Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel are the three branching storylines found within the TYPE-MOON visual novel Fate/stay night. The decisions of the player during the game determine which of the three scenarios will be played out.
The plot of the Fate/stay night anime television series is an amalgamation of the three storylines and is discussed at the end of the page.
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Fate is the first route the player will be able to play through in Fate/stay night, and completing it is required to access other two routes, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel.
Shirō Emiya is first drawn into the Holy Grail War after he witnesses the Servants Lancer and Archer fight in his school. Lancer chases Shirō around the school trying to kill him, adhering to a rule of the Holy Grail War which states bystanders must be killed. Lancer corners Shirō in one of the hallways and mortally wounds him with his Gáe Bolg. Tohsaka Rin, Shirō's classmate and Archer's master, feels guilty about involving Shirō and saves his life using her strongest healing jewel (a memento given to her by her father). Rin leaves before Shirō wakes up. Shirō, amazed he is still alive, returns to his home and is ambushed by Lancer. Shirō tries to defend himself using a magically reinforced poster, but Lancer easily disarms him. Lancer commends him for his efforts, mentioning he might be the seventh Master, and prepares to finish Shirō off. Before Lancer can kill him, Shirō summons Saber (albeit incompletely),
Rin, grateful to Shirō for sparing her life, offers to take Shirō and Saber to the church where he can learn about the Holy Grail War. There, the priest and moderator of the war, Kirei Kotomine, explains to him the role of Masters and Servants in the quest for the Holy Grail, the magical object which is said to grant any wish. Kotomine also reveals the Holy Grail caused the fire that destroyed Shirō's town ten years ago. Shirō agrees to participate in the war as the seventh Master, wanting to prevent another catastrophic disaster. As they leave the church, a young German Master named Illyasviel von Einzbern assaults them with her Servant, Berserker. Berserker, whose true identity is the Greek hero Heracles, completely overwhelms Saber. He severely wounds her, but as he lets loose the finishing blow, Shirō jumps into its path, shielding Saber and taking the fatal blow. Ilya, confused by this action, calls off Berserker and leaves. Later, Shirō wakes up fully healed inside his home. He also sees Rin there and learns she aided him again, caring for him as he recovered.
Shirō and Rin agree to form an alliance in order to protect themselves from the pair of Ilya and Berserker, an immediate threat to their lives. The reasoning behind this alliance is simple - each of their servants are operating at a sub-optimal capacity; as part of an incomplete summon, Saber cannot use her full power; likewise, Archer is still recovering from the wounds he received while clashing with Saber. During the course of this alliance, they discover a spell has been placed on the school, one that will drain the life force of anyone within the range of the spell.
While investigating the spell and gathering information on other Masters and Servants, Shirō discovers that his old friend, Shinji Matō, is the master of the Servant Rider. Shinji's ancestors were sorcerers, and, despite the power of their bloodline having weakened over the ages, Shinji still successfully summoned Rider. Shinji states he has no desire to fight Shirō and instead gives him information that another Servant resides in the Ryūdō Temple.
Although Shirō doesn't feel it necessary to fight the Servant at Ryūdō Temple, Saber disagrees and disobeys him, rushing out to confront the other Servant. At the front of the temple, she encounters the Servant Assassin and the two engage in combat. However, as both begin to execute their special attacks, Shirō arrives, preventing them from fighting any further. This conclusion is preferable to Assassin, who mentions that he sensed a third enemy hiding behind the nearby bushes, waiting to see Saber's Noble Phantasm, which would reveal not only her identity but also her weaknesses.
Soon, Shirō discovers, much to his dismay, that the Master who planted the life-draining spell at the school was Shinji. This revelation is enough to force a confrontation between the two. By this time, Shirō has begun to excel at enhancement magic and melee fighting, a fact which quickly becomes apparent, as Shinji's spells prove useless against his foe. However, as Shirō prepares to deliver the finishing blow, Rider intervenes by shoving Shirō out a nearby window. While falling, Shirō uses a command spell to summon Saber, who rescues him. Saber then goes after Rider, who is attempting to use her Noble Phantasm to retreat. After a chase, the two clash atop a skyscraper. Rider attacks Saber with her mount, Pegasus, forcing Saber to reveal her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur. With Excalibur revealed, Saber makes short work of Rider, defeating her with one blow.
After this event, Shirō begins having visions each morning; the first is of Saber in her past role as Arturia, a lonely monarch who devoted herself solely to fighting for her country. The second vision is of himself, being saved by his adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya, in a fire. Shirō's memories of his father makes him determined to become a hero, someone who can save people just as his father did; thus, he finds that he and Saber have more in common than he thought.
A short time later, Shirō again encounters Ilya and attempts to befriend her. Instead, he is kidnapped and taken to her castle; fortunately for Shirō, Saber, Rin, and Archer quickly come to his rescue. During the rescue, Berserker and Ilya confront them; Archer opts to fight the pair in order to allow the others to escape. Meanwhile, the trio manage to make it to a rundown shack, where (at Rin's urging) Shirō and Saber had sexual intercourse in order to replenish Saber's low mana. Rejuvenated somewhat, Saber then confronts and attacks Berserker on a more equal footing; despite this, she is not able to inflict much damage upon him. However, while Saber distracts him, Rin attacks Berserker with a surprise attack which decapitates him. Surprisingly, Berserker regenerates. It is then revealed that Berserker's own body is his Noble Phantasm, God Hand, which grants him near-immortality and the capability to rise from death up to 12 times. Unfortunately for Berserker, it is at this time that Shirō's true magic skills awaken, allowing him to trace a copy of Caliburn, Saber's first original sword from her past, the use of which ultimately leads to Berserker's demise. With Berserker gone, Ilya is now out of the War; feeling somewhat responsible, Shirō decides to let her stay at his home.
