History Headscratchers / FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks

* This is meta, this has nothing to do with the series' contents save for the English Dub cast. I know that several of the original voice actors in this franchise except for the Illya spinoff have been recast into other roles and cannot play another character in this sequel like Creator/GrantGeorge was once Gilgamesh but was then playing Lancer in LightNovel/FateZero, unless their characters survive. Similarly, Creator/PatrickSeitz voiced Assassin in the prequel and cannot play his role as Shouichiro and must be replaced if we are to give the VA-role ratio of 1:1. Now I am wondering, why didn't they bring back Creator/TaraPlatt who wasn't present by Fate/Zero in any way possible? If we check the cast in Fate Zero on Myanimelist, [[http://myanimelist.net/anime/11741/Fate_Zero/characters she is not found in any]] [[http://myanimelist.net/anime/11741/Fate_Zero_2nd_Season/characters of them]]. I mean, if they recalled Creator/MelaLee, Creator/TonyOliver, Creator/StephanieSheh, and Creator/JulieAnnTaylor into their respective roles, why not her?

* Admittedly it might be me misremembering things, but wasn't Saber supposed to have been summoned straight from right before her death(Which is revealed in Fate route I think...), rather than from the Throne of Heroes? And if it's so, how is it possible that she remembers being in modern era before(Which obviously is there to set up things for Fate/Zero where Kiritsugu was also Saber's master), considering that she should only have memories of her own life, and basic information of the era provided by the grail? Not to mention that Fuyuki grail was supposedly erasing memories of servants who took part in the wars there... Is it somehow explained why Saber remembers all of that? Or is it just a plothole created for the sake of setting up Fate/Zero?

** That would be because it was a {{Filler}} scene added by the anime that was not present in the original VN (Illya never fights in canon as the Einzbern magic isn't suited for combat) and thus would have completely altered the story - basically, it's just an AdaptationInducedPlotHole. As for Archer and his sniping [[spoiler: even in the VN he always could have taken out Illya whenever he wanted, but because in his timeline he had to see Illya waste away and die despite saving her from the Grail War he could never bring himself to hurt her directly]]. As for Rin, she is not nearly as ruthless as she thinks she is and can't bring herself to murder a child even if she is a Master.

** In the UBW route of the VN she's also absent for a long time. In the other routes in the VN we see that during the day [[spoiler:she goes by herself to the park hoping to run into Shirou]]. I guess you could say ''that'' is what she's waiting for... although for that it doesn't matter whether Berserker is at full strength or not. That event happens in the other two routes, but not in UBW. So, we don't know for sure because we don't see her. There is also not necessarily much reason for her to go on the attack given that [[spoiler:she doesn't seem to care about winning the Grail War; it wasn't really her choice to join]].
** In the Fate route, Archer wasn't there to provide backup, forcing Saber to take on Berserker by herself. When Saber was about to be killed by Berserker, Shirou took the killing blow for her which was completely unexpected from Illya's point of view [[spoiler:because she assumed that he was cold hearted and selfish like Kiritsugu]] so she was startled and confused by Shirou's selfless act, wanting to know more about him as a result. In the UBW route, Archer managed to steal a couple lives from Berserker with one attack, overriding Illya's interest in Shirou as a result.

* In episode 15, Shirou tries his hardest to [[spoiler: go save Illya, before being tackled to the ground by Rin. At this point Shirou is known for being a martyr without a cause, but why throw his life away for a character he barely knows and has been an enemy/opponent for the entire series? ]]
** [[spoiler: Because he doesn't really think of his own life, and he's watching/listening to a grown man butcher what he sees as a little girl.]]
** [[spoiler:That is just how bad Shirou's ChronicHeroSyndrome is. He quite literally doesn't give any thought to his own life or his own well-being: he'd throw it all away in a heartbeat if it could save someone else, even a complete stranger. While that could be lauded as a heroic attitude, it's also supposed to be very disturbing, and a look at how broken a person Shirou really is.]]
** There shouldn't be anything wrong with going to save someone, but this is the Nasuverse, where the cost of heroism/power is far too high for heroes/villains. In any case, Fate and UBW specifically showcases how idealistically foolish and impractical Shirou can be, [[spoiler: which reflects in his practical but brutally cynical future self Archer.]]

