The final episode of 'Fate/Zero' entered its second half.
Kiritsugu Emiya, who had awakened first from the Holy Grail's dark mud, finally killed Kotomine Kirei.
Meanwhile, after defeating Lancelot, Artoria also arrived at the location of the Grail and faced off against Gilgamesh.
But at the most critical moment, Kiritsugu appeared at the site of their battle.
Having now understood the true nature of the Holy Grail, Kiritsugu finally realized what this so-called wish-granting device really was.
It couldn't create something out of nothing. Any wish granted would inevitably come with a sacrifice.
So—
"Artoria, by the Command Seal and in the name of Kiritsugu Emiya, I order you to use your Noble Phantasm to destroy the Holy Grail."
Sad background music played as Kiritsugu delivered the cold command.
Artoria, who knew nothing, had come so close to her dream—yet was now betrayed by her own Master.
Why?
All their enemies were defeated. Though Kirei was dead, his Servant hadn't yet vanished due to his class. All that remained was to defeat Gilgamesh, and the Grail would be theirs.
So why?
Why use a Command Seal to destroy the Grail?
Artoria's expression of sorrow and despair made Ye Man's heart ache.
"You can't be serious! Kiritsugu, explain yourself!"
---
"God, Artoria is the most tragic character in the whole show."
"But the Grail could grant her wish, right?"
"Probably—but any wish granted in the wrong way comes at a terrible price. Artoria could return to the day she pulled the sword from the stone and change her fate of becoming king. But the country and people she hopes to save would likely pay an even worse price than what history already dealt them. That's the Grail. Kiritsugu realized this when he spoke with the Grail's will, and that's why he—"
"Then what happens to Artoria? Will she never realize her wish? Just get summoned over and over before her own death, never finding peace?"
"I don't know... This episode had me in tears."
"Does Teacher Jing Yu have no heart?! Everyone joined the Holy Grail War full of passion and dreams, and yet every single one of them ended in despair. Kariya joined Aoi and her daughter, but ended up hated and misunderstood by them. Kayneth just wanted to pad his resume—and paid with his life. Kiritsugu wanted world peace, but the Grail shattered everything he believed in. What he thought was justice now seems utterly meaningless. And don't even get me started on Artoria—from her point of view, she was completely betrayed by Kiritsugu."
"Old Scumbag Jing Yu finally showed his true colors. I should've seen it coming. All things in this world end in the same place—his works exist to mess with the audience. Even a battle spectacle like 'Fate/Zero' can be turned into something so depressing. He's heartless."
"Sending him a razor blade tomorrow."
"I just want Artoria to have a happy ending! That's why I stuck with this show. Why is Old Scumbag like this?! So cold-blooded!"
"Old Scumbag Jing Yu has gone full unleashed again."
On screen, Artoria was still resisting the Command Seal's order with her will.
Then Kiritsugu used a third Command Seal—with the same order.
Destroy the Holy Grail.
The Sword of Promised Victory pierced the Grail's physical manifestation, but its true essence wasn't destroyed.
In the sky above, a torrent of black mud poured down.
"My bond with him was limited to just these three Command Seals. I couldn't even understand the hearts of those closest to me... let alone his."
"Maybe... this is the punishment I deserve as a king who 'doesn't understand people.'"
In the end, Artoria accepted this fate.
The vessel of the Holy Grail was destroyed by her hand. It could no longer grant anyone's wish.
Her war for the Grail had come to an end.
In the fading light of her sword, her body vanished. Her connection to Kiritsugu was severed with the use of the final Command Seal, and she would return to her own time.
Was that... Artoria's ending?
A question mark appeared on Ye Man's face.
"Wait—that's Artoria's end?"
"Jing Yu, take this beating!"
"I can't accept this. Isn't this just a terrible ending?"
"Absolutely a bad end. Are we not getting 'Fate/Zero' season two after this?"
"I'm an idiot. What did I watch for three months? What's the point of this Grail War? Not a single person got a happy ending. A war where no one's wish is fulfilled? This is absurd."
"This is what Old Scumbag Jing Yu does, huh?"
"Old Scumbag, prepare for justice. Artoria, come to Great Zhou and give him a full Excalibur!"
"I can't accept this. I protest. This is straight-up a terrible ending. There must be a second season. If not, then may Old Scumbag Jing Yu forever get instant noodles with no flavor packet, may his toothpaste always fall off the brush and land on his shoes, and may every strawberry he eats hide a bug that bites him mid-chew."
"It was all the choice of the Steins;Gate."
"Damn it, someone changed genres. Get him!"
The fan group exploded with discontent over Artoria's exit—arguments everywhere.
But the show's plot continued.
Kiritsugu's order had caused the black mud of the destroyed Grail to flood Fuyuki City. Half the city was consumed by fire, and countless lives were lost.
In the end, the man who had longed for world peace and justice caused untold death and suffering in that very moment.
Meanwhile, Gilgamesh, engulfed in the mud, began conversing with the will of the Holy Grail.
The embodiment of humanity's greatest evil tried to corrupt him, break his will.
"Ah... how boring," Gilgamesh said, completely unfazed.
The Grail's will was shocked that he could still maintain his sense of self.
"Why sigh? Why be surprised?" Gilgamesh asked.
"What is right? Who decides it? Who permits it? And who will bear the burden of sin?" the Grail's will asked, trying to crush his spirit.
After all, the Grail's true nature was this black mud—whoever touched it would have their will destroyed and become a slave to it.
But that did not apply to the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
At the edge of the darkness, Gilgamesh sneered proudly.
"Foolish question!"
"The king decides."
"The king permits it."
"The king bears the burden of the world."
"The king is the absolute ruler, the only existence. His name is Gilgamesh, King of Heroes. Which is to say—besides me, there is no other."
A beam of golden light tore through the darkness on the TV screen. The black mud exploded apart. From within it stepped a golden-haired man, naked, his sculpted body like a living statue.
Narcissistic, arrogant, prideful to the extreme—and yet, in that moment, audiences couldn't help but find Gilgamesh utterly compelling.
Even the Grail's sludge, born from the world's greatest evil, couldn't shake his understanding and conviction in the word "king."
He was the King.
Absolutely glorious.