Recap / Fate/Grand Order S3 E5B: Olympus

This is my plan: a new Age of Gods. Once everyone is like unto a god themselves, there will be no more inequality. Every last person will have the power, and the responsibility, to influence the world.And one day, should all these new gods be willing...they will give birth to a new intelligence who can and will lead history to a much better place. That is my conclusion — my own Operation God Destroyer. As of today, humanity will erase the very concept of gods.

—Kirschtaria Wodime

Full title: "Lostbelt No. 5 - Interstellar Mountainous City, Olympus [The Day to Bring Down Gods]". Written in part by Kinoko Nasu.

After a long and difficult journey through Atlantis, wrought with many a sacrifice, Chaldea has successfully navigated through the vortex in the sea, and arrived at the Tree of Emptiness Atlas's true location and the home of the remaining Olympians, the Interstellar Mountainous City, Olympus. Awaiting them are both the remnants of the Servant army summoned by the Counter Force to fight for Proper Human History, and the final confrontation with Kirschtaria Wodime and the forces of Zeus.

Watch the trailer here.

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Tropes appearing in this episode:

• Alien Sky: The sky above Olympus turns into something like Fourth Impact as the Foreign God descends.
• Arc Words: Stars. They're in the names of the Greek Gods' Noble Phantasms, their city is called the Interstellar Mountainous City, Wodime's magic is heavily associated with stars, and the Foreign God, who is supposedly alien in nature finally descends from the stars, if temporarily.
• Astral Finale: The whole chapter is this from Chaldea's pespective as it's their climatic battle against the leader of the Crypters in the largest Lostbelt. The sky above Olympus gives the impression that it's in outer space, Chaldea must fight against the Machine Gods in the heart of their power who descended from space, and the Foreign God finally makes their appearance here.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: While not omnipresent enough to be the Central Theme, family is a core theme presented through all the Olympians. Demeter takes every ally she sees as a Replacement Goldfish for her daughter, the Dioscuri are a twin relationship that brings out the worst in each other (in contrast with Adele and Makarios, who rein in each other when they're about to make mistakes), and Aphrodite and Europa's character moments are mostly about what it's like to live in a family where the patriarch (Zeus) has lost the ability to love.
• Bullying a Dragon: Ashiya Douman is as unpleasant as ever, and nearly goads Aphrodite into attacking him. Of course, the Douman present is just another copy, so he doesn't really care what happens. He finally gets comeuppance for everything he pulled in Shimousa, Yuga Kshetra, and here when a pissed off Pepe comes in and destroys his shikigami ability as payback for the Indian Lostbelt.
• The Bus Came Back: For the first time in over seventeen years, the Black Barrel from Angel Notes makes a triumphant return, punching out gods like nobody's business. It's a replica of the original, but still, it helps prove that Types exist in this timeline.
• Central Theme: Continuing from the first part, pride. Especially, Olympus is shown to be a true utopia that beats S.I.N. out in the paradise department, and unlike the former, where everyone is ignorant and has short life spans, this one is where humans are The Ageless and encouraged to pursue education, and they each have strength rivaling that of a Servant, but all of them blindly worship the gods. Zeus, meanwhile, is revealed to be responsible for everything bad that happened in the Lostbelt, deciding to temporarily merge with the other Gods to defeat Sefar in the past, and then by himself believed that the Age of Gods should continue, brainwashing the members of his faction onto his side and then destroying the rest. His endgame is to turn the local Tree of Emptiness into power for Olympus, allowing it to escape the Earth and continue someplace far away, killing all the humans onboard. And the utter irony is that he doesn't have a choice in the matter because it comes at the command of Chaos, which he can't disobey as it seeks to finish its original mission. Wodime, meanwhile, is revealed to be a Dork Knight underneath his unflappable mask, who only appears that way due to his imposing figure. In the past, he was nearly killed by an assassin sent by his father due to Kirschtaria's magic threatening to take away his position as heir, until a nameless boy helped him and died being beaten to death, leading Kirschtaria to become a better person and believe that if humans had the same authority, world peace would be achieved. Beryl even deduces mid-story that the gods are going to be in for a Pride Before a Fall scenario.
