Apologies for the late post. I was busy with a lot of things these days, especially for the upcoming Eid al Fitr. And considering there's only two episodes left for the first cour of this series, I've decided to keep my complain about this adaptation cutting too many things from the light novels.
Putting aside my reservations about the many things that were cut, I still enjoyed watching this episode as this is a necessary intermission after the previous battle-focused episodes. I always enjoy watching the battles in Fate series, but what attracted me the most to Fate as whole has always been the depths and relationship between the characters.
This episode was absent of antagonists, or to be precise, characters who means harm, so this allowed the 'faction' who wishes to protect Tsubaki to interact with no tension between them as enemies. Through these interactions between the characters, we learned more about them.
Sigma and False Assassin, unfortunately, was still the pair who suffered the most from having their major scenes cut in the previous episode, and this one was no different. But I'm not going to complain about what that has been cut in this episode and the sorts. I already had my fill of that in the previous episode, so no more.
I gotta say, I'm liking the two of them more and more. Despite their rocky start, it's clear that after their last conversation before sneaking into the hospital, the gap between the two started to close, with the two of them now shared mutual desire to save Tsubaki.
And if you're paying attention, you'll see a bit of Sigma's heart. When he watched Tsubaki with her parents, he stopped talking for a moment and then turned away. The scene of a seemingly happy family pricked on Sigma as it was the kind of peaceful life that he never had. And just like how deep down he wanted to be saved, he also wished for a family. Watching Tsubaki and her family reminded him of a life he never had and most likely he believe would never have.
Speaking of Tsubaki, the poor girl makes me want to hug her tight and give her assurance that she's loved and I would never abandon such a sweet girl like her! Her parents both were Magi who only cared about their own goal and couldn't careless about their daughter's well-being. When Tsubaki went into coma no thanks to their experiment on her, they were only concerned that her reproduction functions properly. Truly one of the most trashiest parents I've ever seen.
Tsubaki, being an innocent girl, only wished to be loved by her parents. Even after she was treated horribly, she believed she was at fault and did her best to endure what they did to her out of fear that they'll abandon her. The world that she's in and the world that Mr. Black dragged people in, was the reflection of her wish to be loved and not to be left alone.
False Assassin has confirmed that Mr. Black didn't really have intelligence like they were, only moving more on an instinct to fulfill Tsubaki's wish. However, the humanoid form that appeared before Tsubaki when she first made contract with Mr. Black seemed to indicate there's something more to Mr. Black.
Tine and my most beloved Enkidu (plus Silver Wolf) were back! How I missed you, Enkidu! I'm happy to see you again fully on screen no matter how brief it was! Okay, that's enough simping. XD
Enkidu's appearance once again showed the charm of the everlasting friendship between them and Gilgamesh. Even though Gilgamesh was dying right in front of them, Enkidu didn't look the least bit concerned nor they had any intention of saving him. While this understandably looked as if Enkidu didn't care for their best friend, it was the opposite: it was precisely because they and Gilgamesh were friends that they were not concerned.
Both Enkidu and Gilgamesh had long came into terms with their eternal farewell and the sadness that came with it. They already had enough mourning from their separation when they were alive, and they wouldn't do it again as Heroic Spirits. Should Enkidu was the one who was in his position, Gilgamesh wouldn't be saddened either.
After all, now, they were Heroic Spirits, beings who can be summoned repeatedly in the future and die again. Rather than repeatedly mourning each time they were summoned and die again, even if they won't remember it once they return to the Throne, it's better to look forward to their next reunion.
And then Tine. Right after Gilgamesh was taken down, she immediately used two of her Command Spells to teleport his body to her side and then try to revive him. Though not said, Tine was clearly acting not as the leader of her tribe nor did she thought about her tribe at that moment, the decision to save Gilgamesh was all her own will.
I truly felt sorry for her, but I'm glad to see more of her 'selfish' side like this. She made contract with Gilgamesh with the intention of using him to take back her tribe's land, but she then grew to admire and look up to Gilgamesh to the point that being his vassal was first and being his Master second. She tried to save Gilgamesh not because she felt it would be detrimental to herself and her tribe, she just wanted to save the king that she swore her loyalty to even at the risk of her dying while trying to save him or he kill her for being insolent.
Tine momentarily lashing out at Enkidu and then apologizing while cursing herself for not doing anything also showed that she's no longer suppressing her emotions like she used to. She's wearing her heart on her sleeve, behaving more and more like a child she's supposed to be. And by acknowledging her own helplessness and uselessness, Tine could finally grow as her own person.
Ishtar had a brief but crucial appearance as well in this episode. It's revealed here that Ishtar that was now possessing Philia's body was not the real Ishtar herself, but rather her lingering visage that she left behind in the form of a 'blessing' (or a curse for Gilgamesh and Enkidu) onto the world. This visage was dormant for millenias because she made it so the visage would awake only if Gilgamesh and Enkidu ever meet again in the world.
