Certainly, Kirei is a man with no morals.
Given how evil he is from the last episode by shoving the blame of Tokomi’s death on Kariya, what you will witness won’t surprise anyone. He simply goes beyond that when he asks Irisviel for answers about her husband before choking her to death. It’s sad to see her die as Kiritsugu loses yet another woman. Not only that, Kirei does exactly what Kariya did and choked her to death. I don’t know exactly why Urobochi decided to have these two women die a rather painful death while others gets killed quickly. Perhaps he doesn’t want the death to be too apparent. Still, it’s intriguing.
On the other hand, I expected that Kirei would laugh at Kiritsugu’s ideals after hearing it from her. Asking for “world peace” from the grail is unrealistic considering human nature. No matter how may times you eradicate evil, it’s a never-ending cat and mouse game. As seen from his past experiences of bringing his ideals to the extreme, it’s a tragedy. He sacrifices the people he loves and don’t get the results he wanted. In a way, this makes Shirou Emiya look tame in comparison.
Lastly, there is the talk between Weaver and Rider before the battle. It’s kind of heartwarming that his grandparents enjoyed having them around even though they aren’t blood related. However, that is not the amazing part. When they are fast asleep, Weaver simply uses all of his commands seals up in his speech before he let Rider go and relieve him from the duties of being a master. Although one can say that he did this to escape from danger, it’s there to show his weakness complex. He might not be the strongest master in the war, but befriending a servant and maintaining a close relationship matters more. It’s shown with Rider admitting that they are still friends despite his flaws. Even if he loses, hopefully Weaver will gain a valuable lesson and understand what being a man is all about.
Aside from that, I think the stage is set up for the war. It’s apparent that Berserker will face off Saber, although it’s clear that he won’t win while Gilgamesh face off Rider. However, the scary part of this episode is Irisviel getting consumed by the Grail. From all the blackness and the last bit of dialog she says at the end, Lancer’s prediction is right. The grail is already corrupted by evil. The questions remain, what are the repercussions? Whatever they might be, it doesn’t look pretty.
it’s nice to think how will be Kirei’s fate in Fate Stay Night. It relieves a bit the pain for Iris’s death…:(
That is when Rin finds out about her fathers death… but don’t spoil it! I haven’t even finished that show… but yes, sweet revenge.
Technically… novel wise, Kirei never choked Irisviel. He knocked her unconscious and killed her with his Black Keys to remove the Vessel within her. it seemed pretty painless comparing to her fate of wasting away and breaking down as a human being in a extremely crippling way until she died. I don’t know why did they change it in the anime.
NEEDS MORE DRAMATIC STRANGULATION?
Augh, I mean to answer the post. IDK why I replied myself. My broswser is stupid. But since I’m on this.
FSN Spoiler. Heaven’s Feel:
That could explain everything since there are many scenes that got censored or considered too violent. Still, a sneaky move though.
A lot of their conversation was cut, including the emphasis how Kiritsugu kept throwing the lives of those he loves away to fake his emptiness what Kirei found unacceptable. He consciously would have Irisviel killed for it which made Kotomine furious. He thought he was a big manchild (rightfully so) for destroying his loved ones for the sake of an impossible dream.
Specially when he tried for bitter decades to love and enjoy a “normal life” and was unable to. Because he was born this way. His ingratitude made him his enemy. The anime really gloss over his inner agony (he was borderline suicidal before he got the command seals three years ago or how his wife killed herself before him to stop him from doing this).
This pretty much clears up the root of their enmity:
He thought he found someone like him who could guide him. Boy, he was wrong.
Spoilers for FSN?
And after Saber finishes off her fight with Berserker, the last fight of Fate/Zero will probably be Saber VS Gilgamesh, and Kiritsugu doing something sneaky, yet epic once more.
Sadly, nobody knows that the grail is corrupted already and that Irisviel lost her mind… but yes, the final battle between Kirei and Kiritsugu is going to be interesting than the one seen in the first few minutes of Fate/stay night.