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F/GO Babylon Notes

Dec 10th, 2016
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  1. Warning: These are all from various anons' comments, they're not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
  2.  
  3. Also, as these are from /fgog/, there is a good chance the information originally came from Beasts Lair.
  4.  
  5. >You see another dream of Mashu talking with Roman, only it's not actually Roman. Mashu sees through the fake, and then you wake up.
  6. >Everybody's all happy you're almost done with the singularities, and you and Mashu get sent off.
  7. >For some reason you end up super high in the sky, and only survive the falling thanks to Mashu.
  8. >You walk to a nearby city and find monsters everywhere. While you fight them you meet Ishtar for the first time.
  9. >"Enkidu" shows up and bails you out.
  10. >You go around with "Enkidu" until you find Merlin and "Ana". Merlin immediately exposes Enkidu as a fake, and you fight and manage to repel him.
  11. >Merlin takes you to Uruk and brings you to meet with Gilgamesh.
  12. >Gilgamesh has a Holy Grail (or rather the Great Cup of Uruk, it's a different thing from Solomon's Holy Grail), but he's not handing it over because of the threat of the Three Goddesses. You go "So if we beat the goddesses you'll hand it over?" and this makes him laugh so hard he decides he likes you.
  13. >You spend a lot of time helping out in Uruk because Gilgamesh has a city to run. It's a mix of light hearted stuff and weird stuff like you suddenly ending up in the afterlife and talking to robed guy for a bit.
  14.  
  15. ---
  16.  
  17. >Gil tells you to go look for some tablet.
  18.  
  19. >On the way you hear testimony from the shepherds and farmers that Ishtar's being a bitch, crashing her big bow all over the place, wreaking property damage, scaring the sheep, taking all their jewels.
  20.  
  21. >Ishtar chases you down to insist all those stuff you heard about her isn't true.
  22.  
  23. ---
  24.  
  25. >The tablet Gil sent you to find was meant for you to read.
  26. >It gives you a vision that conveys the location of Solomon, created by citizens who are cursing Solomon's name.
  27.  
  28. ---
  29.  
  30. >Seems some bits were revealed about solomon the chapter?
  31. Gilgamesh's tablets. Solomon's subjects saw how fucked up the world was and asked Solomon "you can see the past and future, why don't you do something about this" and he laughed at them and went "lol nope" and they went "wow this guy is fucked up".
  32.  
  33. ---
  34.  
  35. Chapter 5:
  36.  
  37. ???: ---n’t go---
  38. ???: ---Don’t go---
  39. ??? .---n’t leave me---
  40. ??? ---Don’t leave me---
  41. ???: ---Don’t leave me behind again---
  42. You: This is…
  43. ???: Come back…come back…
  44. ???: Come back to me once more…
  45. ??? Once more…once more…
  46. ??? No….no…
  47. ???: Don’t, don’t ever
  48. ???: Don’t love me again
  49. You: What was that?
  50. ??? It was an original sin. It was one of humanity’s original sins.
  51. ???: There are many types of sins. Tricking others. Manipulating others. Being envious of others. Taking lives.
  52. ???: All these are the evils that only humanity bears. All these are the poisons that affect only humanity.
  53. ???: However, among them is the oldest of evils. The original sin II. The sin of leaving ■ and departing from paradise.
  54. You: Yes, but even so…
  55. ??? Life was born from the sea. The primordial sea Nammu. The goddess of the beginning Nammu.
  56. ???: To humanity, the goddess is the sea itself. The sound of the waves will become calls pronouncing your sin
  57. ???: Remember. Don’t forget.
  58. ???: This voice is your original sin.
  59. ???: This name is your salvation.
  60. ???: Its name is
  61. ??? Aa, Aa-----Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa----
  62. You: It sounds so sad…
  63.  
  64. ---
  65.  
  66. -Gilgamesh summoned Merlin, who told him about the Grail War. Upon hearing about the concept of the Grail War, Gilgamesh decided to summon all seven servants on his own. Ushiwakamaru, Benkei, Leonidas, Ibaraki, Fuuma, Amakusa, and Tomoe Gozen. Fuuma and Amakusa are MIA and presumed dead, Ibaraki ran off saying she'd become a bandit, and Tomoe died killing the general of Tiamat's monsters, Girtablullû.
  67.  
  68. -Merlin mentions that because the girl whom Ishtar was summoned into was probably pretty close to Ishtar to begin with, the minds of the two have merged to form a new personality.
  69.  
  70. -Also the old man who'll probably turn out to be King Hassan calls himself Ziusudra in here. Romani mentions how that's the same person as Utnapishtim or the biblical Noah, and is the one who "saw the end of the world and became the guardian of the abyss", "the one who warns of the end of the world" "the one who watches over all death".
  71.  
  72. ---
  73.  
  74. >Eventually Gorgon shows up, and in the ensuing struggle Leonidas is petrified (he identifies Gorgon for everyone BTW), Ushi sacrifices herself to save your life, and Benkei is heavily injured.
  75. >Ushi turns out to not be dead, but Gorgon and Kingu have taken her to Tiamat's creepy temple for some nefarious reason.
  76. >You decide the only way to defeat Gorgon is to get more gods on your side. You've got a week.
  77. >You start with Ishtar since Gilgamesh knows an easy way to get her on your side.
  78.  
  79. ---
  80.  
  81. Caster Gil's plan to get Ishtar to join your side is to bribe the fuck out of her with precious gems. You have Mashu literally dump a sack right in front of her, and while she's still gaping you mention you can give even more.
  82.  
  83. By the time she joins you, night has fallen. Ishtar suddenly turns blonde and appears to take an interest in you because you aren't scared of her. Though you actually do seem surprised at first, but you just wave that off as a sneeze.
  84.  
  85. If I'm reading the next bit right, Ishtar was annoyed that the Age of Gods would be replaced by the Age of Man, and she wanted to do something about that. Meeting you taught her that individual humans aren't her enemies though; it's just the world of humanity as a general concept.
  86.  
  87. ---
  88.  
  89. I think you get Jaguar Man on your side because (you) follow Merlin's advice and compliment her beauty.
  90.  
  91. She instantly changes sides, much to her subordinate were jaguars' chagrin.
  92.  
  93. ---
  94.  
  95. Quetzelcoatl falls for (you) because during the big fight with her, you land the finish by having Ishtar warp you 200 meters up into the air so you can do a ridiculous lucha libre move.
  96.  
  97. (You suggest the idea instead of Roman's more practical idea, but I don't think you intended for Ishtar to warp you that high up.)
  98.  
  99. You can be lame about it and be scared the entire way, or you can yell your heart out like a true suicidal moron.
  100.  
  101. If I read the next bit right, you don't die because Quetzelcoatl catches you. She asks you what the fuck you thought you were doing, and you say that you knew Quetzelcoatl would save you because she loves humanity.
  102.  
  103. Incidentally in the choice before the fight, the harder option is you saying you understand Quetzelcoatl's feelings.
  104.  
  105. ---
  106.  
  107. Man, ever since Ishtar joined up you've been spending every night chatting with her (or rather Ereshkigal? I'm still not sure what's up with that) . There's even a scene that starts off with nobody there, but (you) know the drill by now and just say that you know Ishtar's there. And she is indeed nearby.
  108.  
  109. I'm honestly surprised Mashu hasn't gotten annoyed yet. Also Ishtar is actually pretty annoyed you keep getting more goddesses on your side.
  110.  
  111. ---
  112.  
  113. >You spend all night talking with Ereshkigal about what's happened in previous orders.
