I wonder why on every time Shinji redemption fanfic, Archer always suddenly pushed for Rin to kill Shirou instead of letting her ask for alliance?

My Crunchyroll and Netflix only have a few of them so I was wondering if I used VPN could I be able to see them all? Or at least would there be unlimited blade works because I want see it next.

Why didn't she tell about the other way to save saber from dissapering before the whole illya kidnapping happened??

Like I am constantly thinking about her and Shirou and I only have 3 of the five endings in Fate Stay Night remastered. It weighs really heavily on my heart like if the romance was with a girl who had a terminal illness kind of deal.

Memories

Once Castoria starts ringing the pilgrims bells, she starts seeing memories of herself from PHH, Artoria Pendragon. She starts seeing memories in a similar manner to Shirou in the fate route, and has a similar reaction to them. On one hand, she expressed admiration, calling Artoria “radiant” and “righteous.” On another hand, she expresses disgust at her manner of living, recognizing how miserable it is. She doesn’t want to be shown it, because she recognizes similarities to her own life such as never understanding happiness, never receiving rewards, etc. “There is no life for you beyond this. Just as she, in her chalk white castle, never found happiness.” In her next memory, she sees Saber pull the sword from the stone, even knowing that it would lead her to ruin, and thinks this.

“That's right. Think well. No, there's no need to think about it. Considering something like this is laughable, isn't it? If the world should come to an end, everyone should shoulder that responsibility. Everyone should curse everyone, and it should all come to an end impartially. And yet, why? --Many people were smiling." "As such, I cannot think this a mistake." That was the result. Despite having restored people, cities, and a country, she was ostracized by people and knights alike. Never knowing joy; crushed bearing the weight of others' desires. In the end, she saw everything she had built fall to ruin, friends tearing each other to pieces. In the end, she died alone, as all others died before her. It's absurd. It's absurd. It's absurd. Why would you go that far? Why would you decide to go that far? Just forget it all, as easily as you would after you're done enjoying a story. There was no reason at all for you to become King. You just had the "strength to do so". I just don't understand. Looking at her life--my life--this way, there is just no way I can see it as noble in the slightest. After all, you could have left it all to someone else, couldn't you? The worst words come spilling out. She was facing away from me, but gently looked back, and said: You're right. I also think there was someone better suited for this. Then why? Why did you do it? Well—You know that better than anyone, don't you?”

Castoria expresses concern and pain at seeing Artoria’s past, feeling empathy for her plight, wondering how and why she could have ever gone down that path willingly. After all, Castoria herself only went down her path to not disappoint people. And when she asks why Artoria did it, why she didn’t run away from her responsibilities, Artoria responds that Castoria should know better than anyone else, being her, why she never ran away. It simply isn’t in their nature to run away from their responsibilities. It’s interesting because as she sees more of Artoria’s memories, she begins to gain more and more strength from them, blurring the lines between their personhoods when she starts giving out war tactics against woodwode or referring to Morgan as “Morgan Le Fae,” which da Vinci notes no one else in fairy Britain has done. By the time Excalibur is formed, she notes that half her existence is now that of fantasy, having taken on part of Artoria. “In the past, she would've tried to find a different way after dismissing this as 'impossible'. But now, she knows she can do it. After returning from the Site of Selection, she is no longer who she used to be. More than half of her is now an existence of fantasy. A king who will one day draw the Sword of Selection, and with the Holy Sword in hand, guide Britain into a new age. She can feel that she is now a part of that concept from pan-human history, that way of being. I'm not at the center of the world, but rather, at its edge. Like a lighthouse at the farthest reaches, even should time end. She remembers the words the mage had once said…” It's important to note that Castoria says herself that the only reason she believes in herself now to be able to make it to rhongomyniad is because now half of her is that of Artoria. It’s a super huge theme in LB6 for Castoria to gain strength from her memories of Artoria, not running away from herself and what she knows as the truth. Also a quick reminder that as for the last part of the quote, Merlin told Artoria in garden of Avalon to be a king like a lighthouse at the farthest edges of the world, which is what she’s referencing. Now, she is a king similar to that of Artoria having learned from Artoria, and coming into her own as Artoria. The whole “castoria and Artoria come together” thing is the most important foreshadowing for Artoria Avalon, who is the culmination of all the holy sword users.

Lying to everyone

One of the most intriguing conversations in LB6 is a conversation between Oberon and Castoria. Castoria basically confronts Oberon on all his lies, having cleverly seen through them. “You come off as honest and sincere, but you don't tell the truth. You leave out important details from others. Why is that? Why have you lied so many times?” She’s one of the few people in LB6 who was suspicious of Oberon from the start. Moreover, she parallels Oberon in an interesting way that Oberon notes. “And what's more—You've been telling lies too, Artoria. The reasons for coming all this way. I mean, your motives for saving Britain. It's not just me. Ritsuka has an inkling as well. You weren't fighting for the humans, or for fairies, or any reason in particular. Your true feelings lie elsewhere. You just don't talk about it.” He points out to her that she’s the exact same, lying to everyone around her. It cements the two as thematic parallels, in an interesting way that foils how Merlin and Artoria were parallels. While Merlin and Artoria couldn’t understand their true emotions, Castoria and Oberon constantly lied about they’re true emotions. Essentially, what I wanted to point out here, is that Castoria is lying to everyone about her true feelings and that it’s a point of thematic importance within the narrative alongside a massive theme of the story, “lies.”

Emotional exhaustion

Castoria is noticeably emotionally exhausted throughout the story. She’s tired from having to put on a smile all the time and lie to everyone around her. She’s weary from being on a journey she never even wanted to walk down. She’s fed up with the fairies and the humans and the world. That’s the whole reason she tried to lose herself in the nameless forest. She was so emotionally exhausted that she tried to forget her own name in the nameless forest and restart her life. Sadly for her, and thankfully for us, fairies of paradise are immune to the effects of the nameless forest and don’t lose their names. This is in stark contrast to Artoria, who didn’t even realize throughout her whole life how much pain and misery she was in. As described about Shirou, he was a tin man walking alongside a path, not realizing he was rusting and chipping away until it was too late. Artoria was the same way. The ideals and kingship she cloaked herself with acted as an armor to keep her from despair. Castoria, without this, was fully aware of her despair, thus leading to her being fully aware of how exhausted she was from her journey.

Fear

Castoria notes several times about how afraid she was to fight towards the beginning. That fighting was scary, and that she didn’t like it. Our first glimpse of this was the calamity at Norwich. “Ah--but this is impossible. It is simply impossible. I know it is. Those are the only two options, there's no other way. -If we hurry, we can still make it out. I can run. That's what everyone is saying. No one will blame me for running here. They will only be disappointed, that's all. You can always be forgiven through further achievements. So I wanted to tell them we would run away, but I was surprised at how I was so hesitant. ‘I want to run. I can't do it. I'm scared. No, but... but...but..’”

She notes this toward the end. “Fighting is scary. Hating everything equally is exhausting. I'd have been happy to live a normal life.” So it’s quite obvious that she doesn’t like to fight. She finds it terrifying. We can draw both a parallel to Artoria here, where Artoria, as well, was terrified of fights, specifically fights with victims. And while she tried to protest that she didn’t hesitate to battle, Shirou notes that she never wanted or liked battling either. The parallel is even pointed out by Muramasa in LB6 to castoria. “Artoria. You're not cut out for fighting, kid.’ ‘-But...if I stop here, won't everyone be in danger? So it's okay. Everything's fine! I know it's beyond me to try, and I lack all confidence in my attempts…” Castoria, like Artoria, is terrified of battles with victims. This brings us back to her selfless nature as Artoria.

Body issues

Castoria parallels Artoria in a very cute but sad way, in that they both have some body image issues. Castoria wishes to be taller and curvier, and Artoria has actually wished to be something similar, specifically bustier and more feminine. It’s a bit of a charming quirk, but it’s also sad that both of them are so insecure in their beauty. Rin and Sakura directly note that they consider Artoria more beautiful than themselves, and Knockarea notes that Castoria sent a chill down her spine with how much potential for beauty she had. Both of them are incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly insecure in their beauty, an interesting parallel for Nasu to make.

Hope

Hope was a character who may have had little by ways of screen time, but had a massive impact on Castoria, much larger than anyone was anticipating. “No, they're not shielding me at all. They're desperately reaching out a hand to me. Someone who lost their life at your whim. Someone from the furthest end, no different from you, that you have long since forgotten. Her name was....’I understand. Not having a name must be miserable. Then, how about something like this? Really, it's just an idea I had just now...Please use my name. Artoria Caster. Either Artoria, or Caster. Whichever you prefer! Hmph, it's not like I'll be using it anymore. Feel free to call yourself that! —Thank you. I'll cherish--I'II cherish it. Not just this name, but also your heart. Forever and ever.”