• Cryptic Background Reference: Kotomine notes that Earth has been host to many alien visitors, including the Ultimate Ones.
• Crystal Spires and Togas: True to its name, Olympus is a sleek modern city that borders on futuristic with wondrous kinds of technology, yet everyone is still dressed in the fashion of Ancient Greece and adhere to the fervent worship of the Olympic pantheon.
• Dead Person Conversation: While under Aphrodite's spell, the protagonist sees Paxti, Gerda, Asha, Caster Da Vinci, and Ophelia trying to help them break free. Choosing the right dialogue allows them to lead the protagonist to Dantès, who gives them the means to escape.
• Double-Meaning Title: The subtitle continues its Kill the God allusion as Mash uses the Black Barrel to eliminate the antagonistic Olympians, but it also refers to the entire concept of godhood being potentially destroyed by Kirschtaria's plans. It can even be used to refer to the long-awaited descent of the Foreign God, self-proclaimed Earth's new god, to the surface.
• Downer Ending: Though Zeus and the Atlantic Lostbelt are finally destroyed, Musashi ends up erasing herself from existence to seal away Chaos, who is summoned by his death. Wodime fails his plan to turn humanity into gods and then is backstabbed by Beryl, who retreats with Vitch to the British Lostbelt, and the Tree of Emptiness allows the Foreign God to descend, revealing themselves to somehow be Beast VII, U-Olga Marie. Muramasa and Kotomine begin plotting to capture the Ultimate One of the Oort Cloud to use as a host for the Foreign God, with Muramasa following after Beryl and Vitch for reconnaissance.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: The Black Barrel is a bona fide superweapon designed to kill anything with even a sliver of magic energy, including gods and Ultimate Ones. To keep it from breaking the story in half, the gun's anti-magic nature means it's dangerous for the Demi-Servant Mash and the mage protagonist to use even once, unlike the Muggle Gun God who can spam it like he's at a shooting range. In addition, the Black Barrel uses Command Seals as ammo so they can only fire it three times before the protagonist must return to base to recharge them, unlike Gun God who can reload it with regular bullets. And this is all on top of it being an inferior replica even after Sion upgraded it using Artemis and Poseidon Klironomia, rather than Chaldea getting their hands on the original article that Gun God used.
• Elaborate Underground Base: The Underworld exists on the bottom of Olympus and can move horizontally across the city for easy access everywhere. Even though Hades died 2000 years ago, his Authority remained in it and prevented Zeus from reclaiming it or even being able to detect what's inside without wasting much of his power. The God Destroyer Alliance uses this as their headquarters due to these properties.
• Establishing Series Moment: The chapter opens up with a monologue on how humans once saw gods and the cosmos they dwelt in as something to be worshiped, but eventually it turned into a mystery to be solved and one day, humans would bring down the gods themselves.
• Evil Is Petty: Every single person in the group is Disappointed by the Motive when the Dioscuri reveal that the reason they hate humans so much is because they lost their divinity. Adele and Macarios calling them both out on how stupid and pathetic their reasons are drives them into a rage.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: By the end of the Lostbelt, the Crypters as a group have fractured into four factions. Kadoc (and possibly Akuta if you summoned Yu) join you and Chaldea, Beryl leaves with Koyanskaya to his crumbling British Lostbelt and Pepe follows after them, looking to pay back Beryl's betrayal, and Daybit is doing his own thing, whatever that is, down in South America which has come under scrutiny for a certain Ultimate One that could be used as a new host for the Foreign God. And Ophelia and Kirschtaria are both dead, having both died with the former performing a Heroic Sacrifice and the latter stabbed in the back by Beryl and then dies while protecting Chaldea from the Foreign God.