Soon afterward, the Emiya residence is attacked by Caster. Both Shirō and Saber go outside to fight her, but Caster is killed by someone wearing golden armor before a battle can begin. Saber identifies the killer as an Archer-class Servant. She remembers him as an individual from the previous Grail War, which was ended before its completion because the Holy Grail had been destroyed. Shirō learns that Saber was a combatant in the previous war as well; furthermore, she had been the Servant of his adoptive father and had, under his father's orders, destroyed the Grail. It is also revealed that she became a Servant shortly before her death and that her greatest desire remains to return to her life and relive it. These revelations bother Shirō, as he doesn't like the idea of her dying and redoing her life.
Shirō returns to the church and asks Kirei Kotomine if a way exists to allow Saber a normal life. Kotomine explains that there is no such way, and sarcastically implies that not even the "mighty" Grail could do such a thing, depicting it as less than omnipotent, as the stories state. Dejected by this information, Shirō decides to take Saber out on a date in order to try to cheer her up. At the end of the date, the two argue about redoing the past and Saber boldly stated that she want the holy grail to save her kingdom more than anything. Shirō returns home after the conflict, leaving Saber at the bridge. Feeling bad for Saber, Shirō returned at night to find Saber still wandering on the bridge. She forgives Shirō and decides to go home with him, but on the way home, the two are attacked by the Archer in golden armor. Saber and Shirō soon find out he is the legendary Gilgamesh, the "king of heroes". Shirō shields Saber from Gilgamesh's initial attack, barely surviving the blow. After escaping, the desperate Saber and Shirō returns home to recuperate. Saber and Shirō had another sexual intercourse to replenish saber mana, which is exhausted after using her Noble Phantasm. The next day, Shirō head to Kotomine's church to ask for advice, only to discover Kotomine's betrayal: despite his supposedly "neutral" status as the Judge of the War, he is the Master of both Lancer and Gilgamesh. In the resulting battle, however, Lancer opts to aid Shirō and Saber in escaping, resulting in his death at Gilgamesh's hands.
After this event, Kotomine decides to go into active action; he kidnaps Ilya, initiating a final confrontation. Shirō and his allies discover that Ilya was kidnapped because she is the vessel of the Grail - the embodiment of its power. Soon, Rin is heavily wounded by Kotomine, rendering her unable to fight alongside Saber and Shirō. Shirō decides to return Avalon, Saber's final Noble Phantasm, which had been inside of Shirō's body up to this point, to her. After this, Saber confronts Gilgamesh, while Kotomine and Shirō face off. Both Shirō and Saber use Avalon simultaneously, nullifying their enemies' attacks, and then proceed to defeat them. With no opposition remaining, the pair destroy the contents of the Grail, ensuring the evil within it will never be used again.
As a result, Saber vanishes to her original time, leaving Shiro with a bittersweet confession of love in her final moments. She returns as Arturia, and accepts her past without the wish to change it. At the end of this route, she weakly smiles and tells Sir Bedivere (who is attending her) "I think my slumber will be much longer this time...".
The player going through Fate/stay night will be able to reach Unlimited Blade Works only after completing Fate route, and completing it is required to access Heaven's Feel.
Shortly after repelling Lancer, Saber prepares to attack Archer who approaches. However, Shiro uses his Command Spell to negate that action and ends up conversing with Rin. However, no alliance is made at the time. After introducing Shiro to the Holy Grail War rules from Kirei, on the way home, Illyasviel von Einzbern attacks them with her Servant Berserker. Unlike in the Fate route, Archer briefly participates in the battle and his help proves to be vital in driving Berserker away. The next day, Shiro goes to school with Saber, introducing her to Taiga and Sakura.
The next day, when all other students and teachers leave the school, Rin starts her assault towards Shiro, relentlessly pursuing him with the intent to kill him unless he surrenders Saber's Command Spell. Her act is interrupted in the last moments when Rider suddenly appears and attacks one stray student. Shiro and Rin promptly team up to drive Rider away, though Shiro catches a small glimpse of Shinji.
Shiro and Rin then set up a truce and thus begin searching for the possible candidate of Rider's master. In the night, however, Shiro is taken by magic to the Ryūdō Temple, by Caster, who wishes to take away his Command Spell. Archer interrupts and saves Shiro while Saber confronted Assassin. It is at this moment that Shiro starts to get even more irritated by Archer, who has since looked down on his ideals. Archer then attacks Shiro, but is stopped by Saber and Assassin.