  114. >She specifically laughs at Ozymandias' Pyramid From The Sky trick, and says he's as dumbass a king as Gilgamesh.
  115.  
  116. ---
  117.  
  118. >Ereshkigal does that Japanese Forehead Fever check on you and remarks its the first time she's ever felt something so warm
  119.  
  120. ---
  121.  
  122. Okay, so if I got this straight:
  123.  
  124. When Ishtar was summoned, the original plan was to only summon her. But in what Merlin thought was strange at the time, when the summoning finally succeeded the priestess in charge died. This is because somehow, Ereshkigal was summoned at the same time as Ishtar. Since they were both summoned into Rin, Rin's good half and bad half split and became two separate Servants.
  125.  
  126. Another Anon: That's correct. Also, because of the singularity's space time shenanigans, instead of being summoned into a priestess of this era the ritual unintentionally snagged Rin as the host.
  127.  
  128. ---
  129.  
  130. You can choose if you think Ereshkigal is the good side or the bad side. If you say the former, Ishtar gets super huffy.
  131.  
  132. Anyway the conversation that brought this on was Quetzy pointing out that Ishtar is actually not a part of the Three Goddesses. Ereshkigal is, which both surprises Ishtar because she didn't know that and annoys her since she and Ereshkigal don't get along. Also Ishtar did not actually know Ereshkigal was taking over her body at night.
  133.  
  134. Ereshkigal is who (you) spend most of your time bonding with by the way.
  135.  
  136. ---
  137.  
  138. Chapter 14
  139.  
  140. When you return from your goddess recruitment drive, you notice nobody is at the gates. Turns out Gilgamesh is dead! According to the secretary he died of overwork, and you see a flashback of him having to deal with five different requests at once. He takes a nap, and apparently just dies in his sleep.
  141.  
  142. But some investigation turns up the fact that Ereshkigal has been stealing peoples' souls, so you come to the conclusion that's what actually happens. Most of chapter 14 is thus about you going through Irkalla to rescue Gilgamesh. There are a series of gates, and at each one you're asked a question. Answering properly does seem to make the battle easier; I tried experimenting on one choice, and the "wrong" option put me up against a green oni and the "right" option put me up against some skeletons.
  143.  
  144. As for the actual plot, none of your major teammates can follow you to Irkalla because being in the afterlife is apparently a "minus" to gods and heroic spirits. Ishtar (who tries to run away at first since she doesn't want to go to Irkalla, but Quetzy intercepts) gets you there by just blasting a hole in the ground or something at Kutha (Ereshikigal's main temple). You see some spooky spirits as you go along, and eventually come across the first gate of seven.
  145.  
  146. Ishtar explains how you need to go up against a trial, and then the gate calls you (by name, which Ishtar finds strange). The question is, paraphrasing, "Who is more beautiful, Ishtar or Ereshkigal?"
  147.  
  148. Ishtar is very annoyed.
  149.  
  150. Upon finishing the battle, you pass through the gate and Ishtar gets zapped. In the original myth she had to lose a piece of clothing with each gate, but in F/GO she just shrinks.
  151.  
  152. The second gate asks, again paraphrasing, "Say you came across a large stash of precious gems. Who would you entrust with the task of safekeeping it?", with the choices again being Ishtar and Ereshkigal.
  153.  
  154. When you reach the third gate, you find Gilgamesh, who is very amused to see a shrunken Ishtar. He exposits about Irkalla and I think Mashu asks him why he never tried going down here to rescue Enkidu. I don't remember Gil's answer, but I think he actually couldn't for whatever reason. Anyway the question this time is roughly "Think of a battle companion. Someone you believe in, adore, and attain victory together with. Who comes to mind?"
  155.  
  156. Your choices are Ishtar or Gilgamesh, and regardless which you pick it goes straight to the battle.
  157.  
  158. I don't remember what happened at gate 4. The question was "Humans desire only blessings from the gods, and thus devote their lives to them. Now answer: the fastidious goddess who deserves such effort is:", and the choices are again Ishtar and Ereshkigal.
  159.  
  160. At gate 5 (or maybe it was gate 4, I don't remember), Gilgamesh talks about how Ishtar and Ereshkigal are completely different. He gives this long story about some stupid stunt Ishtar pulled, and all you can really comment is that Ishtar sure is a free spirit. Then he talks about how Ereshkigal spent the entirety of her life trapped underground in Irkalla, with only the spirits of the dead as company. I think Gilgamesh also theorizes Ereshkigal wanted to force (you) to visit her. Anyways the question this time was kinda weird:
  161.  
  162. "Existence revolves around both minimizing and maximizing waste. As living beings, it is only natural to eat splendid meals, come up with ingenious schemes, and view amazing delights. But note: If you consume without end, you'll grow fat. In that case, the person you should entrust your life to is:"
  163.  
  164. In what I can only assume is some kind of pun, the choices are "Oil, Meat, and Ishtar" and "The gentle livered Ereshkigal".
  165.  
  166. Afterwards, the game skips the last few gates.
  167.  
  168. After you make it to the heart of Irkalla, Ereshkigal dramatically appears and makes the pressure to drop to 500 hecto pascals, which is half the usual sea level pressure. Roman urges you to defeat her before it gets any worse, but then she decides to reveal her ~true form~: Extra Rin.
  169.  
  170. Ishtar, Gilgamesh, Roman and Mashu are stunned, but you are completely unsurprised. Ereshkigal can't understand why, because according to all the human books she's read revealing her true form should've made you fall madly in love with her. You explain that you already knew. I mean, you've already chatted with her four times. Ereshkigal is floored, because apparently she didn't know that she was talking to you in her true form. I guess this is why she was surprised you weren't scared of her, because she thought she was a giant spooky ghost.
  171.  
  172. Ereshkigal grabs her head and starts rolling around in embarrassment, and Mashu asks if you should take the chance to attack. You can either think about it or take pity on her and tell Mashu to wait.
  173.  
  174. Ereshkigal quickly recovers and gets serious. The way she sees it, you're doomed either way. Either she kills you now, or you die in two days when Gorgon comes back. Her goal is to conquer Uruk, attain the Holy Grail, and drop all of humanity into Irkalla. I get the feeling the implication is that this is how she intends to save her worshippers.
  175.  
  176. She tells you that if you decide to interfere, you will die too. You can then briefly break her poise by calling her "Ere-chan".
  177.  
  178. Anyway Gilgamesh notes that even if he might be dead right now, he's still royalty so he has the right to judge Ereshkigal for her treachery. He has a question for her: why did she join the Three Goddesses? Why did she reject her duty of protecting the Sumerian nation and culture?
  179.  
  180. Ereshkigal thinks that's a stupid question, and declares her duty has never changed. As the being in charge of the afterlife, her reason for existence, her destiny is to confine every soul in existence in Irkalla. So if Gilgamesh intends to stand in her way, she is entirely ready to rain down some divine punishment. Gilgamesh is impressed with her speech, and declares there is no longer any need to ask any questions. He'll have her head, as simple as that.
  181.  
  182. Ereshkigal thinks Gil is being ridiculously overconfident, but before she starts the fight she has her own question for (you).
  183.  
  184. For as long as she's known, she's been in Irkalla. Joy, pleasure, sadness, friendship; she's never had any of that, but she's had to watch her other half cartwheel around above, free as a bird this entire time. Are you really going to judge her? The person who's been working so hard all this time for no praise whatsoever?
  185.  
