Irisviel von Einzbern

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History

Irisviel von Einzbern is the heroine of Fate/Zero and the partner of Saber as well as the intended vessel for the Holy Grail. She is the mother of Illyasviel von Einzbern, who was modified in her mother's womb to be homunculus, a being with a human appearance but is composed of a cluster of magical circuits. Like her daughter, Irisviel is a homunculus, an artificial being created by the Einzbern. She was raised to be a puppet with no desires, but found happiness in her existence when she gave birth to Illyasviel [ [http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Fate/Zero:Prologue_1 Fate/Zero, translated Prologue: 8 years ago] ] . She is married to Kiritsugu Emiya, the biological father of her daughter.

Irisviel is innocent and carefree, which results from living her entire life without leaving the Einzberns' castle in Europe until the beginning of the Fourth Holy Grail War, in which she leaves for Japan with Saber. Due to her secluded and isolated upbringing, she is unusually fascinated with Fuyuki City and openly explores the city with Saber as her escort during her first day. Her carefree nature extends to her relationship with Saber, where Irisviel chooses what clothing Saber should wear. The two get along well and become friends to the extent which Saber is willing to tell the story of her past to Irisviel.

Despite the way Irisviel acts, she displays a mature attitude and understanding towards Kiritsugu and the agony he suffers as well as the knowledge that she will likely die in the war because of his actions. She also tries to present Saber with a better impression of Kiritsugu since Saber feels her Master's cold nature derives from his belief she is unsatisfactory as a Servant because she is female.

Role

While she and Saber work together, Saber's master is actually Kiritsugu Emiya, the Einzbern family's representative in the war who acts independently from his Servant and arrived in Fuyuki City without her. Irisviel has been entrusted with the role of becoming the vessel of the Holy Grail and acts as Saber's healer and proxy master while Kiritsugu works with his assistant, Maiya Hisau.

Like most of the Einzbern masters, Irisviel is skilled in alchemy, but her magical skills are not suited for combat and she is generally left to be an observer whenever Saber enters battle. As such, she also relies information to Kiritsugu through technological means, such as tracking devices and cell phones, which remain undetected by other Masters. She and Saber meet with Kiritsugu and Maiya a limited number of times in the war to decide which Masters and Servants to focus their attacks, but rarely work together.

As the war progresses and more Servants are defeated, Irisviel grows increasingly weaker, unable to remain conscious and becoming physically incapacitated as a result of the mana from defeated Servants accumulating within her to create the Holy Grail. During the final days of the war, Kiritsugu and Saber seek out the remaining Servants and Masters, leaving Maiya to protect Irisviel. They are confronted by Berserker, in the guise of Rider, who abducts Irisviel and mortally wounds Maiya. Following her abduction, she is taken to Kirei Kotomine, who asks her what Kiritsugu's wish for the Holy Grail is out of his personal interest for Kiritsugu. Dissatisfied with her answer that Kiritsugu seeks to create a world without war and that Kotomine would never understand her husband, she is knocked unconscious.

With the war drawing to a close, Irisviel remains unconscious and dreams about her daughter asking if her father will return. She realizes that the Holy Grail War is ending and that her consciousness has merged with the Holy Grail; the tainted artifact takes on Irisviel's personality. When Kiritsugu is submerged in the contents of the Grail during his battle with Kotomine, he encounters the spirit of the Grail in the form of Irisviel, who goes on to show Kiritsugu how his wish would be granted by the tainted Grail. After seeing all his loved ones destroyed in order to fulfill his wish, Kiritsugu realizes his true wish was to revive Irisviel and be with Ilya, but finds he cannot accept the Grail as a result. Destroying the illusions of his wife and daughter, he wakes up from the vision presented by the Holy Grail and decides to destroy the Grail.

References