Remaking F/SN (Part 1)

 I find that my fascination with Fate/stay night is a lot like my fascination with Star Wars, or Sword Art Online. I’ve written extensively about all of these series, and I have a lot of love for them, but for each character that was well-written and each scene that was well-executed, there’s another that feels…lacking, for better or for worse. 

In general, there’s something quite satisfying about authors revisiting an existing story and working to improve it. This applies to both the original creator trying to improve their story, as well as fans working to improve it. I wrote an essay some time ago about the changes I would’ve made to the Star Wars prequels—both big and small—to make it work better as a cohesive trilogy and as part of the larger saga. In this essay, I want to do something similar. 

In this essay, I am putting forth my ideas for a remake of Fate/stay night. Much like how the remake for Tsukihime created whole new subplots, new characters and overhauled several key storylines; this remake will do much the same, sticking to the original lore, concepts and characters of the Nasuverse but putting a new spin on things. I will warn you, my own personal opinions will play a very large role in this, and reading some of my other essays about Fate may give insight into my thought process. I will attempt to explain my writing decisions along the way as best I can. 

Also, the scope of this project increased tremendously as I wrote it. So this is actually an essay that will be split into three parts. The first part will go over my broad changes for my Fate/stay night remake, the second will go specifically into my Illya route, and the third will go into a new “golden route.” 

Additional Routes:

That feels like a good segway for me to discuss the routes. Fate/stay night is the story that introduced me to visual novels, and I’m fascinated by the idea of routes as a plot device. Compared to other visual novels, Fate handles its routes in a really interesting way: each one unravels a new layer of the world and mystery while still being quite long and working as its own story. 

Plus, each route forces you to engage in comparative analysis. Shirou Emiya is the protagonist of every route, but he can almost feel like a completely different character because each route challenges him in unique and interesting ways. I love that comparative part of the Fate/stay night experience, and I wanted to amplify it as much as possible. 

As I started working on my rewrite, I ultimately decided to implement more routes, much like how the Tsukihime remake will add a Satsuki route. In my remake, there will be a total of seven routes. 

• Fate will still be the first route. Saber is the main heroine and the Servant that receives the most focus. The storyline is a melodrama based around Saber letting go of her guilt, with an optimistic and heroic tone to match, and while Shirou’s ideals are questioned, they are ultimately affirmed. 

• Unlimited Blade Works will be the second route. Rin is the main heroine and Archer is the Servant that receives the most focus. The tone is a bit more realistic and action-packed, and Shirou’s ideals are challenged more. This route is unlocked only after completing Fate. 

• Spring Song is the third route, and more-or-less identical to the Heaven’s Feel route of the original game. Sakura is the main heroine and Rider is the Servant that receives the most focus. The tone is dark, complex and horrifying, akin to a psychological thriller. Shirou rejects his ideals in favor of saving Sakura. This route is unlocked only after completing the previous two. 

• Heaven’s Feel is the fourth route. Illya is the main heroine (though the route uses the old name for Sakura’s route), and Berserker is the Servant that receives the most focus. The tone is even grittier than before while still being very action-packed. Shirou rejects saving Sakura or Rin in favor of saving Illya. This route is heavily based on Nasu’s original plans and the Oath Under Snow film, and it is unlocked only after completing the previous three routes. 

• Arcanic Attachments is the fifth route. Caster is both the main heroine and the Servant protagonist. After the increasingly dark routes before it, this one is considerably more lighthearted, going back to the tone of Fate. This route is unlocked after beating Heaven’s Feel. 

• Origin Alteration is the sixth route. Featuring no heroine or Servant protagonist, this is an homage to the “Mind of Steel” ending of Spring Song, with Saber getting killed and Shirou vowing to complete the War on his own using Kiritsugu’s weaponry and tactics. This is the grittiest route, with Shirou essentially murdering all his friends for victory. Like Arcanic Attachments, it is unlocked after completing Heaven’s Feel. 

• Synthesized Dreams is the final route, taking elements from the first four. Saber, Rin, Illya and Sakura are all heroines, with Saber, Archer, Berserker and Rider receiving focus at various points in the route. It is unlocked only after getting every ending for all previous routes. 

Changes to the Story:

In general, here are some of the bigger changes I want to implement in my remake of Fate/stay night. These changes come from another essay I wrote, titled “Why is Fate So Hard to Get Into?” and they are all based around simplifying confusing or unnecessary rules around the Holy Grail War. 

• As it stands, when five or six Servants are dead, the Grail can make a wish. When all seven Servants are dead, the user can open a portal to the Root. This should change. Six Servants should be the bare minimum to make a wish, and the idea that seven are needed to open a portal to the Root is an unnecessary addition, seeing as this never actually once happens in any of the routes or Zero. 