In the next day, in every morning, Rin would receive dreams about a hero who was betrayed by his ideals. Rin apologizes to Shiro about Archer's actions, and tells him that she used a Command Spell to order Archer to never attack Shiro. During a strategic planning, Rider activates Blood Fort Andromeda. However, when Shiro and Rin approach her, she is already killed. In horror, Shinji runs off to the Kotomine Church, whereupon Kirei grants him Gilgamesh in place of Rider. In the meantime, Archer and Saber debate on how Rider was killed; while Saber claims she died in honor protecting her Master, Archer claims she was a weakling, once again creating a rift between him and the rest.
With Rider's death, Shiro suspects that there is another Master from the school other than Shinji. At first, he suspects his friend Issei. However, it turns out that the Master is the teacher Soichiro Kuzuki, Master of Caster. When Shiro and Rin attack them in an ambush, Kuzuki surprises them with his innate fighting abilities, enhanced with Caster's enchantment spells, that are able to cripple Saber. In order to be able to discuss about strategies more often, Rin opts to stay at Shiro's house.
The next day, Rin takes Shiro on a date, taking Saber along. But when they get home, they find Caster holding Taiga Fujimura hostage. When Shiro tries to follow her demand, Caster releases Taiga and strikes Saber with the Rule Breaker, transferring Shiro's Command Spells to her. On Saber's urging, Shiro and Rin leave. With his Command Spells gone, Rin declares that she will fight Kuzuki and Caster only with Archer. However, Shiro insists that he has to help and follows them, despite Rin's objections. In the meantime, Saber is tortured by Caster to make Saber completely submit to her. However, Saber's magic resistance proves to be an obstacle for Caster's Command Spell.
Shiro follows and witnesses Rin confronting Kuzuki and Caster in the Kotomine Church, their new base of operation. To her shock, Archer suddenly betrays Rin and attacks her. Shiro saves her, and although she is reluctant, she eventually thanks him and accepts his help again. With Archer gone, both decide to inquire the help of Ilya and Berserker. Unfortunately, they arrive too late as Shinji and Gilgamesh are there first. Gilgamesh makes a short work on Berserker, and rips Ilya's heart out. Both of them go away, leaving Shiro and Rin in despair that their only hope left was crushed, until Lancer suddenly emerges and offers his help, which they agree to.
They go back to the Kotomine Church and Lancer fights against Archer, in which Archer later admits defeat and retreats back to the interior of the church. Meanwhile, Shiro and Rin team up against Kuzuki and Caster, in which it ends with quite a stalemate. Caster tries to turn the table and use the spell to completely dominate Saber and use her against Shiro and Rin. Before she can do that, Archer arrives and attacks Kuzuki, in which Caster protects him and is slain. Archer later proceeds to slay Kuzuki afterwards, and reveals that he was only faking his loyalty to Caster in order to eliminate her, as well as using her Rule Breaker to remove his contract with Rin, allowing him to do what he has planned since the beginning - to kill Shiro. In the wake of this, Rin makes a new contract with Saber, thereby making her Saber's master. In return, however, Archer kidnaps Rin and takes her hostage to the Einzbern Castle, in which Shinji attempts to violate Rin.
The next day, Shiro, Saber and Lancer head off to the Einzbern Castle, whereupon Archer reveals that he is the future Shiro Emiya, the hero who is betrayed by the ideals he fought for, and now he seeks to create a time paradox by killing his past self, also in an act of mercy so that Shiro does not need to see his ideals betray and crush him like they crushed Archer. While Shiro fights, Lancer goes to rescue Rin. Kirei suddenly appears and orders Lancer to kill her. However, Lancer demands that Kirei use his Command Spell for such order, and Kirei does so, ordering Lancer to kill himself. Rin is about to submit to her fate as Kirei approaches to kill her, when suddenly Lancer stabs Kirei from the back using Gaebolg. When Shinji thinks he is free to do whatever he likes to Rin, Lancer gets up one more time and scares him away. After setting Rin free, Lancer activates his Ansuz Rune, burning the room as he perishes.
In the meantime, Shiro fights off with Archer, finally convincing Archer that he does not take the wrong path, as he has no regrets about his decision, no matter how it will bite him later. With that, Archer is defeated. Gilgamesh soon after appears, but he retreats with the arrival of Rin and when the fire caused by Lancer ignites up to the whole castle, crumbling it. Gilgamesh catches up with Shinji and plugs Ilya's heart to him, making him the new incarnation of the Holy Grail.
Shiro, Rin and Saber catch up to Gilgamesh's new hideout, Ryūdō Temple. Rin tries to pull Shinji out of the Holy Grail's embodiment, while Shiro fights against Gilgamesh, and Saber is blocked by Assassin. Shiro is able to take out Gilgamesh by using his own version of Unlimited Blade Works. However, Gilgamesh comes one last time to try to make him the new incarnation of the Holy Grail. Fortunately, Archer, who also appeared to help Rin at the same time, helps Shiro. Rin bids her Servant goodbye, as Archer tells her to take care of his young self, hoping that her care of Shiro will change the future and thus achieve his wish to save Shiro from his ideals. Archer finally shows the genuine smile that Shiro also possesses.
It is noted that, in this route, Shiro and Rin develop feelings for each other as they become closer as friends and come to care deeply for each other, and this scenario displays Rin's tsundere qualities more openly.
Resolutions: Two endings are available for this scenario.
The player going through Fate/stay night will be able to reach Heaven's Feel only after completing both Fate and Unlimited Blade Works routes.
