How to get into the Fate series

FATE is originally a visual novel (VN) and light novel (LN) series that has  been adapted into manga and anime.   

I suggest watching FATE anime series in this order:

1. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (watch the 2014 TV series by Ufotable Studio, not the movie by Deen Studio): I suggest you start with this one to get familiar with the Fate world first.
2. Fate/Zero 
3. Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel (3 movies) 
4. Fate/Stay Night (2006):  the animation isn't good and the plot isn't faithful to canon. You can watch it or skip it, your choice.

After watching those first 3 series, then you can watch other Fate anime in whatever order you want. So far there are:

• Fate/Grand Order: First Order (movie)
• Fate/Grand Order: Camelot (2021 movies)
• Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia - The Absolute Frontline Against Demonic Beasts (2019 anime series)
• Fate/Grand Order: Solomon (2021 movie)
• Fate/Extra: Last Encore 
• Today's Menu For the Emiya Family (spin-off)
• Lord El-Melloi Case Files
• Fate/Apocrypha
• Carnival Phantasm (parody)

Here is Fate/Zero Light Novel if you're interested in extra dialogues among the characters.

A timeline of how all the Fate projects relate to one another

There are also several other Fate series that have not been animated:

• Fate/Prototype (earliest script)
• Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
• Fate/Extra CCC
• Fate/Extella
• Fate/Grand Order (other Arcs)
• Fate/Unlimited Codes

Fate/Stay Night: Arthuria being a female is no more than a plot device

While women weren't eligible to inherit the throne back then, The Sword of Selection had chosen her, which would be a valid reason for people to accept her reign because they had long accepted that whoever pulled the Sword would be king. Even if people were dubious about her being the person pulling the Sword, she could have just put the sword back like Arthur in Disney's The Sword In the Stone did, let other guys try unsuccessfully first, then pulled it herself right in front of their eyes. Also, everyone in her kingdom totally trusted Merlin's prophecies. Given those conditions, I don't see why (other than plot device) Artoria "had to" hide her gender. Doing so had caused problems for herself and the kingdom.

Morgan - her half-sister - had always vied for the throne and didn't care that she was a woman and ineligible.

Nero didn't hide her gender, either, and her time was 57 AD which far preceded Artoria's time. There had been ancient queens before, during and after Artoria's time.

Even for plot device, Fate doesn't even do it convincingly: "hey, King Arthur was, in fact, a woman pretending to be a man, but we design her wearing a ball gown dress (1) for the sake of appeal and (2) because she needs to be 1 of the waifu in FSN".

Being a fan of a series does not mean I would blindly accept any explanation offered to me regardless of how nonsensical and inconsistent it is.

There are people who will defend everything the franchise presents to them, think that the words of Nasu are absolute. But to me, King Arthur being a female is simply a plot device because Fate/Stay Night needed her to be a waifu.  FSN originally had Arthur as a male but Takeuchi advised Nasu to genderbend Arthur and make FSN an eroge so that the game would sell because the majority of fans were/are young males.

That is all.

Fate Lore: The Legend of King Arthur

1. Legend of King Arthur (not Fate)
2. Merlin (not Fate)

Fate version:

Arthuria was born during the war-torn Dark Ages after Britannia lost its protection from the Roman Empire. During this time, Uther Pendragon was the King of Britain and he had already fathered a daughter (Morgan le Fay).

Merlin, an Human-Incubus Hyrbid and a powerful Magus, had prophesied that their next child would be Uther's successor and Uther believed this. However, when Arthuria was born, Uther despaired as she was born a girl, not a boy. In those times, a King could not make a child that was not a male his successor even if she was fated to one day become a king. Merlin was delighted because the sex of the child had never mattered and he was confident that if Arthuria was separated from the castle until the day of prophecy, it would be proof that she would become king.

At the age of five, Arthuria was entrusted to one of the king's vassals, Sir Ector, who while he did not believe in the prophecy, he did feel the same air from the young Arthuria as he did his king. Arthuria was then adopted and raised with Ector's own son Kay training them both as simple knight apprentices.

Kay could tell that Arthuria would grow up to be a beautiful woman but his father told him to guide her like she was his brother and decided to treat her in that manner, though he did not believe it would be kept secret. Initially, Arthuria was raised under the belief that she and Kay were related by blood but she was later told the truth while growing up. Despite this their relationship did not diminish from the truth, and they still felt they were true siblings.

Arthuria acted as Kay's squire and received training from him while also doing other chores such as pulling along his horse. During their sparring, Arthuria was the greater in terms of swordsmanship however Kay would use "warped reasoning just on the verge of being correct" to make her feel like she had lost despite winning, reasoning like:

"You lose since you threw away your sheath!"
"I'm still alive so don't act like you won!"

While Arthuria was being raised by Ector, Merlin also visited teaching Arthuria and acting as a father figure to her.  He also also revealed Arthuria's gender to Kay making him swear to secrecy.

When Arthuria was 15, the day of prophecy arrived and Merlin prepared Caliburn for the selection of the next king. When the Knights and Lords gathered for the selection of the next king, they expected the selection to be through jousting to select the most superior one to become a king, but they were presented with Caliburn stuck in a stone with the inscription on the hilt reading:

Whosoe'er pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king born of England.

While many knights grabbed the sword trying to follow the command, none was able to pull it out. With no successful attempts, they began the expected jousting to make the selection. At this time, Arthuria was still an apprentice and thus not qualified to joust. She walked to the now deserted stone and reached out for the sword without hesitation.

Before she started grabbing it, Merlin appeared before her to tell her to think things over before taking it. He told her she would no longer be human upon taking the sword, but she had been prepared for the fact that "becoming a king means no longer being human" ever since she was born knowing that a king is someone who kills everyone to protect everyone, having thought about it every night and shuddered until morning came with not a day passing where she did not fear that fact. To Merlin, her response was a nod saying that the fear she has felt would end then Arthuria pulled the sword out effortlessly as per her fate and in that instant, she became something not human. To everyone else there, so long as she acted like a good king, no one would care for her appearance or gender. Taking the sword also had an effect on her body stopping her from aging as such from then on the King would have a body of a 15 year old.