This insignificant moment meant a lot to castoria, who’d never been able to help anyone in her entire life. Being able to lend a helping hand, and receiving gratitude for it, helped fulfill her and act as the vital component missing from her “star”. “Her name was Hope, one who found the light of the star at the very end. One who had grown tired of her role, that of giving hope to everyone, and lamented. Yet she did not lose her smile. She protected me all this time, over a mere random act. She believed in me, even now, over something as insignificant as that. -It wasn't anything special or noble. And it may seem like a trivial reason for others. No...thank you for cherishing it. That's right, I never had some exemplary reason either. I'm no different from her. I have nothing I can be proud of, even the talent I was praised for is surely just for show. Surely, I will never find a reason that everyone will be envious of me. But…yes, but—What about it? I'm fine with that. I just don't want to betray that star. I just don't want to discard this feeling. For such an insignificant reason, we...you—Always! I always have to do my best…!” Castoria says at the end that she finds herself to be no different from hope or Artoria, also following the light of the star until the very end. She too had nothing to be proud of, and no one would ever be envious of her—but she still always found hope. Which is one of the big messages in LB6–hope.

memories

The explanation for all of Castoria’s memories was actually done in the very first section. "Spring's surprise, summer's quarrel, autumn's joy, and winter's battle.” First, we’ll start off with Spring’s surprise. The surprise is that Caster has no spring memories to speak of. I say Caster as a distinctly different identity from Artoria. Essentially, Castoria has a very similar identity crisis going on as Saber, with “Caster” and “Artoria”. This was something only made apparent in the official translation. “Oh...I'm so glad. As Caster, the faerie of paradise, I may not have had spring memories...But as Altria, as myself, I have such wonderful memories of my journey.” The fact that Caster, the fairy of paradise, had no spring memories was certainly a shock to everyone, misleading them to think that she had no springtime memories at all. But in reality, Castoria herself considers her entire journey a spring memory. As her summer memories, she remembers one of the worst times of her life. Summer’s “quarrel” happens to be her being told to kill Ector, and then being thrown into a cell for execution by the king when she failed to bring herself to do it. After that, the fire of Tintagel happened and she was forced to run away, Ector having died to save her. After that, she went off on her journey as the fairy of paradise, where she wasn’t even given the time of day. Soon after, she goes to the nameless woods hoping to essentially commit fairy suicide by forgetting her identity.

“Consumed by depression, I decided to go to the Nameless Woods. I didn't have a particular plan in mind. I just wanted to be someone other than myself, even if only for a little while.” However the curse of the nameless woods doesn’t affect fairies of paradise, so she remained herself. That was where she pretended to forget her name and met Guda. She herself refers later to these summer memories as “gloomy”, as they are basically the worst time in her life. For autumn’s joy, those are the memories in which she met Ector, her first friend and mentor figure. It’s pretty self explanatory why, but he was the only person who treated her well as a fairy of paradise. As for her winter memories, those are which she remembers the fairies of Tintagel emotionally abusing her. With her fae eyes, she could tell that they did it because they feared her as the fairy of paradise. They made her stay in a stable, where two of her toes fell off in the harsh winter. But as for the title, Winter’s battle, I believe this refers to the battle in her mind just to keep on going.

“Whenever I close my eyes, this is where I'd be. It didn't matter if I was awake or asleep. I'd still be shivering from the frigid wind. Howling. Howling. Wind strong enough to shatter your ears. With nothing to protect me, my body feels cold as ice. Surrounded by pitch darkness with nothing for warmth, and no hope of escape. That's how I grew up. For me, Britain was pure hell.” “Deep down, they all feared and loathed me. Prophecy with all their hearts, and worked me like a slave. The faeries that loathed me hated the faerie of paradise, and abused me without a second thought. Aside from that, all anyone felt for me was indifference. I was considered a precious resource, but treated like I wasn't even there. ...But I couldn't blame them for that. I more or less knew what my duty was. I was to bring salvation to the faeries of Britain, to free them from their suffering, and to save them in the true sense of the word. ...Even as a child, I understood that fulfilling my duty would mean the end of Britain as it existed now. I could deal with the slave-driving, the abuse, and the disinterest, because I knew the reasons behind them. But this sound was too much to bear. Asleep or awake, there was never a time I didn't hear it. Howls of deceit. Howls of self-interest. Howls of selfishness. Howls of envy. The sounds I could never shut out - -the sounds of the faeries' true feelings. It was enough to make me lose track of where I was, and where I was meant to go. I hear bells ringing. They tell me to go on a pilgrimage to save the faeries. ... (Sigh) Honestly, this sound depresses me, too. I know it's supposed to be an honorable mission, but how in the world am I supposed to save faeries like that?”

Basically, the battle was one inside her mind, grappling with the fact that she had to save the fairies when she didn’t even like them, and when they were the root cause of her misery over the course of her life. We could most likely draw parallels to Artoria’s life like this, as her life went through many similar stages as well. If I had to say, her autumn memories would have most likely been being raised alongside Kay with Ector. Summer would most likely be the battle of Camlann (remember how the shores were lit on fire? That’s likely what the fires in Tintagel represented). Winter would have most likely been the ten years she ruled as a king, as she gradually grew disillusioned with her subjects and as she suffered ever more to further her kingdom. And having no spring would have most likely been having none as Artoria the king but having springtime memories as Artoria the girl during her journey over the fifth holy grail war alongside Shirou and Rin.

Garden of lost will

Essentially the garden of lost will is “A cold and unforgiving Garden that whittles away the hearts of its visitors by stripping away their delusions and torturing them with self-loathing. ...Merlin did say you can leave this Garden if you can hold out till the end…..but the whole thing is a cruel trap meant to make you lose your heart and mind before you can.” Castoria is…scarily calm about the whole situation, a facet of her jaded nature, and simply says that she must, “just have to contend with a bunch of things I'd rather not,” asserting that she can simply cut the line to the exit to avoid having her heart and mind destroyed completely. She remembers her summer and winter memories in the garden. She almost cuts the line to cut off the exit because she’s “seen enough.” Then she sees what guda goes through. Actually, what Guda goes through is just as important to Artoria as Artoria’s memories. “Huh? ...Is she seriously standing back up now?” Castoria was shocked to see Guda not give up and run away. “At first, it was like a curse. I felt I had no choice but to fight. But not anymore. I've stepped on lots of things, and left so much and so many behind...Despite all that, I still have something pushing me forward. Back then, I shouted, "To live!" Those were the words that helped me defeat the "best" thing for humanity. So now, I have to find the answer for myself. Will I see. And what would that be?I don't know just yet. Right now, all I have is the wish to live. Hah. A wish? That's right. What's wrong with that? Everyone wishes for what they want. Everything I've achieved so far is because I wished for something I wanted. So I'm going to keep going, and I'm going to find out why I think that way. So what if I lack confidence? So what if this is too much for me to handle? Seriously? Well, I'll be damned. Were humans always this resilient?”

Castoria essentially watches guda go through a vision very similar to hers, as they are a parallel to her, and decides to stand up anyway. This shocks castoria, but shows her that even through what she’s been through, she can still be resilient and not run away. She essentially gains courage from seeing Guda to not give up. Essentially, the garden of lost will is a massive parallel to the basement scene, where Artoria is inspired in a very similar way by Shirou.

Dream

I think it’s really cute how they note a couple times that Castoria’s dream is just to be a normal city girl. “The same dream every faerie who grows up in the country has: joining the ranks of upper-class city folk.” She says it in a flashback with Cnoc as well. “I want to try walking around the city as an upper-class faerie. I want to be proud and stylish, like you are.” It’s a really nice throwback to Saber wanting to be a normal town girl, as detailed in fate stay night. It’s also nice that she gets to live out this dream with guda, a parallel to saber living out her dream of being a normal girl on her date with Shirou.

Once and future king

“After that, King Arthur's body was brought to Avalon, the paradise at the World's End, by the faeries of the lake.....as the future king who would one day return to life.” It’s interesting that fate is FINALLY starting to draw references to the once and future king mythos of King Arthur. They do reference it here in LB6, which may be foreshadowing for the future. It also gets brought up in book 7 of el melloi case files.

Blacksmith fan girling

I love that Artoria has an immediate affinity to Muramasa due to her love of blacksmiths from Ector. “I'd love that! Blacksmiths are never bad people, you know!”

Barrett

The Barrett is a really interesting piece of symbolism to Castoria that acts as a parallel to Saber’s lion plushie. “Apparently, I had a habit of stopping what I was doing and gazing at the barrettes that were all arrayed on the workbench” Castoria has always desired a piece of jewelry like what Ector used to make, like a Barrett, and Artoria always desired something small and plush like what other girls her age had growing up (she also has an affinity to lions due to past experiences raising a cub). Muramasa is the only one who knew about this desire since he saw what she jumped into the river to search for.

“...That's what she wants?You gotta be freakin' kidding me…” he even has a straight up Shirou moment where he tells Castoria that she’s not cut out for fighting. “Sure, I like to fight, and I'm good at it, but it's embarrassing to be put on so high a pedestal! “…You're good at it? Nonsense. There's no way anyone who actually likes fighting would have wanted something like that. Even Ritsuka wanting a Holy Grail was a damn sight better than that.” “Huh..? You saw what it was I wanted, Muramasa?” “Of all the things you could've desired, THAT was all you wanted? So what if you're the Child of Prophecy? If you wanna act how you think everyone expects, fine. But if nobody else is gonna say this, I will. Altria, you're not cut out for fighting.” “...But if I quit, I would be letting everyone down, right? So it's okay! I'II be fine! I know I'm in over my head, and I still have no confidence in my ability to actually pull this off.. But I'm sure I can at least figure out how to ring the Bells of Pilgrimage! So I'm going to keep doing my best to be a good Child of Prophecy!”

Muramasa even says in his last moments that he was sad he couldn’t make that Barrett for her. It’s a little piece of symbolism meant to represent the Artoria’s desire to be a normal girl.

