two episode 11. Almost the end folks. Spoilers for things…well ending! XD

But what about my claws?!?

Episode Summary: Emiya and Kirei have a dramatic stare down in what is the most boring room ever. Emiya fires one of his rib bullets at Kirei while Kirei uses his Wolverine arms to protect himself. The bullet destroys the knives but Kirei is okay. Emiya figures that Kirei is using the Command Seals for mana thus the bullet can’t affect his magical circuits. Saber in the meantime is getting her ass kicked by Berserker. Emiya then tries using his Accel ability but Kirei is able to counter that too and splats Emiya into a wall. Without Avalon Emiya would have died. While Saber continues to get her ass kicked Emiya manages to heal and shoot Kirei in the arm. Saber is about to die when suddenly she is able to turn the tide and stab Berserker? This is probably due to the fact Kariya has finally died. Emiya and Kirei continue to fight but the Grail decides to ooze out millions of gallons of blood and flood the place raining down on their battle. Saber says her goodbyes to Berserker, saying that she will win the Grail and change their sad fate. Berserker smirks, implying that Saber hasn’t learned anything.

Irisviel got strangled TWICE in this series. X__X

Emiya wakes up on the beach from his childhood home. Irisviel greets him warmly but Emiya knows it is not Irisviel. He figures it is the will of Grail and why did it choose him? The Grail does not say what its wish is but implies it will help Emiya reach his wish by ending the suffering of the world. Probably by killing ALL THE PEOPLE instead of ending the suffering like Emiya wants. The Grail then takes Emiya on a journey through his memories while playing out a scenario. That there are only 500 people left on Earth and after some dramatic circumstances Emiya has to choose who should live, 300 or 200 people? After each scenario Emiya has to keep making decisions on who should live. Emiya keeps saying the biggest number but the Grail shows him the results of his decision. The Grail says it will help with this wish but Emiya realizes it won’t be worded in the correct way thus hurting more people. Because the wish has to be something Emiya can imagine and he can’t imagine a world without conflict. The Grail brings in a trump card, that it will protect his daughter and bring back his wife. Emiya shoots his daughter and strangles the screaming Irisviel saying 6 billion is more than 2.

Just a flesh wound!

Emiya wakes up from his Grail adventure and points his gun at Kirei. Kirei also saw all of that and wants to know why Emiya would throw away the Grail. Kirei begs for Emiya to give it to him, so he can find meaning and understand things. Emiya shoots Kirei and walks away, stating he can’t understand crazy. Saber stumbles into the theater portion of the building and sees the Grail Cup floating in the air. She calls out for Irisviel but gets Archer instead. Who has lost his damn mind and wants Saber to marry him. He will get the Grail and as King he will provide her with everything forever. Saber is like wtf are you talking about? When Saber doesn’t agree Archer decides that putting swords and weapons in Saber’s body is the best way to make her cooperate. Before Saber can think of a better plan Emiya appears and uses one of his Command Seals to order Saber to destroy the Grail. Saber is in shock and starts screaming at Emiya not to do this. Archer looks equally as pissed as he and Saber were just about to get married. So Emiya uses his last Command Seal to tell Saber again to destroy the Grail. With a very pained expression on her face Saber powers up her sword and THE END!

Everyone was lied to WEEEE!

X_____X Is it possible for a show to get better and better with each episode? Or at the very least maintains the same level amazing in each episode? I had no idea it was possible but Fate/Zero has now set the stage very high for all other anime shows. Probably not very fair but you know. XD

Yeah I am talking about you background king!

First off I thought Saber and Berserker were going to get a little more….time to be sad and fight. XD I guess that might be the only part I would change about this episode. Make this season 13 episodes long so we can see what brought Berserker to this point. We got two episodes of Emiya’s past did we not?

She only wanted the best for her people at the expense of herself. Who does that hurt but her?!

After all we have Saber’s point of view on the matter. And after 24 episodes I still agree with her for the most part and find Archer and Rider to be a little harsh on her. She was forced into the role of King at a very young age and probably was trying to compensate for being the “wrong” gender at the time. If she wanted to do things alone and put a distance between her and her fellow warriors that is fine. Taking on all the burden and suffering for her kingdom was a noble thing. Yes things turned out quite bad but is that really her fault? I think that her subjects were assholes. Would it bother me if my President acted like a robot in public? Maybe but if he protected and delivered results maybe I would chalk that up to him putting on a strong front.

