Sparks Liner High - An Analysis

We should begin, I suppose, at the end. More specifically, the END. No adornments, no qualifiers, not even the definite article, just black screen white text all caps END.

This ending isn’t Bad, or Dead, or True or Normal or Good. It’s just . . . an end.

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How do we approach this? The point of the bad ends seems to be teaching a moral or narrative lesson about Shirou as a character. Is the same true here? Arguably, yes. To get this end, you need to ‘fail’ an interaction with Rider, choosing to fight her rather than talk, or remembering your previous conversation incorrectly.

Recall, though, HF’s other infamous ending, Mind of Steel. As much as some people like to pretend, the point of that ending was that it was Bad, that Shirou was making a wrong choice, one inconsistent with his values. Compared to the gravity of the decision in Mind of Steel, this choice hardly seems meaningful at all.

It also reminds me of UBW’s Good ending, in the sense that you need to collect points with a specific character in order to get it. Both the True and Good ending are considered valid by the game, it just comes down to your personal choices and preferences which one you get.

So, in this case, we’re ditching points with Rider to arrive at the ending of another heroine.

Who I haven’t written a word about for like, the last eight posts. Heaven’s Feel does not treat Saber kindly.

 

Saber Alter

What even is there to talk about?

I could mention the helm covering her face, and how it allows Shirou to pretend that she isn’t actually Saber until the last minute. It parallels his refusal to realise that Sakura is the Shadow in the very same scene. In part, Shirou’s horror of the Shadow is a horror of change, that it might alter not just the appearances of his loved ones, but their fundamental selves.

I could bring up her obvious partiality towards Shirou, and how she lets him off the hook whenever possible, obeying Sakura’s orders to the bare minimum and no more to give Rin and Shirou a chance of saving Sakura. Clearly, some element of her fundamental self is still intact. How does she feel, looking at her former Master?

I don’t really care. This alteration is not as interesting nor as subtle as Sakura’s. It’s a simple inverse of polarity while retaining the outward mannerisms. Some malevolent external force has grasped hold of Saber and is now walking her around like a puppet or action figure. You could call that force Matou Sakura, or the Holy Grail – Angra Mainyu. Perhaps more accurately, you could call it Kinoko Nasu.

 

Plot

This force is the one that drives the events of Heaven’s Feel, and as it takes Saber away, it offers a replacement. Almost immediately, in fact. Rider is there to save you from Assassin after Saber disappears. You know how at the end of HF, Shirou is supposedly the ‘final Master’? This is just my personal interpretation, but it’s because at that point Rider is arguably more his Servant than Sakura’s.

Now, the thing is, Shirou clearly doesn’t like it. He doesn’t want Rider to replace Saber, and within the already extremely crowded storyline of Heaven’s Feel there isn’t enough time to properly establish them as a Master and Servant combo. This isn’t Rider’s fault, by any means, and neither does Shirou blame her, but it does leave the eventual fight between Rider and Saber Alter feeling as though it is trying to prove something.

In comparison, Sparks Liner High is a bit more intimate. It’s also, perhaps surprisingly, more fun. We’ve seen Shirou trick and scrape his way through duels with Heroic Spirits before, but never Saber. The early parts of the Fate route are largely dedicated to making sure you understand exactly how stupid and suicidal it is for Shirou to try and protect her, rather than the other way around. She beats the crap against Shirou in training even when she’s going easy against him. She’s the strongest Servant.

Shirou can keep up with her.

Shirou can keep up with her.

That is the point of this ending, when it all comes down to it. That the hand of God, or the Grail, or Nasu, has plopped down Saber and Shirou alone in this cavern and made them beat the shit out of one another.

You’re not supposed to hold anything back. Ignore Sakura for one moment. Rin can handle it. Don’t worry about destroying your mind. You won’t need that where you’re going. Use projection a third time. The story demands it. This is entertainment!

 

Deep Slumber

The way you kill Saber in Heaven’s Feel, the true way, the normal way, is sad. Shirou throws away his memories of her deliberately. It feels like an act of atonement, an attempt at taking responsibility for his sacrificing of another to save Sakura. In a moment of disorientation before the dagger comes down, she almost seems her normal self.

The way you kill Saber in Sparks Liner High is sad, but a different kind. Shirou’s memories of Saber disappear along with his relentless use of projection. In the end, distinctions between Saber and her Altered form collapse – all Shirou recognises is the opponent before him.

I wanted to take a really in-depth look at the Triple-Linked Crane Wings chant, like I did with the one for Unlimited Blade Works. But, well . . . how about we just focus on the final line. ‘We embrace heaven together’. It’s one fitting for a suicide attack, designed to take the opponent out with you. It’s also surprisingly peaceful – there’s not any hint of animosity between the two.

Shirou strikes the final blow without any regret, and Saber gracefully accepts her loss.

And then Deep Slumber starts playing. This is the theme that plays at the beginning of the VN, as Shirou narrates, in detached and almost mythic terms, the way in which Saber saves him from Lancer. It was a thrust like lightning.

Now, though, the twin swords are swung from both sides. We are shown Saber’s perspective for the final time, a reflection on everything that has happened in between these two moments. Shirou has grown strong, stronger than the boy who couldn’t defend himself from Lancer without her help. At the beginning, he was limited – limited in his ability as a Master, limited in his ability to defend himself, limited in his ability to save others. Now, he has gone past his limits. That’s all there is to it. Emiya Shirou is dead.

And Saber is still alive. Shirou never has to strike the final blow, never has to look her in the eyes as he sinks the blade into her heart. He sleeps, eternally hanging within that moment where his victory has not yet turned into Saber’s defeat.

 

Conclusion

So, how do we feel about this ending? Perhaps some more comparison is in order. Let us turn to Femme Fatale, the final Bad End of Fate/Stay Night. Also, I think, the Worst.

This one is caused by sparing Saber after you defeat her in the ‘normal’ way. It’s cruel, because it’s the choice that, out of all of them, looks the most like it would lead to a ‘Saber ending’. Instead, Saber is free to go help Sakura, resulting in the defeat of Rin and her subsequent torture in the hell dimension that apparently exists inside Sakura. Shirou gets to join in, of course.

The meaning of this end is clear enough. Do not spare Saber. You can’t choose all, and you can only save one. In this route, Emiya Shirou is Sakura’s ally and nobody else’s.

What, then, is Sparks Liner High doing here? Unlike Mind of Steel, or Femme Fatale, it does nothing to make the ‘correct’ decision feel more meaningful in comparison. Like UBW’s Good End, it exists for its own sake, a little detour you can stop by before continuing to the end of the game. Unlike UBW Good, it is not gratuitously happy to the point of self-sabotage. This is a contrived scenario, for sure, but it’s not unconvincing - it doesn’t exist to give Saber a happy end she can’t get elsewhere, it exists to only give her one small thing.

If Shirou’s going to try and kill Saber, let it be while she’s still conscious of what’s happening. Let it be a defeat she can be proud of. Let it be a one-on-one battle, where Shirou gives her his all.

In the end, he remembers her name, at the cost of quite literally everything else.

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I have to admit, it was a pain to wrangle a satisfying conclusion out of this one. But then, I don’t know if Sparks Liner High was designed for satisfaction, exactly. It’s exciting, it’s sad, it’s beautiful, but it’s not the end of the story.

Next: the Tohsaka sisters. What have they been doing up there by the Greater Grail this whole time?