May 27th, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy フェイト／ステイナイト Ep 14
Fate/stay night episode 14
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Rin, Archer, and Saber arrive at Castle Einzbern when Rin senses Ilya and has Archer disappear. Saber and Rin hide and wait for Ilya to leave before making their entrance. Despite her weakness, Saber is determined to save Shirou and is surprised when she finds him having freed himself from his bonds. The foursome them easily makes their way to the main entrance of the castle but as they start down the stairs, Ilya reveals she’s been there all along, having fooled Rin’s senses.
Ilya promises that none of them will escape and summons Berserker. Rin instructs Archer to buy them escape time before escaping himself. He’s asks permission to unleash on Berserker and receives it. Before they leave, Archer has some advice for Shirou — master the one skill he’s good at — creation.
Saber, Rin, and Shirou flee as Archer battles Berserker. 
Archer takes damage even when avoiding Berserker’s attacks. Even after losing two swords, Archer simply produces two more and continues fighting to Ilya’s amazement. Though Archer has taken some damage, he lures Berserker into position where Archer then produces his bow and transforms a sword into an arrow and nails Berserker with it. However, the blow that would have killed other Servants does not kill Berserker. Their fight continues with Archer producing more blades and inflicting damage on Berserker.
In the end, Archer realizes that he cannot win the fight and brings himself, Ilya, and Berserker into a “reality bubble” filled with unlimited swords and gear mechanisms. All of this stuns Ilya and she’s even more surprised when Archer addresses her as “Ilya.” Archer throws everything into one last attack and is killed, though he inflicts heavy damage on Berserker. The bubble gone, Ilya marvels at Archer’s ability to stay alive so long since he should have been killed many times over. She 
orders Berserker to heal himself and pursue Rin, Saber, and Shirou.
In the woods, Rin sees her command spell marking disappear and knows that Archer is dead. Rin tells them that they have to hurry since Ilya will be after them soon. However, Saber collapses from lack of energy.
Thoughts/Review:
Archer — WHOA! Hold on — my mind is still processing this information and it doesn’t help that I’m pretty tired at the moment.
If I saw this correctly, Archer was literally creating blades and even an alternate reality bubble of sorts towards the end of the fight. Other than the one attack where he turned a blade into an arrow, he didn’t use any archery abilities but only sword 
techniques. No wonder Ilya was asking who this guy is. Heck, I’m asking myself the same thing too. I mean, Archer addressed Ilya as “Ilya” and kept having flashes of Shirou. Heck, he even gave Shirou advice on mastering the creation of things which I found very interesting. Now if Shirou were dead, I’d say that Archer was Shirou but that can’t be can it? I know Ilya offered Shirou a chance to be a Servant but Shirou declined. So I’m left wondering who exactly Archer is, if that will even be revealed.
As for Archer’s death, I had a hunch that might be coming. After all, if Rin and Shirou are to remain allies and not get into a fight, then one of the two had to lose their Servant. Since Saber wasn’t going to be the one to die, then that only left Archer. For a moment, I thought Archer might actually take out Berserker but that didn’t happen. Archer’s being able to hang in the fight so long has to be in part tribute to Rin but also to whomever he was originally I’d guess. It is interesting that Archer wore one of Rin’s gems as a necklace though. I wonder if that also played a part.
It is a shame that I didn’t get to see Archer and Saber work as a team though. Oh well.
Oh — it was also interesting that Archer spoke English for his blade creations. I’m guessing that’s part of his Nobel Phantasm usage?
Ilya must have some incredible magical reserves for Berserker to heal so quickly though. I fully expect her to now attempt to 
keep her promise and kill Shirou, Saber, and Rin. Frankly, that doesn’t seem too hard, even for a weakened Berserker, which he does not appear to be unless Archer left some sort of surprise that will take Berserker down later. Berserker was pretty torn up by Archer’s blades and one of those could have contained a booby trap (I think of Frodo getting stabbed by a Ring Wraith in Lord of the Rings).
Of course the big gorilla in the room is Saber getting very little energy from Shirou. Now that Rin is effectively out of the war for herself, I’m guessing she might be able to have a way to get Shirou to channel power into Saber. Time to eat more gems on Shiro’s part, thereby giving him energy that Saber can use?
I have to say that this episode just smoked by and despite nearly being asleep, I could not go to bed until I’d at least written my analysis. Hopefully, it will make sense when I get up again. ^_^;
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Archer is Shirou, just that, unlike most of the other Servants, he came back from the future.
The pendant, that Rin used to heal Shirou was all that was left after Archer disappeared. And as Garik pointed out, that was the catalist Rin used in her summoning.
He couldn’t bring himself to kill Ilya even though he showed he had the skill to when he spun that sword around her to hit the light.
“Reality Marbles” are stock in trade for Type-Moon I believe, as they are at least mentioned in other Type-Moon products.
Yes, he was creating blades from his mana.
If you listen carefully you’ll hear Ilya say that Archer killed Berserker 5 times, don’t worry, it’ll be explained.
Interesting you should mention Archer wearing Rin’s necklace.