If by the beginning of the game Shiro shows much attention towards Sakura, he eventually starts to realize that Sakura is growing into a beautiful woman and he starts to become attracted to her. He also meets up with Zōken Matō, Sakura's grandfather, although he greets him warmly and tells him to be friends with his grandchildren. Rin is also more hostile than in the Fate route.
Eventually, when patrolling the night with Saber, Shiro encounters Shinji and Rider. A fight quickly breaks out and Rider is defeated quickly. Despite her defeat, Shinji abuses her as he tells her to get up despite her inability to, and even Saber condemns that act. Before she can act further, Zōken shows up and tells Shinji to run off, deeming him as a failure. Without much to do for the night, Shiro and Saber retreat, but unknown to everyone else, Shinji manages to resurrect Rider for a certain reason.
In the meantime, Sakura slowly shows symptoms about being in fever, but insisted that she is fine. The next night, a mysterious assailant attacks and dispatched Assassin, using his body as a catalyst to create something. When Shiro and Saber arrive to Ryudo Temple, they find Caster heavily wounded, and her Master Kuzuki Soichiro dead. Saber deals the finishing blow and leaves, but unknown to them, the mysterious assailant also consumed Caster. Lancer, who comes scouting the Ryudo temple, is later attacked by True Assassin, who emerges from the false Assassin's body. Although Lancer puts up a good fight, he is ambushed by a mysterious shadow and is slain. At this time, Sakura starts to complain that she has been receiving nightmares.
Later, Shiro encounters Rin and Archer. Before a fight can break out, Zōken appears, carrying along Caster's reanimated corpse. Saber dispatches her, and Archer slays Zōken. They also sense a strange shadow looming around them. During the day, Shiro encounters Ilya and starts to develop a friendship with her. However, unknown to them, Zōken resurrects himself by devouring a random woman using his worms and gains the services of True Assassin.
The next night, Shiro and Saber decide to investigate the Ryudo temple further, but they are separated. Saber fights against True Assassin, but is also ambushed by the mysterious shadow and perishes. Enraged, Shiro tries to attack Zōken who is near him, but is repelled by True Assassin. Before True Assassin can kill him, Rider suddenly appears and drives him away, surprising Shiro about her significant increase in strength. When Shiro questions her motive, Rider reveals that her order was to keep Shiro alive and leaves the scene.
Shinji later comes to the Emiya household and demands Sakura to come home. Shiro protects her and he eventually goes off, but he is not done yet. Shiro later discusses Sakura's condition with Rin at his home, when suddenly a phone call comes. It is Shinji. Stating that he took Sakura hostage, he tells Shiro to come to school alone. Rin decides to tag along by herself.
At school, Shinji orders Rider to continue beating Shiro, but not kill him. After Shiro endures much beating, Rin eventually comes with Archer and causes Shiro to be able to rescue Sakura. When Shinji orders Rider with his false command book, the book burns. Rider reveals that he could not command her with that spellbook when he lacked a Magic Circuit. Instead of protecting him, she protects Sakura, prompting Rin to reveal that Rider's true Master is Sakura and how the Matou family planted a crest worm to consume her unless she keeps fighting as a Master. Shinji flees, but not after causing a boundary field to activate, now preserved with Sakura's mana. Archer opts to kill Sakura before she could cause any harm with the boundary field, but Rider is determined to protect her Master. As a battle breaks out, Rider is forced to use her Mystic Eyes, revealing her identity as Medusa and starting to petrify Archer. Shiro manages to protect Rin, but is seriously wounded.
Later taken to the Kotomine Church, Shiro finds out that Kirei is performing a surgery to prolong Sakura's life. When he goes out, Archer presents him with the question whether he wants to cling to his ideals or discard it. After consulting with Ilya, Shiro decides that he wants to protect Sakura. Thus, when Rin, who is adamant to kill Sakura before she causes any more harm, tries to visit Sakura, he stops her. She then reveals that Sakura is her sister. This stops when they learn Sakura fled from the operation room, and both give chase. Shiro finds her first and embraces her, taking her home. There, however, Rin comes and declares that their temporary alliance is annulled, but Sakura vows to fight against her sister.
Shiro starts a new home life alongside Sakura and Rider. During this time, Sakura grows increasingly lustful and often asks Shiro to have sex with her. It is later decided that they should warn Ilya about the impending danger about Zōken and the mysterious shadow that has been taking more actions on the night. Shiro goes alone, while Rider guards Sakura, but Sakura later orders Rider to assist Shiro. In the forest, Shiro encounters Rin, but is interrupted when they hear Berserker's roar. Ilya and Berserker have fled their mansion, under the attack of Zōken, True Assassin and Saber Alter. Berserker eventually falls and the group flees. However, the mysterious shadow attacks again, and tries attacking Ilya. Shiro covers her, but in turn, he loses his left arm and Archer becomes mortally wounded. Rider arrives too late, but Archer tells her to transfer his left arm to Shiro.
Taken to the Kotomine church, Shiro later realizes Archer's arm grafted to him with the help of Kirei. Archer warns Shiro that the usage of the arm could kill him. Without Archer, Rin once again forges her alliance with Shiro and works to create a gem sword to match Zōken. As days pass, the mysterious shadow continues to terrorize the night, consuming even Gilgamesh who recklessly attacked it.