• Foreshadowing:
  • A double case for the same event; Beryl's comment that Koyanskaya's teleportation would be handy for a getaway in the third Lostbelt's prologue pays off in this Lostbelt's ending as that's how they make their Villain: Exit, Stage Left to the British Lostbelt. And within this Lostbelt, their partnership is foreshadowed by Koyanskaya carrying out several errands for Beryl and hoarding essentials for later use.
  • Loads of it towards the British Lostbelt. Beryl reveals it's a Land of Faerie where gods have not existed, the Lostbelt King is an "old hag" capable of firing Rhongomyniad, and that it contains something that threatens not only the Foreign God but the very planet itself.
• Free-Sample Plot Coupon: Of the seven summoning arrays needed to summon a Grand Servant, the Proper Human History servants that preceded Chaldea had already installed four of them.
• Halfway Plot Switch: This is where the Crypters as an antagonist group competing for the Earth's fate are completely taken off the board to be replaced by the nascent emergence of the Foreign God, Ashiya Douman wreaking unrestrained havoc, Koyanskaya getting increasingly closer to her goal of becoming a Beast, and the mystery of the final two Lostbelts.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Lostbelt Hera is fused with Europa at the request of Zeus to save his wife's life. But as Zeus's rule continued, they both grew disgusted by his actions and turned against him.
  • Kadoc ends up aiding Chaldea and the Proper Human History resistance, as well as investigating the Foreign God's true identity. While he gets gutted and nearly killed by Douman for it since it's a violation of the Crypters' contract with the God, Kirei fulfills Anastasia's Last Request from back in the first Lostbelt and ensures his survival by leaving him with Chaldea.
• Heroic RRoD: Firing the Black Barrel is this for the protagonist, who has to use not just a Command Spell, but their very fate as ammunition. The first time it happens, they collapse almost immediately afterwards, and only get better thanks to Olympian medicine.
• Hollow Earth: Olympus is located in an enormous underground space despite looking like it's in the upper atmosphere. Such a space cannot exist after the Age of Gods ended, so the Tree of Emptiness had to warp reality to recreate it. This also meant that when Olympus was destroyed by Sefar in Proper Human History, the ruins were buried under the ocean, relegating it to myth and then forgotten as direct evidence of its existence was impossible to find.
• Homage: This whole chapter is an ode to Mecha Show anime with Humongous Mecha fighting each other, and a little Neon Genesis Evangelion thrown in on the side. Not surprising, as Nasu has admitted he's a huge fan of such shows and even interviewed creatives involved with Super Robot Wars to nerd out over mecha.
• Home of the Gods: The Olympus in this Lostbelt, implied to have been the original Atlantis created when the Machine Gods first arrived and then transported to the lower Texture, was built after the Leucusmachia and is inhabited by Coexistence faction of Olympians and those who were faithful to them. The Olympians themselves reside in the Great Orbital Shrine Olympia Dodona within the Cronus Crown. Between the divinity of the city and its association with outer space, it's no wonder the Foreign God manifested here instead of the other Lostbelts.
• Horrifying the Horror: Castor, a Divine Spirit turned Saber/Avenger Class Servant, recoils in terror from the protagonist when he realizes that the Black Barrel's ammunition comes from them.
• Hostile Weather: Chaldea doesn't get much time to admire Olympus from afar before Zeus welcomes them with a massive thunderstorm.
• Humongous Mecha: In addition to all the Greek gods in their Aletheia forms, the Servants of the God Destroyer Alliance prepare one in the form of Golden Huge Bear, one of Kintoki's Noble Phantasms, for the protagonist to use in battle.
• It Only Works Once: Almost every single Mystic Code, spell, or even Noble Phantasms that God Destroying Alliance seem to have either is made to be single-use, or stops functioning after few times as the enemies are quickly to figure out how they work in practice. Helena's magecraft does allow them to use some things couple of times by changing how they work each time, but that only works to an extend.
