Tear Jerker / Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia

All spoilers on this page are left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

"I am a weapon. I'm nothing more than one of your countless treasures. In the future, you will encounter treasures more valuable than me."

• Episode 1:
  • The series itself opens on an iconic tragic moment: the moment Enkidu dies in The Epic of Gilgamesh and dissolves into the ground. The environment itself commiserates with its mourning king, and Gilgamesh looks up, his eyes obscured by his hair, the rain mingling with what obviously are his tears.
    • It is later shown to be a dream the current King Gilgamesh is having. After awaking, he contemplates the Ring of Solomon overseeing Uruk, clearly feeling his days are numbered. Being the now-mature Gilgamesh, however, he simply proclaims, with resolve, that he will meet it anyway—and dares Chaldea to prove worthy of his trust.
• Episode 4:
  • Fujimaru's flashback to Olga Marie's death
  • The Reveal of how Ur's people have chosen to sacrifice their men to the Three Goddess Alliance does not go down well with Fujimaru and Mash—who proceed to ask what on earth were they thinking. It's a bit grim especially since they have been living for a month in Uruk and have seen mostly good things of its people.
  • In turn, the female village elder defeatedly admits that even as humans in the Age of the Gods, they cannot hope to stand up to goddesses—pointing out how "human ethics" are no longer being observed in these end-of-day scenarios. Quite heartbreakingly philosophical in its own right, but when you remember that the area of Uruk/Babylon corresponds to modern-day Iraq, the Reality Subtext begins to hit harder.
• Episode 5:
  • The encounter between "Enkidu" and King Gilgamesh is about as awesome as you expect it to be, but the heartbreaking subtext is also plainly written on both of their faces. Gilgamesh, despite betraying none of his emotions, carries a very poignant silence after the battle (similar to his previous conversations with Mash regarding their journeys, clearly remembering his moments with the real Enkidu). At the same time, while he openly ridicules "Enkidu" for contradicting the original Enkidu's personality, he is visibly saddened/disturbed seeing his best friend deployed as a weapon against him.
    • Notably, the first time King Gilgamesh addresses "Enkidu", he seems to be trying to fish out his mutual memories with him. When "Enkidu" plainly shows surprise at meeting King Gilgamesh for this first instance, the former tonelessly replies with: "Who else would I be, you fool?" He shows nothing, but he is clearly disappointed.
  • "Enkidu" himself is visibly pained/rattled by his encounter with King Gilgamesh, realizing that his original mission (kill Gilgamesh and destroy the world) is being complicated by the original Enkidu's memories surfacing in his head. It's to the point that when he has King Gilgamesh trapped with a point-blank hit with his chains, he swerves at the last minute.
  • After requesting Ritsuka and Mash's tell some tales for his amusement, Gilgamesh is thoroughly unimpressed by how they were all about the fun they were having on their adventures. He still recognizes it's the people who've had the actual experience that think they're so great, and can see they've been having a wonderful time and how much they enjoy retelling the stories. However, Gilgamesh becomes quite somber after Ritsuka asks if he has any memories or tales of his own to share. It seems recounting even the best moments of his life would also be saddening.
• Episode 8:
  • The episode sees Leonidas and Ushiwakamaru sacrificing themselves for the good of Uruk. Leonidas's death hits home hard, especially among the Uruk soldiers that he had a hand in training. After the battle is over, all of the soldiers are terribly distraught about their commander's death. It really shows the impact he had on the defenders at the Northern Wall.
  • Ushiwakamaru doesn't die here, but that makes her farewell to Fujimaru no less tragic. As it turns out, her Last Stand against Gorgon was driven by the knowledge that future generations, and especially Fujimaru, would grow up hearing of her tales and admiring her. Because of that knowledge, she had the willpower to keep fighting, even when her body was battered. And not even finding out that she was still alive helped matters, as Gorgon and Kingu have a Fate Worse than Death planned for her.
• Episode 11:
  • The episode begins with Gilgamesh dreaming of a fight with Enkidu. The two of them are smiling throughout the fight, clearly enjoying it. And then he wakes up. Gilgamesh clearly misses his friend.
• Episode 13:
  • As established, Ereshkigal's loneliness for millennia does invite enough empathy/tears. It also doesn't help that the people who probably should understand her personality, Gilgamesh and Ishtar, give her No Sympathy whatsoever. Which is why having Fujimaru spell it out for her (that she is a fundamentally good person and shouldn't wallow in self-pity) is such a relief.
    • It must be noted that by the time the fight it's over, Gilgamesh himself explains why he and Ishtar are not willing to give her sympathy: Because Ereshkigal had sworn to fulfill her job as goddess of the underworld and her own pride was born out of her task, she doesn't have room to complain about the drawbacks of the very duties she herself had chosen to uphold. Given that both share the same somber tone of voice as they talk, it also comes across as them knowing that they cannot sympathize with her because they also have their duties to fill.
    Gilgamesh: Bemoaning the obligations you chose to uphold dutifully is evil, and to praise that pain is an insult only to yourself.
    Ishtar: So, that's why Fujimaru won't commend her.
    Gilgamesh: What should be praised are the triumphs you achieved, the pain in your heart is for you alone.
  • Ereshkigal rants that none of the other gods ever visited her, she couldn't even understand what the souls of the dead said all the while she had to watch her younger sister fly freely in the sky. Makes sense why she fell for Fujimaru, he's probably the first person she's ever had a real conversation with.
  • As he's leaving the Underworld, Gilgamesh confirms for himself that Enkidu's remains, which were buried in the Underworld, are gone. It then cuts to the same flashback from Episode 1, only this time, we hear Enkidu's last words.