* In episode 23, when mentioning Gil’s plan to create an incomplete Grail so as to wipe most of humanity, Rin mentions that Gil would need to put the Grail’s core into a vessel and brings up Shinji as the only candidate, noting that as the descendent of a former mage family he still has magic circuits even if they are latent. What about the other person (Sakura) in Fuyuki City with actual functional magic circuits? Given that [[spoiler:Rin and Sakura are sisters]] and Rin remembers and knows about [[spoiler:her father giving Sakura away to the Matou family so as for her to receive a Magic Crest and be trained to her full potential]], she’d be aware of Sakura being a magus. Furthermore, she saw Gil talking to Sakura earlier in the first episode and Gil acted as Shinji’s servant for a while, which means that he’d be aware of her (she doesn’t know about Zouken modifying Sakura to be a Grail vessel, which means Gil’s plan wouldn’t work with her and he knows it). Despite acting aloof and denying any familial connection to Sakura, Rin ''does'' care about her sister (the main reason she revived Shiro despite not knowing him that much is because she knows how Sakura would be devastated if he died), so it seems strange that she wouldn’t be that concerned about the possibility of Sakura being in danger given that after herself, Sakura would seem like the most viable candidate for a vessel.

* I read in some places that Rin gives Shirou a [[spoiler:piece of her Magic Crest]], but others she just establishes a contract with him that lets him use her mana. Which is the right one? Or is it both?

* If Archer [[spoiler:gets killed by Gilgamesh, which is why it's up to Shirou to stop him]], how is he there at the end to help both Rin and Shirou?

** Archer is a [[spoiler:Counter Guardian, who are Heroic Spirits that are summoned into various times to prevent mankind's extinction and ensure the survival of the world. What Gil was trying to do would do at least one of those things, if not both, if it wasn't stopped. Perhaps the Counter Force gave Archer some mana instead of sending another Guardian?]]
** This is the most likely answer given the VN and supplemental materials. It's shown a few times that [[spoiler: as a Counter Guardian, Archer differs a bit from normal Servants]] and while the entire source of Archer's problems is that [[spoiler: the Counter Force doesn't summon Guardians until after situations go straight to Hell]] it's also known that Gaia's and Alaya's Counter Force does intervene to ensure the World's and Humanity's survival respectively in subtle ways to avert disaster, so given Gil's actions it's highly probably that Alaya passed out a little extra mana to keep to situation from going critical.

** Heaven's Feel Shirou [[spoiler:is established to be very different from Archer in terms of how their Reality Marble work, and is mentioned to be better at projection than him. Which could explain how he was capable of circumventing UBW's rule of "no Divine Constructs".]] Note that Archer never specified which sword he could replicate, [[spoiler:and Saber has another holy sword we know of, and we know he can replicate it. Caliburn has a similar effect to Excalibur, but is weaker,]] it would still do the job though.

** Under the church is the biggest omission of Archer's supposed ability to increase his physical abilities. He finally is in a position to kill Shirou, the sole reason for him competing in the war, with only one obstacle. Saber is in his way and Archer claims he can't defeat her in melee. That doesn't make any sense if he is able to become as strong as Berserker, who he's seen can overpower Saber. Since killing Shirou is all he wants, he shouldn't care if the other remaining servants gang up on him afterwards, even if there were any around to observe. That he has ample motivation and no real reason not to yet doesn't is a strong indicator that Archer doesn't have that ability. The likely answer is that projection magic's ability to boost its wielder's physical prowess caps out somewhere. Archer abides this limit, HF Shirou does not, which is part of the reason [[spoiler: his mind breaks down when he uses it.]]