Bells

The bells are a consistent metaphor throughout the story of LB6 to represent Castoria’s mission. “I hear bells ringing. They tell me to go on a pilgrimage to save the faeries.” They’re immediately established to be an unpleasant thing for Castoria, and something that forewarns disaster. “....of a bell ringing far off in the distance.” “This happens every time I wake to the sound of a bell. A storm appears without any warning.” We learn through the chant, and through Gareth’s death, that the bells of pilgrimage are made from the corpses of the head of the fairy clans. “Song of paradise. Voice of the inner sea. You who were born to be selected, to decide the fate of this land, and to see justice done. The bells of the bones of inception shall show you the way. Forgive us these sins.” This ringing is something that consistently reverberated within castoria, reminding her of her grim fate. “...Ahh. I can still hear the bell ringing. It feels like this ringing may never go away.” Tintagel even had a roughly made copy of the bells in their wish for Castoria to go on her journey. “Tintagel's Bell of Pilgrimage, which I've been hearing constantly for sixteen years, rings in the distance. It's a crude, roughly hewn bell that looks nothing like the bells it's based on. It embodies the wish that the Child of Prophecy will one day grow strong and set off on her journey.” And the prophecy, like the bells, are consistently associated with death. “I hear a bell ringing....I hear bones, too. «The harbor shall return to empty shore, but the calamity shall vanish into the distant sky." It's a signifier of the faeries' apology. The sound of a soul accepting its sins. "The round fortress shall burn, and the bell of water shall appear." ... once all of them have rung..."Confessed sinners shall make the acquaintance of the guillotine."..And as for the faerie of paradise…"Having fulfilled her role, the Child of Prophecy shall say farewell to her home.”

The bells are also the reason she begins to see Artoria’s past in her dreams. And, interestingly enough, after that, she notes that every time she heard the bells, the only thing she could think was that she should give up, because she was the only one who could save “her”. “...Forget this. I should just give up. Yeah, that's it. After all, I'm the only one who can save her. That's what I thought to myself each and every time I heard the bells ring.” Now I feel it’s fairly obvious that by “her” she’s referring to Artoria here, as she’s the only other person who shares the same fate. Castoria feels both empathy for Artoria due to their shared struggles, but also a sense of protectiveness toward her. And she feels that by abandoning her path and saving herself, that doing that will save Artoria too (because technically, she is Artoria, so the only way she can save Artoria is by saving herself. Another interesting thing to note is that the bells are consistently associated with the storm as well.

“I could deal with the slave-driving, the abuse, and the disinterest, because I knew the reasons behind them. But this sound was too much to bear. Asleep or awake, there was never a time I didn't hear it. Howls of deceit. Howls of self-interest. Howls of selfishness. Howls of envy. The sounds I could never shut out --the sounds of the faeries' true feelings. It was enough to make me lose track of where I was, and where I was meant to go. I hear bells ringing. They tell me to go on a pilgrimage to save the faeries. ... (Sigh) Honestly, this sound depresses me, too. I know it's supposed to be an honorable mission, but how in the world am I supposed to save faeries like that?”

She even says that just like the storm, the sound of the bells depresses her as well, because her journey has only ever been a source of suffering to her. And yet—she still feels constantly pressured into continuing the mission despite her suffering, feeling as though it’s her duty, that she’s allowed no choice and no freedom. Aka, no autonomy, just like Artoria. “But that's all over now. Accept the bell's timbre. Finish your journey. Just like she could never be happy in that white castle, your life cannot continue beyond this point. And not only that, she’s not the only one who can hear the bells tolling. It’s noted that Albion’s spirit could hear them too, implying that Albion may have been the red dragon of Britain. After all, In garden of Avalon, Merlin said that the dragon that could be considered Artoria’s parent was already dead and had returned to earth. Now, for a little history lesson, Albion isn’t actually the name of the red dragon in welsh mythology. It is actually an alternative name for Britain. The literal meaning of the word Albion in Gaelic is “world.” Nasu is essentially implying that the red dragon is Britain itself, which is true considering the red dragon was meant to represent the Britons. In the nasuverse, Albion is meant to guard the boundary to the reverse side of the world, including Avalon, hence why it was necessary to fight him right before entering Avalon. In the nasuverse, Albion is actually both the red dragon and the white dragon. But the name of the enemy we fight before entering Avalon says “red dragon,” so the dragon is right now more representing Artoria’s parent. “You who would choose the sacred sword's wielder. You who would chant the king's name. If you seek a new world, then leave all traces of the old behind…If you can overcome these tears, I will offer my heart to the forger of stars. ...Ahh. I can hear the bells tolling...My heart may have stopped, but yours yet beats strong. Welcome home, Avalon le Fae. May the sound of hope echo into the future…”

Albion seems to know about Artoria and her prophecy, and implies that Castoria is “choosing” Artoria and “chanting” her name by fulfilling her destiny, essentially honoring Artoria by going through with her fate. Then, he’s telling Castoria to abandon the old world to create the new, getting rid of old Britain to make way for PHH. And that if she can overcome “these tears” (her suffering), Albion is willing to offer his heart to her, the “forger of stars (remember how I said the Artoria’s are both the star and the stargazer? Well, they’re the forger of stars too apparently). Then, he references Castoria’s destiny, also being able to hear the bells tolling, and says that Castoria’s heart beats strong, essentially complimenting her strength. And then, he welcomes her home. Finally, coming to our last important mention of the bells, they are actually mentioned last as something positive at the very end. “Farewell, young you. Now, and forever. In time, the star beating within your chest, and the timbre of the bells, will resonate inside you.”

The phrasing of the sentence is gentle, unlike before, saying that the timbre of the bells will resonate inside her. Essentially, now, Castoria is fulfilling her destiny because she wants to—because she doesn’t want to betray her star—rather than out of obligation. Funnily enough, the Artoria equivalent to the bells would actually be the sword of selection and the holy sword. They are a representation of Artoria’s destiny, and Castoria even one time says that without a holy sword, Artoria wouldn’t need to suffer. It’s interesting to note that throughout fate stay night, Artoria refers to herself as Shirou’s “sword”. At first, this is symbolic of her objectification—but later, it becomes almost a gentle term of endearment, where she’s saying now that she will protect Shirou no matter what, not out of knightly duty but out of choice and love. It follows a very similar pattern to the bells of pilgrimage, something beginning with a negative connotation and becoming positive.

Queen Morgan

We start off understanding that part of Castoria’s mission is to defeat Morgan. However, Castoria never shows Marked hostility toward Morgan, instead, seeming to respect her quite a bit. “(...But Queen Morgan's been protecting Britain all on her own for two thousand years, right?) (I...honestly don't know if I can even look someone so amazing in the eye. I really hope I can do this…” we get the most telling bit about their relationship during one of Castoria’s dreams, where she at first sees Aesc, and then Queen morgan, and morgan essentially lectures Castoria on the mission of the fairy of paradise and how she rebelled against it.

“Yes. I offer faeries no salvation. I shall defend my land. Nothing more. I will save the faeries. I will carry out the duty I've been given. With all the magical energy I have stored in this throne, I have nothing to fear from the Great Calamity. ...Furthermore, only a chosen faerie can sit this throne. That throne is the sign that my pilgrimage has ended. It's key to keeping Britain alive. Avalon le Fae, the anchor of paradise. You are neither like other faeries nor that foreign mage; you have been chosen. You are neither a rebel, nor an invader. You are the Staff of Selection's chosen wielder. You and you alone have the right to bring me to justice, faerie sent from paradise. Even should you fill oceans with the blood you shed in battle against me, you would be innocent of sin. If you wish to save Britain, you must defeat me, and claim the throne for yourself. Go, then. Fulfill that absurd prophecy, if you can. You should know better than anyone that you have no choice.”

At first, Morgan explains that she offers no salvations for the fairies—that she will not be going to paradise to correct the lost world. She will save her land, and save the fairies in her own way—through subjugation. She will carry out her duty but not her destiny. She plans to essentially save the fairies by taking on cernunnos herself, with the magical energy she’s stored in the throne. She moreover says that only a chosen fairy, a fairy of paradise, may seat the throne—and that her sitting on the throne is the sign that her pilgrimage ended a long time ago, and that the throne is key to keeping Britain alive. She then calls the Avalon le fae the anchor of paradise, likely referring to the fact that the Avalon le fae is the anchor sent from paradise to correct what has been done. Then Morgan essentially tells castoria that unlike the other fairies or the foreign mage, she’s been chosen—she is special. She is no rebel nor invader. It is her destiny to wage war and destroy, therefore she remains free of sin even if she fills the oceans with blood (remember, free of sin in regards to Avalon just means staying true to oneself and one’s path, so no matter what castoria does on her journey, she is free of sin in Avalon). Then Morgan encourages Castoria to fulfill the prophecy, kill her, and claim the throne. Then, in a mocking way, tells her to go fulfill the prophecy if she can, and derides her by pointing out how castoria has no other choice, and has never had any other choice. She has a complete and utter lack of autonomy in her destiny, as is reinforced throughout the narrative, as her narrative revolves around taking back that autonomy which she was never afforded.

Then, in the next scene, Castoria ruminates on these words. “I've been chosen. I'm not like the faeries of Britain, or my King of Knights self from Proper Human History. I'm neither a rebel, nor an invader. No matter how many faeries I killed because of a war I begin, I would still be free of sin. That's right. Defeating Morgan -the faerie of paradise who forsook her duty -is my only choice if I'm going to save Britain....But what happens afterwards? What happens after I do something I don't want to do? Something nobody wanted me to do? I'm a faerie of paradise, too...Is there anywhere I can call home?” she then begins wondering what happens after she completes her destiny. after she does something she never wanted to do and never had a choice in. something that no one even really wants her to do. And then, she starts wondering the big question: if there is anywhere she can truly call home. She was only ever treated terribly in tintagel, and paradise is only her home in origin. She has nowhere she feels she can belong. And throughout her journey, she realizes that home for her is alongside her loved ones and friends she makes.

