Shirou's promise

One of the best moments of the anime lies in the last episode. Despite Fate/Stay Night being a let down, Fate/Zero manages to wrap itself up elegantly.

Here's a subtle hint towards the romantic tale that is yet to come. Shirou makes his promise to Kiritsugu, and Saber sees a light of hope in that messed up world of hers. Beautifully executed.

Memoria - brief glimpses from history

Click here to listen to the song.

Being a sucker for legends and mythology, the song Memoria was quick to grab my attention. The beautiful pieces of artwork, along with the bittersweet music is perfect to create a reminiscent mood.

Here are brief accounts on the real life counterparts of the seven summoned heroes which the anime expects you to be aware of, for a better viewing experience.

Alexander the Great (Rider) real

"Alexander in Babylon" by Charles le Brun

Alexander (or Iskandar, which is the Persian version of his name) was the king of Macedon from 356 BC to 323 BC, and is considered one of the greatest army commanders of history. His biggest achievements include the conquering of the entire Persian Empire, and creating the largest ancient state (5.2 square kilometers) under the banner of one king.

He was known for having both a rough temper and calculated mind. Many historians glorified him due to his respectful attitude towards the empires he conquered, a fact which has been extensively used in the anime. Also, his soldiers were known for displaying immense loyalty towards their king, even though they revolted when he decided to cross the Ganges River in attempts of further expansion.

Gilgamesh (Archer) semi-mythical

Statue of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was a king of Uruk and ruled sometime around 2500 BC. Very few records of him exist, but the most prominent of them is the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Mesopotamia, which is also one of the oldest surviving works of literature.

In these pieces of literature, he is often referred to as a demigod of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people from external threats. He was also known to have gathered all the treasures of the world.

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Lancer) mythical

"The Tree of Love" by Jim Connolly

Diarmuid (an Irish mythological figure) was a famous soldier under Fionn, the leader of Fianna. He was known to have killed 900 soldiers with a single blow. He received the famous love spot after sleeping with a goddess who was the personification of youth, and it was believed that any woman who gazed upon it  instantly fell in love with him.

After Fionn lost his wife, he decided to marry princess Gráinne. But she was unhappy about the marriage since Fionn was older than her own father, and got instantly attracted to Diarmuid. She forced Diarmuid to flee with her despite him being against it. After a long chase, Fionn decided to forgive Diarmuid after repeated requests from the latter's father, following which Diarmuid returned to Fianna and married Gráinne officially.

Afterwards Diarmuid was injured by a boar while hunting (which was meant to happen, according to a prophecy), and Fionn refused to heal him by letting him drink water from his hands, thus causing his death.

He wielded two legendary swords (Moralltach and Beagalltach) and two legendary spears (Gáe Buide and Gáe Derg). We get to see only his spears, since he was summoned under the Lancer class.

Gilles de Rais (Caster) real

Execution of Gilles de Rais

Gilles de Rais (1404–1440) was a leader in the French Army who fought alongside Joan of Arc. He became famous as a serial killer of children, whom he would kidnap, sexually abuse, and then butcher to death. His methods were quite similar in nature to what is actually shown in the anime. The kidnapped children would be treated like royalty, and would be given expensive food and expensive clothing. After many hours of indulging in merrymaking, he/she would be taken to a room where horror awaited. It is said that he derived extreme pleasure from the shocked, horror-filled faces of the children, whom he would decapitate with a short double-edged sword.

A folktale written in the 1600s 'Bluebeard' is said to have been inspired by him, where Bluebeard married and murdered several women, till being found out and killed by the brothers of one of his wives.

Despite being widely considered as a villain, there are chances that all the crimes of Gilles de Rais were simply conjured and passed onto history by other powerful people.

Hassan-i Sabbah (Assassin) real

Hassan-i Sabbah

Hassan-e Sabbāh (1050s-1124) was a Persian missionary who founded a group, whose members were referred to as the Hashshashins or Assassins, to protect Alamut from attackers outside of Iran.

The Assassins were generally young in age giving them the strength and agility required to carry out murders. They were taught to be patient, cold, and calculating. They were generally well educated because they were required to possess not only knowledge about their enemy, but about his or her culture and their native language. They were trained to disguise themselves, sneak in to enemy territory and perform the assassinations, instead of simply attacking their target outright.

