[AvianWing]

Originally Posted by Alaya

Well, ufotable put it where the it is in the novel so there's no complain about that.

For the episode, I think my signature said it best. I guess with his backstory done I can finally complete it.

Spoiler for Kiritsugu's description:

"This was the tale of a man who, more than anyone else, believed in his ideals, and was driven to despair by them.
The dream of that man was pure.
His wish was for everyone in this world to be happy; that was all that he asked for.
It is a childish ideal that all young boys grow attached to at least once, one that they abandon once they grow accustomed to the mercilessness of reality.
Any happiness requires a sacrifice, something all children learn when they become adults.
But, that man was different.
Maybe he was just the most foolish of all. Maybe he was broken somewhere. Or maybe, he might have been of the kind we call 'Saints', entrusted with God's will. One that common people cannot understand.
He knew that for any existence in this world, the only two alternatives are sacrifice, or salvation...
After understanding that, he would never be able to empty the scale plates...
From that day on, he set his mind to work on being the one to tip the scale.
To abate the grief in this world, there was no other, more efficient way.
To save even one life on one side, he had to forsake one life on the other side.
That is, to let the majority of people survive, he had to kill a minority of people.
Therefore, rather than saving people for the sake of saving them, he excelled at the art of killing people.
Again and again, he kept painting his hands the color of blood, but the man never flinched.
Never questioning the righteousness of his acts, nor ever doubting his goal, he forced himself to only faultlessly tip the scale.
Never ever misjudging the value of a life.
With no regard to the humility of one's existence, and with no regard to its age, all lives were weighed evenly.
With no discrimination, the man saved lives, and, with no discrimination, he killed.
But unfortunately, he realized that too late.
To value everything in equal fairness, that would be the same as not loving anyone uniquely.
Had he carved that inviolable rule into his spirit sooner, he would have attained salvation.
Freezing his young heart into necrosis, achieving his self as a measuring machine with neither blood nor tears, he kept on leading a life of sorting those that were to die, and those that were to live. There probably wasn't any suffering for him.
But that man was wrong.
Anyone's delighted smile would fill his chest with pride, and anyone's wailing voice would shake his heart.
Anger was added to his resentment, and he became full of regrets as his tears of loneliness longed for hands reaching out to him.
Even though he was pursuing an ideal beyond reason of the world of men — he too, was human.
How many times was the man punished for that contradiction?
He did know friendship. He did know love.
Even when putting that one beloved life, and the countless number of perfect strangers, on the left and right of the scale—
He definitely never made a mistake.
More than loving someone, to judge that life equally to that of the others, he had to value it impartially, and impartially forfeit it.
Even when he was with someone precious to him, he would always seem to be mourning.
And now, the man is being inflicted with the greatest punishment. "

From what I've read from the comments in the forum, the book also goes extensively into personal monologue and stuff. I've been given the impression that we were suppose to care a lot more about Kiritsugu prior to this arc. His first emotional outburst came as a surprise to a lot of people, myself included. While the story is character driven, not a single person is given the protagonist title, and does a good job spreading the points of views across the board. I think he essentially takes up the mantle with these two episodes, where he was basically just a central figure prior to this point. I feel as though the anime is basically telling me: hey, here's your guy going into the last arc. The second OP and ED makes more sense in this regard, changing from the participants of the holy grail war down to mostly Kiritsugu.

... but I feel that it has come too late.

I agree with the sentiment that Kitsurugi's story should have been told before now, and now that I've thought about it, I feel like it would have been a very nice OVA or promo or something to promote the series before it airs. Kotomine Kirei's story has been a lot more prevalent, and we've been privy to a considerable amount of his thoughts before kiritsugu.

The arc itself is pretty good, but it just feels rather out of place. I feel like it's a lost in transition from different mediums.