Recollections of Babylon: Part Nineteen (Part Three)

Fou:

Fou?

Mashu:

...Sempai's here at the temple.

Gudako:

Yeah, I would like to say goodbye to his majesty for the last time.

Mashu:

Heh, me too. It's almost like a daily routine now, right?

Gudako:

Let's go together, Mashu.

Mashu:

Yes, it will be my honor.

I will be with you until the end of the line, Sempai.

Gilgamesh:

What? You said that the maps of the underworld differs from that of Ereshkigal's instructions? We have data from the archives of the temples! Hurry and find it.

Gilgamesh:

No, the Dingirs, maintain it as it is. Install it on all parts of the wall. Deploy what's left of our soldiers in the southern and eastern gates and use the Dingir there. Your mission is to engage Tiamat.

...Okay, all of you, you may take a temporary leave. The ones from Chaldea has arrived.

Go rest, too. Sleep for three hours. I, the king, shall take care of the rest.

Gilgamesh:

Looking better. That means I can use you as I see fit tomorrow.

So, what brings you here tonight?

Are you here to formally express your gratitude?

Gudako:

It won't be the last time we said thank you.

Gilgamesh:

Hmph! So you DO have the courage to say that outloud. That is ... even more majestic than I, the king!

....

.....

.......

But, umu.

Mashu:

Your majesty, you seem to be studying us without any words. Is everything okay?

Gilgamesh:

Nothing. I, the king, am thinking, this one didn't change all that much during the times here.

For a woman who has spent a month in Uruk, that won't do. Nobody would believe her once she gets back to Chaldea and tells those stories.

Tricking that idiot goddess, those epic battles in the forest, a journey to the underworld, fighting Gorgon, and playing with Tiamat...

Every single one of these is worthy of a tale at the greatest of banquets!

How regretful!

Fou:

Fou, fou!

Gilgamesh:

Forget about it. You, think about how you will tell the tales of Uruk.

Now, what is it?

...You aren't seriously just coming here to say hi, are you?

Gudako:

...

Gilgamesh:

You idiot, a mongrel somehow managed to earn the feelings of responsibility.

"Uruk is about to be destroyed. A lot of people are kill. Everything is my fault because I unleashed Tiamat."

Is that what you're thinking?

You foolish woman. If you're going to hold regrets like that, you're early for at least a thousand years!

And, also, you are wrong.

Mashu, you say, there are only five hundred survivors left.

You are wrong. It is not "only five hundred remains."

"Yet five hundred still live on," that is the right way to answer that.

Because, that has already deviated from what I, the king, saw. In that "present," the only one left is I, the King. I was the last of Uruk.

And then so what?

The future cannot be changed. Uruk's destruction, it is inevitable.

But, five hundred lives. Five hundred! They still draw breath.

Even if they all die tomorrow, that doesn't matter. In this final moment of humanity, there are still as many as five hundred beings still living.

I, the king, consider this an accomplishment of epic proportions.

These people have already surpassed the end of this era. That is acknowledging the worth of all those that fought against their fate of death. They are worthy.

Mashu:

...Your majesty. So you knew.

You knew that this was the end. The destruction of Uruk.

Even so, are you still fighting on with this knowledge? Even to today?

Gilgamesh:

...Yes. When the King of Magic transported the grail here and pulled Tiamat out of the imaginary world. I saw the future then, and told all my people.

"Uruk will be destroyed in half a year's time. The fate is unalterable."

I don't need to say anything else. Because you have already seen Uruk with your very eyes.

Gudako:

The people of Uruk knew...

Mashu:

And even so, they fought.

Until the last day of their lives, they lived on to the best of their efforts.

Gilgamesh:

Exactly.

That is a lovely smile, Mashu Kyrielite!

I, the king, will fire you immediately if you display any intent of pity!

(I interpreted this as Gilgamesh praising Mashu and also making an AUO joke. Unfortunately...)

Mashu:

Y-yes, your majesty!

Sorry I may have been disrespectful, your majesty!

Gilgamesh:

There is no need to fear me.

Hmph, a cautious and timid little girl even to now...

Gilgamesh:

Gudako.

I, the king, thought initially that perhaps we did not need to defeat the goddesses. For if they are defeated, then Tiamat shall appear. Besides, I, the king, knew that the self-destruction of the three goddesses was a certainty.

But, you helped the people of Uruk. You fell in love with this land, and you chose to fight against the goddesses.

It is because of your efforts - to fight - that the results are what we see today.

Those five hundred lives that were supposed to die are now saved.

That is a matter worthy of many boasts.

It is absolutely not, absolutely not something that is meaningless.

...Romani is resting? Hmph, so I will say a few more things.

About humanity and the singularity. You have now experienced six such singularities and six separate journeys.

You must have fought a lot, and you learned that as long as you recover the grail and repair the foundation of humanity, all the harms incurred by that singularity will return to nothing.