  186. You can say you don't think she's a bad person, but you're probably supposed to say you don't care since all of that was her duty. She is visibly hurt if you say this, which is probably why the fight is supposedly easier. Gilgamesh concurs, as no duh no human would praise her for killing people.
  187.  
  188. Gilgamesh says it's fine to lament about a duty forced upon you. It's also fine to abandon it entirely and seek another. But wallowing in self-pity while doing it anyways is unacceptable. It's the same as insulting yourself. He finishes by agreeing with what you said.
  189.  
  190. If you pick the other option, Ereshkigal said she knew you'd understand and laughs in delight. She's certain she can take on anything now (which is why the fight is supposedly harder), and the fight starts immediately without Gilgamesh's interjection.
  191.  
  192. Once you crit Ereshkigal to death, Ishtar returns to her normal size and Gilgamesh regains his power. Meanwhile Ereshkigal is resigned to her fate. You can say you don't think she's a bad person again, and the fact she goes "you're saying that now?" makes me even more certain you were supposed to reject her self-pity session.
  193.  
  194. Anyway Ereshkigal sticks to her "I am the feared ruler of the underworld, I hate all of human life" shtick, even if you call her out for lying. So eventually robed guy comes out of nowhere and decides to take matters into his own hands. He slashes her, and then easily dodges the arrow Ishtar shoots at him. He tells your group to calm down, as he didn't kill Ereshkigal. He killed her.. something, I can't figure out his speech patterns. Her vow of alliance? Anyways, she's indeed fine, though she's a little freaked out since she thought she got cut in half. That might be a gag on the animation though.
  195.  
  196. Gilgamesh demands to know who robed guy is, since he's clearly no ordinary person. Neither Gilgamesh, Solomon, nor Chaldea summoned him, so who called him here? Robed guy just dodges the question and addresses Ereshkigal.
  197.  
  198. Robed guy says that Ereshkigal's lying, and that she actually loves humanity. You say you knew it, but Ereshkigal continues to claim she only likes the souls she owns and keeps shut up in Irkalla. You tell her that's wrong, and robed guy talks over Ereshkigal's protests and reveals that she doesn't like dead people. She likes humanity, to whom death is inevitable. He says a bunch of other stuff too, but hell if I can decipher it. But the general gist is that Ereshkigal is a good goddess. Gilgamesh pipes in too about how while Ereshkigal may not be as powerful as Gorgon, she can put her forces together with Uruk's to make a formidable force.
  199.  
  200. Gilgamesh gives her one last chance, and turns to (you) to sway her over. You can either say you want to fight Gorgon alongside her, or that you've already been friends for a while now.
  201.  
  202. Ereshkigal finally relents, but she has her pride so she says she'll repay your for this favor. If you're ever in need of help, call for her and she'll come bail you out. So with that said, she decides it's time to get back to administrating Irkalla so she gives you all permission to leave. She releases the souls she stole, but when you ask about Gil it turns out Gilgamesh actually did die of overwork.
  203.  
  204. At that point, I think Gilgamesh asks Ishtar how you even get out of the afterlife anyways. Or something? All I really remember is that whatever answer Ishtar gives makes Gil bust out in laughter and makes you and Mashu go "sasuga Ishtar".
  205.  
  206. ---
  207.  
  208. So here's what I got from shotgunning through Chapter 15:
  209.  
  210. >You make it back from Irkalla, and all of Uruk is celebrating Gilgamesh's revival.
  211. >Ana meets you at the front door, sans cloak. She apparently feels comfortable enough in Uruk to show her face.
  212. >You go meet with Gilgamesh again, and make a plan to deal with Gorgon. The gist is you, Ishtar and Merlin will break off from the main army to assault Gorgon's temple. Meanwhile Quetzy and Jaguar will stay behind at Uruk.
  213. Meanwhile Quetzy and Jaguar will stay behind at Uruk.
  214. >Quetzy is also in charge of stalling Kingu.
  215. >You leave and join the party, where everyone's happy to see you.
  216. >A blind old lady runs into Mashu, and gives her a wreath to give to Ana in thanks for something Ana did while you were away.
  217. >You head off the next day, and beat off some bandits along the way.
  218.  
  219. ---
  220.  
  221. The bandits that attack you on the day before the confrontation with Gorgon are labelled in-battle as Ooeyama bandit remnants, and the boss on the last wave is Mystery Kyoto Denizen X.
  222.  
  223. stupid ibaraki
  224.  
  225. ---
  226.  
  227. >You take a pitstop for the night, and decide to stay up (I guess to talk to Ereshkigal)
  228. >Instead you spend the time talking with Ana (who is conflicted over how to reconcile her hatred of humanity and how much she's enjoyed living in Uruk, so much so she feels she can't accept the wreath once you present it to her) and Merlin (who lets you ask a question [Why did you help Gilgamesh, Were you the one who helped Bedivere] then talks about himself).
  229.  
  230. ---
  231.  
  232. >Gudao: You were the one who sent Bedivere...
  233. >Merlin: Ah, you had to go there... it was indeed quite painful.
  234. >Merlin: It was me who sent him there. When the Lion King appeared, he also appeared in Avalon.
  235. >Merlin: Bedivere was the only qualified to settle that twisted destiny.
  236. >Merlin: I know it was a cruel of me to make him to do so.
  237. >Merlin: I'm not human, but I'm not a cretin. So if possible, I did not want Bedivere to suffer.
  238. >Merlin: But you see, if the Lion King didn't disappear, Bedivere would still be in Avalon.
  239. >Merlin: As a member of the Round Table I can understand Bedivere, after all we all served King Arthur.
  240. >Merlin: Bedivere was in pain but the priority was to fix Arturia's mistake.
  241.  
  242. Another Anon: You skipped the bit where Fou attacks Merlin into admitting "I fucked up but it all turned out fine didn't it?!"
  243.  
  244. --
  245.  
  246. >The original plan was to bring Marduk's Axe back to the Wall to use as a weapon on Gorgon-Tiamat, but we didn't know how big it was, so Quetzl had a few hundred wyverns pull it back.
  247. >Then the plan changed to assault the Blood Temple to neutralize some of Gorgon's divinity. But it's very protected by strong magic/divinity and not a place you can assault on foot normally, so we decide to throw the axe at it.
  248. >You can ask Quetzl if she can make herself giant enough to use the axe and she protests that even gods have to follow conservation of mass! (なるほど、気づかなかった)
  249. >Quetzl says she can at least throw it (about 30km from the Wall to the temple) but she won't, because that would break the goddesses' pact and invite divine judgment.
  250. >Then Merlin says she just needs to throw it somewhere nearby once your party is close to the Temple and he'll take care of the rest, maybe by levitating it above the temple and dropping it.
  251. >When it's time, he sends up a light signal for the target point. Quetzl throws it but Merlin actually made her target the temple directly hahahaha
  252. >As a result Quetzl gets blasted by heaven and loses half of her divinity.
  253.  
  254. ---
  255.  
  256.  
  257. >Back at Uruk, Quetzy is easily dealing with Kingu. Kingu doesn't understand why Quetzy changed sides, and apparently Gorgon actually thought highly of Quetzy.
  258. >When Merlin does his thing, a) Quetzy is pissed off at Merlin and b) Kingu realizes he's been baited and runs off to try and save Gorgon.
  259. >At the temple, Mashu is horrified. I think it's because there are people there. Some are still alive so she wants to help them, but you and Roman tell her to ignore them because you don't have time.
  260. >At the heart of the temple, you note it almost seems alive. Merlin confirms it actually kinda is.