After that Arthuria, Merlin and Kay went through various adventures while training the rightful King of the country while reclaiming the country and the 3 of them formed the Round Table but later was joined by Bedivere and Gawain who along with Kay became the most senior knights.

Morgan le Fay, who was born as the proper, recognized daughter of King Uther and Arthuria's older sister of the same status, in her eyes believed Arthuria received the love and hope of their father that should have been hers, became a witch queen who craved for vengeance. After Merlin taught her so much she became "the wisest woman in the world", Morgan betrayed Merlin away by threatening to torture and kill him. During their adventures, Morgan executed a trap which saw Arthuria lose Caliburn.

After the final battle against her uncle Vortigern, Arthuria claimed her kingdom Camelot and spent 10 years in peace. During this time, Arthuria had to deal with the problem of being able to produce an heir. To help, Merlin used his magecraft to make Arthuria into a pseudo-male capable of producing sperm for an unknown duration of time. During this time, however, Morgan le Fay used her magic to enchant her sister to take some of her sperms. Using her own ovaries, Morgan developed the sperm and have birth to a homunculus clone of her sister, named Mordred.

Arthuria met the daughter of King Leodegrance, Guinevere, and the 2 wedded to make an outward appearance of a "kingdom" in Britain. They even held a grand wedding ceremony that lasted close to 7 days and was celebrated throughout the land. However, it was a marriage out of necessity rather than love, where Arthuria, the "husband", was not a man and the marriage would never be consummated.

During this time, Mordred was raised by Morgan to believe it was her right defeat the King and inherit the throne. Through her mother's recommendations and a presentation of her own swordsmanship, was able to be counted as one of the Knights of the Round Table. Despite her mother's obsessive hatred for Arthuria, Mordred never hated Arthuria yet idealized her as the perfect king. She later learned of her heritage of being Arthuria's "son" and was happy in learning that she shared the same blood as the king she idolized, however Mordred also felt ashamed of her twisted birth.

As Arthuria continued to be king, she kept to the oath that a king is not human and that one cannot protect the people with human emotions. Never narrowing her eyes in grief while on the throne and settling every problem while working hard in government affairs, Arthuria managed to balance the country without any deviations, and punished people without a single mistake. This however lead one of her Knight, Sir Tristan, to leave Camelot saying:

The King does not understand how others feel.

Hearing this, Lancelot wished to lessen the burden for his King, a wish that Guinevere also held. While they conversed with each other, they came to recognize each other as friends and it was then that Lancelot began to fall for Guinevere. It was through Guinevere that he learned of Arthuria being a woman and the true meaning to Guinevere's marriage to her.

At some point in time, Mordred approached Arthuria about her identity and her "son" but rather getting the acceptance she had hoped for Arthuria rejected her stating that while Mordred was her child born from her and Morgan's plotting, she could not recognize Mordred as her "son" or give her the Throne. Mordred believed this was because Arthuria hated Morgan and no matter what she did, the moment she was born from Morgan, she was a dirty child and the shame of her birth began to become hatred.

Lancelot and Guinevere began to have an affair and this was discovered by Agravain, one of Arthuria's Knights, and an assassin hired by Morgan whom he hated. Agravain was loyal to the King, however, he hated women due to Morgan and when he uncovered the affair, he also learned of Arthuria's true gender. He tried to threaten Guinevere with the fact of her affair but failed. Before his death and seeing Mordred's growing hatred (while probably not knowing Mordred was a woman as well), he revealed the affair to her who used it to sow mistrust in the Knights of the Round Table and destroying the prestige of the King in the eyes of the people.

When Arthuria learned of the affair, she did not blame anyone but rather understood knowing Guinevere's and Lancelot's sacrifice. However, still acting in the capacity of a king and this times adultery was a serious crime, Arthuria discarded her emotions and had Guinevere executed. Lancelot tried to save her, killing several of his fellow knights including Gawain's brothers, Gareth and Gaheris, but ultimately failed and fled to his homeland of France.

When Arthuria left for the Rome expedition, Mordred became the leader of the rebellion representing the national discontent towards the King. When Arthuria returned, Mordred raged and proclaimed her hatred of the king and that only she was fit for the throne. The truth was that she only wanted to be accepted by Arthuria as her "son". This sparked the civil war that would later claim their lives.

Shortly before the final battle of Camlann Avalon, the sheath to Excalibur that gave Arthuria immortality, was stolen due to the machinations of Morgan le Fay. Lancelot, even after being excommunicated, wanted to participate in the Battle of Camlann to serve his King but Gawain hostilely rejected him.

Merlin left Arthuria before the final battle because he claimed that an evil witch (Morgan? Lady of the Lake?) tried to murder him so he fled to the Reverse Side of the World and thus the land of Avalon where he thought the witch couldn't reach him; however, the gate he encountered was a trap which created a sealing "tower" called the "Garden of Avalon", and having transcended death, is trapped for all eternity.

During their final battle, Mordred hated the "Son of Morgan" but Arthuria replied: "Not once did I despise you. There was only one reason I would not give you the throne. You didn't have the capacity of a King."

In their battle, Mordred was fatally wounded by Rhongomyniad but because of a curse on her, still swung her sword and fatally wounded Arturia.

Arthuria's dying body was escorted to a holy isle by Sir Bedivere where she ordered a grieving knight to dispose of Excalibur by throwing it back to the Lady of the Lake, an order he failed twice believing that the moment Excalibur was returned to Vivian, Arthuria would die.

In Bedivere's absence, she reflected on her personal failures, regretting her life as king. Before her last breath, she appealed to the world; in exchange for services as a Heroic Spirit, she asked to be given an opportunity seek the Holy Grail to save her country.

source

Favorite character: Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is a character that I went from dislike to like as I went through the Fate series. I initially disliked him when I got into FATE starting with Unlimited Blade Works and Fate 2006.  Then I realized that Gilgamesh FSN version is just where the author (Nasu) inserted a quick villain to be an "anti-Shirou" device, no more and no less - anyone could fill that role - whereas his character is very well-developed in is character is very well-developed in Fate/Zero (by Urobuchi) and subsequent works where we can see his reasoning, his legend (which is one of the coolest) and his dynamics with other characters. Even his interest in Arthuria in Fate/Zero has some basis in ideologies rather than FSN's "yo, I'm just here to be the MC's love rival".

