Fate/Stay Night 14

by Kabitzin on May 28, 2006 in Fate/Stay Night

Fate/Stay Night 14 14 01 Fate/Stay Night 14 14 02 Fate/Stay Night 14 14 03

Rin orders a stealth infiltration, just as Shirou frees himself from the poorly tied ropes. Unfortunately, it turns out that Ilya never left the castle at all; that was just her stunt double. Rin decides that they will try to run while Archer slows Berserker down, but Ilya mocks Rin for not having a brand name Servant. Could it be that Archer is really a cheap Hong Kong knockoff?!

Before Shirou runs off, Archer tells him that Shirou’s skill is in creating, not in fighting. Shirou is amazed as Archer materializes two swords, and then retreats with Rin and a hobbled Saber. Naturally, the fight goes badly for Archer, but he is constantly able to rematerialize swords, to Ilya’s amazement. He then busts out some hardcore Engrish, and even fires a single arrow at Berserker. In the end, even his reality marble, Unlimited Blade works is unable to defeat Berserker, however, and Rin has no choice but to run as her command marks fade. When Archer disappears into a shower of golden sparkles, however, one item is left behind: a pendant made from the jewel that Rin used to save Shirou in episode 2.

There were a ton of clues in thie episode about Archer’s true identity. I checked out the Wiki, and it confirmed my suspicions:

Spoiler Inside	Select Show
So anyway, by the end of this episode, it’s pretty clear that Archer is Shirou in the future. I was a little thrown off by the fact that Archer is so much taller than Shirou, but I guess Shirou somehow had a late growth spurt. It’s odd that Ilya doesn’t recognize who Archer is, considering that Archer calls her by the familiar name, “Ilya”, and she spent most of the last episode badgering Shirou to be her servant. Although it’s not fleshed out much in the anime, it seems that Shirou eventually does become a hero, but then gets all cynical because as a Servant he has to hurt some people to save others. He gets into such a funk that he starts cosplaying as Dearka to hide his identity. However, for those that know Shirou, Archer’s tendency to forgo the bow and arrow in order to tank badly is a dead giveaway. Thanks to the power of confusing alternate endings and time-related plot devices, it seems that future heroes can be Servants in any time frame. It’s like how you can enter a secret code to get an end-game character in disc 1. So Rin knew the secret code, but unfortunately those bonus characters are rarely good enough to justify all the trouble spent getting them.

Spoiler Inside

Show

Now that I know who Archer is, it’s a lot harder to support Rin x Archer, but since people can change, and Archer seemed so cool, I don’t regret my choice. The problem now is which couple to root for, since the combination of Shirou and Saber is so stupid that I absolutely cannot endorse it.

Related posts:

This post was written by...

Kabitzin – who has written 1940 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.

One of the founders of Sea Slugs, I handle most of the blog admin tasks while wearing my I AM BOSS shirt. I like my action series well choreographed, and my romance series extra trashy. I also have a soft spot for puns.

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Zyl May 29, 2006 at 2:05 am: The problem now is which couple to root for

How about Rin x Saber?

Reply
eurys May 30, 2006 at 4:57 am: This is where I stopped watching F/SN…
I still read summaries, and they only confort me on my choice to drop it. I wouldn’t be able to watch any more silly/boring/awkward ShirouxSaber scenes. And good luck with that, since you seem to appreciate them as much as I do.

Reply
JustinStrife January 2, 2007 at 1:55 am: Have to agree with eurys. Hate to bring up a dead topic, but I stopped watching the series right after this. I collected the episodes for other people to watch if they wished, but I stopped around episode 17-18. Knowing what i know about the game’s story arcs, the Fate arc(that the anime followed to a T almost), just couldn’t cut it for me. This went from an anime with alot of potential to be an A , ended up a C to C . Not good enough to finish.

Reply
nephy June 12, 2007 at 4:30 am: just want to leave a comment since i finished watching all 24 eps last night. i’ve heard abt F/SN awhile back and decided to give it a try. I absolutely agree with eurys and JustinStrife. In the beginning it’s a bit slow for me but it started to get interesting as the story progressed but after ep 14, i seriously felt disappointed. of all the characters, i prefer Archer and Rin and would love to see them in combat MORE. like JustinStrife said this anime has a lot of potential..I did continue watching the rest of the episodes but only focused on the battles and Rin. the rest i just skip/fast forward.
anyway sorry for the long post. i need to let it out

Reply
Farhana Najwa December 4, 2007 at 8:42 am: Can i grab some pictures? I really2 love 2 wacth Fate stay night! In fact im Saber’s number 1 fan! And rin 2!!!

Reply
Wolverine Neo April 30, 2009 at 6:47 am: Fate Stay Night the best anime i’ve ever seen. But I feel its incomplete. The story is concentrated only around Shiro and Saber. The other characters were’nt given much of a role. But evey character played an important role.
I feel FSN is the best because it has someone who i fell in LOVE with.
I

t is none other than SABER

Reply