  261. >Gorgon shows up, and Mashu demands to know why she's done what she's did.
  262. >Gorgon proceeds to explain how much she fucking despises humanity for taking everything away from her. Mashu can't even respond to it.
  263. >Gorgon apparently thinks you'd understand too, but you tell her you think she's talking nonsense. This gets Mashu's mind back on track, and she tears into Gorgon too.
  264. >Ana makes her presence known, and Gorgon freaks the fuck out seeing her younger self.
  265.  
  266. ---
  267.  
  268. >Ana: Gorgon, you aren't the goddess Tiamat. You are nothing but a monster that can't even look at herself.
  269. >Gorgon: --You. You are... What is that servant... take her out! Don't put such unsightly things in front of me! Kingu! Kingu! Take her out of here! It doesn't matter who does it, but kill her now! Take her away from my temple right now!
  270.  
  271. ---
  272.  
  273. >I don't quite remember this bit, but Ana talks about how much she's changed since coming to this era, so she rejects her adult self. You reveal you knew she was Medusa the entire time.
  274. >After you defeat Gorgon, the temple starts collapsing. Ana figures she was summoned to this era in the first place to stop Gorgon, and goes for a mutual kill or something. You tell her to grab your hand so I guess they're falling?
  275. >Ana smiles, then vanishes.
  276.  
  277. I had all these screenshots saved so I could look over what actually happened after finishing, but then for some reason my tablet ate them.
  278.  
  279. ---
  280.  
  281. Oh hey, I actually did have the screenshots after all.
  282.  
  283. Okay so when you show up at the heart of the temple, Gorgon's dramatic appearance is her demanding to know who would step into Tiamat's resting place. So she's pretending to be Tiamat.
  284.  
  285. Mashu says she'd understand if Gorgon was waging a war with humanity, fighting to reclaim her land, or trying to make a new kingdom, but what she's doing goes far beyond any of that. What does she want revenge for so much?
  286.  
  287. Gorgon has lost everything she loved, and failed to protect everything she sought to defend. She has nothing left but her hatred towards humanity. That's why she's Avenger, and that's why her goal is to raze Uruk to the ground and destroy humanity.
  288.  
  289. Gorgon calls Mashu out on judging her when Mashu clearly knows nothing of the world's cruelty, and Mashu can't disagree with that.
  290.  
  291. Gorgon turns to (you) next and figures you probably understand. You're one of her "creators" too, as you're part of the human race. She says if you do sympathize, she'll keep you as a pet and you can watch humanity end together. Or rather, it's already ended. Anyways you're already the Last Human, so there's no reason you have to try and help humanity of this era.
  292.  
  293. If you're wondering why she's so willing to spare you, the best explanation she gives is a crack that you're just the type to benefit from the whims of goddesses.
  294.  
  295. You reject her. Mashu is happy with your choice, while Gorgon is surprised. Mashu goes on to say that while she understands that Gorgon's anger is legitimate, that doesn't mean they'll just roll over and accept her wrath.
  296.  
  297. Ishtar explains that Gorgon is not a goddess, she just used Solomon's Holy Grail to grow in strength and then took Tiamat's name. No matter how many beasts Gorgon may try to assemble, she'll never even come close to actually being Tiamat.
  298.  
  299. At this point Ana makes her presence known, and Gorgon reacts extremely violently, demanding that Ana get out of her sight. Ana laments that Gorgon can't see her anymore, and admits that if Gorgon did acknowledge her, a little part of her was considering siding with Gorgon.
  300.  
  301. Anyway Ana talks about how she was dead to the world, but thanks to everyone's efforts she can now say she's alive. She thanks you for recognizing her.
  302.  
  303. And that's where my screenshots end. Back to actually finishing chapter 15.
  304.  
  305. ---
  306.  
  307. After you defeat Gorgon, Mashu and you mourn Ana's sacrifice. You take out the wreath and regret you were never able to hand it over, but Mashu figures Ana was happy with her end.
  308.  
  309. But even though Gorgon was defeated, you don't see a grail anywhere. She clearly had its power though, so she must have had access to it. Merlin figures that that means the true owner of the grail is- Kingu busts in.
  310.  
  311. He's regretful he didn't make it in time to save Gorgon, but he's ready to kill your group. Roman alerts you he's not actually a Lancer, he's- He is also cut off, but when the battle starts you see he's Avenger.
  312.  
  313. The entirety of Chapter 15 is framed as if it's the final chapter. You beat the big special sprite Gorgon, and then you fight the "real" boss, Kingu. But once you win, the Singularity remains, much to Roman's confusion. That's because things aren't even close to being done: Gorgon wasn't entirely faking being Tiamat, she actually had access to part of her powers. Or something like that, I couldn't figure out what Ishtar was saying. But the gist of things is that killing Gorgon was an awful idea that unleashes doomsday. Tiamat is awakening, and for some reason this causes Merlin to die. He asks you to pass a message for him to Gilgamesh: the King of Magic will soon summon one of the Beasts. There was also something about the Grand Servants, I think?
  314.  
  315. ---
  316.  
  317. Speaking of Merlin, the Merlin seen in this chapter all along is a "shadow". The real Merlin exists in dreams, and was in Tiamat's dream keeping her asleep. Killing Gorgon awakens her, and she kills him, which causes the shadow to fade.
  318.  
  319. ---
  320.  
  321. Chapter 16
  322.  
  323. Shit officially gets real. The seas turn black, and monsters attack the area in droves. You watch countless civilians die, one after another, unable to do anything. Benkei steps in to save the day, and is confidently boasting as he takes down Lahmu en masse. Then he hears a voice telling him to get out of the way, and when he takes a look at who it is he is absolutely stunned. A shadowy figure strikes Benkei, and he is promptly swarmed. He dies screaming at how impossible the situation is.
  324.  
  325. You exit the temple, and Da Vinci temporarily subs in for Roman as comm operator for whatever reason to explain the situation. Ishtar flies off ahead of you to try and save her people. You have to go by foot.
  326.  
  327. The entire chapter has numerous scenes of the cheerful Sumerian people you've come to know getting horrifically murdered. It's a pretty crazy tonal shift, even all the music changes.
  328.  
  329. When you get to the nearest city, you run into Quetzy, who came to fetch you. You tell her Merlin died (to her disappointment, since she wanted to yell at him) and that you have to get to Uruk, so she flies you over. You run into Ishtar midflight.
  330.  
  331. At Uruk, more people are dying horribly. Some soldiers try to attack, but they can't do anything. One of them is about to die when Mashu jumps in to save the day.
  332.  
  333. You head to the ziggurat, where Gilgamesh is busy giving orders to deal with the crisis. You inform him of Merlin's last words, and he exposits about the original sins to you.
  334.  
  335. ---
  336.  
  337. Gilgamesh: For now, just remember that they are disasters that threaten human history: the self-destruct mechanism and fail-safe system in humanity that were the basis for heroic spirit summoning.
  338. Gilgamesh: The seven evils of humanities. They too manifest as spiritual foundations, as seven disasters born by the beastly nature of humanity.
  339. Gilgamesh: In other words, Class Beast. What the King of Magic awoke was such a beast.
  340.  
  341. ---
  342.  
  343. At this point you notice the secretary is gone, and Gilgamesh explains she went off to Eridu, or whatever that temple is called. I skipped through this conversation, but I think you wanted to go save her while Gilgamesh wanted to prioritize more important things. Eventually you "convince" Gilgamesh by calling him a moron, but I think he wanted to save her anyways since she's one of his citizens.