If you want some tips on his identity, here’s some stuff to think about: Rin said they were pretty much unique, at least that particular one. Now, who else has one of those gems/necklaces? Or, more specifically, on who did she use it?
Ne, that necklace should be something very familiar, especially if you payed close attention in the first two episodes or so…
Well there’s more clues as to just how Archer and Shirou are connected/related in the VN, but there is another clue later on in the show. Not sure though if others will be posting spoilers about who Archer is later on, since we’ll he’s out of the count now…
UBW (Ultimate Blade Works) is one of those things referred to in the MSN as an in-joke for Rakan’s pactio card too 😛 Seeing this episode might’ve given you an idea now as to why ^^’…oh and this is the route in the game that elaborates more on Archer of course. This is also the path the manga version of F/SN takes/follows closely.
Well that’s pretty much how he invokes the reality marble for UBW, if I’m correct, ne.
Well Berserker “heals” quickly partly because of his master’s prana reserves and also because of his own abilities as a servant…this will be tackled in the next episodes, I believe.
Nufufufu~”eat more gems” indeed…
well there’s the next episode to answer that question too =^-^=
I think it’s pretty clear by now, but in the case you really didn’t catch it, look after the end credits. The only thing what remains after Archer’s death is a pendant… that same pendant Rin used to save Shirou’s life.
The fact is, you are right. Archer is Shirou from a future where he became a servant!
Ah, and by the way, Archer managed to kill Berserker 6 times, but he kept regenerating himself.
This power of him will be explained in the next episode.
You have to notice that at the end the gem/pendant left behind when Archer’s body faded was the one used as a medium to summon archer and also the same jewel used to bring Shiro back to life way back in episode 1. Rin was carrying it back in episode 1 thinking it was a relic connected to saber but instead it messed up and summoned archer. The reason is probably that it had a closer relationship to archer than it had to saber.
Wow. I was right. ^_^
You guys will have to forgive future posts where I ask, “Is Shirou Archer?” because I honestly didn’t know. If felt right, but since Shirou wasn’t dead, I couldn’t see how Shirou could be master and servant in the same war, howbeit as two different people. Still, I always love it when my gut instinct is correct. *lol*
Regarding Rin’s necklace, I thought the gem was consumed when Rin used it to bring back Shirou so I didn’t realize that the one Archer had was the same one as the one used on Shirou. My question is, “Does Shirou have the necklace that Rin used now?”
I’m glad I went ahead and had this episode scheduled to release tonight rather than the newest “Natsu no Arashi” episode simply because of the confirmation of the Archer issue. Now that I know for sure, it makes a lot of things make total sense to me. As I said, you’ll have to forgive my analysis for the next several episodes (through episode 18, which is where I’ve watched through a/o this posting) where I query the Archer/Shirou connection. ^_^;
Thanks a ton, gang. ^_^
IIRC, Shirou does have the necklace, but it’s “spent”, becoming a worthless stone instead of the precious jewel it was.
Regarding Rin’s necklace, I thought the gem was consumed when Rin used it to bring back Shirou so I didn’t realize that the one Archer had was the same one as the one used on Shirou. My question is, “Does Shirou have the necklace that Rin used now?” The power in the gem was used up and basically it burned out, but if you review when Shirou awoke after being healed, he picked it up with a quizzicle(sp) look on his face.
Wow, I wait for days to try to be the first and here I find myself way behind. Oh well.
So, as I pray, Unlimited Comment Works.
This famous episode displayed the gallantry of Archer that caused internet fanboys to profess their undying love for his manliness, coining the term GAR (a mistype of Gay for Archer, Gar for Archer) in his honor.
There once was a man who wanted more than anything to be a hero. He spent his life honing his skills, training his mind and body to be a weapon to save people. He spent his life saving everyone within his sight. Although he knew saving everyone was impossible, he still thought the dream was beautiful and that it would be enough if only he could save everyone he could see.
And then there came a time when he could not save everyone; he was not enough. So he made a deal with the world. He would be granted a miracle in exchange for his eternal service. He would be granted the power to save these people– no more than a hundred– in exchange for becoming a Counter Guardian, the eternal watchers of humankind. And so, he became stronger than he could ever be on his own, and he made the impossible possible.
Yet all would not end well. A war had started, and a man whom he had saved blamed the hero for the start of the war. And so, the hero became the scapegoat and was executed. He knew that after he died, he would become a Servant to the World. But he was at peace with that. After all, he could still continue to save people even after death.
And he was stored at the Throne of Heroes, the record of the souls of the greatest saviors and infamous personalities humanity had produced. Outside of time, the Throne is a part of the Root, the almighty record of all things.
But all was not well for the hero. Time and time again, he was called forth to fulfill his duty. And his duty was death. For humanity’s greatest threat is always humanity itself. In all ages throughout all of time, he was summoned to kill. He would kill all those in sight to protect the rest of humanity. For the hero, who had only wanted to save everyone he could see, it was hell.
Endlessly, he is brought forth. His deeds are recorded and played back to him before each summoning and although he cannot remember the experiences first hand (each summoning is merely a copy of him), a bitterness and cynicism grew. He came to hate himself and his existence. And he could only think of one hope of escape.
