Fate/Zero – 18

Episode 18 –

After all the rather high-stake Holy Grail battles of the past 17 episodes, this flashback episode was a huge changeup. For one, it had a noticeably brighter color scheme, with aqua blues and pristine beaches providing a blindingly bright contrast to the darker tones of the series up until this point. There’s almost a sense of normality that pervades this episode, with simple little things like swimming at a beach, having a crush on a girl, and chatting over dinner, dominating much of the episode. This was a rather fascinating way to see the decay of Emiya Kiritsugu as a character, chronicling his decline from the innocent boy he was, to the cold-hearted man that he currently is.

What made this episode particularly jarring is how normal it felt (at first, at least). Up until this point in time, this series has followed the tales of epic heroes and ambitious mages out to further their own goals. It felt very cutthroat and ruthless, with devious scheming and fierce battles dominating the series. Considering how dominant the dark atmosphere has been in the series, this “normalcy” almost feels fake, which in my opinion is a fascinating detail worth noting. Perhaps you could say that this sense of “normalcy” is completely foreign to the now adult Emiya Kiritsugu, and the setting serves as a nice foil to his current bleak outlook on humanity.

This very bright, peaceful setting was obviously meant to emphasize that even Kiritsugu was once a child, and like many others, he too had a childish innocence during his youth. The setting’s decay into a living hell, on the other hand, was so sudden and disastrous that it was almost shocking. What was more shocking here was how quickly Kiritsugu became a pessimist. I can’t be sure as to how all this pushed him to kill off his own father, but the very fact that his personality changed so suddenly does have some implications. The implication here is that, even as a child, Kiritsugu had some dark uncertainties that he had hidden away, and that this maelstrom of shock and terror was the catalyst that pushed him over the edge. Shirley obviously played a big role in pushing him onto the path of destruction, but it almost seems as if he’s always had something brewing in his personality that exploded this episode. This is all mere speculation on my part, but I can’t quite justify Kiritsugu’s sudden change without some sort of reason.

It seems that this arc will continue to cover Kiritsugu’s past, and it’s quite obvious that the arc is set out to chronicle the decline of Kiritsugu Emiya into the cold but motivated man that he currently is. What could have pushed him so far as to pursue his ruthless “the ends justify the means” tactics in the Holy Grail war? This arc is bringing some critical, much needed backstory on Kiritsugu, and will probably have a huge impact on the remainder of the series. Now if only Kotomine Kirei had an episode like this too, it would certainly help clarify exactly what his problems are.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.8/5

P.S. Didn’t expect to see Alba, from Kara no Kyoukai, to make an appearance here. Neither did I expect the term “dead apostles”, from Tsukihime, to pop up. So yea, it seems this episode had factors that ties together the entire Nasuverse. I doubt they are canon though, considering how these three stories are supposedly in alternate worlds.

Screenshots are later in the post.