Fate/Zero - Episode 14 Discussion / Poll

[Haak]

I think he was joking dude...

[Xagzan]

Damn, after the quality level of animation from this episode, it's gonna be disappointing when it's downgraded back to normal episode levels

Can someone tell me what the Root is again? I remember something about it being an escape from the world in season 1, but I don't remember what exactly it was.

[Klashikari]

The Root is basically referring to Akasha, the source of information, events and phenomenoms from past, present and future in nasuverse,

[mAc Chaos]

^Can someone translate that into English. :3

[Alaya]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

^Can someone translate that into English. :3

Akasha is basically the "Root of everything" literally in the Nasuverse. It's the origin and the end, alpha and omega where everything comes from it and everything will go to it when they die and be recycled. Because everything comes from Akasha, it means Akasha also holds every information of everything, including past, present and future.

A person reaching the Root would mean that that person would obtain every knowledge of this world, including the nature of the universe.

[mAc Chaos]

So it's like Heaven or something.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

So it's like Heaven or something.

it is neither haven or hell. It is a giant library.

[mAc Chaos]

Well, being connected to eternity, and the source of all things almost sounds like God to me.

[Xagzan]

Originally Posted by Alaya

Akasha is basically the "Root of everything" literally in the Nasuverse. It's the origin and the end, alpha and omega where everything comes from it and everything will go to it when they die and be recycled. Because everything comes from Akasha, it means Akasha also holds every information of everything, including past, present and future.

A person reaching the Root would mean that that person would obtain every knowledge of this world, including the nature of the universe.

Hm. Then I kind of wonder why Gilgamesh doesn't share Tokiomi's goal there. I mean, he's always saying everything in the world belongs to him, and it sounds like Akasha is literally everything, so why shouldn't he want to acquire it?

[Haak]

He doesn't need to acquire it. He thinks it's already his.

[mAc Chaos]

If I recall, he considers it a boring pursuit for academic bookworms like Tokiomi rather than something worth his time.

[Ithekro]

Gil only wants to stop people from stealing his stuff.

[Vicious108]

Originally Posted by Xagzan

Hm. Then I kind of wonder why Gilgamesh doesn't share Tokiomi's goal there. I mean, he's always saying everything in the world belongs to him, and it sounds like Akasha is literally everything, so why shouldn't he want to acquire it?

Gilgamesh himself explains why he's not interested in Tokiomi's goal in episode 6 (particularly the BD version where he goes into more detail). It's because he's not interested in territories outside of his realm, Akasha being a metaphysical location and all.

[TwilightsCall]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

Well, being connected to eternity, and the source of all things almost sounds like God to me.

If I remember correctly, the Church does consider it to be God, so not too terribly far off :P

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

Well, being connected to eternity, and the source of all things almost sounds like God to me.

I don't think you can equate it to God. The Root is simply everything there was, is, and will ever be without limit. I don't think God is that omnipotent.

Originally Posted by TwilightsCall

If I remember correctly, the Church does consider it to be God, so not too terribly far off :P

I think the Church denies it and/or disagrees with it because it conflicts with it's beliefs.

[Alaya]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

Well, being connected to eternity, and the source of all things almost sounds like God to me.

Yes and no, depends on how you define "God". But it's not a God or a heaven in a human sense for sure. To put it in more of Nasu's term, "it is everything, therefore it is nothing". A void where nothing exist yet everything comes from it. It has no personality (except one extremely special case: [ ]) so you could not really say it's God since God has personality. In Nasuverse, human's god is more like a crystallization of human wish/fantasy.

But to really understand about the Root, you need to read Kara no Kyoukai (and some of Tsukihime) very carefully, since the best explanation about it is there.

[LunarMoon]

Originally Posted by mAc Chaos

So it's like Heaven or something.

I've always related it more to the Buddhist concept of enlightenment, though it obviously takes a lot its inspiration from the spiritual beliefs found in paganism and modern mysticism. The goal of any magus is to access the akashic records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashic_records
http://www.crystalinks.com/akashicrecords.html

[jeroz]

Think the Root as like the Gate of Truth in Fullmetal Alchemist, the metaphysical realm where all the knowledge can be found.

[Craxuan]

Sometimes I find it hilarious how people struggle with the phrase, "it is everything, it is nothing". It meant exactly what it is, and Nasu called it 'Akasha'.

The Fate Series doesn't explain about Nasuverse very well, it's probably better - as Alaya mentioned - to go through Tsukihime the Visual Novel (Do not watch the anime) to learn more about Akasha, since the Eye of Death Tohno Shiki possessed is directly related to it.

And about Episode 14, well, I don't actually remember Caster getting angry from the original novel after Ryu's death, but it works as well...

[GDB]

He didn't really seem angry to me. More that he was just a little upset that his buddy/partner in chaos/supporting actor left the stage before the play finished.