Shirou, revealed to be a surviving Servant from the last Holy Grail War in Fuyuki 60 years ago, announces his plans to the Servants of Red in order to fully gain their trust. Meanwhile, the Yggdmillenia alliance moves to deal with another lingering threat: the Assassin of Black, Jack the Ripper. In the town of Trifas, three souls encounter the monstrous killer and find their pasts and their resolves tested in a nightmarish trail. In the end, this battle is merely the prelude to a larger one as the Servants of Red ready the Hanging Gardens for one final showdown. But is anyone, Master or Heroic Spirit, ready for the carnage that comes next as the final act of the Holy Grail War approaches?
In the past, there have been Anime I have covered with
characters I have hardly ever cared for during the bulk of their run. This tends to last right until the very end
of their time on the show. However,
there are occasions where one episode can bring about a whole seasons worth of
redemption for a lackluster character arc.
My prime example is Anew Returner in Gundam 00. From the minute she was introduced, I knew
her character was bound to turn on the Gundam Meisters at any given moment and
yet one episode gave her a very fitting and emotional send off I didn’t
expect. I bring this up because I think
it’s well known by now that I have never really cared for Jack the Ripper on
Fate/Apocrypha. Besides being given a
disturbingly cute character design and an outfit no child of any age should be
wearing, her presence up until now has added nothing to the plot or the Holy
Grail War at large. Her only role has been that she’s the missing Servant who
was supposed to be aligned with Yggdmillenia.
Til now, she’s been giggling her way through legions of dead bodies
while getting cozy with her “Mommy” who we knew just as little about. Well, much of that changed in the opening
half of this set of episodes that finally drew the curtain on Jack the Ripper
and set up some exciting rivalries and motivations to take us into the home
stretch.
The only thing more disturbing than Jack’s choice of
wardrobe is the revelation of what she truly is. Whenever she’s spoken, Jack’s referred to
herself as “We”. Ok did that mean her
and her Master? Nope. Turns out Jack is a vast collection of young
souls from the Victorian Era who were discarded, abused and just lead a
generally terrible existence until their tragic ends. Sieg, Jeanne and Atalanta all had to confront
this head first when they were pulled into Jack’s Noble Phantasm, a nightmarish
recreation of the era she comes from.
For Sieg, he was forced to see some of the darkest parts of human nature
and how cruel humanity, a race he has strove to admire and protect, can
be. For Atalanta, we got to see how
heartbroken she felt seeing the dismal lives of all these children. As we learned last week, Atalanta wants to
use her wish to save all of the children everywhere, so this nightmarish vision
gave her added reason to commit to that idea.
And then there was Jeanne, who looked at the horror and said, “I’ve still
gotta stop you.” Jeanne was the only
member of the trio who didn’t mince words or try to see reason. Jeanne’s done things in her past life that
she knows are terrible and that meant the deaths of families in her own quest. Seeing her elect to have Jack’s many souls
destroyed rather than be saved or redeemed is a tough scene to watch,
especially with Atalanta begging Jeanne to save them. The cold and distant Archer looked truly
horrified that someone as renowned as Jeanne D’Arc would make such a decision
added layers to her character (at last) and gave her new reason to keep
fighting AND set up a clear rivalry for Jeanne in the last act. All of this came from one really well done
episode that gave Jack the Ripper proper reason for being in this series. It’s both one of the best and saddest stories
from the Fate series, so much so it would fit in just fine with Fate/Zero.
Once Jack and her Master were laid to rest, it was time
to knuckle down and get things ready for the last battle. This meant strategizing and a changed in
Yggdmillenia leadership. I’m back and
forth on Fiore’s decision to cecede her title role to her brother, Caleus. On
the one hand, she wanted to avoid civilian casualties if they attacked
now. However, waiting three days for
Astolfo to be at pique performance would be a strong asset. Everyones going with Fiore’s kindness being a
weakness but I do think it’s a strength and I’m not all onboard with Caleus
opting to convince her to give him control of the family cause he thinks she
cant make the tough calls. But this is
war and it’s probably for the best, if only to ensure that Fiore makes it to
the end. Speaking of leadership roles,
Sieg and Astolfo also got to sit down with Mordred for Lunch. After what Sieg saw in Jack’s reality, he’s
understandably shaken in his wish to protect people. But Mordred set him straight, I think. When the question was thrown her way, Mordred
told Sieg that there is no right or wrong answer to “is humanity worth
saving.” That does sound like the reply
of a good King who knows the world isn’t simply black and white. Mordred might prove worthy to take her
fathers mantle eventually…though I wonder if what Kairi told her will come to
pass and Mordred will have to face Aurturia eventually.
The march to the final battle also included more quieter
character focused moments for Sieg and his two besties: Jeanne and
Astolfo. For my favorite, pink haired
Rider, we discovered that Astolfo is a guy…and Jeanne’s reaction was
priceless. This revelation doesn’t
bother me and doesn’t take away from the amazing character Astolfo has been
since the moment he was summoned. Free
spirit, lover of good times and a loyal and good friend, Astolfo is the kind of
Servant you want watching your back at all times. Plus, this meant that Astolfo got to play
with Jeanne’s feelings for Sieg…or is it Laeticia? I wish we had more scenes with Jeanne speaking
with the soul of the girl who’s body shes using on a frequent basis. Clearly, Laeticia is ok with Jeanne using her
body and is also well aware that Jeanne is falling for Sieg…but so is she? Astolfo picked up on Laeticia being in
control for a few interactions with Sieg and assured her that he didn’t have
any kind of romantic feelings towards Sieg, or at the very least he wasn’t
going to stand in her way. Everybody
loves Sieg I guess is the take away and man does that guy deserve some
happiness at the end of this long conflict.
This week closes out with the beginning of the last big
battle of the series, with airilines being used to transport Servants, Mages
and Troops from Yggdimillenia to the Hanging Gardens. Match ups have been determined, final plans
are being enacted and Shirou looks poised to bring on Third Impact at any
cost. While I don’t know if it will
match the scope of the Battle of Yggdmillenia Castle, the Battle of the Hanging
Gardens feels more personal, so much that lack of quantity (armies) might not
hinder the execution of the story.
Either way, next week is the end of Fate/Apocrypha and I’m expecting big
things. Let’s hope it can deliver. See ya next week everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment