Chapter 18 Insight

Reinforcements pretty much turned the tide. Was it a risky maneuver? Yes it was, but it paid off. It did have its setbacks too, so Gudao will at least try a more… stable setting to experiment with new ideas next time… hopefully.

That said, you could feasibly argue that Iskander/Gilgamesh stole the show against the Lion King. I can see that point well. But I argue they didn’t. Arturia still got one hell of a chivalric duel against the Lion King, sustaining no damage and asserting her dominance. Also, all the previous fights have been just that: Servants helping each other to defeat a common enemy that would normally be unreachable. The two kings, ironically enough, helped Arturia beat herself by sapping her energy, allowing Bedivere to land the critical blow. It’s almost poetic that the two kings who berated her were the ones to do it.

Now on to Mordred. This was the obvious turn out with everything that’s been put into place, but if you need an exact rundown of what happened, here it is. The Lion King charged Mordred using a shield to negate the damage. Gabrielle saw this but Mordred could not due to her own attack blocking her vision. She used a command seal to charge Mordred with prana (Full Health Heal in game) and the dodge spell. It worked… to an extent. With Mordred now in critical, fatal condition, Medea has to keep her sustained until the ambulance (Irisviel) arrives to pretty much guarantee survival.

One can argue it’s a cop out and a cliché move that she didn’t die. But I’d like to point out two things. First, Mordred plays a critical role and has development of her own that needs completion. This is simple and straightforward.

Now for the funny, point number 2: I can’t actually kill a servant if I wanted to.

Let me explain. In F/GO, you summon servants to aid you. You often get duplicates, which I describe as memorial essences. These memorial essences contain lost NPs and memories used to power up the original that has arrived in Chaldea. Essentially, if I kill off a servant, there’s a high chance they will just be summoned again anyway. The point of servant death is 95% moot, and if anything, it’s just an irritating time delay. “But they have to roll the servant again” you say. They do? I could have sworn they suddenly had countless catalysts lying all over Chaldea that mean something to different servants. Why not grab the skateboard from her room and place it on the altar? Quick fix. Done.

So yea. Ironic. One of the most interesting tools, character death, is out of my reach. It can literally be fixed thanks to the game’s design and my own world’s interpreted mechanics of said mobage. Now you can see why I killed off the OCs so readily and without hesitation: Because they’re someone I can kill and will actually mean something. I know what you’re thinking now. I have OCs all over Chaldea that you can relate to. Well… At least now you know I don’t exactly play nice with my own OCs. You’ve been warned, heh, but don’t expect FoC to turn into Game of Thrones.

Finally, there’s the whole symbolism and growth visualization in that final fight. I hope it really came across well. It was supposed to be a total shutdown on purpose, and I guess it’s partially contrived to make the battle happen. In the game, boom, dialogue, back to Chaldea. Here? She takes that dialogue opportunity to get some good licks in… or tries to. At least she still spills the beans for Roman to write down.

Suggested Music:

Part 1: (Everything up to the end of the reality marble)

Part 2: (Arturia vs the Lion King)