Due to the current popularity of 'Fate/Zero', even a variety show episode featuring just the core creative team managed to attract a massive number of fans on Saturday night, with ratings peaking near 6%.
This sent shockwaves through the six major television stations.
During the program, Jing Yu also revealed several key pieces of information.
"Teacher Jing Yu, will 'Fate/Zero' have a second season?"
"No."
"But the series is ending in just a few more episodes. There are still many characters with untapped potential, and it doesn't seem like the remaining episodes can fully explore their stories."
"That's true. That's why the sequel would be the game named 'Fate/Stay Night', which will be launching at the end of this year. For fans who are still interested in the fates of these characters after watching the drama, 'Fate/Stay Night' will provide the answers they seek."
You could say this variety show was a deliberate joint marketing effort by Jing Yu and Yunteng TV, using the current popularity of 'Fate/Zero' to promote the upcoming game.
Many of the Q&A segments were clearly scripted, but they effectively conveyed the core message to fans.
Some of the characters from 'Fate/Zero' will return in 'Fate/Stay Night'.
And they won't just be side characters — they'll be fully fleshed-out protagonists in their own right.
While the story structure of 'Fate/Zero' is complete, many characters' future arcs will only be revealed in the game.
After the variety show aired, Great Zhou's drama forums were flooded with threads asking:
"What is this 'Fate/stay night' game?"
In less than a day, most 'Fate/Zero' viewers had already formed a clear concept in their minds:
If you're left wanting more after the show ends, and if you're eager to find out what happens to the characters, just buy 'Fate/stay night' when it drops at the end of the year.
The marketing couldn't be called overly aggressive — after all, viewers hadn't seen the finale yet. Whether or not they'd be willing to pay for the game would depend on how satisfied they felt with the ending. Still, the seed had been planted.
At 8 PM, Episode 11 of 'Fate/Zero' aired smoothly.
The plot returned to the present timeline, beginning setup for the showdown of the Holy Grail War.
Conversations between Waver and Iskandar, Kiritsugu and his wife, and the unstable and violent dynamic between Kariya Matou and his Berserker Servant — all of it created a brewing storm of tension.
Some lore explanations were also woven in.
For instance, Kiritsugu's wife, Irisviel, as the vessel of the Holy Grail, would become the Grail itself and die the moment the war ended.
This episode also saw the deaths of multiple characters — for example, Maiya, one of Kiritsugu's most beloved and popular female allies, was killed off.
And Kariya Matou's story reached a particularly dark and gut-wrenching turn.
Manipulated by Gilgamesh and Kirei Kotomine, Kariya arrived at the church and found the corpse of Tohsaka Tokiomi.
And "coincidentally," Tokiomi's wife, Aoi — Kariya's long-time crush — also arrived at the church.
With both being Masters in the Holy Grail War, there was no way Kariya could explain the situation.
Aoi immediately believed he had killed her husband for the sake of the Grail.
Panicking, unable to explain himself, Kariya blurted out—
"It's all... all Tokiomi's fault!"
The most iconic line of the FZ series was born.
Kariya, who had sacrificed everything — even his life — for Aoi and her two children, was now cursed and misunderstood by the very woman he loved. Unable to accept this, and with Berserker's mental influence pushing him further...
"You've never loved anyone, have you?" Aoi screamed at him in a breakdown.
At the end of Episode 11, Kariya wrapped his hands around the neck of the woman he loved.
"Who do you think I became this for?!"
Viewers across Great Zhou sat silent in front of their TVs.
Believing he had killed Aoi with his own hands, Kariya mentally collapsed.
Meanwhile, the true masterminds, Gilgamesh and Kirei Kotomine, celebrated with champagne nearby.
"Everyone is screwing Kariya over!"
"Damn, he entered the Holy Grail War with good intentions! Sure, there were a lot of misunderstandings along the way, but this ending is just way too cruel."
"Even if he was mentally influenced by Berserker, killing the woman he loved with his own hands… this shattered my worldview."
"Is there even a single genuinely good person in this show?"
"Seems like every good person in this series dies miserably."
"But honestly, Kariya pushing the blame is a bit much. He was the one who refused to inherit the Matou family's magic, which led to Sakura being adopted into the Matou household. And now he's blaming Tokiomi?"
"He's just a pitiful guy, honestly. And now the pacing of 'Fate/Zero' is speeding up. With Kariya broken, there are only three Masters left — Waver, Kiritsugu, and Kirei."
"Maybe the Holy Grail War will end next episode."
"Do you think if Artoria and Kiritsugu win the Grail, they could really realize their wishes — restoring a ruined kingdom, achieving world peace?"
"No idea. It all depends on how Jing Yu writes it — will he let them win?"
"But seriously, if the Grail can do all that, it feels kind of overpowered."
"True. I really hope this series sticks the landing. If it ends with them just winning the Grail and making a wish, a happy ending might be fine… but it'd feel kinda flat."
"I honestly don't know how they're gonna deal with Gilgamesh. This show's Masters all die horribly. Just hope Teacher Jing Yu doesn't go too crazy. I give Kiritsugu a hard time, but I didn't think he'd suffer this badly. And he better not kill Artoria like he did with Diarmuid. If he does, I swear I'll go find that drama set in Modo city myself."
'Fate/Zero' Episode 11 reached an average viewership rating of 11.32%, hitting another record high.
However, now that viewership had reached this level, the growth rate slowed down — after all, most of the audience in this time slot was already watching Yunteng TV. There wasn't much new viewership left to gain.
That said, the buzz from this episode was slightly lower compared to the week before.
Mainly because Kariya's tragic arc didn't hit as hard with general audiences — he wasn't the protagonist, so people didn't feel as strong an emotional connection.
Still, by the end of this episode, many viewers felt a growing unease. So many characters had already died — each one more tragically than the last.
And with Kiritsugu's portrayal leaning more and more toward the image of a tragic hero...
Could 'Fate/Zero' be headed for a depressing ending?