If I have to say anything about Gilgamesh, it's that he's defiantly got a personality. His backstory and complexity fascinate me despite the fact that I don't normally like arrogant people. Gilgamesh in his younger years was never "good" in a Disney sense, but not evil, either.

An interesting "grey" character is much better than a boring hero. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest hero story of mankind where the MC has more character development than most fictions nowadays. Fate/Zero is just a glimpse into that. There are also F/E CCC, Extella and Babylonia, which together give us a complete picture of who he is.

Guardian of Humanity

All of Gilgamesh versions would die for humanity.

"At first I acknowledged the gods and protected humans. When my childhood ended, I hated the gods and favored humans."

Born from a goddess and a human king, Gilgamesh was created by the gods to connect humanity closer to them. However, he dislikes past kings because they were god-fearing weaklings in his eyes, and he chose to depart from the gods so that humanity could thrive. And his rule, with him rejecting the gods, began the Age of Mankind!  

The protection of gods is no longer needed in the world of man. As proof, I built a fortress, and you all answered my call. I know now, with certainty, that it was no mistake! And now this final trial will test it, and us, to the utmost. 

Now is the time to deny the primordial gods and begin the Age of Man! Mind yourselves, my elite warriors! This is the battle for true separation from the gods! Give your lives to me, the king! Pass on the glory that is Uruk to generations to come, to the last man!

~ Gilgamesh's declaration to Uruk as Tiamat approaches

In UBW, Gilgamesh wasn't trying to destroy humanity; he's trying to save it. He's willing to make himself a villain as long as it means humanity's improvement in the long term. While he floated through the Grail's mud at the end of Fate/Zero, it showed him visions of all of humanity's worst moments. Gilgamesh loves humanity's potential and was already expecting us to expand to the stars in his vision but he found that we grew complacent instead. For he who thinks lives are worthy only if they strive to live their hardest, seeing modern humans' complacency compared to the people in his kingdom (which is described in Babylonia where people remained steadfast and unbroken before the daily assaults of deities) made him feel disgusted. And being given a physical body by the Grail, Gilgamesh felt that he had the responsibility to steer humanity's path.

I think that his thinking was, to some extent, correct:  comparing Babylon in ~2600BC vs. the Middle East today, and ancient Egypt vs. today's Egypt,... I can't help but wondering: After thousands of years, humanity should be much much better than that, right...?  As another fan pointed out: "Gilgamesh's end-goal of 'purging' through Angra Mainyu (aka: All the World's Evil) was "fair" from his point of view: It's 6 billion humans vs. 6 billion evils born from themselves. And it made sense to him that humanity should be able to defeat its own evils". So he tried to fix it by kick-starting a Darwinism process with himself as our immortal leader to guide us - though his method in UBW was bad. But then, being an "Ally of Justice" doesn't mean being chivalrous or altruistic. Like EMIYA who has to do a lot of killings as a Counter Guardian to 'save' humanity, what Gilgamesh tried to do is what Counter Guardians do on a larger scale.

While Gilgamesh does not like individual humans, he loves humanity as a whole. Like Merlin, he doesn't like individual humans but the stories, the legacy, the achievement of humanity. He works his people very hard because he thinks that lives are worthy only if they strive to live to the fullest. He challenged people to grow because he thought protection could make them complacent and stagnant. I do not agree with this line of thinking. (But as we can see in F/E CCC, he enjoyed pushing Hakuno because he wanted "to see the story of the human Hakuno"). At the same time when people were threatened by something huge (eg, Humbaba, Altera, the Shadow, Tiamat,...), he went to fight them to protect humans.

An Epic Journey

Coming face-to-face with his own mortality set him on a quest for immortality, only to fail to gain it and eventually, he accepted that he would someday die. To Gilgamesh, it's more than the fear of death itself: "The despair that he felt was because he saw death as an end of his duty as the observer of humanity: in order to fulfill his mission completely, he wanted to observe humanity's path until its very end."

Gilgamesh wanted to escape human limitations, to get answers to questions not available to his contemporaries, and most importantly, he wanted to overcome mortality both for himself and mankind. At the end, he came to term with his limitations as a human. This completed his journey, achieving the final crucial step: By pushing himself past disappointment and grief and focusing on the needs of his people, Gilgamesh triumphed and became a nobler sort of hero. Is he a role model? No. But he can serve as a symbol for an aspect of humanity, of growing past mistakes and accepting limitations. In the end, Gilgamesh is considered a hero not just for his incredible deeds but for coming to understand and accept his true nature.

• One of Gilgamesh's achievements was the construction of the city walls of Uruk to defend his people from enemies. 
• Gilgamesh designed and beautifully remodeled the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. 
• Uruk's flourishment speaks for itself.
• His departure from gods (despite his mother being a goddess) enabled humanity to stand on its own feet. This feat alone qualifies him as Best King in my standard.
• He protected humanity against superthreats like Humbaba.
• His wish to escape human limitations, to get answers to questions not available to his contemporaries and to overcome mortality. 
• He proclaims the worldwide glory of "He Who Saw the Deep", who shall be remembered for his wisdom, who disclosed a secret and who brought back reports of what had been before the Deluge.  
• His path was long and difficult, a road less traveled, a way of many trials and tribulations. He nevertheless completed the journey and became wiser than any on Earth, and he engraved what he had learnt on a stela for the sake of posterity. 
• He's a true renaissance man who embraced humanity advancements. For example, the future he wants to for humanity is one in which we'll emigrate to other planets and explore the universe, which is pretty awesome! Tell me how many modern leaders even have this on their mind?!

Gilgamesh wants to see exceptional things, especially people who are trying to do impossible things and have the abilities to come very close to obtaining these dreams, those who defy gods/destiny, those who never give up no matter what.