Sir Lancelot (Berserker) mythical

The Lady of the Lake carrying Lancelot

Sir Lancelot (also known as 'Lancelot of the Lake' because, as a child, he was carried away from his parents and raised by the Lady of the Lake) was one of the Knights of the Round Table at King Arthur's court. He is well known for his love affair with Queen Guinivere, wife of King Arthur.

When he became a famous knight, a lady named Elaine falls in love with him and tricks him into sleeping with her by using magic to convince him that she is Guinivere. When Guinivere learns about this, she rebukes Lancelot bitterly and banishes him. This is said to have driven Lancelot mad, which might've been why he was chosen as the Berserker servant in the series.

Arturia Pendragon (Saber) semi-mythical

"How Mordred was slain by Arthur, and how by him Arthur was hurt to the death"

Arthur Pendragon or King Arthur was a king of Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries, and is said to have defended Britain from Saxon invaders. His existence is debated over by historians, and all his stories might just be limited to legends. In such legends, he is known to have lead a search for the Holy Grail.

He became the king after drawing Excalibur (the Sword in the Stone) which held the rightful sovereignty of Great Britain. Some legends indicate that he might have actually been a woman and thus gave rise to the character of Arturia Pendragron.

His rule ended with the fall of Camelot. In the final battle, he fought against his own illegitimate son, Mordred. The king drove a lance through Mordred, killing him on spot. Before dying, Mordred swung his sword one last time, and thus delivered a fatal wound to the King which ultimately led to his death.

Character Summary : Kiritsugu Emiya

As a main protagonist of the Fate/Zero series, Kiritsugu Emiya lives up to his role and is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic characters to ever grace the screens of animated television. Here I’ll discuss the marvel that he is, and his ideals and motivations.

Childhood

As a kid he lived with his father, Norikata Emiya, near a village on Alimango Island, where the local children nicknamed him ‘Kerry’ because Kiritsugu was too hard to pronounce. His father practiced the magical arts that his childish mind assumed to be something which would save the world someday. Those feelings were shared by a local girl named Shirley, who became his father’s assistant despite the village folk forbidding her to mingle with the abnormal man. Kerry developed a crush on Shirley, leading to a bit of childish romance which was promptly cut short by an event of tragedy.

Shirley had decided to try out some of the medicine Kerry’s dad made in order to convince the villagers that the Mage was trying to save humanity. Shockingly she lost control over herself and became a Dead Apostle (similar to a bloodthirsty zombie, capable of spreading the effect onto any human it attacks). During the last moments of her sanity, she had begged Kerry to take her life, which he couldn’t, and thus the entire village ended up getting infected. The Mage Association and the Church Executors promptly arrived at the scene and exterminated everyone without discrimination. Kerry was saved by a woman named Natalia. He returned to his house, where he was shocked to see his indifferent father planning for an escape, and promptly killed him in a fit of rage. Later, he and Natalia escaped the island.

Life as a Magus Killer

Natalia was a freelance assassin, and being with her showed Kiritsugu that tragedies, such as the one he experienced, happened regularly all over the world. It didn’t take long for him to develop a bitter viewpoint of everything around him, and his sole aim in life became that of saving as many people as possible from destruction. He was quick to join Natalia by helping her out with her missions, believing their assassinations were for some greater good. To save a thousand people, he would do a few killings without hesitation. Similarly, to save a billion, he would kill thousands. But as the number of assassinations to his name continued increasing, he began to see the futility of it all. He realized that he sought something which is not possible for a human to achieve, and decided to pursue the Holy Grail, whose miraculous powers, he believed, would save the world. He would wish for complete peace.

Role in the fourth Holy Grail War

 Kiritsugu joined the Einzbern family to participate in the fourth Grail War as their representative. The family homunculus, Irisviel, conceived his daughter, Ilyasviel von Einzbern, few years before the summoning of the servants.

As a relic for the summoning, Kiritsugu was provided with Avalon, the scabbard of the legendary King Arthur. He expressed his gratitude at being offered the ‘Saber’ class servant, which is considered to be the strongest class of all, but also pointed out the issue of compatibility, since Assassin or Caster might’ve been better suited for his methods.

