Fate/Strange Fake Ep.12 - Pale Rider! Richard's past hinted...

Episode 12 of Fate/Strange Fake sets the stage for the first season finale, which takes place in a dream world created by Tsubaki’s Rider, revealed to be Pale Rider by Waver Velvet. However, I am a bit confused because a woman appears near Tsubaki who does not seem to be one of the Four Horsemen.

This makes me wonder if there is more to this summoning. Most of the Servants in this war have some kind of quirk that makes them lean into the "fake" theme. Examples include Richard with his fake Excalibur spam and Francesca summoning herself as a Servant or Alexandre Dumas building fake noble phantasms for the police.

Francesca knows how to do her appearances, she completely stole the show with making cookies rain from the sky right after Pale Rider appeared.

As expected, Sigma was even worse when he was a child compared to know. I wonder if we'll get more info later on...

This woman can seemingly see Sigma’s Servant, Watcher, which is incredible since no one else has even suspected his existence until now. Her theme appears to be South American and her appearance is reminiscent of Kukulkan, so I wonder if she is related to the Archetype-ORT from the seventh Lostbelt.

The flashback to Richard’s past was interesting. He does not consider himself worthy of heaven because of his actions against the Saracens, such as the summary executions he ordered during his life. Based on that logic, almost no one on the Servant roster in most Fate franchises would be worthy of heaven given their histories. I wonder how will Ayaka react in the next episode as she seems to be willing to become a proper master.

Jester Karture continues to be the most villainous character in the series so far, even though he is not particularly impressive in terms of power and is nowhere near the level of a Dead Apostle Ancestor. He goes out of his way to complicate situations and force people into difficult moral choices, clearly enjoying the resulting chaos. He seems intent on corrupting Assassin, but I am still unsure why he is so obsessed with her.

As expected, Tsubaki’s parents are dangerous to have around her, considering they experimented on her and caused her to be bedridden in the first place. The question now is whether she can be saved by removing those cells from her body or if she is doomed. I hope someone can perform a miracle because Tsubaki really is a sweet angel.

The small flashback of Richard about the Saracens left little to wonder about what are his regrets...

Tsubaki continues to be an extremely adorable little girl. Honestly cheering for her.

The next episode will be the first season finale, completing this story arc and setting up the plot for the already announced second season. It is incredible that after an entire season, not a single Servant has been eliminated from this Holy Grail War. I'm guessing next week will mark the beginning of that though to finish the season with a bang.