This character has so much depth and complexity that I can't put all into words.  Easily 1 of the top 3 in the Fate franchise. I take Fate/Zero Gilgamesh as canon and much closer to the complexity of his legend. Urobuchi says that he tried his best to give more dimensions to Gilgamesh but "didn't quite succeed" because he had to keep his character somewhat close to FSN. In my eyes, he has succeeded, since Fate/Zero characterization of him has set the precedent for his subsequent installments in CCC and Babylonia. 

These other instances illustrate the reasons why I came to appreciate this character:

Banquet of Kings scene - see this entry for my take on this brilliant scene.

Then:

Kirei talk with Gilgamesh (part 1)
Kirei talk with Gilgamesh (part 2)

Kirei's talks with Gilgamesh felt like therapy sessions for Kirei. Gilgamesh's read on humans is remarkable. As a little example, he could instantly tell when Kirei deliberately withheld information and lied to him. Kirei was an enigma, even to himself, and that fascinated Gilgamesh. Kirei was selected by the Grail because he had a wish worthy of it, yet he did not even know what that wish was. He did not even know what pleasure was, and just blindly believed it to be a sin as decreed by his religious faith. He was a man who was unlike others yet performed outside of his nature for he was instructed to do so.  Gilgamesh had quite the plaything in front of him to try to unwrap and enlighten. By having Kirei undertake the exercise of learning the wishes of the other Masters, Gilgamesh was able to pick up on what Kirei unconsciously was drawn to the most: the plight that Kariya Matou was suffering in his "foolhardy" attempt to save Sakura. (If you paid attention closely when Kirei was talking about Kariya, you see that he smiled for the first time in the series). As Gil pointed out to him, 'it is possible to find pleasure in suffering and tragedy'. Kirei quickly rejected the thought as inhumane and a sin, and thus something he, as a member of the Church, should reject. Yet the Grail granted him new Command Seals. Thus, with the aid of Gilgamesh's prodding, started the path of Kirei finding his own (albeit twisted) happiness, freed from being Tokiomi's minion...

This scene shows how Gilgamesh is not only a fighter or an experienced king, but a man. He has seen much of what the world has to offer and learned much in the process. According to him, one should seek pleasure instead of drowning in hypocrisy. I can’t really put it any better: This scene shows the audience how wise Gilgamesh is! (when his ego isn't talking). He taught Kirei to question doctrines. He didn't mind what Kirei chose, as long as it's his own choice. [ Not sure if I agree with the "do whatever you want as long as it pleases you" line of thought - it makes me THINK -- this is why Fate/Zero is brilliant! ]. Gilgamesh likes it when people are honest. He is also self-aware.  As an example, you can totally say he's a tyrant and an asshole to his face and he will laugh and praise your honesty (eg, Andersen, in contrast to the pretentious majority on this planet who would 100% get mad if you told them they were fat/short/thot/etc).  Everyone whom he has taken a liking to are those who never kiss up to him. He likes Kirei, Iskandar and in a terrible way, he "likes" Saber as well. There are 3 characters in the series that Gil uses the more friendly "omae" for: Enkidu, Kirei and sometimes Saber. Iskandar, he calls "sonata" which is very respectful and he only uses it for him. None of these people ever had to work to make him like them. In fact, Kirei spends most of F/Z trying to ignore and insult him. Despite this, Gil is barely ever rude to him and only threatens him once: he says if he ever tires of Kirei, he'll kill him, but considering they spend the next decade together, it just enforces how much he likes him.

"'All the evils in the world'? Bring thrice as much if you want to taint me!"

How Gilgamesh overcame All the World's Evil when he was bathed in the Grail's mud in Fate/Zero (excerpt from the Light Novel):

—A vortex started up. Sin, the evil in this world, circulated and multiplied and chained and changed as it whirled into a vortex. Gluttony lust greed depression wrath sloth hypocrisy pride envy, over and over again encroaching and sprouting, whirling into the vortex.

The crime of rebellion, the crime of intimidation, the crime of adultery, the crime of destruction, the seven cardinal sins, the crime of coercion, .............. all crimes should be assessed and sentenced to capital punishment or severe punishment. Refuse and deny all hatred. Kill kill kill. It is absolutely forbidden. Kill kill kill. He will absolutely not agree. Ah it is really boring to have only this one thought—

“—!?”

The vortex of sound that was the curse now circled. There existed something here that should not exist; from within the barrage of denying curses, a voice cried out, 

"Yes!"

Impossible. Affirmations and correctness did not exist within this cursed vortex of hatred. Because everything had determined that everything was ugly and hateful, this word could not appear here—But that voice announced again clearly, 

“That is right.”

That is right. The world was originally already like this. Since the truth has been put before your eyes, why do you sigh? Why are you surprised?

“—!?”

The voice of the curse asked, "What was right? Who was there to acknowledge it? Who was there to permit it? And who was to bear the burden of sin?"

Facing the bombshell tossed from the darkness—in reply, a resounding and concrete sneer:  "A foolish question. That goes without asking. The King will acknowledge it; the King will permit it. The King will bear the burden of the entire world."

“—!?”

The mud asked, "What is a king?"  But at the same time it asked the question, it realized it had contradicted itself. In this place that strictly did not allow the existence of entities, the mud had admitted that there was someone else within it. Some strange foreign object that could not exist had appeared here. That was—King—the presence of an absolute controller, as well as one without equal.

"His name was—King of Heroes, Gilgamesh."

“That is I!”

The black mud cracked and dispersed away, leaving flying droplets. The foreign object it could not digest even by mobilizing all its hatred appeared from within the black mud. Within the burning ruins, he once again stood upon the ground. The perfect, golden-proportioned body was no longer the spirit form that it had taken during its time as a Servant, but a true flesh body. The black mud that denied all life crystallized the impurity within itself and then abandoned it, with the result that a certain Heroic Spirit had realized his wish of obtaining a corporeal body and returning to this world.

Even standing right amid a burning hell, the majesty emanating from the body of the king made the surrounding flames afraid to come close. Gilgamesh generously bared his naked statue-like body, sneering impatiently.

Even though he felt it to be very troublesome, he could not refuse to meet battle since this was the challenge issued to him by the gods. Gilgamesh began to laugh wryly again at his status as the King of Heroes.