• The vessel, as a plot point, should be removed, since it raises too many questions about Illya. What were the Einzberns planning, having their participant be both a Master and a vessel? Who was going to make a wish? Plus, removing the vessel has strikingly little effect on the narrative. If anything, it makes some of the routes feel more cohesive. For instance, I don’t exactly know why people are scrambling to get the vessel and summon the Grail in the climaxes of Zero and UBW when not enough Servants have been killed for the Grail to even be active. Now, the Grail just automatically appears at one of a few set locations. 

• Berserkers should consist of insane warriors, not necessarily normal warriors who were given an “insanity enchantment” during their summoning. This retcon was also found in later Fate works. 

• Assassins are now capable of being anyone, not just Hassan. Also, Eastern heroes are allowed to participate. This way, we don’t need to come up with a roundabout explanation for Sasaki Kojiro’s existence. Again, this retcon was also found in later Fate works. 

• There’s no reason for Sasaki Kojiro to be a fictional character in the Fate universe if individuals like King Arthur and Gilgamesh lived, so I’m making Sasaki a real person. 

• Sasaki is now capable of moving around. At least, in theory. He is not chained to Ryuudou Temple as a byproduct of his summoning, but rather, by order of a Command Seal from Caster. 

• All Masters should get their Command Seals when they summon a Servant, not before. As it stands, when we look at people who got Command Seals before the War (such as Kiritsugu, Kotomine, etc.), there seems to be no rhyme or reason for who gets them and when. So having it just be a natural byproduct of summoning a Servant makes the most sense. 

• I am going with Zero’s retcon that Servants can be summoned without a catalyst, and that the resulting Servant is most compatible with their Master. This would be the explanation for how Illya got Berserker, as Berserker is highly protective of children; and how Sakura got Rider, as Rider is extremely protective towards assault survivors. 

• All Masters have a limited window to summon their Servants. Illya did not summon Berserker two months in advance, only a couple days before the main story, which is also when a lot of other Servants were summoned. 

• There’s no reason for Berserker to have Command Seal immunity if Illya’s Command Seals are strong enough to control him anyways. 

• Tsubame Gaelish and Unlimited Blade Works are officially classified as proper Noble Phantasms. 

Those are changes that streamline the lore and rules of the Grail War. Now, let’s get into some narrative changes that affect all routes. 

• The plot twist that Lancer is Kotomine’s Servant is horribly underutilized in every route. Lancer’s biggest contribution to the narrative across the board is stabbing Shirou in the prologue, and that’s it. In Fate, he buys some time for Saber and Shirou to get away, then he dies. In UBW, he kills Kotomine and then dies. In HF, he is sent to kill True Assassin, fails and dies. Part of the problem is that every time Kotomine is revealed as Lancer’s Master, this twist is always paired with another more compelling twist. In Fate, we learn that Kotomine is Gilgamesh’s Master, which completely overshadows Lancer’s role. In UBW, the drama of Kotomine revealing he killed Rin’s father completely trumps the drama of Lancer being his Servant. In HF, the first appearance of the Shadow completely trumps the narrative weight of Lancer’s death. Basically, the narrative never gives Lancer much to do and never much time to unpack the implications of what it actually means for Kotomine to be his Master. To alleviate this, Bazett is going to stick around as Lancer’s Master. This way, Lancer can be better utilized in the narrative, getting more screentime and more agency. 

• The Einzberns and Tohsakas are going to be more fleshed out, particularly in Illya and Rin’s route, respectively. We’ll get to see more of their clan elders, and even hint at how the Einzberns feel about Kiritsugu’s banishment and how the Tohsakas feel about giving Sakura away. 

Things to change in Fate:

• Some dialogue should be changed to match continuity with Zero. Specifically, the dialogue about Gilgamesh and Saber fighting in a river of fire. 

• A lot of Shirou’s more sexist dialogue towards Saber needs to be excised. It’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but it’s still there and it really dampers the narrative. Even Nasu himself has admitted it’s an old shame of his, and he’s said that this is the main reason why the Fate route hasn’t received a proper adaptation since Studio DEEN took a crack at it—if it were to ever be adapted again, he’d want to rewrite large portions of the narrative, and he’s too busy right now to do that. 

• Zouken will appear in Fate to set up his appearance in Heaven’s Feel. Specifically, he will appear when Shirou goes to visit Shinji at his house. 

Things to change in UBW:

• I have a lot of changes regarding Rin, but to start, I will tone down Rin’s tsundere nature. This is a personal pet peeve—I think tsunderes are an extraordinarily annoying character archetype, but fans seems to enjoy how “feisty” and “cute” it is, despite the fact that people who act like this in real life are insufferable. But even putting my feelings out of the way, I think that Rin’s tsundere nature contributes to a larger problem: her comparatively undeveloped romance with Shirou. Rin’s tendency to always word her feelings in the most roundabout way in the UBW route leads to diminished romantic moments with Shirou, such as when Shirou confesses his feelings and Rin says not to be so straightforward. There are already jokes that UBW is less a route about Rin and moreso a route about Shirou, and I think Rin’s tsundere, roundabout nature and general awkwardness are major culprits here. By the end of the route, even though I was supposedly watching a romance between the two, they feel more like friends with mutual crushes rather than an actual couple. 