If he could be summoned to the Fifth Heavens Feel and kill his past self, then maybe, just maybe, the paradox would be great enough to cause his existence to be erased. At the very least, he would save a version of himself from such a possible future. Most of all, he wanted to take out his anger.
And such is the story of the Heroic Spirit Emiya, a man who fulfilled his own dreams of becoming a hero and paid the ultimate price, a hero whose deeds will never be sung about.
To be continued…
Continued…
He is the ultimate Faker, a magus who understands the complete shape of something and can bring the image to his mind. No one in all of history is as skilled as he is at this. He has the elemental affinity of “Swords” (normally magi have affinity for things like fire, or water. Rin is an “average one” a magus with affinity for all 5 traditional elements).
A Reality Marble is a form of Thaumaturgy very close to True Magic (True Magic is actual miracles. There are currently only 5 True Magics). It is an inner world, a reflection of the owner’s soul. It is a feared and respected ability, usually only obtained through years of study and practice. Normally it is reserved for powerful magi and Dead Apostle Ancestors (the stongest of vampires who are not True Ancestors). With a proper spell and enough prana, the magus can bring forth their inner world and force it into the real world, effectively recreating the space around them for a period of time that they are able to sustain it (the world abhors such a thing and tries to crush the abnormality, so a magus has to use prana to keep it going).
Within Unlimited Blade Works, Archer stores the “blueprint” for every weapon he has ever seen. This is his true skill; to recreate the image of the weapon right down to its base materials and history, even the weapon’s experiences. It is the only ability that he has ever truly mastered, the only talent he has. Everything else– projection and strengthening– are just byproducts of this skill. He does not create swords, he creates a world of infinites swords. To summon a replica of a weapon is easy when you have the perfect image stored within the Reality Marble.
It was not shown in the second episode, but in the battle with Lancer, Lancer disarmed Archer several times. As long as Archer has prana, he will always have a weapon.
When Archer fired the arrow, what he was doing was using “Broken Phantasm”– a Noble Phantasm overloaded with prana so it He is the ultimate Faker, a magus who understands the complete shape of something and can bring the image to his mind. No one in all of history is as skilled as he is at this. He has the elemental affinity of “Swords” (normally magi have affinity for things like fire, or water. Rin is an “average one” a magus with affinity for all 5 traditional elements).
A Reality Marble is a form of Thaumaturgy very close to True Magic (True Magic is actual miracles. There are currently only 5 True Magics). It is an inner world, a reflection of the owner’s soul. It is a feared and respected ability, usually only obtained through years of study and practice. Normally it is reserved for powerful magi and Dead Apostle Ancestors (the stongest of vampires who are not True Ancestors). With a proper spell and enough prana, the magus can bring forth their inner world and force it into the real world, effectively recreating the space around them for a period of time that they are able to sustain it (the world abhors such a thing and tries to crush the abnormality, so a magus has to use prana to keep it going).
To be continued yet again…
Finally…
Within Unlimited Blade Works, Archer stores the “blueprint” for every weapon he has ever seen. This is his true skill; to recreate the image of the weapon right down to its base materials and history, even the weapon’s experiences. It is the only ability that he has ever truly mastered, the only talent he has. Everything else– projection and strengthening– are just byproducts of this skill. He does not create swords, he creates a world of infinites swords. To summon a replica of a weapon is easy when you have the perfect image stored within the Reality Marble.
It was not shown in the second episode, but in the battle with Lancer, Lancer disarmed Archer several times. As long as Archer has prana, he will always have a weapon.
When Archer fired the arrow, whaexplodes. This process upgrades the power of the weapon by one rank, but destroys the weapon, so only a crazy Servant would do it to their own precious Noble Phantasm. However, this is not a problem for Archer.
When Archer materializes the Reality Marble all the weapons stored there are ready for use. It is useful only when he needs lots of swords in a hurry. Normally, it is more efficient to use projections and Broken Phantasms.
The anime version of this fight actually added something to F/SN canon: when Archer uses the extended “winged” version of Kansho and Bakuya. Nasu liked the scene, so he wrote it into canon as “Kansho and Bakuya Overedge”, a technique where Archer combines three pairs of “prepared” swords into a single pair of powerful blades. It is the final move to Archer’s ultimate sword technique.
Actually, in the VN, the fight more than likely didn’t involve the materialization of UBW. Archer projected multiple different weapons and killed Berserker 6 times before he fell himself.
When Rin revived Shirou, she left the pendant with him. It was, after all, of no use to her anymore. So, he kept it all his life as a momento to the person who saved him. In the VN, Archer gives a pendant to Rin, but she doesn’t realize that it’s not the same one she left with Shirou. There are two pendants then: Archer’s and the one Shirou currently has.
“Wow, I wait for days to try to be the first and here I find myself way behind. Oh well.”
Well, better late than never, right? ^_^ And as always, thanks for all the information (and to everyone else too).
Well, he wasn’t the only one waiting for this ^_^
I wanted to do at least this much in thanks for the weekly Negima spoilers 🙂