Also, Kirei's revival:

"The black mud which had been unable to corrupt Archer followed the path of the mana supply that had formerly linked Archer to his Master, arrived at Kotomine Kirei’s physical body and became the source of a life-force supply that substituted for a heart". Thus had Kirei revived.

Why did the mud spit Gilgamesh back out?  Because the Grail could not corrupt him even after utilizing all of its hatred. Servants are normally corrupted upon contact with the Grail, but Gilgamesh is incorruptible due to his powerful ego that can stave back the mental pollution. The anime makes it look like "being spit out of the mud" was no big deal, but this is one scene I hate Ufotable for leaving out. It's one of the reasons Gilgamesh is the most badass King - who else but he could emerge from that, even better than before?  

"I have been bearing the burden of humanity from the beginning of time".  He doesn't "break" under such burden and we all know that he will never "break". Other instances that demonstrate his strength were when his only friend died and then when his search for immortality failed, he turned pain into character growth. I like how he can stand up to everything. Strength of mind, strength of body, courage and intellect - Is there anyone else more fitting to be a King of All?

Babylonia Arc - Grand Order

It is here that Gilgamesh's good qualities really shine: He fully commits to the betterment of his kingdom and genuinely cares for his subjects. In turn, he is rewarded with their loyalty and love even in the face of destruction. He also shows a better degree of patience and tolerance when first meeting Gudao and co., testing their value by having them first perform menial tasks. Also, his interaction with Ishtarin makes for comedy gold! This Gilgamesh here is Fate/Zero Gilgamesh who is tempered and wise - the older version of him after he returned from his long quest for immortality - and rules over Uruk with more wisdom. He no longer considers Ea his greatest treasure, but the people of Uruk themselves (he gave away most weapons in his treasury to his people). This Gilgamesh is the one who has reached the depth of mankind's wisdom and has returned to instruct mankind.  However, it's not a 180° change of character - he still retains a lot of arrogance.  [ I actually like that it isn't a complete 180° change because that wouldn't be interesting anymore - especially when he brings comedy to many scenes that he's in ].  In short, older Gilgamesh is "He Who Saw the Deep", he who leads the present to the future.


Addendum: 

1. The view on Immortality in Fate (concerning Gilgamesh)
2. In Fate/Strange Fake, Gilgamesh acts as a mentor to his little Master, telling her that "children eyes should be shining with potentials and wonders" because he sees through it that the adults are using her as a figurehead, so he tells her to follow her own path, and shows her that is more in life than duty and sacrifice.  One look at this tells me that Fate/Strange Fake intends to do the Sesshomaru-Rin moe-moe relationship type with Gilgamesh-Tine :P
3. In Fate/Extra CCC, Gilgamesh learns to like Hakuno; although he scolds him from time to time, he dispenses wisdom along the way and saves his life by breaking the rule at the end.
4. In Fate/Extella, Gilgamesh offers himself as "second in command", pretending it's to honor his father's promise when he's just there to watch out for Hakuno.
5. Even in Fate/Zero, he's nice to Iskandar and Kirei, offers a bit of wisdom to Saber (by telling her she's not wrong and to continue on her path), and spares Waver out of admiration for his loyalty (while other Masters don't spare each other).
6. Gilgamesh subreddit :D

[ To be updated ]

Fate/Zero vs. Fate/Stay Night

I have written plethorically on FSN especially the UBW route that is my favorite.  And before anybody gets mad: I have read all FSN VN. I simply acknowledge that while FSN is excellent, Fate/Zero is much better.

I just rewatched Fate/Zero, and... I was blown away just like the first time I had watched it.

Fate/Zero panders to no one, has no tropes or high-school romance. 

FSN is full of fanservice and pandering tropes:

• Fate route:  the trope of "the main villain obsessing over the heroine in a chase-and-reject circle".
• UBW route: the trope of "the highschool underdog can emerge as a hero without any absurd amount of work/sacrifices". 
• HF route: the trope of yandere girl hate-fucking the world just because "no one loves me!!!" + femme fatale "I'll kill you so that we can be together forever". 

The FSN characters originally belong to Nasu, but Urobuchi took them and made them much more interesting. Because of this, F/Z features an extremely strong cast. All of the characters are strong, yet none of them gets nerfed or overshadowed by the others. Each and every one of their personalities gets to shine - all in ONE route! 

The brilliance of F/Z is that there is no clear line between good and evil. No character in the series is 100% good, and no one (except Ryuu) is full-blown evil. F/Z also did a really good job making sure that each and every Master and Servant had their own memorable moment in the spotlight.

I love Fate/Zero because of the adult battles, the stratagems and the ideologies. It is not only a battle of strengths but also a battle of wits and philosophies. And if you delve into each of them, they all have something that makes you think seriously about. I love the fact that there's no MC and all the sides are written so well that whichever side's perspective you look from, you'll find it interesting.

Fate/Zero has a dark, no-kidding-around gritty and gloomy atmosphere and the characters had to go through so much shit to reach a destination that's also shit. It keeps the audience on edge to see what'll happen next.

CHARACTERS: 

All F/Z Servants are insane, and the Masters are strategic as fuck.  It's not about strength but about the characterization. FSN Rider got nothing on F/Z Rider.  FSN Caster simply cannot compare to F/Z Caster.  FSN and F/Z Lancers and Archers are equally interesting. UBW Assassin is boring as fuck. HF Assassin is more interesting than F/Z Assassin. 

All of the battles in F/Z are epic + perfect coordination between Masters and Servants (even when it shows conflicts like the Tokiomi-Gilgamesh relationship)!  When the Servants are fighting, the Masters are killing each other. And the Servants more often than not receive tactical instructions from their Masters about what to do.

FSN Servants are strong, too, but the Masters are grossly incompetent - no strategy whatsoever.  I feel that the FSN Masters are extremely lucky that their opponents happen to be more or less at their levels. If only they had to fight with F/Z Masters, they'd be utterly owned. Rin is hailed as a "prodigy mage" but hardly does anything. Even Waver is more competent than most of the FSN Masters.

FSN Shirou got that classic shounen power boost; all 3 heroines he encounters end up becoming a pseudo-harem because he's such a noble and nice guy.