  344.  
  345. ---
  346.  
  347. Chapter 17
  348.  
  349. At the gates, Mashu notices that nobody is there. Quetzy thinks to herself that she senses the presence of a servant, but doesn't elaborate when you ask her what's up.
  350.  
  351. More people are dying, and Kingu is watching. Solomon appears to talk with him, and Kingu notes that even though all this is happening he still can't hear the voice of Tiamat.
  352.  
  353. ---
  354.  
  355. When Solomon speaks to Kingu, he says that he has just finished recovering all of the bands of light from all of space-time.
  356.  
  357. ---
  358.  
  359. As you approach your goal, you run into a particularly strange Lahmu that doesn't attack you. Mashu thinks it's weird, but I think Ishtar (and possibly you, if you pick the choice) have an idea what's going on.
  360.  
  361. You rescue a guy from the Lahmu, but as Mashu tries to direct him to safety the Lahmu come back to life and kill him anyways. You're soon swarmed by Lahmu, only to get saved by the most unlikely ally: Kingu.
  362.  
  363. Kingu is appalled at the senseless carnage, and scolds the Lahmu for going so far as to massacre people to which there is no meaning in killing them. The Lahmu are supposed to be part of a new, superior humanity like he is, so why are they doing this? He also seems a little angry that Gorgon died for this; there's actually been other hints prior that Kingu seemed to care for Gorgon, though I don't know if it was romantic or as just fellow Avengers.
  364.  
  365. Mashu and you realize that Kingu is unaware of his true origins, so Mashu explains how he wasn't birthed by Tiamat. He was just a soul shoved into Enkidu's corpse, that's why he can't hear Tiamat's voice. Kingu refuses to believe this, but when he tries to address the Lahmu again they reject him.
  366.  
  367. The Lahmu start talking about how much fun they're having killing things, and then say that Kingu on the other hand is boring. They attack him, and rip out his heart: the Holy Grail. Roman notes that this confirms Merlin's cut off theory that Kingu had the grail.
  368.  
  369. One of the Lahmu absorbs the grail, and transforms into a Beil Lahmu. Its speech becomes noticeably more intelligible (the other Lahmu can speak, but only in this weirdass kanji/katakana mix), and it attacks you.
  370.  
  371. While you're fighting Kingu is getting wrecked nearby. You repulse the Beil Lahmu for a bit, but don't seem to hurt it much. It flies off, and though Ishtar tries to give chase the other Lahmu pile up on her and give the Beil Lahmu time to leave. Quetzy summons her ride and tells you and Mashu to get on, and while Mashu protests that Kingu is still on his own Quetzy tells her you don't have time for him. Your priority is getting the grail.
  372.  
  373. And so you fly off.
  374.  
  375. ---
  376.  
  377. Chapter 18:
  378.  
  379. Mashu is reminded of Air Arash during your pursuit. Roman theorizes the Lahmu intend to use the grail to fully resurrect Tiamat, so it is absolutely essential you stop them. Quetzy encourages her mount, saying this is the last stretch, and it actually does make it. You're all happy, but then Quetzy notices something bad.
  380.  
  381. Cut to Kingu, who is still on the run. He's still in denial about not being one of Tiamat's children, but the Lahmu chasing after him have no mercy. Kingu can't believe he's going to die having accomplished absolutely nothing, and curses how even at the end all he can think about is meeting "him".
  382.  
  383. But just as he is about to die, one of the Lahmu (probably the secretary) kills the others. It thinks Kingu is Enkidu, and it tells him how all of the people are forever thankful to Enkidu for making Gilgamesh a better person, how they were all so sad when he died. It dies thanking him, tearing Kingu up because he never even got to learn the Lahmu's name.
  384.  
  385. Quetzy was shocked because out of nowhere Ushiwakamaru shows up. The Beil Lahmu takes its chance to escape. Mashu doesn't understand why this is happening, but then Roman exposits about how the Ushi you see before you is another one of Tiamat's children.
  386.  
  387. You defeat Ushi (incidentally she has new lines, with death quotes like "You think you've won, but..." and "It's useless..."), but then like the Lahmu she comes back. In spades. Roman is detecting multiple signals, and they're all Ushi. And indeed, you fight six of her. They all drop 2 dust each, very nice of Tiamat.
  388.  
  389. After you defeat Ushi again she notes she's won anyways since the Beil Lahmu got away. You can try to talk to Ushi, and she'll note that she's effectively become a different person. But she still remembers you.
  390.  
  391. ---
  392.  
  393. You decide to head back to Uruk. Quetzy apologizes for screwing up at the last moment, but there's no hard feelings from the others because there is no way she could've seen evil Ushi coming.
  394.  
  395. You get back to shore and get contacted by Gil. Turns out he independently recreated the system Chaldea uses for communications, much to Jaguarman's fascination. He asks how it went, and Quetzy explains how it all went wrong because of her carelessness. She explains like the entire thing, Gil is impressed how fast she can talk.
  396.  
  397. The question is what to do now, and Roman has an idea. He thinks it's dumb, but Gil could care less. I don't recall what the plan was exactly, but considering what happens I think it's to just try to kill Tiamat before she fully awakens. You all figure why not and go for it. Mashu wants you to stay behind where it's safe (earlier you were at risk of falling into the black ocean), but Gil rejects that because Masters should stay near their Servants. You agree. Gil asks if you're up to this, and is pleased with your confidence.
  398.  
  399. So you fly over, and find a horned woman. Or rather you hear her singing. Ishtar confirms it's Tiamat, and Mashu observes the song makes her feel weaker. Tiamat isn't doing anything at first, but when you decide to attack she changes to a more battle-worthy color scheme. The readings don't look good, but you've got to fight.
  400.  
  401. When you win, you're all overjoyed. Roman says all that's left is to collect the Holy Grail, but Mashu stops everyone for a bit to talk about Tiamat.
  402.  
  403. ---
  404.  
  405. After you destroy Femme Fatale, Mashu says that it looked like the restraints that were tying her down were formed by her. Like she was actually binding herself. It's only when team Chaldea destroys her that Pacific Rim happens.
  406.  
  407. ---
  408.  
  409. Oh right, Femme Fatale is referred to as Tiamat's 頭脳体/brain which is the same wording as used for Earth Altera (she's Sefar's)
  410.  
  411. ---
  412.  
  413. Then everything starts shaking, and you find out the bad news that the Tiamat you fought wasn't the main body. Tiamat surfaces, and the ensuing tidal wave almost hits Uruk. The city is only saved by this crazy hidden dam wall Gil had ready.
  414.  
  415. You decide there's nothing you can do but head back.
  416.  
  417. ---
  418.  
  419. Chapter 19:
  420.  
  421. At Uruk, a soldier reports only 500 people are still alive, much to Mashu's despair.
  422.  
  423. There's a whole lot of talking about how hopeless things are (Gil asks if Roman got data on Tiamat, Roman passes it over, Gil takes a look then throws it out because it says there's no weaknesses), since you can't actually kill Tiamat. But eventually Gil comes up with an idea.
  424.  
  425. Gil calls out for Ereshkigal a bunch, and she actually shows up via astral projection or something. She's really busy dealing with the sudden influx of souls so she's pretty grumpy about being called out like this. Then you say hi and she notices you're there.
  426.  
  427. She immediately cuts the comms, pretties herself up a little, then comes back and warmly greets you.
  428.  
  429. ---
  430.  
