Unlimited Blade Works ending scene

source.

Did Shirou become Archer, despite Rin’s best efforts and the things they’ve been through together? Where was Rin during the after-credits scene?

Don’t worry and stop panicking; they’re both fine.

Apart from his smile at the end, which confirms that Shirou fulfills his lifelong dream to be the hero he’d always wanted to be that Archer fell short of, here’s what Nasu had to say on the matter on his blog:

It’s a scene that you’ll understand if you review it again, but it was easily misunderstood so it’s cut down from the script:

Wasteland scene
“After the ED. Same scene as the initial wasteland.
Shirou walks alone. Exhausted, his feet slow to a halt.
Shirou, lowering his eyes in the face of a sandstorm, notices someone’s footprints (the place where Archer stopped walking).
Shirou takes a breath, and raises his head. His face is one of pretended resolve, but also full of hope.
Shirou resumes walking in that direction, with a firm gait.
The camera stops at Archer’s trail, and the scene ends on Shirou’s back, shrinking in the distance."

(To make this easier to understand, after Shirou leaves, you can also insert Archer watching Shirou that appeared by the footprints… but I think it’d be best if you didn’t)

He’s not wandering around aimlessly, but rather heading towards a distant point.

The scene above is mostly symbolic if Nasu’s script for it is any indication. Though you can take it literally if you want to.

So whether ufotable messed it up or if they were just saving it for the Blu Rays, one thing is clear:  Shirou does not become Archer and in fact surpasses him thanks to Rin, his development in UBW, and the experiences they’ve had together. Shirou does not make a contract with Alaya: seeing what happened to Archer + realizing the flaws behind his ideals will make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes he did. In the end, Shirou has succeeded in realizing his adopted father’s ideal, and of course, fulfilling his own dream of becoming an “ally of justice”. What a really happy ending!

But what happened to Rin after all that talk about being together with Shirou?

Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure she didn’t leave him after boldly declaring her promise to both him and Archer that she’d make sure to set Shirou’s path straight so he wouldn’t become Archer and suffer a lonely life full of regrets.

Their conversation at the end of episode 25 was basically a marriage vow, where both have declared that they would never leave the other behind no matter what. They’re practically committed to each other now, and would more likely than not be hitched already had they been a little older than they are now (in case you’re wondering, they’re at least only 20 in the epilogue).

Given what they’ve both been through together, it would make absolutely zero sense for them to leave the other behind. So Rin's probably either at home (tending to kids hopefully), at the Clocktower like she mentioned, OR if at least eight years have passed since the epilogue, then she’s most likely at Fuyuki City with Lord El Melloi II (Waver Velvet) dismantling the Holy Grail System while Shirou’s on a mission. In any case, she’s just offscreen.

Come on guys, it’s kinda like marriage: just because both parties vow to be together till death do them part, doesn’t mean they literally have to be together all the frickin’ time. They’re not attached to the hip or something like that.

Anyway, hope this clears up any misunderstandings or confusion regarding the after-credits scene. Also, Rin x Shirou FTW!!

Fate/Stay Night: My thoughts on Shirou Emiya

As I've blogged here, Archer is one of my top favorite characters.  But Shirou - his teenaged self - is not really on my list of favorites.  The question is why.

First of all, let me say that Shirou has many great qualities, such as:  kindness, empathy, honesty, frankness, gentleness and a wish that no one would have to go through hell like he did.  He learns to be independent since a very young age (since Kiritsugu traveled a lot and left him at home) and works to support himself since Kiritsugu died.  He chose a part-time job that is physically demanding so that it would help him build his strength.  He lets other people (Rin, Sakura, Illya...) to stay in his house for free.  Some people might say he is too incompetent to be the main character, but I understand the pain he feels when he does not have the power or ability to help those dearest to him.  His Last Stardust song moves me with these lyrics:  

"Kizutsuku no ga sadame da to shite mo, kokoro wa mada iro wo hanatsu
... Kizudarake no garasu no kokoro ga wasurekaketa netsu wo tomosu" 
[ "Even if getting wounded is my fate, my heart will still release colors
... My wounded heart of glass relights the passion that I had started to forget" ].

