I am your Servant, a Saber. I am come in response to your summons.
I ask you... Are you my Master?
Master?
I am your Servant, a Saber. I am come in response to your summons.
Master, your orders.
My sword will henceforth be at your side.
Your fate is henceforth my fate.
The pact is concluded.
Wha...?
Hey! Wait!
My cry doesn't reach the image of the day I saw in a dream.
No matter how I picture my future self, it is always steeped in hope that will never fade.
Reach out your hand and catch the falling pieces,
...then hold my trembling heart and leap into the night!
Isn't it enough to live for someone else and let this moment be all there is?
Let's gently cast aside our false selves and just be who we really are.
Episode 3: Opening Act
An invisible sword?
What's the meaning of this, you coward? How dare you keep your weapon hidden?!
What's the matter, Lancer?
Stopping mid-fight will disgrace spearmen everywhere.
If you won't come to me, then I shall come to you.
Let me ask you one thing first. What's your Noble Phantasm? A sword?
Perhaps, perhaps not. It might be an axe. Or a spear.
No, it might even be a bow.
Get real, Saber...
This is our first encounter. What say we stop now and call it a draw?
I think not. You will meet your end here.
My objective all along was to gather information.
I never planned to hang around if anyone's Servant showed up.
But now I'll have your heart!
GÃ¡e Bolg!
A curse? No, was that a cause-effect reversal?
So, you dodged the death blow of my GÃ¡e Bolg...
GÃ¡e Bolg? Are you then Ireland's Son of Light?
GÃ¡e Bolg, the enchanted thorn which breaches any and all defenses...
First comes the effect, the piercing of the heart,
...and then the movement of the spear is altered to cause that effect.
So, that is the cursed spear wielded by the Hound of Culann...
Damn, I blew it. I put myself at risk if I use that attack and the person survives...
I swear, there's such a thing as being too famous...
Servants are supposed to fight to the death when their true identity is discovered.
But unfortunately, my employer is a coward.
The guy said to return to him if my attack ever failed.
You're running away?!
Feel free to follow me. But if you do, you better be prepared to die!
Hold it!
Hey, he's...
Who the heck ARE you?
Need you even ask? I am your Servant, a Saber.
It was you who summoned me, so surely there is no need to ask.
Saber Servant?
Yes. As such, you may call me Saber.
Oh, um, all right. That's certainly a strange name.
My name is Shirou Emiya. Um, I guess what I'd like to ask you is...
I know. You aren't a typical Master, are you?
Master?
But be that as it may, you are still my Master.
Now that our pact has been concluded, I will never do anything to betray you.
H-Hey, wait a minute! My name isn't "Master," okay?!
I will call you "Shirou," then. Yes, I prefer the sound of that.
Ow!
Wha...?
Shirou, treat my wound.
Are you seriously asking me?
Sorry, but I don't know how to do any complicated magic like that.
Besides, it looks like that wound of yours has already healed.
In that case, I deal with them in my current condition.
My regeneration has only covered the outermost part.
But it shouldn't hinder me in one more fight.
Hey, wait a minute!
Archer! Disappear!
Stop it, Saber!
She is the Master of an Archer. We must kill her while we have the chance.
You keep going on about Masters and whatever, but I don't understand a word of it!
I still don't know who or what you are.
But if you explain it to me, I'll hear you out, so stop this!
And what might "this" be?
I will not obey such commands. Enemies are to be slain.
Girls shouldn't be waving weapons around! That goes double for wounded girls!
So, when are you going to lower your sword?
My sword will never be lowered when there is an enemy still standing before me.
Oh, so a Servant, a Saber at that, is saying that she'll disobey her Master, huh?
Hey, you're...
Tohsaka?
Good evening, Emiya.
Well, I expect that you're capable of at least that much, Emiya.
Wow, that's amazing! I can't do anything like that...
Are you kidding? This is the basics of the basics, no matter what style you study.
I was only taught by my dad, so I don't know the fundamentals or the basics.
So you don't even know how to manipulate the five elements or create a path?
No.
So you're a complete novice?
Well, I can do reinforcement spells.
That's some seriously strange magic you use.
You're saying you can't do anything else at all?
I don't think so.
How could a guy like this manage to summon a Saber?
I'm guessing that you have no idea the situation you're in, do you?
Situation?
You've been dragged into a certain game.
A battle royale between seven Masters called the Holy Grail Wars.
Holy Grail Wars? Battle royale?
You've been selected as a Master, Emiya. You have a stigma on one of your hands, right?
Those are your three Command Seals. It's the mark of a Master.
Once every few decades, seven Masters are selected.
Each Master is granted a Servant, and a battle to win the Holy Grail is held.
I was chosen to be a Master, too.
As long as you have the Command Seals, your Servant will continue to obey you.