  431. Tiamat cannot die for as long as there is life on Earth, because she is life itself. She is the beginning and end of all life, and therefore can only die when she is the last living thing left. Gil's plan is to drop her into Ereshkigal's domain of the dead where she'll technically be the only living thing which may let them kill her (and yeah, in the age of gods, the underworld is LITERALLY underground).
  432.  
  433. Oh and someone (I think it was Quetzacoatl) drops the line "not even an alien could beat that!".
  434.  
  435. ---
  436.  
  437. Ereshkigal is not too sure about this idea, but a combination of Gil attacking her ego and her wanting to impress you gets her to agree.
  438.  
  439. So how will you drop Tiamat in? Also simple: Ishtar's Bull of Heaven. Everyone starts praising Ishtar, but there's a problem: she lost it somewhere.
  440.  
  441. Gil starts insulting her, and Ishtar can't really defend herself. She ends up standing in the corner holding a "I'm a useless goddess" stone tablet.
  442.  
  443. Chapter 19's second part (also 0 AP, the whole chapter is a free quartz) looks to be the typical "before the final battle" chat.
  444.  
  445. You and Quetzy chat, and she apologizes to you because she knew about the real Tiamat. Gorgon sympathized with Tiamat's situation so she had her heart set on bringing her back, and since Quetzy's an evil goddess she didn't tell either Gorgon or you the full situation. Even when Gorgon and her ended up becoming friends. She says something about how showing you "that cylinder" (?) was her best attempt at an apology, and warns you to be careful in the coming battles.
  446.  
  447. You ask her if she didn't tell you about Tiamat for Gorgon's sake, and she admits it. She was Gorgon's ally back then, and recognized that Gorgon's hatred for humanity (incidentally she goes "hatred towards you, no, towards humanity") was the real deal. If Quetzy spilled the beans that Gorgon wasn't actually Tiamat, Uruk would've treated her much less seriously. Quetzy didn't want that. You thank her for Gorgon's sake, and in turn Quetzy thanks you for recognizing Gorgon until the very end.
  448.  
  449. Then Jaguarman comes in and asks what you two were talking about. Quetzy lies that you were discussing plans to deal with Tiamat I think. She also says Jaguarman can have her share of dinner, to which Jaguarman responds with a promise to put her life on the line if needed to help Quetzy. You say that Jaguarman seems to like Quetzy, but she'll deny it and say they're rivals. They have the sort of relationship where it's good if one lives and the other dies, as that keeps the balance. Quetzy adds that good and evil gods are inherently incompatible existences, so it's actually pretty weird the two have joined up like this. Jaguarman also reveals that Quetzy knew the other goddesses were going to stop, so she joined the Three Goddesses in order to save humanity at the very last minute. You praise her being such a nice onee-san, and she embarrassedly accepts the praise.
  450.  
  451. Cut to Ishtar and Mashu. Mashu asks if Ishtar is taking a break, and Ishtar confirms. The night breeze is helping her forget about Uruk's situation for a bit. On her part, Ishtar's surprised to see Mashu by herself. Mashu explains that you're cleaning up rooms in the embassy or something. Ishtar thinks that's weird given the situation, but also seems something you'd do.
  452.  
  453. Ishtar muses about how tomorrow everything is going to end, but Mashu tells her not to be so pessimistic. (You)'re helping clean up right now because you firmly believe that Uruk will not fall, so you need to repay the city that's welcomed you so warmly. Ishtar muses if this is what it means to get attached to something, but then figures it's just something natural for humans. She points out that you and Mashu have experienced many partings, and yet have never succumbed to sorrow. In the end separation is a sad but inevitable part of human life, so that's why you need to be as thankful as you can. You need to express the joy and fortune you feel for having met that other person.
  454.  
  455. >Ishtar: ...It's been a nice journey, your Order.
  456.  
  457. Ishtar finally understands why Gilgamesh was so kind to your group. Mashu thanks her for the compliment, but has to question that last bit. Has Gilgamesh really been kind to you? Ishtar grimaces and thinks it's scary Mashu had no idea. The current Gilgamesh may be an oddly wise king, but he's still not the type to incorporate other people into his strategies. Gilgamesh is fundamentally a brute who could easily kill anyone if the time came, regardless of their situation, feelings, or connection to him.
  458.  
  459. But, Ishtar adds, right now he's really quite a pleasant king. And considering he's going up against an enemy like Tiamat, he's practically a hero. It reminds her of the time he was together with Enkidu. And, she adds, even back then Gilgamesh was sorta attractive in his own way. Ishtar's certain your group should have some legends about him, and Mashu agrees. But she thinks that the current Gilgamesh is far more reliable. Ishtar agrees, and says it's because Gilgamesh doesn't want to lose anything else anymore. She thinks that a person's true character only reveals itself when they're up against the wall.
  460.  
  461. Ishtar thinks you and Mashu are kind of similar (to Gilgamesh?), but then immediately changes her mind. After all, you two are scared of fighting, aren't you? Even after all this time, you're afraid of killing and being killed. Mashu admits it, and notes that it's has been pointed out to your group before. But, she adds, she doesn't think it's a problem. Actually, Leonidas talked to her about it earlier.
  462.  
  463. Cue a flashback.
  464.  
  465. Leonidas tells Mashu there's no shame in being scared on the battlefield. After all, war is fundamentally a scramble for life. Everyone's scared to some degree. But just as some people are better with certain weapons, there are different ways of dealing with that fear. He pegs Mashu as the type to push it down, and what's more she seems quite experienced at it. Like she's been doing it all her life.
  466.  
  467. Mashu hesitatingly admits it, but also says she wants to find some way to conquer her fear. As she is now, she can't be useful to you. Leonidas is silent for a bit, then pauses the conversation a bit to take off his helmet and chest armor (probably to show off his third ascension to people who'd otherwise ignore him), explaining he's a bit stuffy. Tomorrow's the big day after all, so he doesn't want to get sick and lose his spirit. Or something like that.
  468.  
  469. Leonidas repeats that Mashu is the type to supplant her fear with courage. In his experience, those kinds of soldiers are very precious and reliable. Mashu hesitatingly asks if Leonidas is the same as her, but he laughs and denies it, adding that he's quite the dreadful spirit. He may not look the part, but he's a king. He had the fear of battle drilled out of him from a very young age. But even so, that just meant he carried a different fear into battle: the fear that he would be unable to protect his country. Just thinking about it scared him enough to crush his spear handle.
  470.  
  471. And then came Thermopylae. The legendary battle where only 300 Spartan men held out against the legions of Persia. He explains how hopeless the situation was in more detail (go look it up), before getting to his point. At the time, he was lost. At the time, he was scared. He was going to die and leave his wife and son behind. Though I think he also adds that even though he and his men were paralyzed with fear, their wives held strong. Not sure.
  472.  
  473. Anyways Mashu points out that Leonidas went out to fight anyways. Leonidas confirms, he and his men went out, fought the Persian troops, and died. After a pause, Mashu asks if that meant Leonidas and his men set out for battle carrying fear in their hearts. Leonidas denies it: the moment you set off for the battle is the moment you've conquered your fear. Back then, lost in hesitation, Leonidas prayed to the heavens and, seeking the voice of the gods, went to an oracle.
  474.  
  475. He was told that if he went off to fight, he would not return to Sparta.
  476.  
  477. Mashu is silent, but then Leonidas goes on to say that hearing that dispelled all his doubts. His fear and hesitation gone, he went off to fight. Mashu doesn't understand why, so Leonidas explains: the oracle didn't tell him that the battle would be pointless. It also didn't tell him that Sparta would be destroyed. Yes, he and his soldiers wouldn't return from the battle. But that was fine, even if they perished they knew that others would replace them and continue to defend Sparta.
