Fate/Apocrypha 05
フェイト/アポクリファ episode 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis

The escaped homunculus has a dream of being given Command Spells by a giant dragon before being consumed by said dragon. When he comes to, Ruler checks him out before the Black Faction arrive. Ruler introduces herself to Black Lancer (Vlad). The Black Faction are not happy to learn the details of Black Saber sacrificing himself for a homunculus, nor of Ruler’s defense of the boy. Black Lancer invites Ruler to join them in the fight, but she declines. Black Rider is taken into custody for punishment and the Black Faction leaves.

Meanwhile, Red Archer and Red Rider report to Shirou about the loss of Red Berserker. Shirou inquires about the loss of Black Saber, which is news to Red Archer and Red Rider. Red Lancer discounts the theory that Black Saber might have sacrificed himself. Back with the Yggdmillennia, Celenike has Black Rider in a cell, driving a spike through the Servants hands to pin him to the wall as punishment. After she leaves, Black Archer appears to have a chat. Black Lancer tells Darnic that Black Rider’s punishment ends in the morning.

Elsewhere, Ruler escorts the homunculus across the countryside and they talk. The homunculus decides to call himself Sieg in honor of Black Saber’s (Siegfried) sacrifice. After taking a break to eat, Sieg asks why Ruler needs to eat as a Servant. She explains that the Holy Grail summoned her, but she was unable to form her body and thus received permission from a French girl named Leticia to use hers. Ruler has made it so that Leticia receives no damage no matter what happens to Ruler. With that, they continue to walk and talk.

Gordes is frustrated over the loss of Black Saber. Darnic informs Black Lancer that Black Assassin’s Master was found dead. Elsewhere, Black Assassin is with a woman she addresses as mom. They discuss heading to Trifas despite the Servant presence there. Meanwhile, Fiore is briefed on the appearance of Black Assassin (Jack the Ripper), so she and Black Archer get her brother Roche and Black Berserker to go find Black Assassin in Sighisoara. In the crypt, Sisigou gets orders from Lord El-Melloi II to head to Sighisoara immediately.

Meanwhile, Ruler leaves Sieg with a man named Serge. She lies to the boy about his role in the war being over as she knows he’ll be forced to eventually fight in this war. She’s not happy with herself about this, but attempts to get Sieg to smile. Elsewhere, Shirou tells the Red Masters that the Holy Grail War is over and that as his reward as victor, he will take their Command Spells for himself.

Thoughts/Review

Wow. This is what I get for being busy, then lacking motivation to do more than just sit and stare at my monitor. Fate/Apocrypha 05 ended up being pretty darn good.

Red Faction

Not a ton to discuss here since the Red Faction continues to take a back seat to the Black faction. Still, there are a couple of items of note. First is that Shirou is moving from running the Red Faction, sans Sisigou and Red Saber, to being the sole Master of everyone sans Red Saber. The Red Masters seemed to be in a stupor, so I don’t suppose it will be that difficult for Shirou to accomplish this as a powerful member of the Church.

That said for Shirou to take their Command Spells, he must have massive magical stores. I was thinking he would somehow control the Red Masters to control the Red Servants as the Red Masters would then provide the power for their Servants. Instead, Shirou is taking all of the Command Spells, thus my speculation on his magic reserves. Either that, or he’s about to go dark side and have his Red Servants kill humans for the power they need to survive.

Finally, Sisigou and Red Saber get a cameo. I like that Lord El-Melloi II is apparently the one telling Sisigou to head to Sighisoara. However, there’s a chance this is a trap and Shirou is somehow sending the message in an attempt to have Sisigou killed by Black Assassin, thus giving Shirou a chance to claim Red Saber for himself.

Black Faction

When the Yggdmillennia and their Servants appeared before Ruler, Black Rider, and Sieg, I’m surprised Ruler didn’t comment on how Black Lancer seemed to be running the Black Faction. That aside, it briefly looked like we might see Ruler take on the entire Black Faction, sans Black Rider, over Sieg. Clearly this is a thorn in the side of the Black Faction and since Sieg is around for the long haul, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Black Faction attempts to kidnap him for Black Caster’s plan.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Gordes won’t get the converted Red Berserker. Giving Spartacus to Black Caster as the new Black Berserker 2 has precedence from Fate/stay night where Medea Caster had a Servant. I almost chuckled when the female homunculus bluntly told Gordes the truth about Black Saber Siegfried. I can’t imagine why we’d see Gordes after this.

Black Assassin appears to have gone rogue if she killed her actual Master and is with some woman that she addresses as mom. I’ve no clue who the woman is, but again, we’ve had precedence from Fate/stay night of a Servant killing its Master and choosing a new one. With the Black Faction sending Black Archer and Black Berserker, will they be forced to kill Black Assassin, aka Jack the Ripper. I can see this happening since Black Assassin was concerned about traveling to a location where Servants are.

Finally, Black Rider gets a harsh punishment by being nailed to the wall with a large spike in both hands. I liked that Black Archer came to see him briefly. I found it interesting that Vlad decided that Black Rider’s punishment would be brief.

Ruler

We finally got information about Ruler that was not at all clear to me, though it was to some of you in the know. She confirmed to Sieg that while the Holy Grail summoned her, she was unable to manifest in her body as usual. Thus she was forced to possess a willing French girl, Leticia. Even though is was a willing submission, I liked learning that Ruler is protecting Leticia’s physical body from harm. Knowing Ruler somewhat from Fate/Grand Order, I know her Nobel Phantasm can do this, but I suspect that Ruler is doing something else to protect Leticia.

The question becomes, “Why was she not able to form a body like normal?” I have no information to even begin to speculate on this. As Ruler keeps saying, “Something’s not right with this Holy Grail War.”

Ruler may have again rejected an offer from the Black Faction to join them, but by helping Sieg and knowing that Sieg will play a role in future combat, she is an active participant in this Holy Grail War. Based on the intro of episode 1, she will get involved in actual combat at some point. Not only that, but Ruler lied to Sieg. I think I understand her motives, but if she knows the boy will become active as will she, then I don’t think she’s doing him any favors. But I still like Ruler.

Sieg

I guess Sieg is going to be the MC after five episodes. As an MC, I’m going “ugh!” Seriously, Sisigou and Red Saber were interesting. Some depressed homunculus whom a bunch of Servants took pity on just doesn’t sound like my cup of tea.

Based on playing Fate/Grand Order, I have this sneaking suspicion that Sieg will become a Demi-Servant, much like Mash is in Fate/Grand Order. He already has a piece of Siegfried in him, so he’d likely be a Saber Demi-Servant. The only thing against this theory is that it appears Sieg will get Command Spells, based on stuff I’ve seen and the dream he had in this episode. But, Fate/Apocrypha is violating all the rules, so that may not matter. Or maybe Sieg gets to re-summon Siegfried as his own Servant. That would be a laugh.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I need to catch up, so let me wrap up my review of Fate/Apocrypha 05.

• Hopefully, we’ll see Sisigou and Red Caster (Mordred) more in upcoming episodes. They are still two of the more interesting characters in the series.
• Speaking of those two, wouldn’t it be a hoot if they have to work with the Black Faction to deal with Black Assassin? Fiore and Caules both strike me as honorable people. Black Archer is as well. So I could see them dealing with Sisigou and Red Caster. Sisigou seems smart from a tactical perspective, so a temporary alliance is something I could see him going for, if needed.

In the end, Fate/Apocrypha 05 saw my interest level in the series rise somewhat, though I am concerned about having such a terrible main character in Sieg.