History TearJerker / FateZero

* Kariya's [[spoiler:confrontation with Aoi in the church, in which Kariya is framed by Gilgamesh and Kirei as the killer of Tokiomi. Aoi sees him in this situation, assumes him to have killed her husband, and [[BrokenTears has a mental breakdown]], [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lashing out at Kariya, no holds barred]]. Kariya, instead of trying to make amends, ends up tearfully strangling her while chanting a MadnessMantra, which in turn leads to Aoi's permanent disability and Kariya's [[SanitySlippage mental state degrading]] [[UpToEleven even further than it already was]], as he [[LimpAndLivid limps]] out of the church [[FreakOut screaming in despair]]. Definitely not helped by seeing Gilgamesh and Kirei observing their handiwork from the gallery while [[PassThePopcorn casually drinking wine]], though this probably classifies more as an anger-inducing moment than a tearjerker. The brilliant voicework from the voice actors of Kariya and Aoi adds immensely to this experience, which is especially impressive considering they were both voiced by fairly inexperienced actors in Japanese.]]

* After suffering severe anguish and now plagued by self-doubt after [[spoiler: her battle with Lancelot]] the one thing Saber has going for her, the Holy Grail, is right in front of her face with Gilgamesh being the only thing standing between her and it. Kiritsugu has just arrived and is brandishing his command spells and she's expecting a power up to battle Gilgamesh...[[spoiler: only to be ordered to use Excalibur to destroy the grail.]] The look of horror and powerlessness on her face as [[spoiler:Excalibur ignites against her will and fights her own arms raising it above her head is heart-wrenching]]. When Kiritsugu reinforces the command with another command spell all she can do is [[spoiler: scream for him to stop.]]

* Saber realizing that Berserker is [[spoiler: Sir Lancelot]]. Seeing his armor causes her unease into horror and seeing [[spoiler: Arondight]] materialize makes it impossible for her to deny. Finally seeing his face breaks her spirit. And as she tries to comprehend how it could possibly happen Iskandar's words come back to haunt her. Left almost completely broken she lets Berserker brutalize her, only defending herself from fatal blows. [[ForegoneConclusion Knowing she would develop the issues that she has in Fate/Stay Night is one thing.]] It's another thing entirely to see the exact moment those doubts are born.

-->'''Kiritsugu: By my third command spell, I order you again...

* Saber realizing that Berserker is [[spoiler: Sir Lancelot]]. Seeing his armor causes her unease into horror and seeing [[spoiler: Arondight]] materialize makes it impossible for her to deny. Finally seeing his face breaks her spirit completely. And as she tries to comprehend how it could possibly happen Iskandar's words come back to haunt her. Left almost completely broken she lets Berserker brutalize her, only defending herself from fatal blows. [[ForegoneConclusion Knowing she would develop the issues that she has in Fate/Stay Night is one thing.]] It's another thing entirely to see the exact moment those doubts are born.

* Kariya's [[spoiler:confrontation with Aoi in the church, in which Kariya is framed by Gilgamesh and Kirei as the killer of Tokiomi. Aoi sees him in this situation, assumes him to have killed her husband, and [[BrokenTears has a mental breakdown]], [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lashing out at Kariya, no holds barred]]. Kariya, instead of trying to make amends, ends up tearfully strangling her while chanting a MadnessMantra, which in turn leads to Aoi's permanent disability and Kariya's [[SanitySlippage mental state degrading]] [[UpToEleven even further than it already was]], as he [[LimpAndLivid limps]] out of the church [[FreakOut screaming in despair]]. Definitely not helped by seeing Gilgamesh and Kirei observing their handiwork from the gallery while [[PassThePopcorn casually drinking wine]], though this probably classifies more as an anger-inducing moment than a tearjerker. The brilliant voicework from the voice actors of Kariya and Aoi adds immensely to this experience, which is especially impressive considering they were both voiced by fairly inexperienced voice actors in Japanese.]]

* Kariya's [[spoiler:confrontation with Aoi in the church, which ends with Kariya tearfully strangling her, which in turn leads to her permanent disability and Kariya's [[SanitySlippage mental state]] [[UpToEleven degrading even further than it already was]], as he [[LimpAndLivid limps]] out of the church [[FreakOut screaming in despair]]. Definitely not helped by seeing Gilgamesh and Kirei observing their handiwork from the gallery while [[PassThePopcorn casually drinking wine]], though this probably classifies more as an anger-inducing moment than a tearjerker. The brilliant voicework from the voice actors of Kariya and Aoi adds immensely to this experience, which is especially impressive considering they were both voiced by fairly inexperienced voice actors in Japanese.]]

* Kariya's [[spoiler:confrontation with Aoi in the church, which ends with Kariya tearfully strangling her, which in turn leads to her permanent disability and Kariya's [[SanitySlippage mental state]] [[UpToEleven degrading even further than it already was]], as he runs out of the church [[FreakOut screaming in despair]]. Definitely not helped by seeing Gilgamesh and Kirei observing their handiwork from the gallery while [[PassThePopcorn casually drinking wine]], though this probably classifies more as an anger-inducing moment than a tearjerker. The brilliant voicework from the voice actors of Kariya and Aoi adds immensely to this experience, which is especially impressive considering they were both voiced by fairly inexperienced voice actors in Japanese.]]

* In the penultimate episode of the anime, Kariya's [[spoiler: death. His body finally gives out from the strain of the worms and he just sort of... falls over. Alone in a dark basement, and no one really cares.]] The fact that he appears to be ''smiling'' makes it even worse.
** [[spoiler: The fact that Sakura - the person he fought so hard to save - called him a ''fool'' for all that he did makes it worse yet.]]