Some characters in FSN have the potential to be extremely interesting - such as Lancer Cu, Gilgamesh, Kuzuki - but FSN fails to develop them.  FSN makes Gilgamesh a one-dimensional villain as boring as he could be.  Lancer gets extremely limited screen time.  

PLOTS:

I think each has its own appeal; their foci are just very different. Both do focus on Master-Servant relationships. F/Z focuses on battles; FSN focuses on romance and Shirou's development.  

F/Z battles are perfectly animated (like any other Fate series adapted by Ufotable).  It also doesn't forget to focus on the intricate relationships among characters.  It's both EPIC and heartwarming!  Masterpiece 10/10.

F/Z truly feels like a life-or-death battle royale.  FSN feels like a teenager playground.   

In summary:

The only Servants I respect in FSN are Lancer Cu and Archer EMIYA. 

My view on Saber's kingship

I don't disagree with Saber's idea of kingship. I even think that it's ok to have regrets. But I disagree with her wish to go back and redo things, only because her people - the Anglo Saxons - had been pushed out by other tribes.

Her view is the unrealistic and naive view.

Britain nowadays is quite successful.  [ Success = measured by Human Development Index, GDP per capita, scientific-technological advancements, competent non-oppressive government ].

It shouldn't matter who is leading Britain, as long as it is a prosperous and one of the best countries nowadays.

The struggles between ethnic groups have always been stupid to no end because none has the vision to realize that they are all citizens of planet Earth. Yes, there was oppression and failure of some individual groups but the end-result turns out good (as opposed to the communist and sharia countries that are experiencing the bad result of the "wrong groups" winning). For Britain, does it mean that the losers should go back and rewrite the past just for the sake of being in control? Fuck no.

1. Because the present isn't a failure in any sense.
2. Doing that would change entire world's history. 
3. In case of Saber, she doesn't ask if today's humans would want a different leader.
4. There's no guarantee that the future they would bring would be as good as it is today.

Britain managed to leave huge global influences, and English is an international language nowadays. No other country can say the same.

Too bad her people were pushed out. But what comes? The future isn't worse because of it.

"I want to return Britain to glory."

"Britain is already glorious. What are you talking about?" When something is working, don't change it.

Saber is short-sighted for being fixated on the past instead of the present.  She failed to see that a kingdom divided against itself (feuding among the Knights of the Round Table) would inevitably fall or even that a perfectly united kingdom could never exist in the first place.

The time to try was in the past. Now wishing to undo the prosperous present to save the past is a personal wish, because the future could change for the worse and she doesn't think or care about that. The only time when it's ever ok to redo is when the present is doing so badly due to a particular past event and if you could go back to the turning point to change it (like what Chaldea does).

Did Saber ask whether her people and today's people would want to redo anything - even if it wouldn't change the entire world's history? She was the people's chosen king. Would they be happy with someone else? This is the point that Iskandar brought up: it would be an insult to the people in both past and present to redo especially when the present is doing well.

This is not just her people but humanity's advancement as a whole. Does Saber care about how her wish - if it came to fruition - would change the future? She cares about HER people but does she care about humanity as a whole and where it's heading? Is WHO is leading more important than WHAT they can do? Is this group superiority thinking?

This whole thing proves that her kingship belonged in the past and should not be meddling with the present day because she doesn't have a future vision.

Fate/Stay Night: Shirou's plot armor

One cannot talk about "plot holes" without mentioning the plot armor that Fate/Stay Night gives Shirou.  First, no, I am not salty because I'm a Gilgamesh fan.  Hell, I have hated this plot armor ever since I've watched UBW (without having watched any other Fate series prior) and before I became a Gil fan.

1.  Shirou vs. Gilgamesh fight:

The story can go on and on about how "Shirou has absorbed Archer's skills" and "Gilgamesh lets his pride get in the way" all it wants.  It would be believable if the story let Archer win against Gilgamesh, but not Shirou.  And here's why:

• Even Archer would have a bit of trouble defeating Gilgamesh.  Shirou - who would lose to Archer in a fair fight (reminder: in his fight with Archer, Archer let him win) - should in no way defeat Gilgamesh. Shirou has gained UBW but his agility and skills were lacking; he was someone who didn't even know how to sword-fight 2 weeks ago. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh is famous for many forms of combat, battled gods and demons in his life, can manually use all the weapons in his GoB, single-handedly supplied several Servants at once while protecting Uruk with a magical barrier. Yet FSN dares use the excuse that "Gilgamesh is a king, not a warrior" (Hello, he is both!) for why a high-schooler would defeat him in swordfight. 
• Gilgamesh isn't an A-rank melee combatant. But GARcher himself isn't an A-rank warrior at melee combat, either.
  Gilgamesh < Lancer in melee combat.
  GARcher < Lancer in melee combat.
  Shirou < GARcher.
• While UBW is a decent counter to Gate of Babylon, Shirou can't realistically physically keep up with Gil due to Gil being a demigod and Shirou being a human.
• Gilgamesh had 2 perfect chances to kill Shirou and co. when they were face to face before the showdown:  in the first instance: Shinji stepped in (as if Shinji had any importance to him);  the second instance, Gilgamesh has opened a dozen Gates of Babylon about to launch but the story doesn't forget to have Rin threaten to shoot Shinji as if she were a threat. Gilgamesh himself said that even if she killed Shinji, it'd be no problem to him. Yet he went, 'Ahhh, I've opened a bunch of GoB but I'll withdraw for now 'cuz I don't want dust on my clothes' - haha... what a ridiculous reason! This is the person who had crawled in dust to battle many things in his life. Not to mention that retreating is totally not Gilgamesh's style.  
• UBW itself is a huge mana cost, while GoB costs much less mana and has the most powerful weapons in the universe.
• The weapons projected by Shirou are B-rank so they shouldn't be able to shatter Gilgamesh's A-rank weapons. It's only wistful thinking that UBW can match GoB:  GARcher, while having Rin as a Master, could only take half of Heracles' lives and died in the process. Gilgamesh, while having a crappy Master like Kirei, took all of Heracles' lives effortlessly.  
• Even if Gil didn't want to use Ea, he has numerous magical weapons in his GoB. Yet he only used swords against Shirou. Shirou is able to trace things that aren't swords but it's much more costly for him. Gilgamesh could have easily overwhelmed him with things that Shirou can't replicate repeatedly or replicate at all. 
• The number of times you see Gilgamesh shooting hundreds of weapons from his GoB and suddenly he couldn't hit Shirou.
• The story never shows Gilgamesh in his golden armor, even in his fight with Heracles, because it has to make him look as vulnerable as possible.

