Random Curiosity

Summary:
Rin dreams of when she was young and was given her pendant by a man, probably her father, who was going off to fight in a war and never returned. Rin had apparently wanted to originally summon Saber, but she got Archer. On the upside, Archer apparently makes some great tea. Rin wants to know his background and his true name, but it seems that Archer doesn’t remember anything. Archer actually blames that on Rin’s imperfect summoning, but he tells her not to worry about it, especially since she’s an excellent master.
Meanwhile, Shirou and Fuji-nee enjoy another meal prepared by Sakura. Shirou tells Sakura that she should take the weekends off because she helps out every day, though Sakura says that she has no other plans. Sakura realizes when they reach school that Shirou’s arm is bleeding, but he thinks that it’s probably from working with junk the night before and doesn’t worry about it. Sakura takes her leave after Mitsuzuri Ayako comes to talk with Shirou. She tells him that Sakura’s brother Shinji has been causing trouble in the archery club and attributes it to Rin having rejected him. Being the type of person that he is, Shirou offers to help Shinji, which results in Shinji having him clean the dojo after school.
Rin and Archer meanwhile have sensed an enemy nearby, and the two wait until after sunset for Lancer to appear. Archer uses two swords against Lancer’s spear, and the two are fairly evenly matched. Hearing noises outside the dojo, Shirou goes to investigate and sees the two Servants fighting. He is quickly spotted by Lancer and gets chased into the school building. Lancer appears beside him and stabs Shirou in the heart, a seemingly fatal blow. With the battle over for the time being, Rin runs inside the school to find Shirou lying facedown. She orders Archer to chase Lancer and find out who his master is. Knowing that the dead boy is her fault, she apologizes to the body. But then she realizes that it’s Shirou, and he’s apparently important enough to her for her to use her pendant to revive him. Rin doesn’t stick around and runs off before Shirou wakes up.
Shirou is surprised to find himself alive, and goes back home. He knows that he died from the wound and thus figures out that someone must have saved him. Meanwhile, Rin learns that Archer wasn’t able to find out anything. Archer expresses his surprise that Rin used her jewel to save the witness. He explains that their fights must not attract attention and the rule is that witnesses must be silenced. For Lancer, the elimination of the witness was more important than the fight, and Lancer will sooner or later notice that Shirou is still alive.
Shirou senses Lancer and reaches for something to defend himself with, coming up with a rolled up poster. He uses his power to strengthen it just as Lancer jumps in. Shirou is sorely outmatched, though the poster does its job blocking some hits. Their fight progresses towards the storehouse, where a seal on the ground has been slowly forming. Shirou tumbles inside, but Lancer corners him and destroys Shirou’s makeshift weapon. Lancer thinks that there’s a possibility that Shirou’s one of the seven, but wants to end this in any case. Shirou’s own will to live activates the symbol on his hand and the seal behind him, and from the bright light, a figure rises out and charges Lancer. She identifies herself as the servant Saber, and asks Shirou if he’s her master. Shirou is left completely speechless from her beauty.

Now this is what I’m talking about - this episode has some really really tense action. It really had me on the edge of my seat even though I knew exactly what was going to happen; that’s just how good the episode is. Lancer is just creepy beyond words and I definitely got a little jumpy every time he took another stab at Shirou. Along those lines, the sound and music are absolutely perfect for creating the right atmosphere. Oh and did I mention that Saber shows up too? Really icing on the cake… Any complaints I had about this series from episode one were righted by episode two.
Rin is developing as a much more central character and gets a lot of screen time this episode. It didn’t seem like Shirou had a special relationship with her or even just knew her well, but she still decides to use the pendant that her father gave her to save his life only after she identifies him. There’s lots of potential for good character development here, and with this episode, I have confidence that they won’t waste it. Can you tell that I’m very pumped up about this series now?
And in case anyone was wondering, the message at the end of the episode merely said that next week’s airing will be at 1:45 AM, 30 minutes later than normal.