• Killed Off for Real: All of the citizens of Olympus have a form of immortality where even if you were to kill them, they would just return back from the dead and carry on their day. However, the Olympian Machine Gods and those who carry their Authority can override their immortality, meaning that anyone killed by them will stay dead.
• Layered World: The relationship between Atlantis and Olympus in this Lostbelt is that the former is a Texture covering the latter. Olympus appears like it's underwater from Atlantis's point of view, but the two actually overlap in the same space to a degree.
• Mechanical Abomination: Once again, the Olympians' true mechanical forms, dubbed Aletheia, defy description. They were all part of an even bigger one, Chaos.
• Memorial Photo: Just like with the previous Lostbelts, this one shows a picture of Adele, Makarios, Musashi, Caenis, and Wodime, enjoying a feast. Evidently, they all died, with Adele and Makarios staying in their world to finally die, Wodime telling Chaldea to win back their world from the Foreign God before dying due to going against the God, Caenis, who goes out against the party one last time to respect their Master's wishes, and Musashi, who sacrifices her very existence to seal away Lostbelt Chaos.
• Mind Rape: Aphrodite can force these in people with her singing, which also has the effect of forcing her enemies to kill each other, as Mordred and Fran find out the hard way. The protagonist gets forced into an illusion where making the wrong dialogue choice causes an endless loop. It's also revealed Artemis could do the same, but assumed it ineffective when her attempts simply made Caligula, who was cursed by with madness by Proper Human History Artemis/Diana, sane.
• The Mole: Europa was the collaborator helping the God Destroyer Alliance directly from inside the Greek pantheon itself. This only lasts until Limbo finds her with a tracking spell attached to her clothing, and drags her back to Zeus to face judgement.
• Near-Villain Victory: Once the Foreign God successfully descends and manifests, U-Olga Marie decides to destroy everything on Earth including the Lostbelts and her envoys. It's only Kirschtaria's last-ditch attack that convinces her to stand back and do a little more investigating and preparation.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While not exactly heroes, all other enemies of the main villain screwed in some way.
  • Comparing Lostbelt Zeus to Proper Human History Zeus reveals that Lostbelt Zeus' defeat of the White Titan via forced fusion with the other Olympians to be this. He managed to prevent injury to the gods and prevent any damage to human civilizations... in the process leading to a war that killed most of his fellow gods. Worse, by preventing the gods from being forced from mechanical to fleshy bodies, he left himself open to hijacking by Chaos, leading to Chaos becoming a problem again in a way it didn't in the proper human history.
  • While Kirschtaria a perfect plan to prevent the Foreign God's advent: filling the Tree of Emptiness with Atlas to prevent the God from forming on its hollow and then using its power to create his ideal world instead of the God's. However, the King of the British Lostbelt also her own plan to burn the Tree of Fantasy and destroy the god inside with a specially crafted Rhongomyniad. Being executed at the same time, both plans cancelled each other, allowing the Foreign God to safely manifest.
• Outside-Context Problem: The faeries of the British Lostbelt are capable of attacking other Lostbelts without leaving their own, something previously thought impossible. Kirschtaria learns of this crucial fact at the worst possible moment, leading to his plans being ruined and his own death.
• The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Kirschtaria continues the tradition of mages being Hopeless with Tech, especially computers. His password is "KKOAPBD", though a cute affirmation of how he cherishes his group, it's just the first initial of a Crypter's name in order. Kadoc guesses this on his third try.
• Plot Parallel: Explicitly identified by Nasu to serve the same checkpoint as the fourth Singularity in Observer on Timeless Temple by the true Big Bad's reveal at the very end after resolving the main plots and beating the boss. In London, it was Solomon, and in Olympus, it's U-Olga Marie. This significantly shifts the plot's stakes and scope for both arcs and brings about new questions and revelations on the overarching story. This is reinforced by how both the Singularity and Lostbelt share the same cast of Servants as supporting characters.