The Command Seals give you the right of absolute authority over them.
That seal is what bends them to your will,
...even if it's something that goes against the Servant's wishes.
However, you lose one each time you give a command, so stop at #2.
Hey, wait a minute! What are you talking about?!
It looks like you're still in an incomplete state, too.
It must be because you were summoned by an apprentice Magus...
...who has no idea what's expected of him as a Master.
Yes. Shirou doesn't even have enough magical power to materialize me.
This makes both returning to my spirit state and recovering magical force problematical.
If I were your Master, it would be a snap for you to do either one...
What, are you saying I'm not fit to be her Master?
That's exactly what I'm saying! You quack.
Well, what say we get going?
Go? Go where?
To pay a visit to the person who oversees this battle.
Come on, don't you have anything better for her to wear?
Hey, don't look at me.
She said that she wouldn't take off her armor.
This "overseer" is in here?
The Kotomine Church.
Shirou. I will wait out here.
I accompanied you so that I could protect you.
If this church is your destination, I don't expect that you will go any further past here.
Tohsaka, what sort of person is the priest here?
He's my legal guardian.
Also, as a Magus, he's my elder fellow pupil, and you might even call him my second teacher.
Magus?
A church's priest is also a member of a heretical Council of Mages?
That's why he's such a pain to put up with.
His name is Kirei Kotomine. He was a pupil of my father's.
We've been forced to put up with each other for ten years.
If I had my way, I never would have met him in the first place.
I, too, had no desire to have a pupil who fails to show her teacher the proper respect.
I've brought the seventh Master to see you.
He's technically a Magus, but he's a complete novice.
I couldn't stand by and watch.
And what might your name be, my son?
Shirou Emiya.
Shirou Emiya?
And you are certain that you are the Saber's Master?
You've got it all wrong.
All this stuff about masters and holy Grail Wars, I don't understand a word of it.
This is a serious problem.
Very well. This is the first time that Rin has ever asked for my help.
For that, Shirou Emiya, I will never be able to repay you.
Listen. Being a Master isn't something that can be handed over to another.
And once you have become one, neither can you simply quit.
The Command Seals you bear are also a stigmata.
The role of Master is a trial that is bestowed upon one.
One cannot simply walk away from it simply because it is inconvenient.
If you truly wish to give up your status as Master,
...your only option is to obtain the Holy Grail and make your wish come true.
Make my wish come true?
If you acquire the Grail, any wish can be yours,
...even cleaning any tarnish your soul may have acquired in the process.
Indeed, it is even possible to go back and start all over from the beginning.
So you should make your wish.
And should the time come, thank your lucky stars that you were chosen as a Master.
If you wish to erase those invisible burns that you carry, simply accept your stigmata.
Kirei, would you please get to the point?
I asked you to explain the rules to him.
I'll cut to the chase, then.
This battle is called the Holy Grail War,
...and it is a contest between seven Masters using their Servants.
We do not engage in this barbarity because we wish to.
It is all part of a rite to determine who is worthy to possess the Holy Grail.
You can't be serious... The Holy Grail? The one from the legends?
The Holy Grail that appears in this city is indeed the genuine article.
As proof, we may look to the astonishing miracles that happen here,
...one of which is the Servants.
Servants are entities that are something which approaches the level of High Spirits.
They are historical figures, or those who are now heroes of legend,
...who have been given physical form by the Holy Grail.
In principle, they are always at their Master's side in spirit form,
...but they can be made to materialize and fight when the need arises.
Your Saber is different, though, Emiya.
Her master is a screwup, so she can't take spirit form.
This miracle that is very nearly the resurrection of the dead could rightly be called magic.
If the Holy Grail possesses such power, surely it bestows limitless power upon its holder.
In the face of such facts, the question of its authenticity is rendered moot.
All right, I'll assume for now that the Holy Grail really exists.
But I don't see why you have to kill over it. If it's that powerful, why doesn't everyone share it?
A sensible position to take. However, we do not have the luxury of that choice.
The Holy Grail selects those humans who are most worthy to possess it,
...and determines its one owner by having those potential owners compete for it.
The selection of the seven Masters, the summoning of the Servants,
All of this is carried out by the Grail itself.
These are the Holy Grail Wars, a time-honored rite...
...in which people are chosen by the Grail and kill each other to attain it.
Even if only one can be chosen, that doesn't mean you have to kill the other Masters.
Hold it. There's no rule saying that the Masters absolutely have to kill each other.
The Holy Grail is a spiritual object.
Only Servants, who are also spirits, can touch it.
The point of the Holy Grail Wars is to eliminate all Servants but your own.
Eliminate all Servants but your own...
Oh, I get it! If your Servant is the only one left,
...it would be the only one that could touch the Grail.
Right. So if you defeat their Servant, there's no need to kill the Master, too.