Our next relevant scene is the talk Morgan and Castoria had right before their battle in Camelot. “...Of course not. Don't talk to me about "right and proper.” I was only born because you abandoned your duty. If you'd just done your job like you were supposed to, she would never have had to become king. I don't know what the clans' original sin was, and I don't care. I just want to fulfill my duty and be done with it. Whatever struggles you went through as Aesc, or how the land of the fae first came about, none of that has anything to do with me! I didn't stand a chance against you before, but things are different now! So come on, Morgan! Let's do this thing! Afterwards...Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I don't know what's right and what's not. I don't want to know anything about my destiny, either. I can't do anything about Britain's future, or the outside world. I don't have some noble cause, or grand ambition like you! All I know is that I want to win! That's the only part of myself I believe in!” Castoria derides Morgan and essentially says that if Morgan had just done her duty, Artoria would have never had to become king. This line always interested me because there’s the implication that Morgan abandoned some duty in PHH as well, and that it led to Artoria needing to become king. But anyway, Castoria is once again showing her protectiveness and empathy towards Artoria.

She then says that she doesn’t care about what Morgan went through in the past or the clans original sin, that she just wants to be done with her duty. She shows her newfound confident side by emphasizing that before she never stood a chance against Morgan, but that things were different now. Then, Castoria admits that she doesn’t know what’s right and wrong, and she can’t do anything for anyone else. She has no grand ambitions like Morgan’s desire to create a place to belong through conquest. The only thing she knows is that she wants to win. “I see. So you still know nothing of your true identity, even after completing your pilgrimage. Come, then, Child of Prophecy. I will put an end to your absurd destiny myself. Altria. My archenemy in Proper Human History. You will never go anywhere. You will never change anything. I will show you mercy: I will change what you cannot. Forget about going to the Site of Selection. It is time you went back to being the miserable village girl you once were.”

Morgan then acknowledges that castoria still knows nothing about her true identity, and hasn’t found her true resolve. Morgan then essentially says to Castoria that she will show her mercy by ending her prophecy herself, and will turn her back into a miserable village girl. Oddly enough, this essentially implies that Morgan was planning on letting her live and letting her become a normal girl like she desired. After killing Morgan, Castoria once again let’s it slip that she had respect for her by calling her “queen Morgan”. “I-I didn't realize. It's not like I meant anything by it. I mean, I definitely didn't respect her at all…” but then, it’s revealed that Morgan was still alive and she’d only sent one copy. After that, Morgan overwhelms Castoria and her friends and says this. “You came here with weak resolve, no chance of victory, and no trust in anyone. This is the result. Pitiful Avalon le Fae. My comrade who has blindly followed the prophecy to a dead end. You will have no thanks. You will have no help. You will go unrewarded, uncelebrated, unrecognized. You will die all alone, on a bloody hill, just as your counterpart did in Proper Human History. The Child of Prophecy's fate was sealed the moment you chose to save Britain. You see, you cannot save what is already dead. Rather than fighting me, you should have fought the duty that brought you to me.”

Morgan derides Castoria’s weak resolve, essentially saying that without understanding her identity from PHH history and her “star”, and without having ever been able to trust anyone, she never would have been able to beat Morgan. She then calls castoria pitiful, and says that she blindly followed the prophecy to a dead end. That she will have no thanks, no help, and she will die unrecognized, unrewarded, and uncelebrated on a bloody hill like her counterpart in PHH. And that essentially her fate was sealed the moment she chose to save Britain, because it is impossible to save what is already dead. She then said that rather than fighting her, and fulfilling the prophecy, Castoria should have instead fought the prophecy itself, just like Morgan did. It’s interesting, because Morgan implies in several places that she feels empathy for Castoria’s plight as an Avalon le fae like her. Morgan is essentially a parallel and foil to castoria, as they both suffered immensely in similar ways but decided to cope differently. They were both betrayed by everyone but where Morgan decided to rebel against her destiny and become a tyrant, stealing Britain for herself, Castoria decided to go through with her destiny, but by choice instead of obligation. All because Castoria had the star where Morgan had earthly ambitions.

The essay actually never got finished. I have 15 sections left. I’ll write a part three eventually.

Artoria Caster - The Star

To start with this essay, I figured we’d get to the “core” of Artoria’s character: the star. Artoria (not necessarily Castoria, but Saber as well) has often been compared to a star, in both the original Fate route and the UBW drama CD where Shirou talks with Sir Kay. “The King was like a shining star that guides one's path through the darkness -- a star of wayfinding. The King was bestowed with such an expectation from his birth; and so fought; and so died. Kay comments that stars should merely remain within the sky, because nothing's so annoying as an incredibly brilliant light that stands right at your side…However, before leaving, he admits that if the light of the star has been engraved upon one's eyes, there's no way that one can lose sight of their path." (I took this tl from a Reddit thread that I can link if anyone is interested)

We’re given several looks into Castoria's inner thoughts with the metaphors of the storm and the star. “Whenever I close my eyes, this is where I'd be. Whenever I sleep, this is where I'd be. No, that's wrong. It's a lie. Whether my eyes are open or closed, whether I'm asleep or awake......this is how the world has always looked to me. The wind... The clouds... They're not really a storm. They're all people's voices. Ahh... Aah... Aaah...It's so awful to look at that l've put out my own eyes. It's so horrible to hear that l've plugged up my ears. But it didn't matter. Nothing banished the darkness, or made the wind stop howling. This is the tainted land where I need to fulfill my duty as the faerie of paradise.”

I’m personally of the opinion that “the voices of the people” refers to Castoria seeing people’s emotions and true feelings with her fairy eyes, and it’s noted that seeing their true feelings of hatred and understanding their lies brought her great turmoil and led to her hating fairies and humans alike. “I crushed my eyes because it was too ugly. I crushed my ears because it was too repulsive. And yet the darkness wouldn't lift. The wind wouldn't stop. In this world suffused with corruption, I had to fulfill my mission as a Fairy of Paradise.”

Because she could see people’s true feelings, and was not able to turn off this ability, she became jaded from seeing their dark, disingenuous thoughts. And yet, she never forgot her duty. “After everything I experienced in the village, and getting to know more faeries better, the storm only intensified.” And yet, unlike Morgan before her, Castoria did not have a specific conviction. Just like Saber, she held no ambition for herself, causing her to get lost in the storm with a weak disposition unlike Saber’s. She didn’t know what way to take, until she rang the pilgrim’s bells. “When I heard that she was my Proper Human History self, I thought I was going to throw up. The ideal knight. A king who lived her whole life for others, and sacrificed all she had for Britain's future. I don't want to end up like her. I could never live a life like that.”

Castoria saw the destiny that awaited herself by watching Artoria’s memories. Which is why she says the next lines. “But to create the sacred sword is to also determine her fate. Without the sacred sword, her life would be different. Without the sacred sword, Britain would come to a different end. ...Forget this. I should just give up. Yeah, that's it. After all, I'm the only one who can save her.” Here, she tries to convince herself not to follow in Artoria’s footsteps by not traveling down the path of destiny. And then, she refers to herself in the third person, “her” saying that she will try to save her, that she’s the only one who can save Artoria by not traveling down that same path.

“But......I can still see that star. I don't know what that star is. I do know it's not my dream, my goal, or something I care about. But it's always been there, ever since I was born. It may have grown small and weak at times, but it was always there, no matter how intense this storm got.” Finally, Castoria talks about the star, saying that she didn’t understand what it was, but that it had been present in her since birth. You could argue that one of the core points of her story is understanding herself and what the star is. And it’s noted now that the star is what keeps pushing her forward, even when she doesn’t want to. “I don't know where I want to go. I don't care about my duty. I just want to forget all this Child of Prophecy stuff. So, why..? I never stopped moving forward. I didn't want to give up. I couldn't let this storm beat me. ...I don't get it. Why am I so obstinate? What is it that's stopping me from throwing my life away? As a faerie of paradise, I didn't have a spring. I didn't have much of anything, That's why I at least want to know why I couldn't just give up. I'm no queen. I'm no savior. So what brought an ordinary nobody like me so far? What did that tiny star mean for an ordinary girl like me?” and then, upon what was supposed to be her death, Castoria laments still not understanding the star even after her journey.

“Still, I just...I wish I could have found out what that light was. ...The light I've seen all my life. The light that's seen me all my life. Wanting to know what it was, and being determined not to give up until I found out, is what's kept me going all this time. I thought I'd find out somewhere on my pilgrimage, but I never did. That's the one regre—“ And then, in the one true peak fiction moment he has, Muramasa swoops in and takes over the forging of the holy sword himself! Huzzah! Castoria lives on! And at the end, we do find out what her “star” was, and we find out it’s something that’s true for both Castoria and Artoria.

“This is the storm I was always running in. A maelstrom of wickedness. A crucible of hearts laid bare. A storm of dark, cold, earsplitting voices no different from a drainage ditch. No, no, no, no. Make it stop... Make it stop...I don't know how many times I thought I couldn't go on, or wished for death to free me. The only reason I was able to keep running without losing my way...was because that light was there. The pale blue light of a tiny, far-off star shining somewhere beyond the storm. (Huff, huff, huff, huff…) When I fell, I picked myself up even as I cried. When I was exhausted, I turned my head skyward. No matter when I looked, the star was always there shining in the distance. "A flicker of virtue among a sea of vice." "A bright future awaiting me." There's no way that could possibly be true. No... Even if it was, it doesn't matter. For you, that star is just a bright light. That was all it had to be to become your goal. Knowing someone else was out there somewhere looking at that same star was the only thing that gave you hope. It was the one thing that never changed, no matter how the storm raged.”