That would be Berserker bouncing on Saber's head....

And Lancelot should have known that better than everyone else. I am sure Saber was not on point 24/7. Surely he must have seen how everything affected her. Perhaps instead of being a skank behind her back he could have helped her more. But since NONE of this was actually explained in the episode I did some light reading and have decided that Berserker got what he wanted. Also no one told Guinevere she had to become a “fake” Queen. Actually it sounded like she got a pretty good deal out of the situation but NOOOOOOO. She just had to “cheat”. So Lancelot did what he did to protect his woman but went insane because Saber blamed herself instead of Lancelot? Psht.

And you're an asshole. The end.

I realize what I just wrote made no sense. Saber as King had to pretend to pick a wife to keep up the facade that she is a man. She picked Guinevere and ruled the kingdom at a distance. She had her loyal men, Lancelot being one of them. But one day Lancelot and his penis decided that Guinevere was hot. Their affair was discovered and Guinevere was going to be put to death. This lead Lancelot killing some of his fellow knights and despite all of this Saber (who really is Arthur why am I saying Saber..) blamed herself instead of him.

I miss Lancer. :(

Okay so we see how Berserker is all at fault and he is not to be pitied? Poor Saber. Why does she blame herself? Surly this is not what Rider and Archer were referring to because I would agree her being…upset and blaming herself about this is not right. But I guess in a way that makes Saber the best ruler if not the stupidest one ever? I am sure Saber was very torn up about this battle but I think Berserker deserved what he got. He can’t forgive himself because Saber won’t blame him? Oh okay.

FINALLY! :(

Kariya’s death was slightly uneventful. Sad nonetheless though. It probably was very painful for him, trying to maintain Berserker with all the other injuries and fun stuff he had going on. In the end he didn’t even get a mercy killing. I suppose he already had his send off with seeing Sakura last week. It is just sad to think about how he tried so hard to save all three of those woman and the only one out of the bunch that really made it out okay was Rin. Rest in peace Kariya.

Um no. You aren't hot enough to be Wolverine.

A big chunk of the battle focused on Emiya and Kirei hitting each other with guns, swords, and fists. I know magical elements were all involved but it still amused me slightly to see such simple LOOKING methods. And hot damn Kirei has an arm full of command seals doesn’t he? Emiya is not really strong in hand to hand combat which makes sense given he likes to shoot and run. I am a little shocked at how good Kirei was though. Like hot damn he really is Wolverine.

So many flustered faces!

I don’t know, it was interesting to see Emiya look a little flustered. All the planning in the world can’t save you from someone who knows your weaknesses and is ready for battle as well. Also if I got shot in the arm I would probably just lay on the ground and died. I think though that Kirei was on route to win the battle had the floor not just opened up a swimming pool full of blood on them.

Um yeah...I don't want to win that....

This Grail is crazy. Why was it picking Emiya to win when there were TWO Masters left. We can just assume the floor broke and Kariya was dead or dying enough for him not to be picked at all. Not in the running folks. But of course I am not really understanding why the Grail was all ready to decide a winner LAST WEEK when there were 4 Masters left. Like let me form and get ready for action with more than half the opponents left.

More like the will of...well I guess neutral can't be evil.

But since it did form and picked Emiya….X__X wow. Using Irisviel like that was sad. I thought it was her for a second since she was shown last week being conscious in the Grail. Unless that was the last fragment of her being absorbed by the will of the Grail. Just very cruel even if the Grail isn’t capable of doing so.

A magical wish granting device can only create things that YOU can think of. I SEE NOW!

I thought the Grail trying to grant Emiya’s wish was….I can’t think of the word. Not ironic and not funny. Just…this is what Emiya has been doing his entire life. Kill one to save two. Kill 4 to save 8. And now kill 200 to save 300. Only this time it I guess Emiya had to really look at his victims. If he blows up an entire boat from hundreds of feet away he won’t have to see all their faces. He shoots a few people close up but can justify that. But to kill people who just want to live…I guess that is what touched Emiya. I liked all the scene jumping around too, with the Grail speaking in different ways.

Yeah I might not want it to grant my wish either.

The Grail has decided to grant Emiya’s wish. Only because I think it hates humanity as well and the opportunity to take out some of us sounded grand to it. It got a little confusing when Irisviel and the daughter came out though. Did the Grail think that it broke Emiya, that he would pick two people over the entire world even if those two people were his family? I think the Grail is a bit silly as if it DIDN’T show Emiya all of this he would have made his wish and everything would have ended the way the Grail wanted. Silly Grail.

