May 29th, 2009 
AstroNerdBoy フェイト／ステイナイト Ep 15
Fate/stay night episode 15
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Shirou carries Saber as they and Rin continue to flee. However, they still have a long way to go and aren’t moving very fast, so ignoring Saber’s request to leave her behind, they continue on to an abandoned house that Archer had previously scouted out. With Saber so weak, Rin says that they will have to transfer Shirou’s magic circuit into Saber, and this is accomplished through pseudo-sexual means.
After the transfer is complete, Saber has returned to normal, though still limited by a lack of a constant power supply. Rin strategizes that they will need to take Ilya and Berserker by surprise and Rin will be that surprise element since she can hide her presence. Shirou thinks of Archer’s final words to him, so he takes a tree branch and transforms it into a bow to help support Saber from a distance.
Outside, Saber and Shirou are soon found by Ilya and Berserker as Rin hides in a nearby tree. Shirou explains that Rin took off but Ilya isn’t concerned since she knows Rin has not left the woods and she can track Rin down later. Berserker and Saber clash with it clear that Berserker outpowers Saber. All Saber can do is be on the defensive. Shirou forms arrows and while his shot hits Berserker, it does no damage. Ilya instructs Berserker to ignore Shirou for now and take out Saber. Berserker attacks again, shattering Saber’s armor.
That’s Rin’s cue to attack by throwing several gems at Berserker. He deflects most but some do hit. He catches Rin, which allows her to throw more gems at his face with enough power to blow Berserkers head off. However, Berserker is not dead and is regenerating, which Ilya explains is because he still has seven lives left, based on the legend of Heracles as Heracles achieved immortality. Ilya is impressed that Rin had the power to kill a Servant but now orders Berserker to kill Rin.
Thoughts/Review:
I see the hints at the hentai elements of the original visual novel in this episode with Rin first kissing Shirou, then performing some mostly implied yuri action on Saber before having Shirou get on top of Saber for the transfer via a tunnel of sorts. ^_^; I don’t know what a dragon would have to do with this process but I’m guessing something had to be done in order to remove the hentai without removing the transfer element. ^_^; Still, this doesn’t seem like it will work again unless Shirou can somehow give her more power. That might be accomplished with that sword he keeps thinking of.
Archer and Shirou — OK, now I’m really starting to think that they have to be connected somehow. After all, Shirou created a bow and arrows in much the same way that Archer did, which is very interesting to me. How could they be the same person? I don’t know — I may be running down an empty rabbit hole but sometimes these things just scream out at me. So I may be reading too much into things or I may have something, I just never know which until things play out. If Archer and Shirou were the same person somehow, that would explain a great deal though.
Rin — wow. Granted, her attack came from her gems, but still it is impressive that she was able to kill Berserker, even though he’s able to regenerate to be killed again. If Rin can kill Berserker, then it may be possible for Shirou to do the same. Again, I go back to that sword and whether he uses it or Saber uses it, I get the feeling that this may end the Berserker piece of the story, which would then leave us with Lancer and Assassin. OK, killing Berserker seven more times seems a stretch, but I bet Archer killed Berserker a few times so it theoretically could be done.
Ilya having magic marks all over her body seems to not only show her impressive power, but could it also be that she has more than three command spells? I wonder.
This anime really does fly along though with the end of recent episodes seemingly coming out of nowhere and a cliffhanger of a story still to be resolved. *lol* However, that’s the mark of good storytelling IMO when time seems to move faster than it really is.
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Remember, my remarks on Shiro and Archer were made way before I learned the truth from you guys. ^_^;
Said scene was indeed a 3some in the original game. Also, IIRC, there’s no “Only Once” clause in the game. You can keep ‘restoring her mana’ that way as many times as you want.
“I don’t know what a dragon would have to do with this process “
I seem to recall that The Dragon was one of King Arthur’s titles. So basically it was Saber’s “soul” here.
What’s interesting about the “mana transfer” scene in the VN is how in to it Rin is. She seems to really like Saber. ^_^
Jose’s remark about “Only Once” is correct. In the VN, you have to “recharge” Saber through continuous Sexin’s (well, there’s actually only two hentai scenes in all of Saber’s route). However, the Giant CG Dragon mana transfer creates a more permanent connection between Shirou and Saber. Prana will flow from Shirou to Saber, but just not that quickly. She is no longer in danger of disappearing– unless she uses Excalibur again, which would completely drain her. She needs more time before she gets to Excalibur level again.
Ilya only has 3 command spells like the other Masters, it’s just that hers are so huge. The really remarkable thing is how easily she controls Berserker. Both previous times a Berserker was summoned– there was no Berserker in the first or third wars– the Master was killed due to the prana consumed by their Servant. This is absolutely no problem for Ilya. She handles this incredibly powerful and famous (Servants get a power boost if they’re famous) with absolutely no trouble. Not only that, but she has an instinctive knowledge of Magecraft. She doesn’t need lessons to do magic. She is indeed the strongest of all Masters.
Archer managed to kill Berserker 5 times (6 in the VN). Still, his God Hand can’t be penetrated by attacks less than grade B (it took all of Rin’s remaining jewels to kill him once) and he adapts and can’t be killed again by the same method unless it’s at the same time. A full powered Excalibur (rank A++) could kill him all 12 times needed, but Saber is in no shape to deliver that. She could maybe kill him once by using all the prana she has. Of course, she would then disappear.
So, they’re up a creek at this point. They need a miracle.
I haven’t played the VN, but I’m pretty certain I read somewhere that the dragon is the censored version of how you fill her up with… *cough* mana, as you speculated.
I had no idea about the origin the first time I watched it, so I just thought the dragon represented Saber’s unrestrained primal need for mana. No pun intended. Seemed a bit melodramatic to me.
The Dragon also represents Saber’s spirit. She is– and I’m not sure if it’s literally or figuratively– descended from dragons. This lineage is what gives her such a huge amount of prana (dragons have so much prana that they pretty much breathe it). Also, consequently, she is especially vulnerable to weapons that are famous for slaying dragons.
In an “interesting” and possibly gross aside, it is mentioned in the VN that a magus’ sperm contain a whole lot of mana. It really makes you wonder where they get MP restoring potions in RPGs. Ewwww…
The family line, Uther Pendragon, Arthur Pendragon.
Pen dragon basically means “Son of the Dragon”, Which was an allegory for England, which now only lives on in the Celic Dragon symbol of Wales.
@Garik: Funny, but yeah – double ew. ^_^ Not to mention the “mana potions” that seem to be all the rage with the squealy teenyboppers at anime conventions… extreme ew.