When Saber materialized, he was disappointed by the fact that she is a girl. Thus began the hostile relationship between servant and master. Like Iri mentions, they will never look eye to eye, even though they fight for a common goal.

During the war itself, Iri stayed by Saber’s side most of the time acting as her master, while Kiritsugu provided support from the sidelines along with a woman named Maiya (a soldier apprentice that he had picked up earlier). Kiritsugu used the most convenient methods of taking down his opponents, and thus had immense clashes of ideals throughout the series with Saber, who believed in honor.

Ultimately, Kiritsugu managed to defeat his opponents and attain the Holy Grail, only to discover a shocking truth. The Holy Grail was no omnipotent wish granting device, but something which would just serve as a worldwide extension of the assassinations he had been carrying out all his life. Had he made the wish of ultimate peace, the Grail would have kept eliminating the unruly to balance the beam until the end of time, a process which would end up killing more people than any war possibly could. So he ordered Saber using his command seals to destroy the Grail, much to the latter’s despair.

Shockingly, the destruction of the Grail caused widespread fires and led to the death of many people, and left him a broken man. The only survivor he could find was a child named Shirou, who he would later adopt.

"I remember that face. He had tears in his eyes from finding someone alive. A man who was happy from the bottom of his heart. He looked so happy, that it seemed like it was him, not me, who had been saved. And then…even though I was on the brink of death, the man was so grateful that it made me jealous. "Thank you", he said. He said he was glad to have found someone, and that by saving even one person, he had saved himself." 

- Shirou's thoughts while being saved

Characterization and Ideals

Let us tell the story of a certain man.
The tale of a man who, more than anyone else, believed in his ideals, and was driven to despair by them.
The dream of that man was pure.
His wish was for everyone in this world to be happy; that was all that he asked for.
It is a childish ideal that all young boys grow attached to at least once, one that they abandon once they grow accustomed to the mercilessness of reality.
Any happiness requires a sacrifice, something all children learn when they become adults.
But, that man was different.
Maybe he was just the most foolish of all. Maybe he was broken somewhere. Or maybe, he might have been of the kind we call 'Saints', entrusted with God's will. One that common people cannot understand. 

- from the Light Novel, Prologue 1

What really sets Kiritsugu apart from other anime protagonists is the fact that he is beautifully balanced. By this I mean, that he has several strengths and weaknesses, none of which are extraordinary. He doesn't have the brilliant IQ of Light Yagami or a revolutionary plan like Lelouch vi Britannia. As a character, he is completely laid out for the audience to see. His weaknesses are clear, but not glaring. Such as the inability to accept the fact that he sought something which was unattainable and unrealistic.

To him, killing was a thing that was wrong, but needed to be done to reach a world where it is not needed anymore. He garnered hatred for the heroic spirits who believed in noble causes for battle, as he felt that these heroes served as illusions to draw innocent people into bloodshed.

Kiritsugu would promptly kill the minority (generally containing heretic Magi) to protect the majority. He made no exceptions, even when it came to the people he loved, as he believed in the equality of all lives when it came to life and death. For example, he took down a jetliner containing Natalia, because it also contained many Dead Apostles, who would've killed many more people had the plane landed. This behavior is a direct result of the lesson he learnt after not killing Shirley in time and failing to prevent the destruction of the village.

“Did you see that, Shirley? I didn't mess up, like I did with you.” 

- Kiritsugu, after shooting down the jetliner

Beneath the cold face of this assassin there is always a faint plea for undeserving forgiveness, a plea that screams out only in the presence of Iri. This is hardly shown in the anime, but one can easily guess. He bore the weight of the world on his shoulders while exposing his innards to this homunculus, who was meant to be a sacrifice. It’s so beautiful that it makes me cry.

While his personal relationship with Maiya is shrouded in mystery throughout the series, a bit of research tells me that it was of a purely sexual nature, and served as a rehearsal for the betrayal of love that he would be committing later by sacrificing his wife for the Grail.

Death

He died five years after the end of the fourth Grail War. While he failed to achieve his dream of being a "Hero of Justice", he passed them on to his adopted son, Shirou, which would carry over into the Fate/Stay Night series.