As time further passes, however, Sakura grows increasingly jealous of Rin due to Shiro's attention to her. During one of these times, Zōken summons Shiro and reveals that Sakura is one of the gates of the Grand Holy Grail, and if she is alive, more people will die. Shiro is once again thrusted to make a decision like his father Kiritsugu: save many by killing the person he loves, or save his beloved and let many innocents die. After much hard thinking, eventually Shiro decides to betray his ideals of a super hero and live to protect Sakura. Sakura, however, notices the events that are happening and resolves to stop Zōken herself. She commands Rider to protect Shiro, and if something bad is to happen to her, she can go make another contract with someone else. She then flees the house and tells Rider to pose as her sleeping, which later Rin discovers, and tells her to not let Rin get out of the house before Shiro comes back home (he was heading to the Kotomine church). After realizing what happened, Shiro heads to the Matou Household, only to find Shinji dead.
It turns out that Shinji ambushed Sakura while she investigated the house to find Zōken, and blackmailed her to just obey him, unless she wanted to have all her secrets revealed to Shiro. In terror, Sakura killed Shinji and realized that up until now she has been miserable, and nobody cared to her, also finding out that she is the shadow that has been terrorizing the night. She gives in to her dark power and becomes a frightening figure before leaving. After verbally confronting Zōken, Shiro leaves the house, only to find Sakura already attacking Rin while on her way to capture Ilya. Shiro arrives, but also falls for Sakura's assault; she is unable to kill him due to Rider's interference, indirectly caused by her last sane command. Ilya, however, agrees to come with Sakura to free the rest, but urges her to stop at her mansion.
Rider then takes both Shiro and Rin to the Kotomine Church. After Shiro explains everything to Kirei, he tries heading to the Einzbern mansion alone, but Kirei opts to come along. They manage to rescue Ilya, but are confronted with both True Assassin and Dark Berserker. Kirei stalls True Assassin behind and defeats him using the information he got by observing Lancer's last battle. Afterwards, however, Sakura arrives and slays him.
In the meantime, Shiro and Ilya continued to run from Dark Berserker, and in desperation, Shiro removes the seal to Archer's arm, granting him immense projection power, and he uses it to project Berserker's weapon Nine Lives, slaying the shadow. As he arrives home, however, he finds out that his sense of time was distorted. After hearing the history of the Grand Holy Grail and Servant Avenger from Ilya, Rin and Ilya then help him to prepare for the Jeweled Sword Zelretch, their only hope to stand a chance to fight against Zōken,and Shiro projects the Jeweled Sword Zelretch successfully. Shortly after, Rider once again tries to kill him, as her order to protect Shiro and her mission to protect Sakura clash, and she prioritizes Sakura. Shiro, however, reaffirms his will to protect Sakura, thus Rider agrees to form an alliance with him.
That final night, Shiro, Rin and Rider enter the cave where the ritual to open the Holy Grail takes place. At the same time, however, Sakura suddenly betrays Zōken, destroying the core worm that he used to control her and killing True Assassin as well. Saber Alter stands to guard Sakura, but lets Rin pass for the sisters to have their confrontation. Shiro ends up fighting Saber Alter and eventually uses Archer's arm to project Rho Aias, supporting Rider's Bellerophon to break through Saber Alter's Excalibur. Moving on with his new resolve, Shiro kills Saber Alter, using the Dagger of Azoth, freeing her from her wretched existence. He moves forward, with Rider staying behind recuperating her wounds.
In the meantime, Rin has been fighting Sakura and her army of shadows, using the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch. During the course of the battle, Sakura continuously curses her sister for her ignorance towards her, as well as stating her extreme jealousy. Rin completely brushes it off, but eventually lets herself be struck while she apologizes, hugs Sakura and expresses her true sisterly love. Realizing that she has been weak to be consumed by her own darkness, Sakura's power starts to go berserk. Shiro arrives and tries to save her. Despite Sakura's pleads not to save her, Shiro resolves on and projects Caster's Rule Breaker, then breaks Sakura's link towards the Servant within the Holy Grail, Avenger. Rider then arrives to take Rin and Sakura out of harm as Shiro prepares to destroy the Grand Holy Grail.
Depending on how the story is played, at this point, it can either go straight to the Normal Ending, or Kirei will suddenly appear, intending to stop Shiro from destroy something he has desired to witness. They get into a hand-to-hand fight and eventually Kirei falls in defeat. In the meantime, Zōken's still alive within one of the worms and continues to struggle. However, Ilya arrives with the Heaven's Feel dress, which reminds Zōken of Justicia, and he finally dies with satisfaction. The Grand Holy Grail is destroyed, depending on the endings achieved.
Resolutions: Heaven's Feel has two endings.
Last Episode is an additional ending added in Fate/stay night Réalta Nua, made available after completing the 5 previous endings.
After a recap of the Fate scenario, a new scene begins with Shirō (most likely deceased) waking up in a grassy field where he is soon greeted by Saber. As it is brief and with little background, the events of Last Episode are left open to interpretation.
The plot of Fate/stay night anime television series has generally followed the Fate storyline, with some minor variations due to amalgamating parts of the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel scenarios. The series has been divided into arcs based on the various enemies seen at different points in the story. The second opening of the anime itself contains elements of the other two scenarios, most notably a battle between Shiro and Archer within the confines of Unlimited Blade Works, similar to the scenario of the same name, that never occurs in the anime.