  478.  
  479. It was at that moment that Leonidas finally experienced surpassing his fear. But he didn't just swallow it down, he replaced it with hope.
  480.  
  481. I didn't really get the next part, but I think Leonidas went to tell his friends about it and they all just laughed about how he was overthinking things.
  482.  
  483. ---
  484.  
  485. I imagine that last bit is just the same story told in his Bond CE.
  486.  
  487. All the soldiers know that they will die in that battle and he asks them if they're OK with that, if they have any regrets. They laugh at him because it was pointless to think that now, it's far too late to change anything.
  488.  
  489. That helps Leonidas get over his last moment doubts and they all die as heroes.
  490.  
  491. ---
  492.  
  493. The Spartans' mental fortitude was their strength, and they carried it with them to the final battle- No, to the very end. Leonidas attributes the miraculous battle to the hope he carried in his heart.
  494.  
  495. Leonidas tells Mashu the fact she's so afraid of fighting just means she has many things important to her. And her heart will grow in strength in proportion to both the things she finds precious and the fear she has to overcome. Mashu's heart, which even her own fear can not break, is her greatest weapon. Her shield will not fall to anyone. And as such, she will never lose. Mashu can say nothing in response.
  496.  
  497. Getting back to Ishtar, she's surprised Leonidas was such a remarkable person. Mashu agrees, then clarifies that really, all Heroic Spirits are amazing people. She feels very fortunate to have learned from so many.
  498.  
  499. >Ishtar: ...Huh. I see, so that's why you're Chaldea.
  500.  
  501. Mashu doesn't understand why Ishtar is bringing up Chaldea all of a sudden, so Ishtar explains she's not talking about the people. Doesn't Mashu know the origin of the name? It's a star observatory. Just as a real observatory observes the countless stars in the night sky, your group observes the countless glittering lives throughout time.
  502.  
  503. The stars in the sky and the stories of the earth; Chaldea's story ties both together. Ishtar figures that's why she agreed to help you in the first place. Your group didn't stretch out your hands to her in order to use her, it was in recognition of her. She thinks there's no "senpai" (heroic spirit) that wouldn't want to be relied upon by such wonderful "kouhai". Mashu's amazed to hear all of this, but then Ishtar adds that she actually has no idea if the founder of Chaldea really thought the name through that far.
  504.  
  505. >Ishtar: By the way, Mashu. [Your name], does he/she have someone he/she likes?
  506.  
  507. Mashu freaks out, says she doesn't think so, then asks why Ishtar would even ask that. Ishtar goes hmmm, then explains that she doesn't really understand (presumably the concept of love on a human level) yet. But Ereshkigal on the other hand is really interested in (you). She wonders if you could call it imprinting; this is the first time Ereshkigal has come into a contact with a human normally. And Ishtar's gotten a little interested in you herself. She jokes they really are sisters.
  508.  
  509. Mashu says she sympathizes. She then answers the question: she doesn't know about your life before Chaldea, but right now you're always pretty busy with work. Ishtar takes that as sign that you're free for the picking, and declares a three way struggle. Mashu demands to know who these three people are.
  510.  
  511. Back to you. You've just finished up cleaning, and decide it's time to do one last thing. You then apparently run into Fou and Mashu outside of the ziggurat. Mashu asks if there's something you needed there, and you say you want to talk to Gilgamesh one last time. Mashu laughs she felt the same, and that it's almost like a daily tradition now. You offer to go together, and Mashu is happy to accept. She'll stay with you until the very end.
  512.  
  513. When you go in, Gilgamesh is still busy with running with the place. Stuff like Ereshkigal's info and Uruk's own map of Irkalla not matching up, and where to assign the soldiers for the final battle. He then notices you're here, and tells his soldiers he'll be taking leave for a bit. He tells them all to take a break and sleep for three hours. He'll handle the rest.
  514.  
  515. He greets you, and notes your complexion seems to have gotten better from the earlier meeting. That's good, since he's going to be wringing the most use he can out of you tomorrow. He asks if you came for a final chat, and you can remark he sure seems busy. He responds that of course he is, there's almost nobody left to help manage. He almost wishes his secretary was still alive, but catches himself (I don't think Mashu knows she's dead) and just praises her abilities.
  516.  
  517. Then Gilgamesh stares at you for a bit. Mashu asks what's wrong, and he just laughs that you've sure changed a lot from the seedy looking fellow he met a month ago. He thinks it's a shame that when you head back to Chaldea, nobody will believe the things you've done here. Bribing a goddess, fighting in the forest, descending to Irkalla, suppressing Gorgon, meeting Tiamat... they'd all be wonderful drinking stories.
  518.  
  519. Moving on, Gilgamesh asks what you really came here for. He can tell you didn't just come for another chat, and for that matter has a pretty good idea of what you came to say.
  520.  
  521. >Gilgamesh: "The destruction of Uruk. The deaths of countless civilians. It's all my fault for releasing Tiamat.", correct?
  522.  
  523. He calls you a moron and says you're operating under a massive misunderstanding. He addresses Mashu, and quotes what she said earlier about only 500 Sumerian people being alive. He corrects her: it's not "only 500", it's "500 more". In the future he had foreseen, only Gilgamesh was still alive at this point. True, the demise of Uruk he saw could not be changed. But 500 people remain. Even if everyone dies tomorrow, there will have been people alive until the very end. Gilgamesh thinks that's a splendid achievement, and says he recognizes your ability for being able to surpass what he had expected.
  524.  
  525. Mashu asks if Gilgamesh knew all along that this would happen. If he knew all along, and fought anyways. Gilgamesh confirms, and says he foresaw Solomon sending a Holy Grail to this era as well as Tiamat escaping from the world of imaginary numbers. He foresaw it all, and told his people that in half a year Uruk was guaranteed to perish. He doesn't feel the need to tell you the response, because you should've already seen it in your time here. You realize that the people of Uruk knew all along they were going to die, and Mashu expresses amazement that fought to the end anyways. Gilgamesh confirms, then tells Mashu not to pity them, lest he kill her. Mashu apologizes for her disrespect, which just makes Gilgamesh groan she's far too obedient and modest.
  526.  
  527. Gilgamesh turns to you and tells you to be proud of what you have done here. He then notes that Roman must be asleep, because if he wasn't then he would've cut into the conversation by now. So he turns the conversation to the singularities; you've gone through six up till now, and must've surely gone through a great deal of battles. But once you retrieve the Holy Grail and the foundation of human order is restored, the Singularity vanishes and everything in it fades to nothing. That's what you were told, right? Mashu confirms, and adds that nobody will remember your actions either.
  528.  
  529. Gilgamesh says that's a lie. Lives lost in singularities will not come back.
  530.  
  531. Mashu protests that history is supposed to be restored after the singularities are cleared up. Shouldn't anything related to the incorrect history be removed? Gilgamesh denies it, and says what really happens is that the incorrect and correct history come to a compromise. Say someone is killed by a wicked dragon. Even if the singularity is resolved, that person is still dead. All that will have changed is that instead of that person being killed by a dragon, he'll have been killed by some animal instead.
  532.  
