The 2023 special Fate/strange Fake -Whispers of Dawn- began the story of Fate/strange Fake by introducing us to the various mages and their summoned heroes. It also laid down the ground rules for this story and how it deviated from the Grail Wars seen in Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night. It quickly became apparent that this Fake Holy Grail War was a broken imitation which, in turn, left us with more than a few major questions. This first episode of the series proper starts to dive into them—starting with the “who” and “why.”

There are four major parties at play here. The first are Faldeus and his organization—those who are behind setting up this Grail War and want to keep it on the down-low like in the Fuyuki Grail Wars. Next there is Francesca, who seems to be reveling in the chaos of the war—moving pieces around for her own personal enjoyment. Then there is Orlando Reeve and his police officers, who seem to be both working with and against Faldeus and Francesca to keep normal people safe. The fourth major party is not a unified group, but are the ones at the heart of the war—the Masters themselves and the Servants they control.

All this forms a chaotic mess. Some groups want the war made public while others work to keep it secret. Some groups' motivations are clear, while others remain shrouded in mystery. Everyone is working at cross purposes—trying to achieve their own specific goals for the war.

Entering into this we get our new heroine Ayaka Sajyou. To call her traumatized would be an understatement. She is clearly on the run from something in her past—a seemingly literal specter that has chased her across the world. Sent to Snowfield by the Einzberns, she is unsure about what she's even supposed to do. However, through this episode—most notably her rejection of Saber—we see that she is tired of running. She wants to take control of her life—even if that means denying what is obviously her destiny.

Speaking of Saber, his involvement in the story serves a dual purpose. The first is to further show the chaos of this Grail War. While there are several puppet masters, none of them are truly in control—not even Francesca. His second purpose is that of a platform for some mini-mysteries. One one hand we have his identity (though his mentions of “Loxley” and familiarity with Assassin along with the growling roar when he uses Excalibur should be enough for many to figure out who he is). On the other is why he appeared instead of Altria, which hangs over the story while highlighting just how strange this war truly is.

While it's possible to follow the basic story of this episode without any prior knowledge, this is definitely an anime that only gets better the more you know about not only Fate lore, but the deeper Type-Moon lore as well. For example, Ayaka was the original protagonist of Fate/stay night's prototype novel—before being retooled with Shirou in that role for the game. Likewise, the priest Hansa's usual job as an “Executor” has much more dramatic meaning when you've played Tsukihime and remember that one of the Masters in this war is a vampire.

As for the presentation side of things, this episode is easily above what I've come to expect from a TV anime—even one produced by A-1 Pictures. There is a ton of dynamic camera work, unique shots, and clever ways of visually conveying information that makes scenes interesting to look at even when the episode itself is almost nothing but a series of conversations. The sound design is likewise amazing. The distinctive twang of a bow lets you know exactly what stopped Assassin's surprise attack (even if you missed the brief visual flash that accompanied it) and the sound of Excalibur leaving its sheath gives the sword an unexpectedly visceral heft and power. And, of course, there is also the amazing Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack that not only includes music from -Whispers of Dawn- but also from the Fake/strange Fake novel commercial made back in 2019.

All in all, this episode serves as the final bit of setup for what was started back in -Whispers of Dawn-. Now all the pieces are in place and the various vying powers established. It shows the “fake” nature of the war and the numerous unintended consequences that are already becoming apparent. And to top things off, the episode serves as an inversion to the start of Fate/stay night with a Saber that shouldn't have been summoned and a protagonist who outright refuses to be one. It's a fantastic episode, and its a shame that we'll have to wait as many as nine months for the next episode.