This is Emiya saying no to your request. Thanks for stoppin by.

Kirei got a little insane towards the end too. Not that I think he is dead. I mean he should be dead given that close of a range but he isn’t right? But he was like NOOO give me the Grail so I can understand things! I don’t know, for the past 24 episodes Kirei has acted like a robot so it was weird seeing him so full of emotions. I guess having no meaning in his life finally broke him?

Nothing says marriage proposal like a sword to the leg. At least it wasn't an arrow to the knee.

Given how much fun Saber has been having I am surprised she didn’t kill herself when Archer started talking. Although what is this steal the Grail stuff coming out of her mouth? Last person standing right (well if the Grail worked like that). If…well…WHEN Archer kicked her butt it would be his. Steal what? It ain’t yours yet! However when he started talking I was all for Saber….well killing herself as should didn’t stand a chance right? Archer confuses me. He KNOWS what will happen with the Grail even if he is the last man standing. So what is all this make Saber my wife deal? It is not going to work unless Kirei can somehow win and bring them back to life? I don’t know what he was going on and on about but either way he is insane.

How was this marriage going to work again?

And yes Archer was going to win. What real battle has he been in…in this entire show? Maybe his magical treasury of swords/weapons drains his mana a lot but from where I am standing Saber has been a part of major battles and used a lot of energy up. Just finished a battle with her friend and is super tired. And 5 seconds into battle Archer had already stabbed her twice. So….yeah Archer was going to win. But the whole wife thing X__X insane.

Everyone is stealing things from Saber!

Then Emiya comes in….and tells Saber to destroy the Grail. Saber done lost her marbles folks. Again she doesn’t really know what the Grail is and that she was never going to get her wish. But even still don’t the Servants know that they aren’t going to get THEIR wishes. They are called Masters for a reason. So Saber losing her mind…was interesting. Everyone is just stealing her Grain that isn’t hers yet. I know she is desperate to fix what she thinks was a bad reign in her kingdom but deep down did she really think that they both were going to get their wishes?

I have a feeling Saber will be hearing this again....

And the irony of the situation, that Saber is getting ordered to destroy the Grail in the 4th War, is not lost on a person who say Fate/stay night first.

You might want to pray more...

So…what does that mean for the last episode? I heard something about an epilogue and how there wasn't going to be time for that but that is when we thought each fight would get an episode. Saber destroys the Grail and then what? An explanation on why the next war is 10 years later? So much for destroying the Grail…unless it has to be destroyed each time. X___X Oh snap.

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Fate/Zero Season Two episode 10

Hello there my lovely readers! It is I, the girl who went on vacation for 4 days last month and is still not caught up on anime posts. I have no idea how this happened. I am such a slacker. Of course last year I was horribly behind on posts too. With good reason. Yay history repeating itself.

Ah Waver. So naive and yet he thinks he is being so obvious. XD

But here is my sad little attempt to catch up? I say sad as I wanted to post this before work and worked ended 3 hours ago? GO ME! Fate Zero Season Two episode 10 time! Spoilers for Saber being oh so happy with her lot in life. Oh and some sad times with Rider.

Onward to Lawson! Or Family Mart! Can't tell!

Episode Summary: Everyone is traveling to where Kirei set off the mana fireworks. Saber never makes it to the area as Berserker destroys her motorcycle and she barely escapes in time. The two then begin their epic battle. It would probably would have been more epic if Kariya had not been in a corner slowly losing his mind. He starts talking to Sakura about how he was promised the Grail and he was going to win and save her. Sakura asks so I can see momma again? Sakura then morphs into dead strangled momma and Kariya starts screaming again. When Kariya has his moments it affects how Berserker attacks Saber. But the match seems equal as Saber is pushing cars all over the place and Berserker is able to dodge Sabers sword. He seems to know a lot about her sword which leads Saber to believe he knows her. She official introduces herself which means that the honor system applies and he needs to introduce himself. His armor starts to melt off and it is revealed that Berserker is Lancelot, Saber’s number one knight back in the day. Saber is in shock as Berserker is going Arthur over and over again in creepy ways. Saber has no idea why Lancelot would become Berserker and it affects her ability to fight.

