Fate/Apocrypha 16
フェイト/アポクリファ episode 16

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

Black Assassin tortures a male mage for information before ripping out his heart. Ruler communes with her human host Laeticia at the site where Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake. In the halls of the Yggdmillennia castle, Ruler runs into Sieg, who’s carrying medical supplies to help the wounded homunculi. When Sieg collapses, Ruler discovers blackness eating at Sieg. Black Archer believes this is the result of Siegfried’s heart and magic being within Sieg. Black Archer warns that every time Sieg turns to Black Saber (Siegfried), he is shortening his lifespan. Despite this, Sieg vows to carry on.

Fiore asks to see Sieg, Black Rider, and Ruler. There, she lays out that Black Assassin (Jack the Ripper) has been murdering mages in the town. Ruler agrees to help as dealing with rogue Servants is part of her job. Fiore is relieved and Caules gives ruler the intelligence they have. Black Archer realizes he has no memory of what Black Assassin looks like despite having fought the Servant. Fiore has no memory either. Ruler surmises this is either a Noble Phantasm or other skill of Black Assassin.

Ruler and Black Rider join Black Archer and Caules at the scene of one of the murders. Caules uses his magic to relive the final moments of the poor man. This leads them to discover that Black Assassin has been looking to infiltrate the Yggdmillennia castle. Caules calls Fiore to warn her, but their call is cut off. Black Assassin has one of her Noble Phantasms cover the castle grounds with poisonous fog. Sieg and Gordes work to get the homunculi troops indoors. However, Black Assassin is already in and targeting Fiore.

Fiore makes it to her office to attempt to get her Mystic Code, but Black Assassin grabs the case and claims it as her own. Black Assassin confirms being Jack the Ripper and reveals her plans to take out the Black Faction while they are down before moving on to the Red Faction. Fiore uses a glove from her Mystic Code to activate a two-armed version and escape. However, Black Assassin quickly destroys it. Before she can kill Fiore, Sieg shows up. Black Assassin is about to kill him, but arrows from Black Archer make her back off. Sensing the approach of Ruler and Black Rider, Black Assassin flees, vowing to slaughter them.

Thoughts/Review

I gotta say, Fate/Apocrypha 16 had me fearing the worst for Fiore. Thankfully, she lives to see another day, at least for now.

The Wild Loli Returns

I usually play some Fate/Grand Order before bed (which is often a mistake) or during my lunch break, and I recently scored Jack the Ripper x2 during the current event. Since I’ve seen her as Black Assassin in Fate/Apocrypha, I was glad to have her. Plus, I call her the “wild loli” since she goes NUTS on opponents.

That said, for Fate/Apocrypha 16, the wild loli got to become truly fearsome in a horror way. It started with her torturing the male mage before ripping his heart out. On one hand, she has a childish innocence and sense of wonder about her. On the other, there’s a cold savagery that would make strong men shake in their boots. While this is normal, horror cliche stuff, I still felt it was used effectively.

When Black Assassin came to the Yggdmillennia castle to do away with Fiore, I honestly thought that Fiore was dead. The series has been getting rid of characters fairly frequently in order to whittle the cast size down to a more manageable level. Since Darnic was unexpectedly axed, it really made me think Fiore could be next.

That aside, I guess the story will now deal with removing Black Assassin from the table. I hope we get a chance to see Ruler being awesome.

Ruler

Speaking of Ruler, the series is pushing the romantic thread of Ruler x Sieg. Although I have a fondness for Ruler, I don’t care about Sieg. As such, I don’t care about a romance between the two of them. I can see Sieg dying and Ruler lamenting all of this, possibly losing it. I hope that’s not the case because I don’t want to see Ruler diminished.

As to the discussion the discussion between Ruler and her human host Laeticia, I presume this happened in Laeticia’s mind. I didn’t notice anything explicitly stated, but they couldn’t have gone to France to see the site of Jeanne d’Arc’s burning at the stake. I guess it is possible that when Ruler leaves Laeticia’s body, Laeticia could have a romance with Sieg, presuming he survives. Frankly, I don’t see him living though.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

With having two jobs at the moment, I need to get this review of Fate/Apocrypha 16 wrapped up.

• I’m glad Caules got a meaningful job to do in this episode. Considering what it did to him, it is pretty brave of him to do this.
• Why that choice of civilian clothes, Black Rider? 🙄
• I hope Red Saber comes in to help remove Black Assassin.
• It is nice to see Gordes playing a positive role, even if he is still gruff.
• I hope the female homunculus who died wasn’t Sieg’s buddy.

In the end, Fate/Apocrypha 16 ended up being very suspenseful, thanks to Black Assassin’s return and her failed attempt to kill Fiore.