On the other hands, Shirou has some attributes that I find not likable: First is his lack of self-preservation. He wishes to save everyone but does not value his own life, which would make it a waste of a life that Kiritsugu had saved. He needs to learn how to like himself. His soft-heartedness can be taken advantaged of by just anyone, which in turn can cause troubles for his loved ones.  He does everything that anyone asks of him, and that makes them dependent on him, or be lazy and feel superior. I don't think that's a desirable way to help someone. He needs to stand up for himself more.

Even assuming that Shirou's life is meaningless to himself, is it right to save someone against their will? For example, Saber wanted to fight. Even from Shirou's selfless perspective, dying for Saber would be a stupid thing to do because she's an immortal Heroic Spirit, and Shirou would lose lots of opportunities to help people in the future. And what for? What irks me is that he cares about people's feelings and wishes but when it comes to being selfless, he ends up behaving in a selfish way. He cares more about his ideal than about what other people want. Luckily, he does change that during the series.

Shirou has a good sense of justice; however, he also needs a healthy dose of realism. The way he stubbornly clings to his ideal even at the point when he did not understand what a "superhero" was supposed to mean shows that he blindly followed Kiritsugu's image as a kid who admired his father. He acts selflessly because he has survivor's guilt, feeling that he should dedicate himself to help people. After Archer points out to him the flaws in translating his ideal into reality, I think it would be wise for Shirou to edit his ideal a little to make it practical. But he refuses to do that, keeps clinging onto an ideal that he himself knows is unachievable. Here is my analysis of his ideal and how it is impossible in reality.

Some people say that "Archer and Shirou are the same person".  I disagree.

Archer and Shirou: NOT the same person

I disagree with anyone who says, "Archer and Shirou are the same person" and view them as the same person.

It's important to note that Archer, while being the same identity as Shirou, isn't the same person.

None of us is the same person we were ~20 years ago.

Archer and Shirou had the same starting point but their paths diverge. Shirou in UBW is very unlikely to become Archer.  He has been gaining experiences that Archer did not - thanks to the people he got to interact with and the character growth he had - and vice versa: Archer is a Shirou that's evolved over years of experiences and trauma. Their personalities are so different now that they should not be considered "the same person" anymore.

The 17-year-old Shirou is in love with Rin and probably will for all his life. Archer, however, is not and will not. Likewise, Rin is not in love with Archer because he is not "her Archer".

There's a reason that the law would not hold you accountable for a crime that was committed while you were having a mental illness or dementia.
There's a reason that the law would not hold you accountable for a crime that you committed a number of years ago.

IF your grandfather, in his 90s and suffering from dementia, pointed at a picture on the wall of himself as a six-year-old, he would say, “That’s me!”  He was right. But those two people had nothing in common. Physically, they were vastly different - almost every cell in the six-year-old’s body died decades ago. As far as their personalities - we can agree that they wouldn’t have been friends. And they shared almost no common brain data at all.

But remember - it’s not only about similarity but also about continuity.  As an old man, he knows about himself as an 89-year-old, and that 89-year-old knows a bunch about himself as an 85-year-old, and so on. Therefore, Archer and Shirou are not the same person because Archer - despite being older - does not have access to Shirou's 25-year-old self and so on. And the 80-year-old Shirou does not know about the years that Archer has spent as a Counter Guardian, either.

What most defines us as a person is memories which are shaped by our experiences. We use the word "I" to refer to our history, our past that we have access to. We have memories that link us to who we were in the past, but even our interpretation of those memories change as we change, without even realizing it. Even if for some reason, you lost all of your memories, your body would still have the same DNA that your younger self did. However, you would not be "the same person", the same "I" anymore because you would no longer have access to your past memories.

If you somehow could transfer all your brain data into a computer, then that computer IS you - even if your body died.