Well.....hmmm....enjoy your 5 seconds of battle?

On the other side of town (maybe I am just saying) Rider almost it made it to the mana lights when he is stopped by Archer. Which is amazing since Rider was riding his pony all over town. Rider dismounts his horsie so he can stop in the middle of a totally empty bridge to have a drink with Archer. As they have their fill of honor and grape drink Rider asks if Archer will join his army so they will become unstoppable, like Batman and Robin. Archer laughs but not in a way to make fun of Rider. It is decided that only one real King can survive the night. So Rider gets back on his horsie and activates his Reality Marble thingy…with Waver still on the horse. Archer just watches as Rider and his army descends on him. Then Archer pulls out a single weapon….and totally destroys the Reality Marble (is that the right word? Now I am confused) and Rider can only help as all his people are destroyed as everything melts away. Understanding that his defeat is obvious now Rider takes Waver off the horse. He tells Waver to pass on his legend to everyone while Waver promises to be his retainer. Declaring Rider his King Waver watches as Rider runs towards Archer…who opens up his bag of amazing weapons and overwhelms Rider. Rider is eventually bound by Archer’s weapons inches from his face. Archer stabs Rider and thanks him for a good fight but it is time for his dream to end. Rider acknowledges his defeat but decides it is okay. Rider disappears and Archer walks over to Waver who is NOT peeing his pants. Archer says that Waver should feel the need to get revenge. Waver says he was ordered to stay alive and will not challenger Archer. Archer decides that is a good show of loyalty and walks away. Waver breaks down into tears as he has lost his friend. The episode ends with Kariya and Emiya walking down hallways. Kariya and his creepy self even stops to give us the Lord’s Prayer. THE END!!!

Not the motorcycle!!!!!!

And then there were three?! X__X I really thought that Berserker would be taken out next. But I guess in the grand scheme of things it is better if Rider is taken out away from Saber. If Berserker killed Rider I am sure that would have felt like an empty loss and I don’t want Saber killing a friend. So maybe this is for the best in the long run. Maybe.

Are there enough episodes to properly make Saber suffer?

But it’s not like Saber is having the best day ever. In their minds dying in a great battle is an honor…maybe I am wrong and Saber and Rider would have liked fighting it out like Lancer did before things went sour. But Emiya is in this to win and he might have killed Waver and everything would have been horrible. I don’t know I don’t know. But back to Saber. She just can’t catch a break. Good thing Kariya is having the worst life ever or I might have to shed some tears for Saber.

Look at Saber using cars as shields. If her ride gets destroyed NO ONE gets a ride!

The battle between Saber and Berserker was a lot more interesting to watch. A LOT more interesting to watch. I was like NOOOO not Motorcycle-san! Just got blown up into tiny pieces. Then Saber was using her powers to make cars into battering rams and Berserker was like um no and fighting back. It actually seemed like a fight and not a one sided yawn fest.

I am sensing there will be no closure for her....

But then Saber found out who Berserker really was and it was all sad city from there on out. I thought she was really smart to figure out it was someone she knew in her life. I would have just assumed this was an ability Berserker had. Probably why I am not a Heroic Spirit though. Berserker either lost his mind or…well lost his mind more because he decided to reveal who he was. Everyone say Lancelot!

Think Archer has enough compassion to kill Kariya? Or will that ruin his fun play?

We have very few episodes left. So I am wondering how this will all go down. Some explanation is needed. So will we spend one episode on Saber and her fight and the next episode will focus on the Emiya and Kirei showdown? That doesn’t sound like enough time to focus on Archer and Saber’s fight. Maybe Saber will be unable to kill Lancelot and Archer will take him out so he can have Saber all to himself. Then the fight will continue on until things eventually get messed up and lead us into Fate/stay Night.

Err....Castor 2.0?

Lancelot himself….I am hoping that it is explained why he is here. This might be hard as he is insane and getting glimpses of his past might be mixed in with his insane thoughts. But since all he can say is Arthur maybe more will be revealed than I think. It does appear that Saber has no idea what would have caused Lancelot to end up like this. Has she repressed memories of what happened, the betrayal, or does she really not know and Lancelot feels guilty. I hope that this is all explained and nothing is rushed. I think we got tons of backstory on Rider and Lancer so we can’t leave Berserker high and dry.

You probably should spend your last few minutes on Earth trying to kidnap Sakura. That is the only way you could possibly save her.