That is what was told to you, yes?

Mashu:

Yes. It is said that if we solve the issue of incineration of human history, then all the things that has happened in those singularities will become repaired. None of our actions would be memorable to anyone else.

Gilgamesh:

That is a lie.

That is not true. Someone who is killed stay killed. How could that be erased?

Fou:

.........

Mashu:

W-HAT? B-but that is impossible!

The singularities are histories that went wrong! If the damages incurred are reflected on human history, doesn't that mean history itself gets changed??

Gilgamesh:

That's not it. Not it at all.

What is is that it will be consistent with its internal logic.

Let us suppose that there is a man killed by an evil dragon. When you stop the incineration of human history and fix the singularity, that man is still dead.

The difference is that instead of being killed by an evil dragon, it's treated as if he was "killed by an animal."

Uruk will be the same.

Even if you defeat Tiamat, and fix the singularity...

The first kingdom of Uruk will still be destroyed. The only difference is whether or not it was destroyed by the gods or it faded away or it was given away, the difference is the explanation.

Gudako:

...So, all the battles we've had up to now...

Gilgamesh:

That's right.

It's not at all "as if everything returned to normal. Nothing happened."

Did I, the king, not already order you to stick your chests out high in pride?

You really did save countless lives.

You were not led astray by the thoughts that all of this will return to what it was, but rather, you seriously, stubbornly, and idiotically, tried to save all the lives that you could reach.

The results you see today? The existence of Uruk. Now. This moment.

Everything you've done, therefore, has value!

...There is no such thing as prosperity without sacrifice. The gains and harms are always in balance.

Because many things are lost, that's why many new things shall be built, or rebuilt.

Even if the King of Magic did not try to ruin the world with the Grail, something else equally as bad would have happened.

That scale of justice, of good and evil, will be determined by the moral values of that era, and its final worth shall turn to history, to be judged by those that come after.

That is what human history is, Gudako. It continues as such.

Who do you fight for? What are you trying to protect? Who shall you become? That is not up to I, the king, or you, to decide.

That is up to those that come after all. So, choose your path - the one you believe in.

Mashu:

...Yes.

I will remember this with all of my heart, your majesty, King Gilgamesh.

Gudako:

Thank you, your majesty.

Gilgamesh:

Good. Do not be so polite.

If honest truth be told, I, the king, have destroyed my own kingdom before.

Fou:

FOU????

Gilgamesh:

Yes. I, the king, was fixated on finding the secrets to immortality.

After my wanderings ended, I came back to my kingdom empty-handed, and what I saw... this whole place was just like ruins.

All my people left for other cities, since they've had enough of their king's absence.

The only one who stayed behind and waited for me to come back is Shiduri.

Shiduri, that Shiduri, "If I don't at least yell at you for a bit I won't be able to quench my heart's anger," she was quite a sight when she's mad. Hahaha.

Then, I thought, "Well, that was indeed very bad," and I started to rebuild Uruk.

So, I, the king, naturally rediscovered my goal. I set forth a plan for the rebuilding of Uruk, and I restored it to what you see today.

...Hmph, all those experiences, they feel like they were very long, yet, at the same time, they felt very short.

It was like the remnants of a dream that happened to linger briefly.

But, this is not an admittance of error.

No matter what happens in the future. I, the king, shall not change my ways.

The king is not born to serve the people, but the people are born for the king.

So why is does the king exist? Of course, the answer is that the king is born to enjoy himself. The king's goal is to make the king happy.

So, if we must get down to it, I, the king, is happy when I am governing Uruk, so that is why I do all of this.

Seeing you struggle as such up to this point, that, too, brings pleasure to the king!

So, at this point, you may at least earn a passing grade, though the ending of course remains to be seen.

So tomorrow the grand finale comes. Go and sleep, and sleep well.

I, the king, am looking forward to that final battle!

Gudako:

Of course. Leave it to me. Your majesty, I will show you what a perfect grade performance looks like.

Gilgamesh:

The King's Smile

---

(Okay, sorry to interject, but I honestly feel like the next section could just be cut out.

Seriously. Ending it on that smile would have have been beautiful. But, here's the rest of it.)

Kingu:

The mountain of heaven...

Like a fool, I'm about to die...why am I ... here?

This body, remembered this place so well..

The place where it met the first friend, and made a pact there...

...This is meaningless. This place and I are both meaningless. I've lost everything already! I can shut down now. I've been abandoned by my creature. From the beginning, I do not belong to anyone, but rather, I'm just a fake.

Gilgamesh:

What the hell are you doing you useless idiot, can't you stand?

Kingu:

!!

Gilgamesh:

Damn, tonight's a busy night. I thought I could finally catch a break but now this happens.

If you just collapse in an ugly pool of blood I might find it forgivable.

But, I will not permit you to die. Stand up and get out. I will not hold you accountable then.

