Fate/stay night

[Kraco]

An excellent episode. There were times I think the 24 episodes limit showed in this episode, but on the other hand when Saber confessed she had been lying to herself all the time, it kind of explained how she veered so relatively easily right from the beginning of this episode. It's not like her real opinions or aims really had to be changed, rather she just needed the push and reason to realise what she really wanted.

Also, to make the priesty fellow the ultimate villain of everything evil was kind of the old fairy tale style, but I can't say that unsurprising thing really would have worsened my opinion. It was, after all, just what was to be expected in the light of the recent events.

Since this is from the same source as Shingetsutan Tsukihime, it wouldn't really surprise me if Shirou needed to say bittterly sad goodbyes to Saber at the end of the last episode. I wouldn't really mind that if it was done as finely as in Shingetsutan Tsukihime.

[complich8]

Another interesting note about this ep: it cleared up the whole "alternating gender" idea...

From what Rin was saying, Lancer's original master was a woman (though the hand is sort of ambiguous), and Kotomine wasn't Gilgamesh's original master either, just made a pact with him at the end of the last war -- meaning Gilgamesh's original master could have been a woman as well.

Man ... Kotomine is one dirty bastard though... I never really liked that guy to begin with.

[Board of Command]

Since Kotomine was able to make pacts with 2 servants, does that imply there is no rule regarding that aspect of the war as well?

[complich8]

That could very well be the case... it doesn't seem impossible.

The trick to it is, most servants are very egotistical. I don't think most of them would be fine with the idea of working side-by-side with another servant, or with someone they don't consider to be their equal.

For example, Lancer pours out a lot of derision on his master for being a coward in the first two eps or so. Caster just outright killed her summoner out of spite. Stuff like that somewhat says that they're not terribly likely to play nicely with each other.

The big question on my mind is: is Ilya the next grail vessel? Knowing that Caster had that whole "use a magician as a vessel for the grail" idea, I would bet Kotomine knows about that too. Might be that Ilya, being a high-class magician, would be an ideal candidate to become the next grail... which would explain the mysterious fever she's got.

Thinking of other characters ... we know Sakura got blasted a bit, but is she ok? How about Taiga ... I know Rider's barrier-drain left the people at school in pretty bad shape, but they all pretty much survived ... so where's Taiga these days?

We're getting near the end of the series ... but there's some definite loose ends I wouldn't mind seeing wrapped up. Wonder if they'll have time...

[Church]

How did Shirou's dad get the scabbard? It isn't anything material, unless someone traces it I guess. But it was mentioned as a Noble Phantasm, so humans could also have and project Noble Phantasms?

[Kraco]

Maybe it was still material in the last war, and Shirou's dad got it to stay somehow after Saber herself was gone.

[complich8]

It could also just be that he got it through more mundane means (found it? Inherited it from his teacher? Summoned it from some other place?)

Saber's pretty matter-of-fact about him possessing the scabbard, and it seems to me like her being summoned at all was contingent on the scabbard as a bond to contract with her (but that may just have been the condition for Shiro, because of his lack of training). Still, if he had it before he had her, it would make sense for him to be able to use it to summon her, and would also make sense for him to have it afterwards.

We don't really know a whole lot of anything about the elder Emiya, but we know he was a particularly competent magician, who was also apparently pretty handy with a gun, and had a certain degree of morality beyond the expectations of the average magician... who knows? Maybe he's Merlin's heir?