That star was one thing—her dream. For castoria, a girl who was forced to constantly see malice, her guiding light was the handful of good intentions she saw throughout her life, as well as the desire for a bright future someday. For Artoria, her guiding light was the smile’s on the faces of the people around her whom she wished to make happy, while her dream was an ever distant utopia where everyone could be happy. You could say that for these two girls, the star was very similar, and perhaps that’s what castoria meant when she said that someone else was gazing upon that star. And that star was the one thing that castoria did not want to betray, and so, she fulfilled.

“But that's all over now. Accept the bell's timbre. Finish your journey. Just like she could never be happy in that white castle, your life cannot continue beyond this point. Continue down this path and you, the one who chanted the king's name, will disappear. You won't be needed anymore.” She notes that just like Artoria, she would never be able to find happiness down the path she chose in order to not betray that star. And she wonders if it’s okay to do something so grand for the sake of something so trivial. And then, she mentions that the voices of the fairies still plague and curse her for fulfilling her destiny. “This is vice. The fact is, there's no such thing as a star shining in a storm.”

She says this because in reality, there weren't any good intentions to be had in fairy Britain for Castoria. Therefore she says the star never existed. Except—“...Who's there? Who's protecting me...? You're not doing a very good job, but you're still stretching your hands out desperately trying to help me... Someone who lost their life because of your capricious whims. Someone you've long since forgotten. Someone from the fringes who's just like you. Her name is...I see. “I guess not having a name really is a terrible thing. In that case, what about this? I just came up with the idea now, but...Please, use my name. Altria Caster. You can go by Altria, or Caster, or both if you prefer! Hmph. It's not like I'm going to use it anymore anyway, so go ahead and shout it to the world for all I care.” “...Thank you. I promise.I'II always treasure it.” And not just this name. I'II always treasure your heart, too. ...Ah. Ahh...ah...Her name was Hope. She had found that star's light right at the very end. She had grown exhausted from always lifting everyone's spirits, but she still never forgot to smile. She's been protecting me all along, all because of that one impulsive act. Even now, she still believes in me, and all because of that silly, insignificant act. It wasn't anything special, or even noble. To any outside observer, it probably seems absolutely silly. But......No. Thank you for treasuring it. That's right. I don't have any amazing reasons, either. I'm no different from her at all. I have nothing to be proud of, no actual skills worthy of praise. I don't think I'II ever find a reason others would envy for as long as I live. But... Even so...Who cares? This is all the reason I need. I just don't want to betray that star. I just don't want to abandon these feelings. Silly, insignificant reasons like that...They've always been what we, and you, have had to rely on to keep going! Even if you have to grin and bear it. Even if it's just for your own satisfaction. Even if you lack confidence, and never figure out the answer. Even if it's a reason anyone else would think is silly, insignificant. It's the only thing I believe in. The only thing I CAN believe in. The only thing keeping me going, even now. Farewell, young you. Now, and forever. In time, the star beating within your chest, and the timbre of the bells, will resonate inside you.”

So, there’s a lot here, but I’ll break it down as best as I can. Castoria, in truth, always had the same selfless nature as Artoria (I’ll elaborate more later). However, she never had the opportunity to help people because she was always so weak and feeble. However, there is one person she managed to help—Hope. And seeing Hope smile at receiving a new name, and having her cherish Castoria’s act of kindness, was enough for her to keep on pursuing that star. Hope is, essentially, to Castoria, what Baobhan Sith is to Morgan. She was the part of the star that Castoria was missing, the good intentions, and the smiles of the people around her. It was always the same reason as Artoria. Castoria even mentions that when she asserts she’s “no different” from Artoria. She has nothing to be proud of, her talent is for show, and her destiny is miserable. She was never able to find happiness even until the end, just like herself from Pan-human history. However, that was enough for her. Just not betraying that star was enough for her. Even if the reason was insignificant to others, that star meant the world to both Artoria’s, enough to go through with their grand destinies. The star represents the Artoria’s desire to continue moving forward in the face of adversity, because of a handful of good intentions, and the smiles of the people around them. In the star, Artoria and Castoria are parallels.

While I mentioned that Artoria’s “hope” is the star, there’s also the heavy implication that Artoria herself is the star. One thing that’s often noted in LB6 is how FSN Saber sparkled like a star, as a “sword”. “...Good. This should make me into a good sword. A sword bright like the star I saw in that storm...the planet's light that won't ever fade in the face of the wicked. A sword that isn't me, from a place that isn’t here. A sword bearing the wishes of the masses, and hope for their happiness. A sword who can hold her head high at the Site of Selection, and become the saber fit to stay by your side.”

Here she heavily implies that Castoria is, metaphorically speaking, gazing at Saber as though she was the star. But not only that, another person associated with the KOTR is compared to a star: mash. “A shining star pushing her way through the crowd into the heart of the disaster.” And not to mention, Saber herself was referred to as a star in the FSN epilogue. “I looked up at the stars before. The stars that I cannot reach and the wishes that will not be granted. There is nothing we have been able to leave behind for each other.Therefore, traces and memories will disappear someday. “—“ But still… Even if it will not reach her, there should be something that will remain in our hearts.There is nothing that remains in our hands, but we lived the same time and looked up at the same things. If I can remember that, I can believe that we can be together even if we are far apart. I can assent that as there are things that will go away, there are also things that will not go away. That is why I will keep running for now. If I aim for the distance, there should come a day when I will be able to reach out to what I have been aiming for. Winter has passed and it is spring, the season of new beginnings. Under the blue sky that she has also seen, I keep running up the hill.”

This kind of brings a dichotomy that Saber is the star, while Castoria is the stargazer. And remember, “Chaldea” directly means stargazer, and Merlin even refers to them as the Chaldean stargazers. Paralleling Castoria to the Chaldean “stargazer” definitely has meaning. It’s also important to note that Castoria is referred to as a star several times throughout LB6.

Wish

Now I always found the wishes of Artoria and castoria to be very interesting, because I really like the dichotomy that nasu drew with them. On the outside, they seem to be complete opposite when in reality, they’re an inversion. I say that because they both have an outside wish and a hidden wish. I’ve talked about it before, but Artoria’s wish was for a world where everyone could smile, an ever distant utopia. However she harbored a secret wish on the inside that she told no one, the desire to be a normal girl. Castoria is a complete inversion. Castoria outwardly desires nothing more than to be a normal girl, with a secret wish for a world where no one is hurt. Where did I get that from? From the song written from her perspective, Yakudou, by Maaya Sakamoto. “A world where no one is hurt; May well be baseless optimism, But even so, I still want to try betting on it.” (I’ll link the translation later). In this respect, Castoria and Artoria are perfect foils, inversions rather than opposites, yet still a little more similar than they outwardly seem.

Selflessness and Inability to get angry for herself

I mentioned it before, but Castoria has the same tendency for selflessness and the same inability to get angry on her own behalf. She mentions just as much. Ector is the one who points out the latter. “I don't think you ever realized this yourself, but you're just not capable of getting angry for your own sake.” As for the former, well it’s pretty obvious. She literally tried to run to the town square of tintagel when it was being burned down. Remember that the fairies of tintagel are the ones who abused her for the past sixteen years. Yet, even so, she tries to help them. Altruism just seems to be in the Artoria genes, I guess.

Insecurity

It’s no secret that Castoria is incredibly insecure, even more so than her Saber counterpart. Saber had a great deal of confidence in her abilities, but not as much confidence in herself as a person, leading to insecurity regarding her femininity, appearance, and personhood. Castoria doesn’t even have confidence in her abilities (for quite a good reason, as her abilities were quite shoddy towards the beginning of the story). This was largely due to the insecure upbringing she had growing up, and I’ll elaborate more on that in a bit. Anyway, her lack of confidence was especially exacerbated at Norwich, when the calamity struck and she had no idea what to do.

“I can't do this. I'm not strong. I'm not ready. I still don't feel as though I can actually save Britain. Every time I wake up, I think about sneaking away and leaving all this behind. But, I'm the Child of Prophecy. That's what everyone who raised me is counting on me to be. They believed in me so much that they sacrificed their own lives to send me on my way. So I have to at least try. I have to overcome my timid nature.” However, she is unable to do anything but wish to run away, and her fragile self esteem is even more crushed when she sees Mash doing her duty and being more capable than her. She slowly develops more confidence in her abilities as the story goes on, and more confidence in herself as a person too as she slowly starts embracing her identity as Artoria through her memories.

“They're matchless on the battlefield, but they're not so great at occupying territory or laying siege. So if that's who Morgan sent to Londinium, they shouldn't be much of a threat. We should be able to wear them down by fortifying our defenses… ..and taking out Woodwose once he inevitably loses patience and takes the field himself. Hm? What is it, Gareth? “O-oh, I'm sorry. It's just, you seemed so different just now…” “Huh? D-did I? I thought I was just being myself... Haha. Was I more confident or something?” It’s interesting because the line between Artoria and Castoria become blurrier and blurrier the more the story moves on, and the more castoria comes to take strength in her PHH counterpart through her memories, through ringing the bells, and through the forging of Excalibur. Interestingly enough, Castoria implies that the forging of Excalibur had something to do with the Artoria from PHH.