Also, while the Fate/stay night PC game has hentai scenes, the anime does not. The anime has some sexually suggestive scenes, but nothing as explicit as the hentai scenes in the PC game.
(eps. 1-6)
These episodes introduce the story, world, and characters of Fate/stay night. Most of the major Masters and Servants are introduced, although a few appear later. Shirō Emiya and his servant Saber are introduced as the main characters, with Rin Tohsaka and her servant Archer as important supporting characters. Also introduced are Ilya von Einzbern, Sakura Matō, Lancer, Kirei Kotomine, and Taiga Fujimura. Taiga and Sakura visit Shirō's home nearly daily to make food for Shirō. When Saber makes her appearance, Shirō pretends that Saber is a distant relative of his, much to the dismay of Taiga.
(eps. 7 - 12)
The servant Rider is introduced in this arc as the primary villain, along with her master, Shinji Matō, Sakura's brother. Caster and Assassin also briefly appear, but do not play an important role until a later arc. The final battle with Rider closely follows the one seen in the Fate scenario. Rider, who uses her powerful Noble Phantasm to summon Pegasus, puts Saber at a severe disadvantage. The battle ends with Saber using her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, which soundly defeats Rider but drains her mana to the point of endangering her life. Shinji attempts to escape, but is killed by Ilya and Berserker, who were observing the battle and felt he was unworthy to continue living. Meanwhile, Sakura witnesses a bright flash of light from the end of the battle, implying she has sensed the death of Rider (her servant, according to Heaven's Feel).
(eps. 13 - 16)
Saber's use of her Noble Phantasm causes Shirō to see Saber's past as Arturia through his dreams; he learns of the difficult decisions she made as King of Britain. Meanwhile, her failing health forces Shirō to consider the possibility of her disappearance; eventually, he turns to Rin for help, since he is unwilling to sacrifice human souls to replenish Saber's mana as Rider and Shinji were doing. However, he is stopped from taking any further action by Ilya's sudden appearance and her capture of Shirō by paralyzing him with a spell.
Shirō has been kidnapped by Illyasviel von Einzbern and taken back to her manor; she intends to use him as bait so that she can destroy Rin and Saber. Shirō, attempting to use his newly developing imaging powers, tries to escape while Rin, Saber, and a contemptuous Archer stage a rescue attempt. They reunite with Shirō and try to escape. Ilya's servant, Berserker, appears to stop them. Archer stays behind to fight him, giving the others time to escape while also giving Shirō cryptic advice on how his one ability is imagining. In the ensuing battle Archer uses his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, and heavily damages Berserker, killing him five times; this is not enough to defeat Berserker, as he possesses the ability to revive himself twelve times. As Archer fades away, he refers to Illyasviel as "Ilya", a name that would be used by her close friends in the future; all that remains of the Servant after he fades away is the red jewel pendant Rin once used to save Shirō. It should also be noted that Archer did indeed have the opportunity to kill Ilya, as he threw his blade to smash a light though it missed Ilya by only a foot. This shows that he cares about Ilya still, like Shirō, and would rather die than kill her. These facts imply Archer's identity as the future Shirō, as stated in Unlimited Blade Works. The special ending of this episode presents images of Shiro's memories, furthering the connection.
Shirō, Rin, and Saber escape through the forest and rest in a small hut that Archer had found earlier. Rin reveals that Shirō's magical circuit must be sacrificed in order to restore Saber's mana. Saber refuses, but Shirō does not care. Rin prepares the ritual by kissing Saber and Shirō, and then has the duo lie together in bed, Shirō kneeling over Saber. Shirō finds himself plunging into Saber's consciousness, where he encounters a giant dragon, which seemingly represents Saber's inner self. The dragon ruthlessly tears off Shirō's arm, and as the blood pours out, Shirō's circuit pours out as well. The procedure puts them both to sleep, and Shirō and Saber wake up embarrassed as Shirō's arm is over Saber. Saber now not only has her mana restored, but has gained an ability to regenerate it. The three then formulate a battle plan against Ilya and Berserker. Rin proposes that she uses her jewels as an ultimate attack on Berserker, taking him out and then going for Ilya afterwards.
Saber and Berserker face off while Rin hides and waits for the right moment. Shirō, because of his desire to help Saber, tries to help her by using his tracing ability to create a bow and arrow, but finds it does little damage. When Rin finally finds an opening, she attacks with her jewels and manages to kill him once. However, Shirō, Saber, and Rin had not known of Berserker's Noble Phantasm, God Hand, which allows him to regenerate his body eleven times, thus granting him an effective twelve lives. After previously being defeated five times by Archer, and another one time by Rin blowing away his head, Berserker would still need to be struck down a total of seven more times. Rin, caught in Berserker's grasp, is about to be crushed to death.
Out of desperation, Saber attempts to use her own Noble Phantasm, Excalibur. Shirō stops her with one of his command spells, knowing that it would not help in this situation and would only drain her. Shirō focuses on the picture of a sword in his mind and images Excalibur|Caliburn, which he uses to slice off Berserker's arm and save Rin. However, in doing this, the imaged Caliburn is shattered. Shirō images a stronger Caliburn and wields it alongside Saber. Together, they manage to deal a blow to Berserker that is so powerful that it kills him seven times, thus depleting the rest of his lives. Berserker regains his sanity and reveals that he is only an illusion of his former self. He fades away and Ilya is defeated.