    Enkidu: I am a weapon. I'm nothing more than one of your countless treasures. In the future, you will encounter treasures more valuable than me.
    • What makes this both sad and touching is that Enkidu was wrong, Gilgamesh refuses to befriend others as he believes only Enkidu is his equal and the Chain of Heaven that was made from Enkidu's body is Gilgamesh's most trusted Noble Phantasm even more than his Ea.
• Episode 14:
  • Mash looking at one of the cocoons in the Bloodfort, realizing living people are trapped inside, trying to reach out, and her first instinct is to think of something to do to help them. Fujimaru quickly dissuades her of that notion, stoically telling her to let go, but it is obvious he is as disturbed as her, even though he rationally knows they are beyond help.
• Episode 15:
  • The episode begins with a vision of some sort, where Ana is standing on a short cliff overlooking the sea. She turns around, and sees her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, and her face lights up with a bright smile. Then she's met with the friends she made in Uruk, including the old lady running the flower shop, who puts the crown of flowers on her head before Ana runs to chase after her sisters. However, she never reaches them; the vision cuts out to a memory of Gorgon devouring her sisters.
  • Ana sacrifices herself to slay Gorgon with Harpe, a blade that can kill immortals. As the two fall into a pit, Ana gives her friends one last tearful smile before disappearing from view. Fujimaru follows this up by taking the flower crown and dropping it into the pit.
  • After Roman names the Lahmu, Gilgamesh calls out to Siduri by instinct and then calls out to the captain of the army to send out orders. Fujimaru asks where is Siduri when Gilgamesh tries to ignore the question, Fujimaru asks more aggressively till Gilgamesh admits she was captured.
  • While Gilgamesh acts stoic and unaffected by Siduri's captured, we get a quick flashback that shows when Siduri volunteered to lead the evacuations, Gilgamesh screamed that she was not allowed to go. When Siduri still decides to go, Gilgamesh resignedly lets her go.
  • It's more heartbreaking when you factor in Gilgamesh's own clairvoyance, Siduri is hinted by her king's demeanor that if she went to Eridu she would face a horrible fate, and then after a brief moment of reflection she smiles to her king, accepting what will be in store for her. Gilgamesh himself is hurt by this but respects her decision to leave and help the beleaguered people in the city.
  • Unlike the game, this time Fujimaru and Ishtar know that Siduri was turned into a Lahmu when she repeats the white flag gesture Ishtar gave in episode 3.
• Episode 16
  • Kingu desperately running for his life as he states the reason he was so dedicated to Tiamat was because he felt he had nothing else to live for and thus focused on his mother's goal. But now that Lahmu are chasing him down, he realizes no one cared for him and he was just a tool.
  • As Kingu prepares to die, Siduri saves him at the cost of her life. In her last moments she thanks him for being Gilgamesh's friend and setting him down the right path, telling him that all of Uruk is thankful and wishes for him to be happy as she crumbles in front of his eyes. Kingu breaks down due to Enkidu's residual feelings as well as his own guilt that he doesn't deserve any of this.
  • Ushiwamaru's darkened self by the Chaos Tide, both Mash and Fujimaru are horrified by what happened to her and the prospect of fighting her, with Fujimaru trying in vain to reach out to her. An important detail to note is that Ushiwakamaru prefers to go and attack Fujimaru himself, and Fujimaru can only stare back at stoically.
  • The episode has a special ending that shows the story of Siduri: She used to be another background servant for Gilgamesh when both were kids and latter on grew to be close with Enkidu and then Gilgamesh himself, hinting the three of them were a trio before Enkidu died.
• Episode 19:
  • The Gorgon we see here isn't the one that was fought before, but Ana. She acts like Gorgon long enough to get Mash and Fujimaru away, and admits it's because she can't bear to let them see her in this form. Once they're out of range, her voice even reverts to Ana's, with the Vocal Dissonance hammering home the way she feels. Ultimately, she uses Pandemonium Cetus to ground Tiamat, expending herself in the process. At the very end, she thanks the protagonists and the old lady for the flowers they gave her.
  • Kingu performs his own Heroic Sacrifice to stop Tiamat, using Enuma Elish to transform into the Chains of Heaven and restrain her. They can't hold her forever, though, and ultimately break. But what really drives home the sense of emotion in the scene is Kingu finally making peace with Enkidu's memories, with a cascade of shots of Enkidu, Gilgamesh, Siduri, and the people of Uruk as "Tell Me" by Milet (the same ending theme used in episode 16) plays.
    • It is even more painful when you looked at the details of the scene. Looking at close-up Gilgamesh's background, we can see that Gilgamesh stopped Dingir's assault with a pained face when he looked upon flying Kingu. He knows that he will have to look upon his friend's death once more, even though it's just someone else wearing his face.
• Episode 20:
  • Ereshkigal uses all of her authority to stop Tiamat which causes her to collapse. Ishtar picks up her sister and sees that Ereshkigal is disappearing due to using up all her power and breaking her promise to never use her powers for a single human. All Ishtar can do is hold Ereshkigal in her arms as Ereshkigal disappears both sad that she can't talk to Fujimaru again and happy at how beautiful the underworld is because of Merlin's flowers.
  • Fujimaru has a talk with Tiamat in her mental landscape in Femme Fatale form where Tiamat reveals that all she wants is to always be with her children and always love them, even asking Fujimaru if her love is wrong. Fujimaru admits he doesn't know but he does know that her children do love her. Satisfied with this answer, she fades away and her outside body drops its Nega Genesis field, all but stating she willingly allowed herself to be destroyed by Ea to protect her children from her rampage.
• Episode 21
  • The goodbyes to Uruk and all the remaining cast: Quetzalcoatl, Jaguar Warrior, Merlin, Ishtar, and King Gilgamesh.