“...Good. This should make me into a good sword. A sword bright like the star I saw in that storm...the planet's light that won't ever fade in the face of the wicked. A sword that isn't me, from a place that isn’t here. A sword bearing the wishes of the masses, and hope for their happiness. A sword who can hold her head high at the Site of Selection, and become the saber fit to stay by your side.” Remember that Artoria regularly refers to herself as a sword during Fate/Stay Night, and here, with the metaphor of a sword, she is referred to as being bright like the star (and remember, Artoria has often been compared to a star. Then she further elaborates that Artoria, as a sword, bore the wishes and hopes of the masses and held her head high at the sight of selection. We’ll never know what the forging of Excalibur would have done if Muramasa hadn’t interfered, but I’m speculating it had something to do with her other self. Considering how much she tries to look away from herself as Artoria, Castoria’s character arc essentially centers around accepting herself as a person and learning about who she is, about not running away from the truth. In this she is a foil to Artoria.

Running away

Castoria talks about running away multiple times, yet never once does she actually run away from her duties. There’s a twofold reason for this. On one hand, she’s very much afraid of disappointing her new friends and the people who believed in her in tintagel. On the other hand, there’s also her desire to continue pursuing the star and not betray it. When she commends Fujimaru for not ever running away despite always being scared, Fujimaru commends her as well, saying she never ran away either. This deeply touches Castoria, as she recognizes Fujimaru as very similar to her. There’s one key moment that we can note an instance of Castoria trying to run away, which is going to the nameless forest willingly to lose her memories and have a fresh start. We could almost consider this a type of fairy suicide considering what happens to fairies when they lose their names. Oddly enough, Castoria isn’t the only Artoria who’s tried to erase their existence through nebulous means. We can actually draw a parallel to Artoria here in how her wish was to erase her entire existence as King Arthur, essentially killing herself in history and forcing herself to live out a grim fate as a counter guardian. Both of them were so disappointed with themselves and hated themselves so much that they decided to erase themselves from existence. It’s an obvious parallel, but Nasu doesn’t make this very clear as he never makes Castoria openly talk about why she went to the nameless forest besides that she was “consumed by depression.”

Used to losing things

It’s easy to see that Castoria handles the events of LB6 and the loss of her friends with remarkable calmness. Upon Gareth’s death, she remains relatively calm, even though she’s in shock, and in knocknarea’s death, while in shock, she’s still able to function (knocknarea’s death hit her quite hard, but she still managed to collect herself afterward). The reason for this is because she’s already used to losing things in life. She’s always had a “talent” of cheering up quickly from tragedy. Growing up, she had nothing. All the treasures she came with at birth were sold off, and everything castoria was given was taken and sold by her family. When the residents of Tintagel found her talking to her staff, they took it and locked it up. When Ector asks her if she wants some defective jewelry that was still beautiful, Artoria refuses, saying that the village would just take it away. And it’s not only objects she was used to losing—the people and places she loved were ripped away from her as well. The entire village of Tintagel was burned to the ground in front of her. And saddest of all, Ector, the one friend and parental figure she had, died protecting her. She’s already used to losing all the friends and family she has, so it’s really no wonder that when people she loves around her start dying, she’s able to handle it calmly, albeit with a little shock. After all, losing people is nothing new to her. This is actually very similar to the Artoria that we know. She was a veteran of twelve wars, it was inevitable that she’d lose many good knights and friends on the battlefield. She willingly sentenced Guinevere to death for the affair, knowing it was best for her kingdom despite the sorrow it brought her. She lost Lancelot as a knight when he rescued Guinevere and fled to France, losing two friends who were very important to her. And In that same scuffle she lost three good knights. Yet, she didn’t bat an eyelash. It was noted in garden of Avalon that Artoria had more blood on her hands than anyone on the round table, and I don’t think that’s only referring to the people she directly killed in the battlefield or executed. She was directly responsible for every man that died for her cause, for everyone who starved to death because she was forced to plunder their village. She was used to losing friends, the people she loved, and the people she protected. In this, they are parallels.

Disgust with another life

It’s made clear that Castoria has a hard time coping with her PHH self and develops a bit of an inferiority complex regarding all the great things Artoria was known for. She has a hard time believing that they could be the same person when she feels so utterly incompetent compared to Artoria. But besides the mild inferiority complex she feels, most of all, she develops a deep disgust and anger for the way Artoria lived, similar to how both Kay and Shirou were disgusted and angry by her way of life. That is arguably the natural reaction to such a miserable existence.

“Another Britain, from a world called Proper Human History. Another version of me, though one entirely unlike me. An imposing figure, neither mage nor faerie, but a child born to human and dragon. Altria Pendragon.The Ideal King who unified the lords of Britain, protected it from outside invaders......and built the towering white castle of Camelot. She was loved and trusted by all…..and she shone brighter and more righteous than anyone else. loyal cavalries, and her ———in hand, she laid the foundation for countless futures. ...She was a truly great woman. I've never seen her like. I don't want to see her. I don't want to be shown her. I can't handle it. I can't believe it. I can't accept it. After all...I'm the only one of my kind. I have nowhere to run. No one understands me. Romance is out of the question. There's no reward. No finish line. No rest. I can't make so much as a single mistake. Ahh... So many things I'll never have. How cruel would I have to be for everyone to accept a king like me with a smile?” Castoria wonders why anyone would live like that, why anyone would choose such a solitary way of being akin to misery. Whilst feeling awe at the accomplishments of her PHH self, she also feels a deep disgust for her way of living, as she recognizes how miserable it is from having seen Artoria’s memories. And at the end, she notes how the reason she’s so disgusted is that she sees clear parallels to her own life. “After all...I'm the only one of my kind. I have nowhere to run. No one understands me. Romance is out of the question. There's no reward. No finish line. No rest. I can't make so much as a single mistake.” She’s clearly talking about herself here, but the words are applicable to Artoria as well. In this, they are parallels.

Most cherished memory

Whilst talking with ritsuka about their most cherished memories during their journey, Castoria lies and says it was fourteenth day in in the forest of wales, where she shook hands with the player as the child of prophecy, but she acknowledges immediately after that this was a lie, and that in reality her most cherished memory was the eleventh day at Gloucester. “...But the most fun I actually had was on our eleventh day, in Gloucester. For you, it was probably nothing special...But it was my first time talking a walk down a big street with someone I really liked.” This shows her greatest wish, the wish to be a normal girl without all this destiny stuff that was foisted onto her. It’s never outright stated, but I wonder is this is meant to parallel the date Shirou and saber had on the fourteenth day of the fate route, where Artoria begrudgingly admits that she’d enjoyed herself just having fun normally as Shirou wanted, showing Artoria’s inner desire to have been a normal girl despite not admitting it. On their way back from the date, Artoria even says she wants to walk home instead of ride the bus, implying that she wanted it to go on for a little while longer. That date was probably more precious to her than was outright stated by Shirou.

A fake smile

Castoria has a tendency to hide her emotions and suffering with a smile. She outright admits it in the beginning of the story. “Hehe. That's true. I'll be honest, my only thing I have going for me is my cheerfulness! My creed is to smile no matter the circumstances! Thank you very much!” Oberon outright states that she’s the best in all of fairy Britain at hiding her true emotions behind a smile. “Yes. She's been through a lot, you know. I doubt there's a soul in Britain better at putting on a brave face.” Oberon would know, having watched her growing up. However, if one smiles all the time, and that is one’s neutral expression, isn’t that the same as not smiling at all? Hiding your emotions behind a smile isn’t a real smile, and there’s no such thing as fake it til you make it in one’s emotions. You can actually draw a similarity to Artoria here, a girl whose smile is not for herself. She never truly smiles either, nor does she understand what happiness is. She may smile, but it isn’t a “true smile.” In fate, they draw a distinction between a smile done for oneself, and a smile for another person—of real happiness and complacent happiness. I believe they’re trying to invoke something similar here.

A hatred of losing

Throughout LB6 it’s remarked several times that Castoria is a bit of a sore loser, whether that be by people who just met her or people who’ve known her all her life. The player notices it very early on with this dialogue choice. “Hey, Altria, are you actually pretty, um...competitive?” She holds a (playful) grudge against knocknarea for always winning against her, and when she obtains powers from ringing the bells, the first thing she wants to do is fight knock. In a less playful and more aggressive grudge, she holds a grudge against barghest for both being taller than her and for calling her unnoticeable when she first met Castoria at Ector’s smithy.

“Yeah, how's that!? Now you know the resentment I've held for so many years!” Not only is she a massive sore loser, but she’s also great at trash talking! In both fights with Fairy knight Tristan, she straight up roasts the poor girl alive! Oberon remarks this when talking about castoria. “She's got low self-esteem, but she hates to lose. It is a rather annoying personality trait.” Funnily enough, we can draw an adorable parallel to Artoria here in how much she hates to lose. It’s noted several times in the vn, such as in the date scene with Rin in ubw, or in her hollow ataraxia swimming pool scene, that Artoria is a notorious sore loser. Apparently, Artoria had been this way since birth. “Yeah, she'd been a sore loser since birth. It wasn't because she got frustrated over losing to someone else though, it was because she got frustrated at her own pitiful self. But even if she lost heart, she'd always be back on her feet in no time. She had no time to waste licking her own wounds.” This can apply to castoria as well. Hell, even castoria doesn’t understand why she’s so stubborn and can’t give up. It seems to just be a trait she was born with. In this, they are parallels.

