The fight against the monster swells to even bigger levels as the Servants throw everything they have at it.
What They Say:
Ten years prior to the events of FATE/STAY NIGHT, the War of the Holy Grail is a contest in which seven magi summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete to obtain the power of the “Holy Grail,” which grants a miracle. After three inconclusive wars for the elusive Holy Grail, the Fourth War commences.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While the show returned well from its season long break in the previous episode, it wasn’t a completely knockout for me since some of the enthusiasm took a bit to get going again. The series certainly offered a good way to get back into things with some bits of intrigue but more of a focus on the monster at hand, a mildly surprising death and having Berserker take over a fighter plane and use that in its own goals to take down the enemy. Bringing all of that together in a dark setting with a sense of things about to spill over in a way that will make things far harder for the Masters and Servants to operate was one of the more interesting thrusts of the story to deal with, especially since as we saw with the pilots, it can confuse them and really make them question everything.
What I liked about this particular storyline as it unfolded towards the end of the previous season was that it was an unexpected event that caused the Masters to put their Servants to work together in order to defeat it, though there were incentives to do so to be sure. We’ve had some good bits where the Servants want to honorably fight each other and there are those with proper respect, but something like this changes the dynamic, if only briefly when you get down to it, and seeing them work as something of a team is just a lot of fun due to the strong personalities that are all meant to fight each other. Giving them this chance together shows that they can do it, but it’s not like a guaranteed win nor that they work completely effectively together, particularly since the monster is such a huge unknown overall.
That said, there are tricks that can be taken advantage of in order to accomplish the goal, especially with the power that Saber has within herself, power that she’s not completely willing to use at times because of the honor she feels about how to win a battle. But there is a fantastic scene in the middle here that deals with Lancer and Saber and the honor they both fight under and how they can deal with this creature of Caster’s that can radically change the world as it spills over more into normal view. Watching as all of this goes as big as it can at the moment, bringing everyone together in a not altogether smooth plan, and pitting Saber in the middle of it in a way that highlights just who intense she can be and the true scale of her power…. it’s a brilliant sequence as the final act here plays out as it, like Saber, truly commands your attention.
In Summary:
While this is in the end little more than a side bar to the actual Grail War, it’s an important one for what it reveals to many of the participants with Saber’s power and her true potential. There’s dispute over it of course and it offers up a chance for some changes to the dynamic as well with who will work with who, but largely this is an episode that wants to go big and does so in a great way. With brilliant animation that crave a full high definition view on a big screen, Fate/Zero gets is stride back perfectly here and puts everything back on track. There’s a lot to like here for a number of the Servants and some nice little changes to who is left standing, upping the ante a bit as plans come together more. Definitely a very good episode.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Nico Nico
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
