It’s like if Edward Elric made all the worst decisions available to him.
What They Say:
Despite losing Saber, Shirou is determined to fight. Since Caster is protected by Kuzuki and Archer, Shirou and Rin decide to team up with another Master. Left with no other option, they set out to find Illyasviel and Berserker.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Caster has been portrayed as possibly the most evil character in this series so far, and those who have seen Fate/Zero may find that appropriate considering who her predecessor was. Of course, those people would also realize that she’s unlikely to hold a candle to some of the other characters who are still around and just haven’t fully shown their cards quite yet. This episode serves to neatly address those two lines of thought, almost feeling like two different episodes.
First we take a look at Caster’s history from her summoning to the point at which she made Kuzuki her surrogate Master. It’s here that we learn that her original Master was similar to the previous Caster’s Master in his methods and (lack of) morality, just for a purpose relating to the Grail War rather than for fun, making him a bit more like the former Lord El-Melloi he mentions. Unfortunately for the sake of their partnership, though, this Caster was in fact not inherently as evil as her counterpart from Fate/Zero, and especially unfortunate for Caster, her Master is one who knows what he’s doing enough to make her existence that much harder. While this doesn’t by any means invalidate the fact that the Caster of present is a great enemy who must be taken out, it informs her character and how it’s become so twisted in a much more poignant way than might’ve been expected given her image up to now.
The rest of the episode brings us back to our protagonists, who have not only both lost their Servants, but have had them both taken by Caster. Along with Caster herself and her unconventionally summoned Servant Assassin, Caster’s group accounts for most of the Servants summoned to this Grail War, and with Rider dead and Lancer belonging to some unknown Master, the only Master that Shirou and Rin can turn to is Illya. This results in the funniest content of an otherwise rather somber episode, so much that Rin knows that Illya must be laughing after her “alarm system” sends Rin comically flying. Similarly, Shinji is the victim of an almost deadly gag, as his new companion only stops his rapid fall at the last second. This companion is capable of a lot more than almost killing his unworthy new partner, though, and even those who were previously unfamiliar with him get to see some of his unparalleled power for the first time in this series. Before going to the courtyard ahead of Illya, the Einzbern maid homunculi have an amusing little conversation with their mistress, which makes their encounter with this latest intruder a lot more meaningful than it would’ve been otherwise. Although it might seem a bit silly, the scene of wind blowing around flower petals and releasing the maids’ hair is quite beautifully animated, and allows these minor characters to show a bit more individuality. This sudden shift in focus draws Illya’s attention away from the main pair, but it also sets up the possibility for one of the most important encounters to take place soon.
In Summary:
Will this series ever be better than Fate/Zero’s second season? At this point I’d still say it’s unlikely, so I’ll just have to hope that the hype surrounding where the story goes is deserved. If not, maybe we’ll still have that chance with Heaven’s Feel. In the meantime, for the standard that Unlimited Blade Works has set, this is a plenty stellar episode with relatively riveting storytelling.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Custom-Built PC, 27” 1080p HDTV.
Since it is probably about to get a lot more screen time in the next episode so we should probably get this out of the way now, I thought I should mention that it is not the roof that Sella and Leysritt go out to in order to intercept Shinji. It is a courtyard. The Einzbern mansion has a courtyard in the middle surrounded by the building itself on all sides.
Ah, my bad. Thanks for pointing that out; I’ll correct it.