I dunno how many times I've said this, but Ishtar really did make a good villain for this series. From the start, while I won't call her an evil goddess, I won't say that she's a good one either. We're talking about a goddess who summoned a monster bull to devastate a whole country for years over being rejected by Gilgamesh. Not even Gilgamesh and Enkidu's deaths before they became Heroic Spirits were enough to sooth her petty grudge.
To be blunt, though I like Rin-Ishtar in FGO, I don't really like Philia-Ishtar in SF. While I disliked what she did to Gilgamesh and Enkidu, my main reason for my dislike was Goddess or whatever, I never really like characters who'd hold onto petty grudge to the point of doing something like this. But Ishtar's character was more than that, so that prevented me from hating her.
The highlight and the main focus of this episode though, was our main duo: Ayaka and Richard. Again, we learned more about them, with additional dose of hilarity from Richard's dramatic reaction that never ceases to amuse me. The way he reacted to Ayaka learning about his past and being forced to admit that he wasn't good at English despite being King of England was the funniest! lol
Though Ayaka is not Richard's Master, since they're connected through Ayaka's Magical Energy, Ayaka was able to dream of Richard's past. We learned that he's a natural born genius. Ever since he was a child, he could learn and master practically everything. Heck, he even defeated a group of bandits terrorizing a village all by himself. However, this fact in itself was a problem for Richard.
Because he was good in everything he did, he feared that this would end up isolating him from his peers and live a life without challenge or friend. Like everyone says, a genius would never understand the feelings of those who have to struggle to do the things that he was good at with ease. Richard, despite his young age, was aware of this problem to the point he considered holding back.
Richard has a kind and wise mother who taught him that people only become heroes after staying firm to their own path, and so, she inspired him to be heroes like King Arthur and the Knights of Round Table. By having heroes of legend as people to be admired, Richard found an existence that he could never reach, and thus, aspiring him to continue walking forward.
I'm loving Richard's mother. Not only she's beautiful, but she's also a good mother to her son. When Richard shared his trouble with her, she neither admonishing nor making fun of him, instead, she taught Richard how to live his life while remaining true to himself. She deserves to be included on the list of Fate's best moms.
Alas, despite what his mother taught him, reality was never so simple nor easy, especially for someone with the position of a king. In the end, Richard couldn't become the knight he wanted to become, the knight like the ones he admired. His duty as the king forced him to dirty his hands with the blood of others, including many innocent people.
Even now, he lamented the blood that he had spilled by his own hands, and that's why he didn't want people whom he had seen with his own eyes having heroic qualities, to do such a horrifying deed. Rather than making them do so, Richard was prepared to do the dirty work in their place. His hand was already dirty, so it won't make any difference if he kill again. He couldn't become the hero that he aspired to be, so the least he could do to make up for it was not to let anyone else experience the same thing he did.
I love how the studio handled Richard's expression when he spoke to Clan Calatin, specifically John. Though he looked calm and acted as if it wasn't a big deal, you could see there's a seething pain and resignment reflected in his eyes as he spoke, especially after he briefly remembered the things he did before. Richard didn't want to have to kill Tsubaki and would be more than happy if they could save her, but he had resigned with the fact that he had to kill his emotion to do the deed if he deems necessary regardless of how painful it'd be for him.
This was when Ayaka shined. Like Richard, Ayaka has been haunted by guilt, and in her case that guilt took form as the Little Red Riding Hood, the little girl that she didn't save even though she could have saved. For a person like herself, Richard, who has always protected her and tried his best to help others, was someone who shined brightly, a complete opposite of her who didn't do a thing. And she feared the Richard that she knew all this time would be gone forever should he go through with killing Tsubaki.
Through her experience with Richard, she didn't want to just stand by and did nothing when Tsubaki is in danger like she did before. She didn't want to experience the regret and guilt from her earlier experience to be repeated again. If the choices were for her to dirty her own hands or doing nothing at all, she'd pick the former choice rather than pushing all the burden onto Richard.
My love for RichAya ship increased by 10x from watching this episode. Both Richard and Ayaka inspired each other to become better. Watching Richard opened Ayaka's eyes not to be tied down by her past mistakes and learn to help others in any way she can. In turn, Ayaka helped Richard to remember how it feels and what it means to dream of something even in the harsh reality he has to live with. And thanks to this, Richard decided that they'll save Tsubaki no matter how difficult it's going to be.
Last but not the least...PROTOTYPE AYAKA SAJYOU! I AM SO VERY EXTREMELY GREATLY HAPPY TO SEE HER IN STRANGE FAKE! I thought her appearance would be skipped entirely, so I'm very relieved that she appeared, even without any dialogue and only for a short time.
That said, with the real Ayaka being revealed to have been in Rome by the time Waver called her, this brought a question as to who the Ayaka that we all know this whole time. Who was actually Ayaka who bore strong resemblance to the Prototype Ayaka (except for hair color) and shared the same name?
Overall, I love this episode, mainly for so many RichAya moments. What's even better, the personal space between them was almost non-existent as they were shown getting so close to each other many times here! I want to see more of them getting close! Come on! More! XD