** It's actually implied that Excalibur is an exception to the "no divine constructs" rule because [[spoiler: Excalibur's sheath, Avalon, is actually inside of Shirou thanks to Kiritsugu]].
** Archer is unable to create divine constructs which were made using divine materials. Excalibur was made by the faeries for king Arthur, using earthly materials, while EA was made using divine materials for the supreme king of the world. Both Shirou and EMIYA are perfectly able to make a (degraded but functional) projection of Excalibur, as long as they have the mana to pull it off, as shown in HF.

** [[spoiler:Archer ''is'' Emiya. The pendant Archer has isn't the one Rin used on Shirou earlier. He had it on him when he arrived. This is a plot point later when Rin finds it in Shirou's place - it's what brings her to realize Archer's identity. Basically, the pendant Rin had was the aspect of Emiya that allowed Archer to be summoned, even though it was before it was given to Shirou.]]
** It's actually a bit wackier than that. The pendant Rin used [[spoiler: can't be used as a catalyst for EMIYA because that pendant wasn't the one used to save ''his'' life. The one used to save Archer's life was actually carried by him all his life and is in his possession even as a Counter Guardian. Rin didn't have a catalyst for a specific Servant; Archer had a "reverse" catalyst linking him to a specific summoner. Because Rin was unable to find a catalyst, Archer's catalyst allowed him to answer her summons even though summoning a Counter Guardian is supposed to be impossible - that's also why the other Servant's don't get any knowledge of Archer from the Throne of Heroes like they're supposed to. Since Archer never found out who saved his life in his own timeline, he figured out that night that Rin had saved his life too and was finally able to return the pendant to the one that saved him which he was never able to do when he was alive]].

*** Regarding Ilya's interest in Shirou, the reason why she followed him around in Fate and Heaven's Feel is not just to know him better but also presumably to make sure he doesn't die, or at least not too early. In the other routes, Saber gets thrashed around by Berserker without Archer's support, so maybe Ilya was concerned about Shirou making it through the war with a seemingly weak Servant. Here in UBW, Saber is not only able to hold her own against Berserker, but ''manages to take one of his lives.'' That and the fact that Shirou is seemingly allied with Rin, whose Servant is able to fire off the equivalent of a tactical nuke, makes Ilya confident that Shirou will make it through the Grail War.

*** Episode 19 seems to confirm the above, as he states that not only does he need to kill Shirou, he also needs to destroy his spirit (probably not [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent literally]], more of a case of making him cross the DespairEventHorizon).

*** This is the most likely answer given the VN and supplemental materials. It's shown a few times that [[spoiler: as a Counter Guardian, Archer differs a bit from normal Servants]] and while the entire source of Archer's problems is that [[spoiler: the Counter Force doesn't summon Guardians until after situations go straight to Hell]] it's also known that Gaia's and Alaya's Counter Force does intervene to ensure the World's and Humanity's survival respectively in subtle ways to avert disaster, so given Gil's actions it's highly probably that Alaya passed out a little extra mana to keep to situation from going critical.