• Primordial Chaos: The Protogenoi Chaos appears after Zeus is defeated, a Dyson Sphere that looks like an eye that looks suspiciously similar to Sauron from Lord of the Rings. Musashi sacrifices her existence to seal it away.
• Put on a Bus: Koyanskaya and Beryl head to the British Lostbelt, with Pepe and Muramasa chasing after them for revenge and reconnaissance. And Douman is still alive, though now Out of Continues, claiming they can find him at the "Hell Realm Mandala" if anyone is so inclined to hunt him down.
• Red Herring: With Grand Archer (and game hunter) Orion appearing in Atlantis, Grand Lancer Romulus-Quirinus appearing here, and Koyanskaya talking about how she wants to become a new Beast, it would be safe to assume she finally achieves her dream here, right? Well, partially. Koyanskaya does manifest as a Beast, but her transformation is still not complete and she's much easier to deal with compared to previous Beasts. Instead, the Beast Orion and Quirinus were summoned in this Lostbelt to deal with was Beast VII, as the local Tree of Emptiness was fully matured and the most likely spot on Earth where she would manifest.
• La Résistance: Within Olympus, several Servants from Proper Human History have formed a resistance group led by Tesla to oppose the gods, appropriately called the God Destroyer Alliance. The group consisted of Tesla, Edison, Helena, Lancer Altria Alter, Berserker Kintoki, Fran, Mordred, and Raikou, all of whom are Servants associated with lightning in some way. By the time Chaldea arrives, however, all have been slain, but Tesla, Edison, and Helena manage to finish creating their counter to the gods before they are killed. They are helped by two native children, Adele and Makarios.
• Restoration of Sanity: Prior to merely firing at her enemies, Artemis attempted to inflict madness upon the Proper Human History Servants. However, her first target was the already insane (by the hands of her own Proper Human History counterpart no less) Caligula, with her efforts restoring his sanity instead and allowing him to speak clearly. Because of this, Artemis assumed all Proper Human History Servants to possess mental protections and switched to orbital bombardment to compensate.
• The Reveal:
  • The story of this Lostbelt is that two factions formed on what to do about humanity and the Age of Gods, the Administration Faction and the Co-existence Faction. In truth, Zeus alone wanted to expand the Age of Gods, and everyone was against this. But thanks to powering up through a Fusion Dance and gaining the authorities of the other gods beforehand, reprograms the members of his faction to destroy the Co-existence Faction in the Olympiamachia, reprogramming Poseidon into serving as an attack dog for the way into Olympus.
  • Perhaps the biggest of the game so far, the Big Bad of the arc, the mysterious Foreign God, whose threat was what caused Goetia to cause the Singularities, is revealed to be both a Beast and somehow Olga Marie.
• Sequel Hook: Ashiya's taunt at the end that people can find him at the 'Hell Realm Mandala' is the hook for the next story segment, "Hell Realm Mandala, Heian-kyō - Flash of Roaring Thunder"
• Story-Breaker Power: Fitting for what are Gods, the Olympiamachia are outright busted from a story perspective, and fighting them is incredibly difficult. The God Destroyer Alliance, consisting of Servants like Edison, Tesla, Helena, Mordred, and Rider Kintoki, couldn't do anything to stop them in a head on fight and all were slaughtered. Chaldea really has to go all out just to win, and doing so requires heavy loses. For an example; using just her Authority alone, Aphrodite forces the heroes to their knees with no effort, just because she was offended they did not do so.
  • Chaos manages to be even worse. It vaporizes Ares in one hit, and forces the sacrifice of Quirinus, a Grand Lancer, and Musashi just to prevent it from being able to invade the Lostbelt. Holmes suspects that not even Goetia at the height of his power would be able to stand up to Chaos.
• Title Drop: Not just the episode's title, but some of the other chapters share the same name as the Noble Phantasms of the Lostbelt God you in said chapters. First Demeter's "Thou, Plough Through the Star for an Abundant Harvest", then Aphrodite's "Thou, Disarray the Star Emotionally", and finally Zeus's "My Thunder Which Tears Stars Asunder".