Kingu:

Ah.... ah.....

Gilgamesh:

What's the matter? You can't stand? You call yourself the finest creation of the gods?

I don't care what has happened, but you've got a huge hole gaping on your chest. Aren't you being too careless?

Kingu:

You ... pretender... of greatness...

How can I be something you look down upon...

(Collapses)

Damn...!

T, to fall at a place like this, to be -

Looked upon, by the likes of you...

Gilgamesh:

Hmph. Well, here's a leftover thing. There was no opportunity for it to be used, and it is a shame to just discard it. It's yours.

Kingu:

Wha - ah? Ah?!

Gilgamesh:

If the Grail can be a heart, then the great cup of Uruk, isn't that useful too?

Kingu:

W-why? Why?

Why are you doing this?

I am your enemy! I am a creation of Tiamat!

I'm not your Enkidu...!

I'm just, a puppet! One that received a different heart!

Gilgamesh:

Yes. You aren't Enkidu. You're someone else using his body.

But, even so, you are the one that I protect -

No, the one who I hold great affection for.

Kingu:

...

Gilgamesh:

Do you not get it unless I spell it out for you, you great fool?

Even if your heart is different, your soul is different. Your body, is the Lock of Heaven. The one in a kind in all of the world!

...Hmph, that one never retreated from his position of "I am just a weapon."

So, since you can imitate his speech, then of course I, the king, will pay attention to you.

You're basically a next generation variant of my most reliable weapon! What's wrong with me wanting to pay a little bit of care to you?

Gilgamesh:

So, then. Farewell, Kingu.

The time of this world's ending is now. Do what pleases you.

Kingu:

Wait, I don't understand.

What ... is that?

Gilgamesh:

I am telling you to do something. It could have something to do with mother, or maybe it doesn't. It doesn't matter. Do what you really want to do.

Like what I, the king, and that one did, a very long time ago.

You said you lost everything. I'm going to die of laughter.

You at least have the freedom to do what you would like to do.

So if you want to stop your heart from beating, then wait until at least that.

---

(I'm going to ignore the implications of what Gilgamesh told us for a moment. The issue with a story like F/GO is that sometimes, character depictions are highly inconsistent. Sometimes, this is due to having multiple writers. Mordred (London) vs Mordred (Camelot) is my favorite example to bring up. Literally what? They might as well be completely different people. Another example of something inconsistent is Nero (Septem) vs. Nero (America).

However, there are some cases where the depiction of a particular character works extraordinarily well, and that's Mashu. Throughout the entire chapter, her growth (as reflected through her conversation with Leonidas) as a hero is self-evident, and I honestly think that that little bit has more value than all the great pieces of writing in this chapter.

Yes, topping Quetzalcoatl and tieing with the Gilgamesh bits. After reading this, nobody should ever go, "why is Gilgamesh classified as good."

You have to see this from a cultural perspective of face, in terms of how Gilgamesh was created. Furthermore, you have to take into account Gilgamesh's pride being his singular most important character trait. It was pride that led him into all the things he did, pride in collecting treasures, pride in making Uruk the best city it could be, and pride - ultimately - in humanity.

Honestly, and I apologize for coming across as a Gilgamesh shill, but after seeing Uruk. Seeing the people we've met. Is it any fault, any fault at all, that he's disappointed with humanity today?

As much of an anti-villain as he is in Fate, put yourself in his shoes. Imagine you've once ruled a city like Uruk, where you were loved by the people and loved them in turn. Where you've seen this city come back up again and again and again despite all the things thrown at it. Where literally everyone gives their 110% and then some.

Remember that the Lahmu was described to be immune to conventional weapons, and those soldiers fought on. Remember how we were told (by both Ishtar and Gil AND Mr. Guard soldier guy) that the people so loved the king that they had to be persuaded to take their own safety into account. Do you see it? Do you understand now? Why? Yeah, he's an ass, but the issue here is that he's actually right about 99% of the time. For most people, it's hard to stay upset if well, you can see if you're wrong.

I used to seriously dislike how Nasu literally pulls out Gil as the "lol my favorite character beat urs lol" trump card, and I felt, before F/GO, that he only told us how great Gilgamesh was, but never showed us that.

The Gilgamesh we saw in these last two chapters showed us something that the other works could not, which is a Gilgamesh at home, and a Gilgamesh taking his job as king (and hero, for that matter) seriously. Better, because we knew him at his worst (F/Z, F/SN), we saw parts of him in other works (Extella, Extra/CCC), and we even know that he does have a klutzy and yes, even moe side to him (Carnival Phantasm - humanity's oldest NEET, remember? He literally sat around and built models, played video games, and read), and now with all of this together, he's more complete than he has ever been.

I hope that this singularity managed to change your mind, that Gil isn't just a HAHAHAHAHAHA villain used to resolve plot issues. It certainly did for me. The plot may be wonky, but the characters are top-notch.)