Role
During the 5th Holy Grail War, Rin's pendant, which saved Shiro's life, was the catalyst that helped call Archer forth. As revealed in Fate/zero, Heroic Spirits were recruited from past heroes and had knowledge of every other Heroic Spirit that was ever recruited. Since Archer was not a true Heroic Spirit, no one could figure out his identity unless he revealed it, an action which happened in the Unlimited Blade Works scenario.
Throughout the 5th War, Archer acts brusque, pessimistic and apathetic to everyone he interacts with, including his Master, Rin. At times, he is also a rebellious Servant, and early in the 5th Holy Grail War Rin had to use a Command Mantra to force him to listen to her; this powerful sorcery makes it difficult for Archer to act against the wishes of his Master. While he holds no love for his younger self, and in spite of his bellicose attitude and independent demeanor, Archer cares deeply for the people he knew in life, especially Illya, Rin, and Saber. In the anime adaptation, Archer, due to Rin's incomplete summoning of her Servant, may not recall his true identity at first, though he remains dismissive of Shirō and seems to care about Rin, Saber and Ilya. He uses the name 'Ilya' near the end, implying he remembers her.
In Fate, Archer is disabled early on in the war from a near-fatal injury inflicted by Saber, and he remains inactive until he is called upon by Rin to stall Berserker so that she, Shirō and Saber can escape from the brutish Servant. Although still injured, Archer is capable of competently fighting and kills Berserker six times before being killed himself, without using his Reality Marble. In the anime adaptation, Fate Project rewrote Archer and Berserker's battle by portraying Archer as having activated his Reality Marble although he kills Berserker only five times using Unlimited Blade Works.
In the Unlimited Blade Works scenario, Archer's role is greatly expanded as he takes center stage as the primary antagonist. This opportunity to kill Shirō arises due to two incidents: Saber fails to injure him when he and Rin approach Shirō's home after her summoning, which was a disability in Fate, and Rider is killed early in the war by Caster and her Master. These two events eliminate the circumstances that forced Saber to exhaust her Mana supply through use of Excalibur, prompting Rin to abandon Archer to a solo fight with Berserker.
Saber is nearly killed by Berserker; however, Archer takes over the battle, but unwilling to risk harming Ilya, avoids combating Berserker directly. When the opportunity arises, Archer creates a large conflagration as a diversion to allow everyone to escape. After Taiga and Saber are captured by Caster, Archer betrays Rin and allies with Caster; while Shirō and Rin invade Kirei's church where Caster settled, Archer is stalled by Lancer. He betrays and ambushes Caster and her Master shortly after, killing them both. He then catches Saber, Shirō, and Rin within the confines of Unlimited Blade Works; under the threat of tracing Excalibur, Saber is forced into a stalemate. The situation forces Shirō to battle Archer in person, where Archer dominates the battle but eventually yields the match after being reminded of his own dedication to his ideal from watching Shirō's determination. Archer then disappears after shielding Shiro from Gilgamesh's surprise attack. He later appears briefly at the end of the scenario to save Rin from the confines of the Holy Grail, and to finish off Gilgamesh, weakened and cornered by Shirō. After an insightful and poignant dialogue with Rin, Archer fades away with a smile on his face, confident and content with the path his life had taken.
Finally, during Heaven's Feel, Archer abandons his desire to kill Shirō when he learns of what contaminated the Grail. Also, Shirō has already thrown away his lifelong ideals in the interest of saving Sakura's life. Archer is mortally wounded in an engagement against True Assassin, Saber Alter, and "The Shadow", but he survives long enough to have Kirei Kotomine surgically graft his left arm onto Shirō, who lost his own arm in that same battle. Shirō later uses Archer's arm in the battle against Black Berserker, Saber Alter, and Kirei, and to trace the Jewel Sword Zelretch.
Read more about this topic: Archer (Fate/stay Night)
Famous quotes containing the word role:
“I wish glib and indiscriminate critics of industrialists had some conception of the problems that have to be met by factory management.... General condemnation of employers is a favorite indoor sport of the uninformed intelligentsia who assume the role of lance- bearers for labor.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“All of the assumptions once made about a parent’s role have been undercut by the specialists. The psychiatric specialists, the psychological specialists, the educational specialists, all have mystified child development. They have fostered the idea that understanding children and promoting their intellectual well-being is too complex for mothers and requires the intervention of experts.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“Women’s battle for financial equality has barely been joined, much less won. Society still traditionally assigns to woman the role of money-handler rather than money-maker, and our assigned specialty is far more likely to be home economics than financial economics.”
—Paula Nelson (b. 1945)