*** You know, Shirou in Heaven's Feel does things with Projection that Archer never does despite them being extremely useful. Like copying Berserker's strength and speed.
*** When? Shirou in all three routes gets the skills and stats of the weapon's wielder. (Vs. Berserker in Fate or Shirou Vs. Archer in UBW). Its why Archer is able to keep up with other servants even using a weapon that he had never used against Servants before (Caladbolg and Rho Aius for example). Archer made a point of never tracing a servant's weapon in front of them since if anyone found out that he could Mega Man them, then they would take him out first. Teaming up if they had too. Archer's MO is to hold back until absolutely needed so no one knows who he is and they underestimate him. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Also the only things Shirou projects in HF are things that Archer has seen and are in his RM. Since Shirou cannot properly control UBW since Archer's soul is bleeding into his own through the arm and trying (with some success) to override him, body and soul. It's why he has the arm sealed in the first place.
*** Under the church is the biggest omission of Archer's supposed ability to increase his physical abilities. He finally is in a position to kill Shirou, the sole reason for him competing in the war, with only one obstacle. Saber is in his way and Archer claims he can't defeat her in melee. That doesn't make any sense if he is able to become as strong as Berserker, who he's seen can overpower Saber. Since killing Shirou is all he wants, he shouldn't care if the other remaining servants gang up on him afterwards, even if there were any around to observe. That he has ample motivation and no real reason not to yet doesn't is a strong indicator that Archer doesn't have that ability. The likely answer is that projection magic's ability to boost its wielder's physical prowess caps out somewhere. Archer abides this limit, HF Shirou does not, which is part of the reason [[spoiler: his mind breaks down when he uses it.]]
*** It should be noted that Shirou ''failed'' to copy Berserker's strength; in the Nine Bullet Revolver scene it's stated that Shirou can only access Archer's abilities and not his own as he turned away from his ideal to protect only Sakura earlier and is thus no longer qualified to use his own abilities. Also, he could only try to copy Berserker's strength while projecting Berserker's own weapon, so it can be inferred that Archer would be unable to copy Saber's strength unless he copied her weapon. This puts Archer at a severe disadvantage against Saber (and any other holy or demonic sword user really) as he cannot create perfect replicas of their weapon, which means he probably cannot perfectly replicate their strength or skills as he normally could because the copies are degraded much more that usual. As for why Archer didn't use this before - it's very likely that he did but the Shirou's and Rin's POV simply didn't know. Pretty much all of Shirou using Archer's arm is just showing off how awesome Archer (and Shirou by extension) could be if he wasn't nerfed constantly. A [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] view could also be that showing off the full extent of Archer's capabilities in UBW would reduce the dramatic tension in Heaven's Feel.

*** It was a threat to dissuade Saber from using Excalibur as she would never gamble with Rin and Shirou's lives.

*** Your mileage ''will'' vary on whether or not Creator/GrantGeorge was well-suited as Gilgamesh. I, for one, though he got Gil's AwesomeEgo down perfectly, though Creator/DavidVincent was also no slouch in the role.

*** It's actually a bit wackier than that. The pendant Rin used [[spoiler: can't be used as a catalyst for EMIYA because that pendant wasn't the one used to save ''his'' life. The one used to save Archer's life was actually carried by him all his life and is in his possession even as a Counter Guardian. Rin didn't have a catalyst for a specific Servant; Archer had a "reverse" catalyst linking him to a specific summoner. Because Rin was unable to find a catalyst, Archer's catalyst allowed him to answer her summons even though summoning a Counter Guardian is supposed to be impossible - that's also why the other Servant's don't get any knowledge of Archer from the Throne of Heroes like they're supposed to. Since Archer never found out who saved his life in his own timeline, he figured out that night that Rin had saved his life too and was finally able to return the pendant to the one that saved him which he was never able to do when he was alive]].

** I think those were from the Trojan War, that would explain how did he got to see and trace Rho Aias
** The Throne of Heroes is beyond time and space. All the Counter Guardians go from there to various disasters in past, present, and future to stop whatever might be happening. EMIYA went back and forth across time, potentially to the far future. WMG, but perhaps this was part of what lead to his DepsairEventHorizon; he saw that even hundreds of years in the future, humanity hadn't changed and was still causing its own devastation.
* Admittedly it might be me misremembering things, but wasn't Saber supposed to have been summoned straight from right before her death(Which is revealed in Fate route I think...), rather than from the Throne of Heroes? And if it's so, how is it possible that she remembers being in modern era before(Which obviously is there to set up things for Fate/Zero where Kiritsugu was also Saber's master), considering that she should only have memories of her own life, and basic information of the era provided by the grail? Not to mention that Fuyuki grail was supposedly erasing memories of servants who took part in the wars there... Is it somehow explained why Saber remembers all of that? Or is it just a plothole created for the sake of setting up Fate/Zero?

** The Throne of Heroes is beyond time and space. All the Counter Guardians go from there to various disasters in past, present, and future to stop whatever might be happening. EMIYA went back and forth across time, potentially to the far future. WMG, but perhaps this was part of what lead to his DepsairEventHorizon; he saw that even hundreds of years in the future, humanity hadn't changed and was still causing its own devastation.

** I think those were from the Trojan War, that would explain how did he got to see and trace Rho Aias