An accursed destiny

Castoria was born with a destiny she never asked for and with no choice in whether or not she would fulfill it. She was the child of prophecy, it was a matter of course that she’d fulfill her destiny. Whether or not she’d wanted to was never a factor. And while she didn’t want to go on the pilgrimage, she still did it so as not to disappoint the people who believed in her in Tintagel. We can draw a parallel of their destinies to Artoria, who was also given a grand destiny before she was born. However we can also draw a foil here with how they reacted to these destinies. Castoria hated her destiny and wanted nothing more than to give up. Artoria accepted her destiny wholeheartedly and embraced it, so to speak. This largely comes down to one factor—Artoria’s “dream” that Castoria never got to see. It’s noted in Garden of Avalon that Artoria’s true reason for drawing the sword from the stone was the smiles of the people around her, and the blissfully ordinary days spent with her foster family. Castoria never got this. Her family, for lack of a better description, were abusive sacks of shit to her, and the town was full of disingenuous asshole fairies. We could also say that not having the direct indoctrination from a figure like Merlin also likely influenced Castoria’s perception of the world around her. Because of Merlin’s teachings, Artoria was robbed of an understanding of basic human things like happiness and love, leading to her not truly understanding that she wasn’t content or happy with her life as a king. Castoria, lacking these teachings, was fully aware of how miserable she was. So in this, the two are simultaneously parallels and foils.

Hatred of people

It’s noted by Castoria multiple times toward the end of LB6 that she actually hated the fairies and hated the humans she was forced to protect. This is largely due to the fairy eyes she was born with, as she was able to see the ill intent of the people and fairies around her without them knowing. “Fairies, humans, Britain, and my mission, I hated them all.” “Because, well, the fate of the world isn't something you should shoulder if you don't even like it, right?” This is in stark contrast to Artoria, who seemed to have loved all of her people (as much as a girl who doesn’t understand the concept of love can love faceless, nameless masses at least). However I’ve discussed before that loving everyone equally is the same as not loving anyone at all. And, is hating everyone and not loving anyone truly really as different as they seem on the outside? After all, the masses still go unloved, the difference is a matter of perception between the two girls and their feelings. In this, you could say they’re both parallels and foils once again. There’s more I could say on Artoria’s perception of love for humans but that will be in a different essay most likely.

Childhood

Castoria’s childhood was notably different from Artoria’s, leading to the drastic differences in their personalities. Artoria’s upbringing was full of warmth, with a good foster family and kind human townsfolk. Castoria’s was rife with emotional abuse and neglect from the fairies. It was noted by Castoria that two of her toes fell off one winter because she was left in a cold stable without sufficient heating, and considering how casually she mentioned it to “Merlin,” it’s somewhat implied that this isn’t the full extent of her neglect too. Artoria, on the other hand, even while living in poverty and unable to indulge in luxuries, at least always had a roof over her head, food, and a loving family. I mentioned that this leads to a difference in personality, which is true, as castoria is highly implied to have C-PTSD. Castoria has complex trauma, which is essentially trauma that is ongoing for months and or years that is usually interpersonal, likely stemming from abuse or neglect. Castoria occasionally experiences vivid nightmares of tintagel, flashbacks upon seeing the fires in the forest of wales, she’s quite depressed behind her smile, anger and distrust towards the world, and a negative outlook towards the present or future. It’s possible to make a case for Artoria having complex trauma as well considering she was a knight for ten years serving in twelve wars and killing however many people, but the nature of what symptoms she may have had is only our guess considering most of the material we get of her isn’t from her POV. It’s highly implied that she has a similar PTSD to Shirou, though, considering they are reflections of each other. Not to mention, Castoria’s childhood is more so meant to be a parallel to Artoria’s time as a king, and her journey with Ritsuka is a parallel to her time in FSN. You can see this especially in the fire of Tintagel, and the fires set ablaze on the shore of the hill of camlann (the latter also serving as a parallel to the fire Shirou was traumatized in). Anyway, Artoria’s childhood, while devoid of true happiness, was at the very least warm and nourishing, allowing her to build confidence in her abilities. Castoria was constantly degraded for her lack of abilities, meanwhile. This led to Castoria having even less self esteem than Artoria, not even able to take pride in her abilities and showing outwardly her insecure nature as a result of an unstable upbringing. It’s also notable that Castoria lacks the ideals that so defined Artoria, just due to the virtue that Merlin wasn’t actively indoctrinating her like he was with Artoria. Seriously, never let Merlin be a parental figure ever again. There’s literally no one who could ever grow up normal with his bullshit teachings. Anyway, you could say that they’re foils in this regard. Though, it is notable that Castoria grows a great deal more confident over the course of LB6, especially after ringing the pilgrims bells and learning more about her PHH self.

Nature, not nurture

Personality consists of both nature and nurture. The above section was on Castoria’s “Nurture,” but what of her “nature?” Well, in nature, Castoria and Artoria are basically the same, as in they both have a set of characteristics that remained consistent such as a hatred of losing, not giving up on the face of stress, being a bit tomboyish, their selfless nature, their inability to get angry for themselves, them not being suited for fighting, etc. All of these things are pointed out in the duration of LB6, and that she has in common with Artoria, either pointed out in FSN or GoA. It’s heavily implied that these core traits stay the same, but their outward personalities change and are shaped by their experiences (oddly enough, this is very similar to how personality is shaped according to psychology, because there is a substantial genetic component, and once again, I’m wondering how familiar nasu is with psychology if he gets so much accurate and right).

The people’s hopes

One reason that Castoria went on her journey was because she didn’t wasn’t to disappoint all the people who believed in her. “But to them, trying to live day by day, those things were indispensable treasures. I could see it. I could see their feelings and their future. The feelings they clung to so tightly. The joy of believing in something warm. Those tearful eyes of gratitude, as if saying they were happy to be alive, even if life had been trying.” “they wanted to help the Child of Prophecy, so they offered up all they had left.” First the people of tintagel, who she still laments the loss of, and now the everyday fairies of Britain.

This is part one of the essay. I’m posting my Castoria essay here because Twitter sussed my old account. Anyway, some of you may know me as the Saber r*pe lesbian from Twitter lol. I plan on writing more essays on fsn and tsukire and knk. Enjoy :3

How does Archer survive Gilgamesh's attack in the castle? It's not like he had Battle Continuation or anything, right? Really? Because I don't think Gilgamesh would have let Archer go like that with such a simple trick. I remember Caster using a trick to try to get away in one of the routes, but Gilgamesh detected it and killed her.

https://preview.redd.it/0c7yms28odge1.jpg?width=250&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=111ebc05fe4b5efb849594c9be73c430dce55116

Hello Guys,

I have just noticed today which family started the Apocrypha timeline... And it's our beloved and favourite aristocratic family, the Archibald, Reines grand-parents or great-grandparents.

At his debuts, Darnic was considered promising and got fiance to a Lords Family from the aristocratic faction, until the prophecy of his bloodline's demise got out and he got rejected afterward :

At the time, he had been decorated with a brilliant debut as an up-and-coming young magus, and had suddenly obtained a marriage proposal. It was a good match for marriage. Darnic would be tying himself to a clan of long lineage that stood amongst the aristocratic Lords of the Clock Tower.

But at that very instant, Yggdmillennia was cut off from their dream of rising to the ranks of the Lords.

I had never cared nor connected the dots before but later it mentions more about that clan :

It wasn’t that Darnic had a direct hand in bringing about their ruin. They were simply cornered politically. They had merely invested funds into a futile experiment, leaked the details of the hidden ritual, and the child who had inherited their clan’s Magic Crest had coincidentally and unfortunately died in an accident during the experiment.

This is Kayneth.

We know he participated and died in an HGW in Apocrypha-line as well, but this passage seems to confirms that he ALSO borrowed a lot to prepair for it and possibly damaged the crest just like in Fate/Zero timeline, ruining the Archibald clan.
All this time, i thought it was just a plot device to justify a casus-belli from Darnic against the clocktower and never delved deeper, but actually the whole lore connected the dots properly, great job to the author.

Following that, he knew that they had headed to Japan in the Far East where the Holy Grail War had once taken place, but their whereabouts were unknown after that.

We know that Reines is originally an Apocrypha character (franchise where she made her first appearance at least) and that Waver became Lord el-melloi II there as well. Perhaps this passage indicates that Waver left and lived in Japan for a while in apocrypha timeline as well (as such starting the self-discovery journey that we knows brings him to become a teacher later).

Hi all, I did not intend to read two-three routes. I have a huge backlog of games to get through. Anyone have a completed save file? I want to restart and play the game in a way that leads me on the route I would have landed in.

If that makes sense.

I may end up on the Fate route anyway, but I would prefer the opportunity to end up on a different route if my choices led me there.

source: I don't know 🤷‍♂️😅

I just gotta say that I am dumbfounded by the blatant disrespect that I've seen on this man's name, but that's another case. ladies and gentlemen - just in case the people forgot, just in case the people in the back haven't heard, we're here to remind them.