2.  Shirou vs. Kirei fight:

Shirou is also shielded heavily by plot armor in his fight with Kirei.  Did you see Kirei vs. Kiritsugu fight in Fate/Zero?  That man fought like a demigod against Kiritsugu - who was an experienced assassin and well-versed in the defense art himself, who used Double and Triple Accel and still couldn't "get" Kirei. Shirou is a lesser mage and a lesser fighter than Kiritsugu, is simply no match for Kirei.

This is a pretty typical hero's journey BS where the protagonist wins by plot armor and a lot of dumb luck.

Fate/Stay Night: Ufotable vs. Visual Novel

Let me sing my praises to UFOTABLE - for doing a phenomenal job adapting the Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works visual novels (VN) into two anime series!  The GLORIOUS artwork, animation and soundtracks easily put them among the top 5 anime series in this decade!

Fate/Zero set the bar for animation in a TV series, and Unlimited Blade Works exceeded it!

I must say, watching Ufotable's adaptation is much more satisfying than reading the VN, because I get to see the most fantastic, epic, eye-gasmic battles that one can ever see in the anime world.  I also get to see the characters' movements and interactions - which I can only imagine in my head when reading the VN.  I also am extremely pleased to see that Ufotable's anime adaptation stays faithful to the original VN work! 

Seeing on screen what I remember from the VN is truly a treat to behold. The backgrounds and characters are absolutely stunning. All the fight scenes are so beautifully choreographed and when the deciding blow occurs, you can almost feel what the loser is feeling. There is real weight to the fights due to how great the animation and artstyle are conveying the conflicts. This is a real stand-out feature for me.

Although all internal monologues are cut out, the anime - through its amazing animation - successfully conveys all the subtleties in the ways the characters interact and fight.  [ For instance: the farewell scene between Archer and Rin was done perfectly in the anime:  The scene is only 2-minute long, and no description of the characters' inner thoughts and feelings are given, but it successfully conveys all the emotional subtleties of this scene.  Here's the scene in the VN for comparison. ]

There is no other company that I would entrust this franchise to.  Ufotable + Fate = dream team.  I am looking forward to Ufotable's adaption of Fate/Stay Night: Heaven's Feel which are coming in 3 movies.  I have high hope that they will adapt Fate/Hollow Ataraxia as well.

On the other hand:
The VN is the place to go for clarifications and to gain a better understanding of the characters, since a lot of dialogues and internal monologues are cut out of the anime.

One thing I disapprove of Ufotable is its censorship of sex scenes. When I first watched UBW, I just thought that the "magic circuit transfer" scene between Rin and Shirou was an awkward scene ("Rin just took off her sweater... what's she so upset about? It's not like she was naked or even just wearing a bra. She still had a shirt on!") - until I found out that it was supposed to be a sex scene. In the VN, this was not just mana transfer between these two; they wanted to actually have sex because they had feelings for each other. How the characters react to the initial request of "mana transfer" is also part of their characterizations. Why did they not make the sex scenes like that in Parasyte, for example, just briefly, and the audience will understand that it's a sex scene? I don't need to see the explicit details. I only need them to show that these characters (who have feelings for each other) had an intimate moment.

My Love-hate Relationship with Fate/Stay Night

LOVE:

• FSN's strength is characterizations: Each character has a unique design and unique abilities.

• Interesting magical abilities.

• Some really interesting characters that should have got more screen times (eg, Cu, EMIYA, Iskandar)

• A carefully thought-out plot showing how "fates" intertwine from events in Fate/Zero to UBW.

• Ufotable's unbeatable artwork + animation!


HATE:

Trying *too hard* to appeal to viewers, and that consists of:

• Gender-bending, fanservice (especially F/GO and F/Prillya)

• The typical harem trope with 3 types of girls: the flat chested, the medium-sized chest and the E-cups. The flat- or medium-chested girl tends to be assertive and the big-chested girl tends to be shy.

• Making Illya a loli, because the story really needs her to be a loli  /sarcasm.

• All of the main girls go for the MC. No girl ever goes for the grown men in FSN, not even in Hollow Ataraxia because god forbids a potential waifu to show interest in anyone else.

• Japanese "morality": 'Listen, although you're 17 years old, you shall not bring a girl home' without the female in the house getting jealous/territorial and proceeding to give you a lecture on morality.

• Saber and Shirou are given too much spotlight. Ok, I know they are the main characters of FSN, but is it necessary that 4 of the 6 fights in HF part 1 be given to Saber? UBW is not her route but you see her in most of the scenes nonetheless. Shirou is always given the final fights in all routes - like how Sailor Moon is always the one to save the day in every final battle in SM anime. I'd prefer the Servants playing a more active part.

• Romance in general is not very well done. There's either something missing or not right in all 3 romances in FSN. I think this can be overlooked when romance isn't the main focus in a particular route.

• The soap drama that is most of Heaven's Feel what tries too hard to guilt-trip viewers into liking the heroine. While I enjoy the dark plot and the fights in HF, the romance consists romantic tropes such as asking your love interest cheesy questions like, "Am I dirty?", "If I become a bad person, will you forgive me?", and the infamous, "I'll kill you [Shirou], then you'll be with me forever" (an extreme version of the failure in thinking that many people seem to have that they find killing your lover to seek "eternity" to be romantic).

• the damsel-in-distress proceeding to hatefuck the world trope.

