Summary
TheFate series, set in an illustrious fantasy world,has grown over two decades and appears in multiple media formats, including anime, games, and visual and light novels. Most stories in the franchise are set in a war between mages fighting for access to a magical entity that grants the holder any wish imaginable. The entity is known as the Holy Grail, and the war is dubbed the Holy Grail War. During the war, the mages are called Masters and can summon historical figures from the past and future called Servants.
The relationship looks mostly like how it sounds. The mages are Masters who summon their Servants to fight for them. These Masters provide commands and strategies to implement to kill other Servant-Master duos. The Servants are powerful manifestations of heroes summoned to help their Masters win the Grail. Each Servant-Master relationship is different and depends on factors such as personalities, goals, and especially the agreements between Masters and Servants. A Master’s control over their Servants manifests in the form of three magical binds known as Command Seals that grant a Master complete control over their Servant. This system ensures a dynamic hierarchy and control between each duo, but the complexities of free will and the morality of the system are always in question.
Control Vs Partnership
The Delicate Balance And Choice Between Dynamics
The intricate relationships between Masters and Servants can range from complex to straightforward relationships, depending on factors such as the goals of the Masters and Servants, their personalities, and their goals. Although Masters can exert absolute control overtheir Servants with command spells, it is more beneficial to establish respect or barter for cooperation with the Servant. The first instance of a Master-Servant relationship held togetherwithout mutual respect is between Shinji Matou and Medusa, a Rider class Servant present in the Fifth Holy Grail War.
For example, this relationship between Master and Servant involves Shinji using Rider as a tool, forcing her to implement his will through command spells.
In many iterations of the main story, this dynamic causes Shinji and Rider to be defeated almost immediately because of their non-existent relationship. Waver Velvet and Iskandar are another relationship between a Rider and their Master but with a much different dynamic. Waver and Iskandar were a Master and Servant duo in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Their relationship reversed their default roles in the Grail. During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Iskandar played the part of a mentor to Waver. He encouraged Waver to grow more confident and honorable through the series. Their relationship was based on respect and understanding, and no party overshadowed the autonomy of the other.
The Autonomy Dilemma
Duty Vs Free Will
Servants are powerful beings who have their respective goals and aspirations for getting the Holy Grail. The Servants have no control over who summons them, so they are tasked with finding common ground between their Masters. The Servants usually participate willingly due to a sense of duty but can be forced to comply depending on the whim of their Masters. Masters provide the mana needed to manifest Servants and maintain a physical form, as well as use abilities like the Noble Phantasm. This gives Servants the incentive to be cordial since they can’t survive without the magic of Masters.
The varying dynamics of relationships across the series are part of what makes the plot intriguing. The relationship between theArcher Servant Gilgamesh and the Master Tokiomi Tohsakain the 4th Holy Grail War is an important one to note. The relationship was cordial for the majority of the Holy Grail, but Tokiomi did not see Gilgamesh as more than a tool to be manipulated. Although Gilgamesh tolerated Tokiomi at the start, he decided he wanted a Master with similar values. Gilgamesh subsequently manipulated Tokiomi’s student Kotomine Kirei into killing him and taking over his place as Gilgamesh’s Master. Other Servants like the Rider Servant Medusa, cooperated with her Master only out of a sense of duty in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
The Moral Dilemmas Of The Servant-Master Relationship
The Overarching Themes Of The Anime
Concepts such as free will, autonomy, and morality are often questioned in theFateseries. The Holy Grail War is filled with high-stakes battles and strategies. The stakes of the war are enough for the mages to throw reason and morals out of the window, and this lack of morals and desperation is often the determinant of how far duos reach. Servants in the war are often seen as tools to further the ambition of their Masters. Some Servants are maltreated and are used in any manner their Masters see fit. A prime example of this is The Rider Servant Medusa and her Master Shinji Matou.
On one hand, it could be said that these Servants aren’t the actual historic beings but spirit manifestations of them. On another note, it could be said that there will be ample compensation if both the Servants and their Master manage to win, but that only applies if they both have an agreement or mutual understanding. Servants who participate in the Holy Grail War can feel pain and take damage.Through the Fate route of the main story,there is an example of Heroic Spirits falling in love. These factors play into the overall decisions that Masters and Servants make in battle.
Legacy As A Factor For Servant Ideals
The Values Of History
Heroic Spirits are historical figures who have individual values, dreams, moral codes, and reasons for participating in the Holy Grail War. Many Servants do not have reasons to fight for the Grail and fight due to a sense of duty. The driving force of each Servant depends on who they were in their past life. Servants like RIder Iskandar, Archer Gilgamesh,and Archer Emiya did not fight in the Holy Grail Warto make a wish but fought for their reasons.
Iskandar, also known as Alexander the Great, did not have regrets in life. He believed he had done well as a ruler and fought for the sake of battling strong opponents during the Fourth Holy Grail War. This lack of ambition in Servants reduces the chances of friction and proves that some participants are not fighting for the prize but instead fight for the sake of it or personal duty.
