Fate/Zero

[Sorrow-kun]

Ep 21

Only Urobuchi could be this cruel to his characters.

[Flash Sword Irene]

Episode 21

Two things that made this episode:

1. Rider's conversation with the old man.
2. The ending since it was sick.

Now, it looks like the Rider/Gilgamesh and Saber/Berserker battles will be underway.  Those are going to be some pretty awesome episodes, especially once Berserker unsheathes his sword.

[Reckoner]

22:

I don't think you'll see a better set up episode than that.

[Flash Sword Irene]

Episode 23

That was an awesome episode and definitely a great way to setup for the finale.  This version of Gilgamesh is infinitely more awesome then his other incarnations in the other adaptations.  I just can't understand why they couldn't let Gilgamesh show some character since he is far too hollow and one dimensional in the others.

Anways, Saber still taking on Berserker and the matchup between Kirei and Kiritsugu is up next.  Can't wait.

[Shadowmage]

23

I really like how everything the show has been building up among the three kings are finally hitting their explosive conclusions.  It's incredibly satisfying to see the growth, maturation and conclusion of these plot points.

[Reckoner]

23:

Just wow. The emotion, the visual captivation, the dialogue, everything. Amazing.

[AC]

22, 23:

My respect goes to Broskandar. Even if he knew that his chances of victory is slim to none and that his army would be torn in pieces, he went out in glorious fashion. Now that's a real king at heart for you: always unwavered and focused on what you have to do. Perhaps that's the very message that he wanted to impart to Saber, but what she couldn't understand.

Now that one semi-final's over, let's see what happens in the other Saber-Berserker semi-final.

[HirakuNoShadow]

24:

Did I just miss an episode, or did they completely skip out on Berserker's story...?

[AH]

24

I imagine they may include an extra scene or two on the disc release to actually explain that part of the story and a couple of other things. Not that I mind too much myself, since they obviously had to use a limited running time and there's still more stuff to cover next time.

In any case, Kirei vs. Kiritsugu was nicely done, and the Grail sequence got the main points across reasonably effectively.

[Reckoner]

24:

Ufotable is telling us here: If you want to see the full episode in all its glory (Lancelot fight with Saber specifically) purchase the blue rays.

I find this disappointing because I was highly anticipating this episode and much of it was cut for the blue rays as people feared it wouldn't fit properly in the TV broadcast. Bleh!

Still what was shown was really great and superbly done, just makes me wish I just waited until the blue ray to finish the series. I can't evaluate the full episode until then because there must've honestly been like 10 minutes cut out of the episode (Kinda like last season's episode 10 or 11 or w/e it was which had like 8 minutes cut out.

[Shadowmage]

24

Wow, the pacing was all over the place that episode.  I know the Blurays will fix this but it took me a second viewing to get my bearings on the Saber vs Berserker fight and Kiritsugu vs Kotomine in the Dark Knight bat cave.  The second part of the episode inside the Grail was an interesting look at Kiritsugu's philosophy from the perspective of a wish granting device akin to the Monkey's Paw.  Thanks to my gnawing curiosity, I read spoilers and knew what the Grail puts Kiritsugu through but it was nonetheless an emotionally effective scene.

[TypicalIdiotFan]

24:

Berserker turning out to be who he is revealed to be (naw, no spoilers here) actually makes so much sense in hindsight that I'm almost irritated I didn't think of it earlier.  The problem is, I thought they already told us who he was back in the first episode, but I'll go back and watch it to find out.  Knowing who he is, it now makes sense that he stood on an "annoyingly" level ground with Archer.  Considering Gilgamesh's legend, and he hinted to the only person he ever called friend in episode 23 (Enkidu, if you know the legend), the warrior in question would have to be one of those other legendary badasses; the kind of warrior that is always undefeated no matter what trials are thrown his way.  Kind of interesting, then, that in the Fate Nasuverse, these badass legendary heroes are BERSERKER classes (Heracles for Stay / Night, et al; our hero here).  It also explains why Saber was able to best him...

As for the rest, I adored the Grail ending up being the "careful what you wish for" type of item.  It is always so much more delicious when you realize that your miracle turns out to be a cursed gift no matter what you do.  In this case, Kiritsugu would have to bear the burden of slaughtering millions, if not billions, of people in order to save the other billions.  Not to mention his own beloved family, who are part of the "problem" that needed to be solved (Ilya demonstrates this quite well in Stay Night, etc).  In the end, it was too much for even a black and white personality to justify, and the only answer was to make sure that nobody would ever go after this damned thing ever again.

Much to Saber's chagrin... this, of course, is the set up for Stay Night, etc's Saber being a little more cynical about things, and she would only finally understand Kiritsugu's decision only when Denser Than Lead Shirou convinces her of what is right.

[AC]

24:

Man, I was wondering why the Saber-Berserker fight ended too prematurely. I can't understand why it had to end that way; Berserker's story deserves a lot more exposure and airtime. What's up with that.

There's always a catch when it comes to wish-granting; getting the Holy Grail is one thing but getting a wish is another. It's an irony that Kiritsugu's wish can't be granted because a wish is only valid if the wisher is able to understand it in the first place. Like how a person who wishes for world peace should first understand what "peace" even means. Perhaps that's the core of utilitarian thinking itself: when you think this way, you're already telling yourself that there's no such thing as saving everyone since you're already choosing who you want to save. In fact, that's what Kotomine said to Irisviel anyway.

But I have to wonder: how would Kotomine's wish be granted if he gets his hands on the Holy Grail...

[Flash Sword Irene]

Episode 24

So they reference Angra Mainyu who is in one of the Fate scenarios which was thought to be a servant.  Awesome!  That was a rather trippy episode and now we see the real explanation as to why Kiritsugu ordered Arthuria to destroy the Grail.  It is rather understandable and now I think I understand why Kiritsugu raised Shirou the way he did.  Speaking of which, maybe next episode we see that encounter and there.

Still, I was disappointed to see that they skimped on Lancelot's story since I thought that they had enough time to show it.  Plus, it didn't feel like I saw the actual battle per se.

[TypicalIdiotFan]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't really need to see Lancelot's story.  The look of anguish on Saber's face told a better story than words could have, and if you know Arthurian Legend, you should already know what drove the two of them apart (though Arthur still loved Lancelot even until his death).  Then again, KNOWING Arthurian Legend and what drove them apart makes it MORE interesting to see how they're going to get around this ****ing mess.

For those who don't know, what came between them (literally, HAH!) was Guinevere, Arthur's queen, who had a torrid affair with Lancelot.  With Saber being a chick, this part of the story got so much more delicious.