Fate/Grand Order Story and Lore (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

[rocohanda]

Muramasa has a flashback in Shimousa where he explains that becoming a blacksmith made him get well fed while everyone around him was starving to death, so he needs to create the ultimate katana or else he will never consider himself deserving of having survived starvation. Classic Shirou survivor guilt. No solid word on why he's siding with the villains, but his goal is one where it really doesn't matter who his allies are.

I've read people in JP Twitter speculate that Muramasa's ultimate katana, supposed to be able to separate a person from their destiny and Origin, might be the key to resolve the issue with U-Olga-Marie.

Anyway, I do think you're mostly spot on, specially about Kotomine.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Kotomine is just Kotomine. A guy born evil but raised into an arguably decent person by his moral Catholic upbringing. In /stay Night, he wanted to allow Angra to be born because Angra is unquestionably born evil, so if Kotomine could raise him into a good boy, he would prove to himself that good nurture can overcame an evil nature. Here in FGO, however, the ultimate evil Kotomine was expecting actually managed to be born, so his role in this second half will be being the only parent Olga Marie ever had.

I never got the impression that Kirei wanted to raise Angra to be good, but rather that he refused to reject the latter's will to be born because if Angra were rejected, so would he be, and Angra is proof that his existence isn't a mistake of God's.

[Comun]

I don't remember anymore what got more focus on the VN, but the 3rd Heaven's Feel movie was pretty big on the "Will he follow his nature as evil and kill many, or will he learn kindness and coexist?" part of the speech.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Ah, I see. I always thought Kotomine and Shirou both acknowledged that Angra Mainyu was inherently evil and could not be made to do good.

[asterism42]

I mean, Ataraxia demonstrates that's incredibly not true. Even before that, he saved Bazett's life just because he could

[Strange_One]

Doesn't it depend on how AM manifests?

Originally an evil monster thing birthed from the grail.
Then in F/Z as a simple minded grail terminal version of Iri.
The popularised one is manifest from shirou, Mr wannabe hero of justice himself.

So my take on it, was that any redeeming personality aspects are taken from Shirou.
And this is from before all this pseudo and demi servant mess from FGO.

[OverMaster]

Well, I think there is still time to turn things around by revealing more about the characters. Xu Fu ended up being mostly innocent despite the initial impression of her being behind inhuman experiments with kids and villagers.

There's just so many times one can go back to the well of "Lol, look me act as a complete cruel asshole on and on and on, whoops now I have my big reveal, I was doing things for good all the time while I killed your friends, now feel bad for me. Oh, and roll for me while you're at it" before it grows stale as hell.

The Fate franchise as a whole and Grand Order in particular crossed that point long ago, it's arguable HOW long ago, but long ago anyway.

Sometimes an asshole is just an asshole. That applies to real life as well and it's a lesson to learn on its own.

[Herod]

There's just so many times one can go back to the well of "Lol, look me act as a complete cruel asshole on and on and on, whoops now I have my big reveal, I was doing things for good all the time while I killed your friends, now feel bad for me. Oh, and roll for me while you're at it" before it grows stale as hell.

...when did this even happen?

[You]

I don't remember anymore what got more focus on the VN, but the 3rd Heaven's Feel movie was pretty big on the "Will he follow his nature as evil and kill many, or will he learn kindness and coexist?" part of the speech.

The man should have just watched Last Encore instead.

[Dragolord09]

So, what stories do the other new interludes have?

[Comun]

I haven't checked the others, but Red Hare's is his usual identity crisis fare. Ultimately Chen Gong convinces him he's not Lu Bu by asking Mash to read the name in his profile on Chaldea's log.

Then Chen Gong gives his final explanation.

Chen Gong: It makes perfect sense he can't clearly identify himself as a horse.

Fujimaru: What do you mean?

Chen Gong: Just take a step back and think. First, imagined how General Lu was like. Human yet inhuman, magnificent as a god of steel dashing the battlefields, that is Lu Bu Fengxian. With this in mind, would his mount Red Hare be an ordinary horse or not? He was a horse of steel, fit for the god of steel ruling over the battlefields- or perhaps you could consider him an ex-horse modified into a horse of steel? Have I ever mentioned to you? Red Hare sometimes wishes for a flight function...

Red Hare [in flashback]: Chen Gong, my tactician! Install at least a flight function in me, if you will!

Chen Gong: Sometimes he wishes for true unity of rider and horse.

Red Hare [in flashback]: Now is the time for true unity of rider and horse: Exared Form!

Chen Gong: Would a regular horse desire such things?

[Arha]

So just confirming he's a gag character then.

[OverMaster]

It should have been about Llamrei and Bucephalus mocking him instead.

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

So basically, the line between Red Hare and Lu Bu is so blurry that Red Hate can hardly identify himself?

[Comun]

Lu Bu was so skillful in horse riding that it was like he and Red Hare shared the same mind. That's what the Lu Bu/Red Hare texts mean by "unity of rider and horse". Fate/ translated this "unity of rider and horse" as Red Form, the Constantly Active Noble Phantasm that gives Red Hare all his humanoid traits.

The main gag with Red Hare ever since his introduction is that he believes himself to be standard Rider version of Lu Bu, who just happens to have all these horse traits due to Innocent Monster affecting his classic "unity of rider and horse" deal. No one buys his bullshit except himself, and one look at his Skills shows that he doesn't even have any form of Innocent Monster.

Then this interlude just run with usual old gag and gave a conclusion to its "mystery".

[Comun]

Shark Fishing

[Rafflesiac]

Thanks, it's as hilarious as I figured it'd be.

And Jeanne Alter no, not the emo poetry...

[Reign]

https://old.reddit.com/r/grandorder/...ailer/g6bbqw9/

Another Flowery Magician who came from a different world. A lady who resembles a lovely flower who does not forget to smile no matter the situation she's in.

Whoever gazes on her will forget all sense of reality due to her beauty, and will lose sight of their own enmity. On the other hand, she is said to be a witch so beautiful (and her charm so strong) that seduces men.

She usually holds up a very calm attitude and her words so wise, it is said that people who get angry and scold her for being extremely apathetic and cold around world matters, adding on her dry mindset and complete lack on any sense of urgency.

"Well, well, let's not get feisty nor sigh.
After all, all of you are just fleeting living beings who would die, like those flock of birds.
Wouldn't that solve all problems as long as it ends well?
Well no you see, I myself wouldn't want to see incomplete things, nor things that end."

[Rafflesiac]

Seems like it gets the gist across, but it's blatant Google Translate.

[Reign]

It's a messy TL for sure. Still it seems like her personality is basically the same as normal Merlin.