• Adding onto that, Rin and Shirou should have more slice-of-life moments to further develop their romance. Specifically, this should happen after they lose both their Servants, as this would allow them to bond without any distractions. 

• UBW is also a good time to foreshadow the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch. As it is, the sword comes across as a total deus ex machina that really disrupts the psychological horror atmosphere of Heaven’s Feel. But I think a few off-handed lines of dialogue in UBW could go a long way towards making the Sword feel more natural in HF. 

• Berserker breaking Enkidu and reviving a 13th time should be removed. It’s a great scene, but lore-wise, there’s absolutely no way it can happen. 

• Caster’s original Master, Atrum, will appear in a flashback, like in the ufotable anime. 

Things to change in Sakura’s route:

• First, the name. Heaven’s Feel is a magic associated with the Einzberns, and I always thought it was bizarre that it was the title of a route all about Sakura. I have to assume this is a byproduct of combining Sakura and Illya’s routes, but since I’m separating them, I will keep the name Heaven’s Feel for Illya’s route and call Sakura’s route Spring Song. 

• Lancer’s death is going to be much more of a spectacle, akin to how it was in the ufotable anime trilogy. This will give us more time to see what Lancer can do. 

• I am going with Archer’s characterization from the ufotable trilogy over his characterization in the VN when it comes to Heaven’s Feel. In the VN, Archer expressed anger at Shirou abandoning his ideals and gave him the arm in an attempt to kill him. This makes no sense, as Shirou abandoning his ideals is exactly what Archer wanted from him in UBW! I much prefer ufotable’s version, where Archer seems proud of Shirou for choosing Sakura over heroism, even smiling at him when Shirou uses NLBW. 

• I am going to tone down Sakura’s backstory; specifically, I am removing the idea that Shinji rapes her. I detest sexual assault as a backstory, and I especially detest this instance. Considering it only comes up once and it’s never unpacked by any of the other characters, it was obviously just thrown in for shock value. Sakura can easily be pushed into her Dark Sakura self without Shinji threatening to expose this fact about her. The narrative can absolutely occur without sexual assault. 

• I read that a Rider route was planned at one point, but I feel like this is a bit redundant. I think it’s a good idea to have each route focus on both a heroine and that heroine’s Servant. With that in mind, I think the best solution is to just flesh out Rider in Spring Song, namely by giving her more interactions with everyone after Day 10. She and Shirou could bond over protecting Sakura, while at the same time, Rider could make her resentment of Rin clear because she views Rin as the more privileged Tohsaka sister. 

The Magic System:

In general, the magic system needs to be explained more, redundancies in the system should be eliminated, and branches of magic should be clarified. I’m aware that the Fate route suffers greatly from exposition overload, but honestly, I’m not convinced that it’s enough. I think this series would greatly benefit from an early conversation (probably in the Fate or UBW routes) where a character explains different schools of magic to Shirou: Necromancy, Alchemy, Projection, Divination, that sort of thing. This could be Rin explaining it to Shirou, or Saber explaining it, or even Kiritsugu explaining it in a flashback. Hell, I’d be okay with Tokiomi explaining it to Rin in a flashback. 

I bring this up because, without a good idea on what magic can and can’t do, the powers and the revelations around those powers feel random. The reveal that Shirou specializes in Projection magic, not Reinforcement, is meaningless to me because no one has ever mentioned the word Projection before. 

I think Fate’s magic would benefit if it operated under rules similar to Hunter x Hunter. People have an affinity for a particular school of magic, but they can also use schools “close to” their affinity, albeit the mana usage isn’t as efficient. This would explain how Shirou is average at Reinforcement and great at Projection; how Rin is good at gemstone magic, but also capable of Nordic curses and strength enhancements; and how the Einzberns are skilled in both alchemy and the Third Magic. 

Furthermore, as part of my attempt to streamline the magic system, I’m also streamlining how a lot of Shirou’s magic works. Shirou is a really weird character to analyze in the context of Fate/stay night’s magic system because he breaks a lot of its most fundamental rules, and most of these instances can be handwaved as “Avalon did it” or “His Reality Marble did it.” 

For instance, Projection is supposed to create a replica of a weapon but not replicate its personal history…except for Shirou and Archer, who can only do this because of their Unlimited Blade Works. This version of Projection is called “Tracing.” But to me, this feels like a random, meaningless detail, especially considering Shirou and Archer are two of the only characters in the Nasuverse who can Project. So in my remake, the “Tracing” that Shirou and Archer use isn’t actually anything special, it’s just the default version of Projection. 

Similarly, elemental affinities are an innate property of every magus. Each magus has an affinity for fire, water, earth, or air. There are some exceptions, such as those who have an affinity for more than one element, and those like Sakura who have an affinity for Imaginary Elements. And then there’s Shirou, who’s element is…sword. I never cared for this, and it feels weirdly inconsistent, so I’m just going to give him the more standard element of earth.