Fate/Stay Night: Archer's ideal

Background:  When Shirou was alive, he made a contract with The World to become a Counter Guardian (CG) in exchange for power to save more people. The World - aka: the Counter Force Alaya - is a Defense Force that prevents any man-made threats that would cause humans to be eradicated by themselves. As Archer explained, he has been sent to many different eras in the past, present and future to stop and clean up the messes that humans have made. What this means is that he gets dispatched to situations where mankind is destroying itself and stops it by killing the people within a certain area, generally after they've already done their damage. He was essentially fooled by the Counter Force (and himself), giving up his life to pursue the impossible goal of saving everybody.

When one becomes a Heroic Spirit or a Counter Guardian, his existence is outside of time and space.  This is why, even if his past self dies, he won't be affected.

He never received anything for his innumerable times helping out humanity, which caused him to “embrace” the landscape of his Reality Marble: barren and filled with painful reminders of violent actions. His disillusionment started when he realized that although “he made lots of people happy,” the "reward" he received wasn’t his own happiness but rather “the fate of being exploited as a Guardian even after his death.”

Now, here is something that the anime does not explain:  the real work of Counter Guardians:  What we should know is that CGs don't empower people at all. They do not make efforts to prevent disasters, either.  They "clean up".  For example, if an evil overlord appeared in Japan, he could destroy the world, but CGs would only come after he had done some damage, then they would not only kill him but nuke all of Japan. They don't "save" people; they kill and destroy everything and everyone within a certain range of the disaster to prevent it from affecting the rest of the world.  In summary, the Counter Force will summon a Counter Guardian, who will kill everyone involved, including the failed protagonists and random bystanders in the way.  [ I believe that they should've added this information to the anime because it changes how we see Archer ].

If you want to save everyone but do not value your own life, then you're essentially exempting yourself from what you expect of others (in this case, being saved) and that is self-righteous hypocrisy. This applies even more so if someone had saved your life because you're essentially throwing away their act of saving you but you expect everyone to accept your act of saving them. The hypocrisy comes from the fact that he wants to save everyone yet he can't save himself.

If you don't want anyone around you to cry anymore, then what would you do about rapists, murderers, mafia or governments who harm other people? Would you not try to fight them in order to protect the innocent? If you want a world where everyone is happy, then you have to eliminate those who go against it in order to protect that Utopia. You more often than not have to harm in order to rescue. Considering human nature, such situations will arise an infinite number of times and the result will be that you would have to become a ruthless machine that saves only those whom it determines are more worthy of salvation. Hence, "a superhero can only save the people he has saved."

That dream is nice and selfless, but naive. Going for it with a lack of self-preservation like Shirou does is futile and even stupid. Even if I had the power of a CG, it could not be achieved. Only when I were a god who would take away everybody's free will then a perfect world without evil could be born.

In general, the ideal that Shirou follows is impossible in reality. Shirou himself admits that.

Also up to this point, Shirou's desire to save everyone is actually just a deeply ingrained desire to save himself. He thought that by following Kiritsugu's ideals, he would find happiness, and that happened to involve granting salvation to others. Archer calls it a "fake ideal" because he (and Shirou) followed it more to alleviate their own survivor's guilt.  Archer never reached a definite conclusion to his dilemma, till his ideals destroyed him - it's how Shirou would turn out if he did not learn from his experiences in this war and make his own choice.

Archer followed that ideal and found out how terrible being a hero really is. He wanted to save people and be like Kiritsugu but ended up being betrayed by the very people he saved. Archer comes to hate humans and become extremely cynical because of this, and hates even the idea of heroes.  After selling his soul to Alaya, he believed that after his death, he would be able to save even more, but the end result was a timeless massacre. He is now permanently trapped in his own personal hell. So, no ideal, no peaceful afterlife and lots of killing made him hate himself and his life choices, which led him to feel betrayed by everything he believed in.

It's important to note that Archer, while being the same person as Shirou, isn't the same person. Archer is a Shirou that's evolved over years of fighting and trauma. Although Archer, deep inside, still wanted to be the Shirou he was before, he learned very quickly that it would be impossible. He began to look at his ideals more critically: He hated how hypocritical they were, how naive they were, and how they were nothing more than an inheritance from a dead man.

"But still - I was not wrong."

"There is nothing more beautiful in life than chasing your ideals and pursuing your dreams. This is true for every single one of us. And inevitably much of it is lost or muddled as we age as we have to deal with the harsh realities of life. Sometimes we even silence that young voice within us that told us to keep going. All of us at some point become jaded or cynical. We tell ourselves that our best isn’t enough. That we’ll never get to where we want to be, so what’s the point?
We forget that our younger selves are always within us. Telling us how much better we are than we were yesterday.  How we can accomplish so much more now than when we were that young. How dare we be able to do so much more than that little version of us but refuse because we simply believe we aren’t good enough?

"This is the battle between Shirou and Archer. One disgusted by his grown up self who has given up his dreams. The other disgusted at the naivete of his younger self." [ Archer's VA ]

Beneath the survivor guilt and the copied ideal, there is a deeper layer consisting of a dream. The dream that no one has to go through a hell like this anymore, an imagined world where everyone can have a happy ending. This is what Archer had forgotten, and it's what keeps Shirou going.

“I found my answer. Don't worry, Tohsaka, I'll do my best from now on, too.”

Archer is now at a point when he will continue to do his duty as a CG, and he will hate doing his duty, but he will continue. He may experience the pain of killing others, but he is no longer suffering this mental anguish like he used to prior to his encounter with his younger self.  He still has regrets, and he still wishes to go back and do it all over again and escape the cycle of CG, but he realizes that he did not make a mistake when he pledged his life to Alaya.  Archer realizes that him making the choice he did was a correct answer -- and there was no really right or wrong answer at that time. Thus he may have regrets at this time and now, but he realizes he should not have any regrets for his past actions because he sees himself in the past vs. now as two different entities.

It's more that Archer found solace in the determination of a boy who wants to become a superhero. Even when he knows that it’s impossible, that it’s futile, that he will eventually be betrayed by everyone or himself and face an eternity of being a slave, it doesn't matter. Archer realized that there was beauty to be found in the pursuit of an ideal upon seeing himself fighting to the fullest and remembering why he took that road in the first place.  He realized that he cannot keep blaming himself for the choice he made when he was younger and didn't have the knowledge and wisdom that he does now. 

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!!