Note: It is Shirō's intention to image a sword "supreme" to Berserker. Though he succeeds in creating such a sword, he is unable to use it until Saber adds her strength to his, because he lacks good fighting skills at this time. The first imaged sword moved automatically with its own will, but the second sword was created completely and it had no will of its own. As this sword was "supreme" to Berserker, an alternate possibility for Berserker's defeat with one blow is that the power to do so came not only from Shirō and Saber together, but rather from the sword itself. In the PC game, it is stated that the strike from Caliburn killed Berserker seven times, which is two more times than what was needed.
(eps. 17 - 19)
After returning home, Shirō makes the decision to take Ilya in rather than eliminate her as she expects him to. Rin tricks Sakura and Taiga (again) by claiming Ilya is her cousin from overseas and they allow her to stay in the house without question. Meanwhile, Caster has decided that it is time to make her move.
After a series of strange incidents in town, Shirō, Saber, and Rin find themselves fighting one of the teachers from school, Sōichirō Kuzuki, who happened to be a former professional assassin before becoming a teacher. As Rin tries to launch a surprise attack on Kuzuki, Caster intervenes. Even though he's fighting for Caster, rather than the other way around (he states that he does not care about the Holy Grail), Caster acts as his Servant. Caster stops the battle and offers Shirō, Rin, and Saber a chance at the Holy Grail, in return for sacrificing Rin as part of the ritual to complete the Grail. After they reject Caster's offer, Caster and Kuzuki disappear, saying that there was another magician strong enough to be used. Shirō orders Saber to protect Ilya, whom everyone believes to be Caster's target.
Saber arrives at the Emiya house, only to find that Ilya is not the target, but Sakura. Sakura, under Caster's control, stabs Saber with Caster's Noble Phantasm, Rule Breaker. Due to this, Saber is rendered unable to use Excalibur. Shirō and Rin arrive as Caster takes Sakura away, intending to sacrifice the girl to summon the Holy Grail. Shirō, Saber, and Rin go to the Ryūdō Temple to rescue Sakura. Shirō fights Kuzuki and Saber takes on Assassin, while Rin goes to free Sakura from Caster. Using Sakura's suppressed memories (which heavily imply Sakura and Rin are sisters, as revealed in Heaven's Feel) to manipulate her, Caster has Sakura use her formerly dormant powers to fight Rin. Rin is stabbed, but manages to destroy Sakura's magic circuit in order to prevent Caster from draining the rest of Sakura's magic. Caster finds that it is only a minor setback; Rin's magic circuit will do since Sakura's has been destroyed - had Rin not been so tomboyish, Caster would have chosen her in the first place.
Saber defeats Assassin, but Rin and Shirō are at the mercy of Caster and Kuzuki. Suddenly, a golden Servant appears and fatally injures Caster and Kuzuki. Shirō, Rin, and Saber escape with Sakura.
(eps. 19 - 21)
The golden Servant, because he is the eighth Servant to appear, is quickly deduced to be a Servant who remained behind from the previous Grail War. He and Saber happen to be mutual acquaintances; the golden Servant is revealed to be Gilgamesh, who had wished to marry Saber.
Shirō, who finds that he is in love with Saber, tries to convince her to give up her wish to obtain the Holy Grail, but she adamantly refuses. He does manage to take her out on a date, which ends sourly when they start arguing over their goals. Shirō admits his love to Saber and wants her to forget trying to relive her past, but Saber refuses. Eventually, Shirō gets frustrated and goes home. However, by evening, Saber fails to come home. Shirō becomes worried and goes into the city to look for her. Shirō finds her and they reconcile, only to be interrupted by a jealous Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh easily outclasses both Master and Servant and leaves them both injured. Through Shirō's sheer determination and love for Saber, he manages to image a sword scabbard for Saber's sword. Saber immediately recognizes the scabbard. She rushes to Shirō's side, and they put Saber's Excalibur into the sheath, just as Gilgamesh launches a powerful energy attack on them. The combined Excalibur and sheath reflect Gilgamesh's attack back at him. Gilgamesh is injured by his own attack and flees. Saber realizes that Shirō is the vessel of Avalon, her sheath and the most powerful Noble Phantasm.
After experiencing another one of Saber's past memories where she has just killed a young man who resembles her and dies calling Saber "Father," (who is actually Mordred, a clone of Arturia in Fate/Stay Night storyline) Shirō tries to dissuade Saber from her wish again, but is met with another refusal. She is determined to fulfill her responsibility and refuses to stay with him unless she can achieve this. As she cries, he kisses her. The next day, Shirō goes to the church to meet with Kirei Kotomine again, but instead finds himself at the receiving end of Lancer's weapon.
(eps. 21 - 24)
Through investigation, Rin reveals to Saber that Lancer's Master is dead and that someone stole her command seal. The fact that Lancer is still involved means that the person who stole the command seal is acting as Lancer's new master. Saber, from Rin, discovers that Shirō is at Kotomine's church and goes after him. She finds him injured in the church's basement along with Lancer attempting to stop her.