While all this fighting is going on Kariya seems to be 5 minutes from death. Maybe Emiya will surprise us all and he really is hunting down Kariya to take him out of his misery. I doubt that though. I am sure Emiya doesn’t consider him a threat or if he did…yeah Kariya is halfway dead anyway. I just want a mercy killing. He is sitting there still thinking he has a chance to win and save Sakura. But even if he won would he live? If he dies it doesn’t matter if he won or not, both girls are orphans now and will be raised by insane people. So…I wonder if he is slowly realizing that thus the crying or insane visions. Or maybe he is hallucinating from the blood loss.

Lets toast to an amazing battle!!!!

On to the “main” fight of the episode. Which you can tell from earlier statements I was not too impressed with. The dialogue parts were fine. The battle not so much.

Why yes....yes they are.

Archer and Rider are so weird. Guess I am not a King and I don’t understand honor and dying in a horrible manner at the hands of someone who I consider my equal. Lets drink and have a moment as bros. Then again I don’t pretend to understand men in general so you know. However maybe this is just something they have to do. Archer knows what is up while Rider still thinks he has a chance of living. They have been summoned after death to fight in a war they might not believe in. I don’t know. It makes sense that they did it but in light of the fact one of them was about to die it felt weird to me. But since they are both dead already does it matter?

Archer made a friend. AWWW! Time to kill him!

That last paragraph was a hot mess! XD No structure at all!! So both Servants summon their ultimate attacks to get ready for this final battle. I do wonder why Rider took Waver with him into the Reality Marble. I mean…I guess Waver would have been outside alone, ready to be snipped by people named Emiya. But Waver could have gotten killed easily during the pony ride. Just thought it was odd. Maybe this was Rider’s way of saying look I believe in you and you are my comrade in battle!

Rider realizing that he is doomed. So sad.

But…the battle never happened. Rider and Waver were all charged up, the soldiers were ready for battle, and the mood was set for something epic. Then Archer unplugged the TV and the Viagra wore off. That is exactly how it felt to me. Like a balloon deflating and the climax of the movie never happening. Just so….empty. Maybe it would have felt different had Rider gone into that battle feeling super confident but he didn’t. Not funny at all.

Just very sad and underwhelming.

THEN it got worse. Rider is sitting there with Waver…and decides to take off on his horse. Towards Archer. Who just KOed him in one hit. I mean at this point we can assume that Rider knew he lost but had accepted his defeat and was going to out in a blaze of glory. Or turning into a blaze of glory given Archer’s amazing sword of destroying everything. It was painful to watch but not in a beautiful way. More like this is sad and pathetic and everyone knows it kinda way. :( Uneven match indeed.

This is code for I am about to die so live on for me okay?

Putting aside how….lackluster the actual battle was I did like what was going on in between those scenes. Rider and Archer drink scene was….special but nice. Rider talking to Waver after his defeat was heartbreaking. You knew he was saying goodbye to Waver and that Waver needed to live to tell the tale or Rider. That Rider was almost okay with dying as long as his name lives on forever. Which in a way is obtaining immortality so maybe Rider was okay with how things went down. And then after Rider was stabbed multiple times…Archer was actually nice. Instead of saying what a LAME battle Archer said that he would welcome any other further challenge from Rider. It was almost enough to make me forget that Archer is a creepy person who is extremely manipulative.

Well that was a nice surprise....

So after Rider’s sad death….Archer walks over to Waver. And I am going OH NO do not kill him. This can’t be happening. Not after Waver was all like you are my King and I will make sure your name lives on. Maybe I was giving Archer too much credit. Archer even tried to bring honor up, that Waver needed to challenge Archer to avenge Rider even though we all know my cat had a better chance at winning. But due to Waver’s address, that he was order to live on and represent Rider…Archer’s heart grew 2 sizes that day and walked away. I guess honor and all that craziness does come in handy. Congratulations Waver. You have survived the Holy Grail War. Now…will you be scarred for life?

Ah yes....that magical cup....

And that is about it I believe. Kariya is sitting in the corner mumbling to himself, Kirei is saying the Lord’s Prayer, and Emiya is walking around like a man on a mission. Oh and Saber might be having a mental breakdown. And she hasn’t even found dead Irisviel yet! I predict more tears and mayhem. Yay for wars over a magical wishing cup that is really the gateway to the best magic ever! WOOHOO!!!!

Where is my mommy?

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