• To Be Lawful or Good: Quirinus notes that he and Orion were summoned to deal with Beast VII and potentially Koyanskaya, but instead chose to forsake their duty and aid Chaldea to protect the people.
• The Underworld: Hades itself is used as a safe zone for the God Destroyer Alliance, as it's the only place where Zeus cannot see into or listen in on anyone's conversations.
• The Unreveal: It's never actually shown what Kirschtaria's interactions with Daybit in the Foreign God's Singularity simulations were like, which further enhances the mystery surrounding the latter.
• Utopia: Olympus is one. Wars and crime are a thing of the past, the citizens are The Ageless and encouraged to pursue education unlike in SIN, and they each have strength rivaling that of a Servant.
• Wham Episode: Good God, and you thought Atlantis was bad?
  • Kotomine reveals the existence of another Ultimate One on Earth, this one originating from the Oort Cloud. It is not to be confused with ORT aka Type Mercury which currently resides in South America, despite their near-identical spelling in both Japanese and English. That said, the Character Material book that introduces ORT openly questions if it really is from Mercury, so there is a possibility the two are one and the same being.
  • After all the evidence and foreshadowing, Koyanskaya is confirmed to be a Beast. She isn't strong enough to fully manifest as one, but she also escapes with Beryl and is able to at least partially manifest as one.
  • Another Grand Servant is revealed. Romulus-Quirinus, aka Grand Lancer, arrives near the end to provide assistance, at the cost of Caligula needing to essentially sacrifice himself to do so.
  • Musashi sacrifices her existence to seal away the Protogenoi Chaos, as evidenced by the lack of data following her death for both her Saber and Berserker forms.
  • Beryl betrays Kirschtaria and fatally wounds him. He and Koyanskaya escape to the British Lostbelt. Also, whoever it is that is working with Beryl wields Rhongomyniad, and is able to not only fire it from within the British Lostbelt but is strong enough that even Kirschtaria has to go all out to protect himself.
  • The Foreign God finally reveals themselves, and it's none other than Olga Marie, who is also Beast VII. Holmes suspects that the God is using Olga Marie's body a la Goetia/Solomon, while Mash and the Protagonist believe that the God IS her.
  • The Sixth Lostbelt's button is glitched, further proving that it has become something different. All that can be made out is a symbol of what appears to be Rhongomyniad surrounded by some vines. And between that button and the Olympus one, a small, pulsating dot is shown, being a placeholder for the true next destination, "Hell Realm Mandala, Heian-kyō - Flash of Roaring Thunder".
• Wham Line: As the Foreign God descends, Mash has this to say.
  Mash: As foreseen and categorized by Trismegistus, this looks to be the final Horn — the final Beast Crown — of the Seven Evils of Humanity… Beast VII…!
• Wham Shot:
  • The first one happens after Beryl reveals the faeries of the British Lostbelt are always looking for him and Wodime suddenly freaks out over the implications. In the skies above Olympus, a new star starts shining, slowly getting brighter, and brighter, and brighter… And then the protagonist realizes it's not a star, but a familiar Holy Lance, teasing at what awaits Chaldea in the British Lostbelt.
    Protagonist: Is that…Rhongomyniad!?
  • As the Foreign God descends, the light blinding its figure slowly fades away, giving the audience a good look at a very familiar face. It's Olga Marie's.
• Yes-Man: Adele calls Pollux out on being this, calling her pathetic for not having any thoughts of her own and just agreeing with everything Castor says. Pollux has been the calmer of the two the entire Lostbelt up to this point, but this drives her into a bloodthirsty rage to rival Castor's.

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That's right, let's cook up a good idea. Normal kind of good idea!
If the Gods-slaying plan went well, and we came out of this unscathed, let's hold a banquet with everyone!
With plenty of delicious food!

(From "Looking Towards Tomorrow Together")