** [[spoiler:The worst part? This episode aired close to the day the real Alexander The Great died.]][[note]]This, of course, depends on your time/zone. The episode as listed aired on June 9, 2012. History books conflict on whether Alexander actually died in June 10 or 11, 323.[[/note]]

** [[spoiler:The worst part? This episode aired on the day the real Alexander The Great died.]]

** Caster's hallucination of Jeanne d'Arc, smiling kindly and holding out a hand for him to take [[spoiler:before his death.]] Even worse, it's implied that [[FaceHeelDoorSlam he might have been about to make a]] HeelFaceTurn.

** The tense confrontation between [[spoiler:Waver and Archer, where Waver stands up to Archer, proclaims his duty to Iskander to live, and ''earns Archer's respect'' before being left alone to break down and mourn over his fallen friend with ManlyTears.]] Doubles as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* The 2nd OP song [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome "to the beginning"]], by Kalafina. To those whose Japanese is not fluent, just read the translated lyrics & you'll know it makes '''DAMN''' well sure to remind you that the story [[ForegoneConclusion will not end well]], [[TearJerker as much as we want it to...]]

* Believe it or not, the end of the Einzbern Consultation Room. It had been just [[HaveANiceDeath Tiger Dojo]]-like sketches, with Irisviel as the instructor and an amnesiac Taiga as Student Number 0... And then [[spoiler: it's revealed they're in the Grail, Taiga is ''dead'', Irisviel was actually corrupted by the Grail all along and is lamenting Kiritsugu having betrayed her by rejecting the Grail's solution, the whole goal of the thing was to get the dead Servants to be consumed, in Lancer and Berserker's death after ''driving them back to hopelessness'', and [[HopeSpot when Taiga brings back Irisviel's true personality and hope and finds a way to return to life]]... Iri lets her go with the sign of the "Einzbern Dojo"]].

** [[spoiler: When Kiritsugu shoots the hallucination of Illya between the eyes and she falls over "dead," the Avenger-possessed Irisviel lets out a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking shriek of abject horror and sadness that just tears at you when you hear it. Illusion or not, the screams of a mother who has just watched her child die are nothing if not soul-crushing. [[Creator/BridgetHoffman Bridget Hoffman's]] delivery of the the scene is incredibly powerful, and leaves you feeling just... Just awful.]]

** Kariya Matou's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQV0WINXXFo farewell to Sakura]] after having just been infested by Zouken's insects in an effort to prevent Sakura from having to take part in the [[FateStayNight Fifth War]].

** Remember when Tokiomi's list that detailed everything Kiritsugu did to kill his targets? [[spoiler:Do you remember that taking down an entire plane was on the list?]]

** [[spoiler:Depending on your timezone, the episode in question aired on Mother's Day for extra despair.]]

** Lancer's [[spoiler: betrayal deserves a special mention here. In the previous episode, he'd just proven himself to be probably the most heroic Servant thus far, willingly giving up one of his Noble Phantasms and strengthening a future opponent to stop a kaiju from killing thousands of people who will never know his name. Then in this one, he was actually winning his duel with Saber--watch the positions when he and Saber have their weapons at each others' throats. Saber is already fully extended, but Lancer still has reach--that is, Saber can't do anything, but Lancer just needs to step back and extend his arms and he'd have stabbed Saber in the throat. Then Kayneth activates his command spell. What follows is the tragic screaming of a knight who just wanted an honorable battle and probably the best summation of the Grail War--nothing less than hell on earth.]]

** [[spoiler: Just look at his face as he strangles Irisviel. He begins shedding ManlyTears as he declares half-heartedly that he "will save the world", which suggests that he probably doesn't even believe in what he's saying anymore.]]

** On the same topic, [[spoiler:Saber after Kiritsugu forces her to destroy the Grail. She returns to the hill of her scene of death, even more emotionally broken and undergoing a severe HeroicBSOD at the thought of what the rest of her men experienced. She concludes that the fall of her country was all because of her, because ''she'' was chosen as the king, and starts crying and and crying and apologizing, over and over again, after deciding that the only way she can repent is to use the grail to erase all her mistakes.]]

* Saber returning to where she came from, on top of the hill. And she just cries, like a baby, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over to her fallen comerades. All the while, Lancelot speaks of how great of a king he felt she was. And the line that follows is heart-wrenching.
-->Saber: "I shouldn't have become king."

*** Notch it UpToEleven when [[spoiler:TheReveal of Berserker's true identity takes place,]] and plunges Saber into a serious HeroicBSOD. Seeing/reading about her breaking down [[spoiler:even as Berserker delivered a vicious NoHoldsBarredBeatdown]] brought this troper close to breaking down as well.

*** [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone What... have I...]]

** [[spoiler: When Kiritsugu shoots the hallucination of Illya between the eyes and she falls over "dead," the Avenger-possessed Irisviel lets out a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking shriek of abject horror and sadness that just tears at you when you hear it. Illusion or not, the screams of a mother who has just watched her child die are nothing if not soul-crushing. [[Creator/BridgetHoffman Bridget Hoffman's]] delivery of the the scene is incredibly powerful, and leaves you feeling just... Just aweful.]]

* Saber returning to where she came from, on top of the hill. And she just cries, like a baby, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over to her fallen comerades. All the while, Lancelot speaks of how great of a king he felt she was. And the line that follows is probably the most heart-wrenching line This Troper has ever heard.

** If anything, it reminds us that Kirei, despite having fully embraced his inner nature, still retains his humanity.
*** No, he doesn't. He's angry at Kiritsugu for being broken; HE wanted to break or kill the man himself. Essentially, he's angry because, in his mind, Kiritsugu denied him his closure.

--> I want to be a hero.