I should probably check out Diarmuid's story on Wikipedia or something after this, since that flashback was just a little too vague to get a satisfying gist of what went down in his previous life. But now that people have summarised it in this thread, it becomes rather obvious that his current love triangle perfectly mirrors the one he had in life, and which
cost him his life. So yeah, better stay alert there, Lancer. Bros before hos and all.
I'd already kind of felt sorry for Kayneth in the previous episode, so naturally seeing him as a veggie in this one was all the more impactful. Some viewers seem to revel in it due to seeing him as an irredeemable bastard who deserves it, but eh, he's doesn't seem to be all that bad to me. A very strict teacher and an extremely elitist magus to be sure, but not really evil or anything. And despite their union having been arranged, his feelings for Sola seem to be genuine, which makes his current predicament all the more agonising. Looks like last week's guess that he was going to be Urobuchi's favourite "pet" was right on the money.
And yeah, as expected, Sola's… kind of a bitch. I'm curious as to what her own objective is, if she even has one besides boning Lancer. And speaking of Lancer, I gotta wonder what his position would be if the need for a mana transfer were to arise (no pun intended~).
As stoic as his expression remained, Kiritsugu was clearly (and understandably) livid in this episode, and I loved it. How much worse can his Master and Servant relationship with Saber get? Iri already has to act out the messenger between them in order to keep the team going, and props to her for being able to handle and mediate such opposing views on morality and their priorities in the war. Kiritsugu only has finishing off Kayneth in mind, whereas Saber's all about stopping Caster ASAP. Gotta wonder if they'll ever be on the same page in any of the battles.
After they sat out on the entire previous conflict, it was great to see Waver and Rider get right back into the action here. Waver's finally showing some of his talent and it was kind of endearing how all it took to change his mind about invading Caster's lair was Rider recognising said talent. That's Waver's only real wish, so one could say that, with Rider by his side, the kid's already got everything he's ever wanted from the Holy Grail.
As for Rider, what's cool about him is not just his manliness and how strong he is, but also his respect and admiration towards those seemingly much weaker than him. Guys of his stature and strength can often grow to look down on the weak, but Rider instead sees those very same weaknesses as strengths in his own way. Waver was self-deprecating about using the most basic method possible to find Caster, Rider showed him how getting good results with basic methods can be more of a feat than with complex ones. Waver was self-deprecating about how he couldn't handle seeing the gruesome scenery in Caster's lair, Rider showed him how being moved to such an extent by such a display of inhumanity can be seen as proof of one's virtue. The ultimate bro indeed, coming-of-age-kid Waver really couldn't have asked for a better Servant.
And yeah, the censoring was more of a shame here than ever before. Previously it was mostly just used to show the Caster team's depraved character, but here its purpose was the impact it had on Waver, and consequently the viewer. And obviously a blood smeared sneaker can only have so much impact. Not that I expected to see the novel's material fully depicted of course, but are visible corpses too much to ask? I realise that would contradict what the novel described, but they could just replace those shots with the actual human furniture for the DVD editions or something. Oh well, it was a engaging scene nonetheless and provided good character development for Waver, who was in serious need of some serious moments after having been reduced to pure comic relief for so many episodes.
So, next time… Rin's Adventure? Huh, I didn't expect to see her again at all in this, but as long as it serves a purpose in the story and it's not just some fanservice for them lolicons, I'm all for it. In fact, the timing is more than a little suspicious after that last scene, where Kotomine clearly begins to see it Gilgamesh's way as regards Tokiomi's passive approach towards the war. And if you add up Kariya's return from the preview, things definitely don't look good for papa Tohsaka, and as such I'm particularly looking forward to episode 10.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama
It's kind of sad that Lancer seems to be falling for her act cause she reminds him a bit of someone he loved during his own heroic saga.
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That's certainly a possibility, but I feel that maybe Lancer does see through her façade, but simply doesn't care since teaming up with Sola really is the only way he can end up saving his Master at this point. After probably having had to deal with shallow enchanted women his whole life due to dat mole, it would be strange if he hadn't developed a keener eye for acts such as Sola's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HandofFate
Assassin really is weak…
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Yes… that's why there are dozens of him.
But people shouldn't expect the Assassin class to stand up to the remaining Servants either way. The proper use is to have them stealthily aim for the Masters. It's what they did in this episode, but unfortunately for them Rider was just too aware of his surroundings.