Fate/Strange Fake Ep.10 - John strikes back with hydra poison! Gilgamesh?!

Episode 10 of Fate/Strange Fake delivers an incredible stream of developments, some expected and others less so. We pick up where we left off, with John the policeman apparently killed and Alcides ready to deliver the final strike to Berserker (Jack the Ripper).

Everything seems lost against Alcides, but that is exactly when Alexandre Dumas (Fake Caster) decides to intervene and strike a deal with Flat Escardos. Considering their personalities, the pairing feels more than justified. They are both far less serious than one would normally expect individuals to be in a Holy Grail War.

Ishtar in this adaptation is quite different than the one we know, but damn if she looks stunning.

Alexandre Dumas, makes sense that he's not really a fighter type. Caster fits.

They use a series of tricks to weaken Alcides and then allow John, who was not actually dead, to strike him at point-blank range with a weapon full of Hydra poison. Due to the legend of Heracles and the Hydra, this is extremely effective against him, causing enough pain to force him to withdraw and focus on Gilgamesh instead.

To challenge Gilgamesh, three Servants had to collaborate against him, which really shows how powerful Gilgamesh truly is. Alcides distracts him with his Noble Phantasm, Ishtar disables his weaponry by closing the door to his treasure room, and then True Berserker attacks him, destroying large parts of the city at the same time.

It is honestly a bit on the nose how Berserker’s Master ordered her Servant to do the very same thing she loathed the Magi for doing: the indiscriminate destruction of a city where normal people live. I am not sure what exactly she wants to achieve; at this point, she is just another Magus.

On the side, Ayaka’s identity is hinted at but never fully explained. She is not normal, and while we all know that, this episode makes it even clearer by showing Richard chain-spamming Excalibur without causing much strain on her. Hansa is puzzled because a first-class Magus like Rin would be required for such a feat, yet Ayaka is supposedly just a normal girl who knows nothing of magic. Is her nature related to the "Red Riding Hood" mentioned in the flashback?

Obligatory shout-out to the beuties that the police has to offer. Not that they have much importance to the plot...

Tiné Chelc despair over what happened to Gilgamesh, but I'm not sure we can rule him out yet. Still pains to see the girl in that state.

In the next episode, we will get to see the real outcome of the battle, but I am not completely sure it is the right moment to consider Gilgamesh defeated. The fact that they have not shown him disappearing makes me think they will likely put him in a recovery state and delay his exit from the war.

Additionally, Fake Rider’s shadow has expanded across the entire city, so I expect it is time for him to appear as well, making things even more complicated. At this point, I have no idea who is leading in this Holy Grail War, but it is certainly a mess that is much more difficult to manage compared to other wars we have seen.