Starting off with F/SN, we know he has high awareness, pointing out Rin’s familiar then executing it on the spot. We know that his sword can cut through steel, and even though it's only made by man, it was still hanging with Saber's Excalibur despite it being a divine construct.

https://preview.redd.it/i9hgs60ilcge1.png?width=1508&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4ecd39aee209782423370365b3ef82199df7192

In Anorexia, he's shown extreme preciseness with his blade, cutting off all four limbs when he attacked each shade spirit, and there was an entire swarm of them. If you look at the materials, Nasu himself says that if Heracles went for the kill against Kojirou, he would have got his head cut off, and the only thing that would have saved him would be his god hand.

https://preview.redd.it/60viwirzlcge1.png?width=1214&format=png&auto=webp&s=f09cc9ce389232302bff5444c41735a971627178

https://preview.redd.it/bxgf3ueolcge1.png?width=1698&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a58c1a6c1054ab89c61bb18bc580576dafb710f

We know that he can casually block Saber's head-on attacks without even trying. He casually one-shotted Medea in Unlimited Codes after she underestimated his ability to fight back. There are several times where he's shown to be able to keep up with Saber, Saber herself being Mach speed in terms of reactions. She also had to admit that she was shocked by his pure skill when she had the advantage in every field.

https://preview.redd.it/6d7x6xf6mcge1.png?width=1572&format=png&auto=webp&s=67822f4cae212f3102c1adf9456a6933beb93cfd

https://preview.redd.it/2h1vqqodmcge1.png?width=1464&format=png&auto=webp&s=e55134e19ae207de857e96ad2c68289c6777bc58

In FGO, Musashi admits that Kojirou is at least several times stronger than her, and she's already a master swordsman herself. She also tells us that his skill is on a godly level. We know that canonically, the only reason he lost his second fight against Saber is because he bent his sword, and if we're being honest, that's just a fancy way to say convenience - conveniently bent his sword when he needs to get out the way.

https://preview.redd.it/nz0av6zimcge1.png?width=1558&format=png&auto=webp&s=462cac3e35186aca2ea480610a0f6bda1095bac0

https://preview.redd.it/y64nxffqmcge1.png?width=1244&format=png&auto=webp&s=fa10f4a226ea30658b226b5a384e2470e26a6686

He managed to charge in during Saber’s wind release, the story telling us that this normally has zero entry. This same wind was able to fend off Gilgamesh, Hassan, and Jill's familiars. In Unlimited Codes, Medea was so afraid of Heracles that even after watching Sasaki take a fatal hit for her, she still forced him to fight Heracles with a command spell just to protect her.

https://preview.redd.it/962qnwiumcge1.png?width=1254&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce84946e7210fbd4ea41b5cc9488538eb87c0c39

https://preview.redd.it/lc5hziiencge1.png?width=1540&format=png&auto=webp&s=7d8e0197b62b9b574744d026085bb8e7707576bb

He has an insane level of durability and tolerance, being able to handle Medea blowing open his entire chest then jumping right back on his feet. On top of that, Nasu tells us that if him and Curse Arm Hassan get into a fight, even if Curse Arm gets off his phantasm, Kojirou would still have the willpower to bring it to at least a tie.

https://preview.redd.it/e6tplwdqncge1.png?width=1698&format=png&auto=webp&s=7425d13eb9d2892533a1523d76f6f8d836324e20

In the EMIYA cooking series, we've seen that he has fast enough reaction to catch objects at a speed that's barely discernible to the human eye. Even in parody settings my boy still has that chain on. In his fight against Saber, it tells us that his skill and his sword length could casually hit Saber from five meters away. Just getting in on Big Bro Kojirou proved to be a difficult task multiple times, with Saber being forced to keep distance on a majority of times.

https://preview.redd.it/hv9tnvzhocge1.png?width=1240&format=png&auto=webp&s=915e9689bace204e28294a997e60dab00cc83d39

He's been shown to handle extreme conditions, engaging with Musashi in a pool of fire unbothered. From his interactions with EMIYA, it tells us that he responded to EMIYA’s attack at lightning speed, and the attack wasn't even meant for him. Again showcasing his high awareness, he scouted out a tree that Archer was hiding behind and threw a knife at him. This was in the middle of him and Saber fighting. I repeat, in the middle of him and Saber fighting.

https://preview.redd.it/q4xcsquqocge1.png?width=1220&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f4313537fb7067f6b4c123fcfb3cebe1d024326

https://preview.redd.it/y5gmx6vwocge1.png?width=650&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ad15bc2c4f7bbf09cb8df3fce6c2527b1127598

For all the people who think that he can't deal with far range shenanigans. He’s literally been shown dodging and slicing through Archer's arrows multiple times. Keep in mind that this was not only a surprise attack but he also had a limited amount of space to get out the way. He's been shown to be cool under pressure, warding off Saber’s killing intent with ease.

https://preview.redd.it/a5ssu3r9scge1.png?width=648&format=png&auto=webp&s=2d26c19184ddc12eac824f1765c477e79cf1b8e7

You have his Eye of the Mind that allows him to negate visual interference and sense danger beforehand. In FGO, he was able to point out the fact that Danzo didn't have a heartbeat just being around him. You know that he doesn't give off a magical presence, making it easy for people to underestimate him.

He has the Transparency skill that allows him to negate mental attacks - save the head games for somebody else. In FGO, you had the real Musashi say that he was more than worthy of being his rival. You have his Harmony skill which tells us no matter how many times he does the same move on an enemy, it will never fall in accuracy.

There's the part when Saber mentioned how just his regular attacks alone are extremely fast and difficult to follow. There was even a part where she doubted if she could beat him if she used all of her powers. You have the materials where Nasu himself says that Kojirou is very possibly the most skilled swordsman of all time.

https://preview.redd.it/03gr8r3cpcge1.png?width=1698&format=png&auto=webp&s=38d67dadc88b7a476289470c60126e72000aa5a3

In the UBW route, it tells us that he flat out fended off nearly every single servant that was in the story - Heracles, Cu, Medusa, Saber, EMIYA. Not one of them could get past his swordsmanship. He mentions himself that he would one-shot an enemy if they tried to come at him with skills that were only average.

https://preview.redd.it/nlmia8nnpcge1.png?width=1512&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6121287fc9674f1283eccc666cf47b70ae9321a

Nasu also tells us in a battle where everything is allowed, Archer would come out on top. In the event that he loses this advantage, he implies that his chances up close are out the window. In FGO, you have the time where he explains to Martha that he has access to Judo techniques if he needs them.

In Shimosa, we had him go one on one with Musashi once again. He is one of the only servants capable of reaching the realm of nothingness off pure skill alone. This was literally him transcending into a void space dimension, and he was barely edged out for the win.

https://preview.redd.it/dns97v6zxcge1.png?width=1544&format=png&auto=webp&s=74ee198296dd8c7262852afc2d09b7383ab21f04

You have Amakusa who's been a master swordsman since the time that he was a teen. He also agrees there's not a human in this world that can pass Kojirou in sheer skill. From his fight with Musashi, we know that he surpassed the limits of time and space itself.

https://preview.redd.it/ytfz6ou0qcge1.png?width=1684&format=png&auto=webp&s=d94cb8f27441c87c4948f42cc483594079f1f404

https://preview.redd.it/ednpjbsqqcge1.png?width=1554&format=png&auto=webp&s=45f2977f87d3d90ceae453c6715932c3c4459f0a

In his fight against Saber, he somehow managed to track every single blow. There are even some hits that are said to be more devastating than the ones before. All of his main strikes aim straight for the neck, so you have to worry about fatal hits nearly every time.

His sword is stated to be at least four feet long, giving him a ridiculous amount of coverage. He had enough reserves to survive even after his master Medea was gone. This is thanks to the way that he was summoned. He also doesn't have independent manifestation.

Then you have his unique move Swallow Reversal. While this is recognized to be his phantasm, it's not actually one by the book. It's actually him being so good in his swordsmanship that he reached into the second magic and it comes out as a skill instead, meaning that he doesn't have the drawbacks of it being a phantasm like cooldowns.

https://preview.redd.it/aphfhowwrcge1.png?width=1252&format=png&auto=webp&s=a63176b68a20451ad38bf3eb211e889a0e07d761

You had Archer bring up the fact that his move is so fast that it bends space and replicates his hit two times after the first one. This results in a three-hit slash from multiple directions that's nearly unavoidable. This same move is said to be capable of cutting down gods. It tells us that the only countermeasure to this attack is not letting him use it in the first place.

And then in FGO, you have him casually defeat a swordsman who was said to be unbeaten for a hundred battles. If it’s a sword fight, there isn’t ANY swordfighting servant I’d choose over him in a straight meat to meat matchup. Bring up your Gawains and your Artorias I’m STILL picking my boy.

The reality of the matter is if you let Kojirou get in, chances are he's folding your favorite servant. There's a reason why Medea trusted his skills more than her own. This dude is like Shaq or Tim Duncan on the inside… UNSTOPPABLE

And I don't wanna hear any disagreements, you just gotta concede this one. When you’re out here reaching infinite possibilities, transcending dimensions, bending space with no divinity to be found, you are clearly a different animal and the same beast.

Still containing the three route structure (and some rewrites to incorporate the bad end info to the main story), how effective do you guys think Fate Stay Night would be as a story?

Some massive cons I can think of here-

1. No music
2. No voice acting
3. Illustrations are black and white (goodbye to that epic wide 9 live shot)
4. Lack of Shirou deaths may make the story feel less dangerous for Shirou unless Nasu finds a way to make it feel just as life or death-y

Maybe a pro?

1. The Illya route could maybe exist here because budget won't be as big of an issue (iirc Nasu merged HF into one route because they were running short on budget and time).

I wondered this since the first time i watched fate zero, but i scrambeled an explanation an never got to ask:

Why does saber stay in phyisical form to save up mana while rider stays in spirit form? and if one is more optimal than the other, why dont both servants use it?

If you ask me, I think thiis also suitable for Shirou when it comes to close-quarters aside from K&B. It should be easier to trace than K&B.

The sword itself is just a mystic code so it's cheap to produce. The noble phantasm is a skill so it can be performed in succession as long as the user maintains the blade retention which can be dealt by reinforcing it, transforming the bent/fracture back, dull, or just projecting a new one. The skill itself dabbles with 2nd magic which also doesn't require mana. In theory, this sword can be used in tandem with K&B's triple crane wings.

It also thematically suits him since the user of this sword is a fake, "Sasaki Kojirou" in fsn is just an amalgamation of skilled samurai warriors that were regrettably never earned their own significant legends despite of their actual skills.

Irrelevant question: Can Nine Lives Blade Works be modified into a bow so the skill can be applied to archer?