Kotomine reveals himself to be the one who stole the servant's command seal from Lancer's master, as well as the master of Gilgamesh. He offers Shirō and Saber the Holy Grail, in return for their succumbing to their wishes. Shirō refuses it, though it would prevent the massive fire of his youth that killed his family, as it would not change who he was and cheapen what everyone went through. Saber, on hearing this, realizes the error of her wish and decides that all she wants is Shirō. Disgusted with their reactions, Kotomine reveals the Holy Grail is actually a corrupt weapon that only grants wishes through destruction (based on the Heaven's Feel scenario). He orders his Servants to kill Shiro and Saber. Lancer, at the last moment, defies Kotomine and steps between Gilgamesh and the duo. He has chosen to fight for his own beliefs now and urges the pair to make their escape.
Lancer is quickly killed by Gilgamesh. As they flee, Saber reveals to Shirō that he carries Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, within him. When they arrive home, they find a badly injured Rin, who had been attacked by Kotomine. She apologizes for being unable to protect Ilya, who has been taken by Kotomine, and for not realizing that Kotomine was the seventh Master. She gives Shirō some final pieces of advice: Kotomine intends to use Ilya as the vessel of the Holy Grail; he has likely gone to the Ryūdō Temple, where the Holy Grail was first summoned; and, most importantly, Shirō is no match for Kotomine. Seeing that Shirō intends to fight Kotomine all the same, Rin gives him her Azoth, a dagger she received when she became a mage, and instructs him on how to use it. She had known that she would not win the war and hid the weapon until the end for Shirō to use; soon after, Rin falls asleep from exhaustion.
Saber asks to remove Avalon from Shirō, but is hesitant, as, even with the sheath, she may not be able to defeat Gilgamesh and Shirō will lose his healing ability. Shirō tells her to remove it anyway, saying that people should die when killed and that he has become too dependent on it. At Ryūdō Temple, Shirō leaves Saber to fight Gilgamesh while he goes after Kotomine, both knowing that as long as either the Servant or Master is defeated, neither will be able to obtain the Grail.
He finds Ilya, set up to become a vessel for the Grail, and Kotomine below her, surrounded by an overflowing black sludge that represents the cursed power of the Holy Grail itself. The summoning system created by the Einzberns has made the Holy Grail very difficult to summon and the complete Grail has never been seen, due to either failed summons or the Grail's destruction, like Kiritsugu Emiya had done in the previous war. Kotomine believes that summoning the Grail to bring disaster is the true desire of humanity itself, and that the destruction resulting from this is a beautiful expression of this desire. Kotomine attacks Shirō using the sludge, reveals his hatred of Kiritsugu and the fact that he killed the latter, and calls for Angra Mainyu to destroy Shirō as the sludge surrounds him.
Gilgamesh gains the upper hand in his fight with Saber, revealing that he has no wish for the Grail and only desires Saber. Saber refuses to give up and is able to fight him on an even level with Excalibur until Gilgamesh unleashes his Enûma Elish. He tries to tempt her with the Grail's cursed power to become the same as him and enjoy a second life, this time married to him. Gilgamesh acknowledges their differing ideologies, especially considering that he destroyed his country while Saber's country destroyed her. Gilgamesh picks Saber up by her right leg, and she angrily retaliates by delivering a kick to his face; enraged, he decides to stop holding back. He fires his Enûma Elish as Saber uses Excalibur again, and a bright light surrounds both of them. Saber is overpowered, but fights back against Enûma Elish using Avalon, along with Excalibur and defeats Gilgamesh before he can unleash Enûma Elish again.
At the same time, Shirō breaks free of the sludge by tracing Avalon and stabs Kotomine with Azoth, killing him. Kotomine recalls how he had ironically given Rin Azoth all those years ago as he dies. Shirō saves Ilya and Saber arrives and is prepared to destroy the Holy Grail. After some deliberation, he orders Saber to carry out her final duty using his last command seal - to destroy the Grail once again. With the Grail destroyed, Saber disappears with the sunrise on her back and returns to her own time. Before she disappears, Saber confesses her love for Shirō.
Life goes on. Ilya stays with the Emiya household. Rin and Sakura have recovered and returned to their daily lives. Shirō also knows that life goes on, and even if they become distant memories as he gets older, he'll cherish the time he spent with Saber and the love he felt for her. He continues to view the world optimistically.
Meanwhile, Saber has returned to her past, as Arturia. She is brought to the time shortly after she has been mortally wounded from battling Mordred. Found sitting against the foot of a tree by Sir Bedivere, Arturia tells Bedivere about a wonderful dream she has had, and asks if people can relive the dreams they just had, to which Bedivere replies "of course". Bedivere then tells Arturia to rest while she sends for reinforcements to save her. However, Arturia tells Bedivere to give Excalibur back to Vivian, the Lady in the Lake. In the following scenes, Bedivere, with tears in her eyes, is shown riding her horse to the lake, while leaves fall in the forest. Arturia is shown slowly falling asleep, but she no longer regrets the life she has chosen and is thankful for the memories she had with Shirō. Bedivere completes her task and returns to Arturia, who reveals that this time her sleep will be a little long. As Arturia quietly closes her eyes, Bedivere says the final line of the show: "Do you behold... King Arthur... the continuation to your dream?".
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