Geez, you could have told me that in the first place!
So even if you fight in the Holy Grail Wars, that doesn't mean that you'll die, Tohsaka?
Let me ask you something. Do you think you could defeat your own Servant?
Servants are immensely powerful.
Even other Servants have trouble defeating them, so their Masters go without saying.
But a Servant cannot exist without a Master. In which case...
It means that the most efficient way to defeat a Servant is to kill its Master.
Yes, but a Servant that's lost its Master doesn't simply disappear immediately.
A different Master can use his Command Seals to forge a new pact.
A Master who's lost his Servant and a Servant who's lost its Master...
...can make a new pact and rejoin the battle.
So, what happens if you use up your Command Seals?
Wouldn't that set your Servant free, and it could make a pact with a different Master?
That's exactly right.
If you use up your Command Seals, you will be freed from your duties as Master.
Of course, if there were such a Magus, it would mark him as incompetent. No, a mere fool.
If that should happen to you, I guarantee you your safety.
That is my duty as overseer of this series of Holy Grail Wars.
This is the fifth Holy Grail War that has been held here in this city.
The last one was ten years ago.
Have you people lost your minds?! You're telling me that you've done this four times?!
The Holy Grail Wars of the past had grown altogether too brutal.
The Masters were driven on by their desires,
...and simply butchered one another indiscriminately.
Because of that, the Council of Mages...
...dispatched an overseer beginning with the third War.
That man was my father.
And I have inherited that post from him.
I guess the Holy Grail Wars bring out the worst in people.
I mean, those earlier Masters were type of people who broke the rules of the Magi, right?
What would happen if people like that got the Holy Grail and used it out of self-interest?
It would be a disaster if a guy who doesn't think twice about killing others got the Grail, right?
The Council of Mages does not interfere,
...regardless of the personality of those who try to win the Grail.
We only watch over the wars to ensure that the rules of the Holy Grail Wars are being kept.
If you take issue with that, then survive the contest.
Surely that is the most effective way, not relying on others.
Mind your own business!
I don't have any reason to fight, and I'm not interested in this Grail of yours.
So in that case, you're also not interested in the calamities that might be caused...
...by the person who wins the Grail, I take it?
You're not the least bit concerned with certain events that transpired ten years ago, then?
At the end of the last Grail War, the Grail was touched by someone unworthy.
We don't know what this Master was hoping for.
All we can be sure of are the scars left behind by that disaster.
Correct. That conflagration whose cause is listed as unknown to this very day...
...is the scar left by the Holy Grail Wars.
Emiya, is something the matter?
No, I'm all right.
So, what was the outcome of the last war?
There wasn't one.
I told you, didn't I? The Grail was touched by someone unworthy.
Another man touched it before the war reached its conclusion.
But that man had avoided fighting, and the Grail did not completely appear.
When the seven Servants gather together,
...the Grail will appear on its own when the time comes.
However, the Grail didn't acknowledge this man who avoided fighting as its owner.
In other words, trying to get the Grail...
...without dealing with the other Masters first is pointless.
That guy who tried to get to the Grail first the last time was a sentimental sap.
Wait, don't tell me that this Master you're talking about was you...
Only until partway through the battle.
I lost my Servant, and was taken under the protection of the overseer, my father.
That is all I will say on the subject.
Only a Master who commands a Servant is qualified to win the Grail.
When you seven are reduced to the final participant,
...the Grail will appear to the victor.
I ask you again.
Shirou Emiya, do you or do you not intend to participate...
...in this Holy Grail War as one of the chosen Masters?
I'll fight.
If you're saying that it was the Holy Grail Wars that caused that fire ten years ago,
...I can't let anything like that happen again.
That settles it, then. Come on, let's go.
Rejoice, my son! Your dreams will finally come true.
Without clear-cut evil, your wish will not come true.
Even if you do not wish to admit it, virtue must have vice to fight against.
To you, the loftiest dreams and the most vile desires have the same meaning.
Oh, there is no point in trying to gloss over it.
That conflict is completely appropriate for a human.
I've fulfilled my obligation to you.
You're a good person, Tohsaka.
Huh? Flattering me won't make me go easy on you.
Shirou!
Good evening, mister.
This is the second time we've met like this, isn't it?
In the deep, dark forest, as I search for the faint fragrance...
...of the lingering traces of the days I held dear, I suddenly hear you laugh.
I reach out to try to touch you, but your image fluttered fleetingly in midair.
I've missed you for so long, I've longed for you for so long.
Wandering through sleepless nights,
...I am crying, enveloped within the light and shadow you left behind,
...here in the deep, dark forest.
Next Time
Fate Stay Night.
Next time, "The Strongest Enemy."
Next Time: The Strongest Enemy Next time, "The Strongest Enemy."
Next Time: The Strongest Enemy