  533. It's the same with Uruk. Say you defeat Tiamat and clear up the singularity. Uruk's first dynasty will fall to ruin anyway, the reason will just change from being destroyed by goddesses to something else. You ask if this means that your fight up till now- Gilgamesh cuts you off and says yes. Your struggles up until now have not been meaningless. You should puff out your chest with pride, for you have truly saved lives. It's especially praiseworthy because you had been led to believe that things would go back to normal afterwards, and yet you still ever so clumsily tried to save the lives of the people before you. The result is the current Uruk; he reassures you once more that your choices had meaning.
  534.  
  535. Gilgamesh points out that for the most part, when somebody prospers somebody else suffers. Profits and losses are always balancing each other out. Much may have been lost, but at the same time much has been gained. Solomon may have used his Holy Grails to toss the world into chaos, but at the same time there must have been some sort of minus for him. I'm not sure where he was going with this because then he starts talking about how while people may be judged by their period's values in their lifetime, their ultimate worth in history is determined by the values of the eras that follow. That's how history has continued, and even he is no exception. What he fought for, what he sought to protect, what kind of person he was, that will all be decided by the people of the future. But he doesn't care, he'll just pick whichever path he feels is correct. You should do the same.
  536.  
  537. Both you and Mashu decide to take the words to heart.
  538.  
  539. Gilgamesh adds that, to be frank, he once destroyed Uruk too. Fou is surprised, and Gilgamesh elaborates that it was back when he was searching for immortality. When he finally returned, he found an empty nation. All of his citizens except for the most dedicated (people like his secretary) had left. And even she had plenty of complaints for him, he laughs. Anyways the situation was bad, so Gilgamesh sought to rebuild Uruk. And he succeeded, with the result being the place you've been in up till now. He then notes how despite how long it's been, it all felt so brief. And now it's all in ruins.
  540.  
  541. But that doesn't mean he regrets everything. A king does not live for his nation, a nation exists for its king. So what should a king live for? Gilgamesh's answer is that a king should live for pleasure. And what brings Gilgamesh pleasure is governing Uruk.
  542.  
  543. Anyways, Gilgamesh may not be able to see how this will all end, but he gives you passing marks anyways. He tells you to get some sleep for the big day tomorrow, and asks if he can count on you to make the final battle enjoyable for him. You tell him to leave it to you. Gilgamesh grins.
  544.  
  545. Cut to a bloody Kingu, at the Heavenly Hill. He was unconsciously drawn there, and can only call himself a moron for making this place his final resting place. He remarks that the Heavenly Hill is a place his body has vivid memories of, as the place where Enkidu met his first friend. He thinks it's all nonsense, both the hill and him. Kingu has lost everything, so he figures he may as well just be done with it and stop functioning. Having been forsaken by his creator, he no longer has anywhere to go back to. He's just an impostor.
  546.  
  547. Then, much to Kingu's shock, Gilgamesh shows up and tells him to get up. Gilgamesh grumbles he's already busy enough tonight, and now he has to deal with this "consciousness". I assume that's how he's referring to Kingu.
  548.  
  549. Gilgamesh says he'll overlook how Kingu is stained in blood and how he didn't bend to one knee, but he won't allow him to die here. If Kingu gets up and goes now, though, Gilgamesh won't judge him. Kingu is too shocked to respond still, so Gilgamesh sardonically asks if Kingu can't even stand up. Didn't Kingu say he was the greatest masterpiece of the gods? He also remarks that while he doesn't know what happened, Kingu must be quite careless to have ended up with such a large hole where his heart should be.
  550.  
  551. Kingu manages to hiss out his frustration over being looked down upon, and curses that he didn't want to be seen by Gilgamesh here.
  552.  
  553. >Gilgamesh: ...Hmph. Now that I think about it, I still have this.
  554. >Gilgamesh: I've missed my chance to use it. I may as well just throw it away. Here, I'll give it to you.
  555.  
  556. Gilgamesh gives Kingu his Holy Grail, much to Kingu's astonishment. Kingu's wounds heal up, and Gilgamesh muses that he didn't know that Uruk's Great Cup could be used as a replacement heart. Kingu manages to find his voice again and demands to know why Gilgamesh is helping a copy like him. Isn't Kingu something Tiamat made, Gilgamesh's enemy? He adds that he's not Gilgamesh's Enkidu, and Gilgamesh bluntly agrees. Kingu is just someone using Enkidu's body. But because of that, Kingu is a subject of Gilgamesh's protectio- he corrects himself, friendship. Kingu is silent, so Gilgamesh screams at him for being such a moron. Even if the mind and soul are different, Kingu's body is still that of the only Chain of Heaven on Earth. But with that said, Gilgamesh isn't going to force Kingu to become his weapon. I couldn't really figure this bit out, but I think Gilgamesh says that he'd be bothered if he did something like that, so instead Kingu should just strive to be a more reliable weapon.
  557.  
  558. ---
  559.  
  560. This part is basically Gil saying that Enkidu, too, was insistent that he was a weapon. If Kingu was going to repeat Enkidu's words to that extent, of course Gil would care. Then he goes on to say there's nothing wrong with bestowing a bit of a favor on a successor model of a trusted weapon.
  561.  
  562. ---
  563.  
  564. Anyways, Gilgamesh tells Kingu that the world is ending so he should just do whatever he feels is best. Then he turns around and starts to leave. Kingu calls out for him to wait, because he still doesn't understand. Gilgamesh repeats that it doesn't matter who Kingu's mother is or where he was born, he should just do whatever he thinks he should do. Gilgamesh adds that once, like Kingu, Gilgamesh had lost everything. But his reaction was to laugh. Kingu still has his freedom left to him, so just do whatever his heart tells him to do. Then Gilgamesh leaves.
  565.  
  566. Kingu remarks that he no longer has any objectives to accomplish. What freedom? There are no choices left for him.
  567.  
  568. ---
  569.  
  570. Chapter 20
  571.  
  572. The next day, Gilgamesh announces the break of dawn. He says he hopes everyone got enough sleep, because he's segueing right into the results of last night's study. He brings up a display of Tiamat, and Quetzy is very impressed. But how did he even make that? Roman explains it was a collaboration between him and the priests of Uruk; they provided him the information, and he put it all together.
  573.  
  574. Gilgamesh agrees that it was quite the hassle, but right now he wants to call attention to Tiamat's feet. Ever since last night, Gilgamesh has been receiving reports from the remaining few on the coastline. He's learned that Tiamat is walking on top of the water, that she doesn't seem to have some magical ability to control her own weight, that her legs seem far too thin to support her massive body, and that (this report specifically says this is a hypothesis) she can only walk on the water. Based on all of that, Gilgamesh and Chaldea came to the conclusion that Tiamat can not leave the waters, as the land would swallow her up. This would explain why she made that pathway to Uruk upon surfacing; Roman compares it to a train track. Get rid of it, and you'll stop Tiamat's movement.
  575.  
  576. With that in mind, Gilgamesh declares that the target has shifted from Tiamat to the black mud. You need to find some way to physically remove it. Roman chimes in to say that Chaldea has officially labeled the mud the "Chaos Tide", and that at the moment the Chaldea team is desperately trying to research a way to convert it back to regular ocean water. If they make it in time, that should help delay Tiamat's movemen- a soldier busts in with a new report. Tiamat has started moving again, and she's only three hours away from the nearest city. If she keeps up the pace, she'll reach Uruk in eight hours. Roman is stunned, and groans that there's no way Chaldea could beat that time frame. Gilgamesh curses that there's no other choice. It may seem impossible, but you'll have to destroy Tiamat's legs. He calls a soldier to head to the walls and gather 50 elites, but then Quetzy cuts in to say there's no need.
  577.  
  578. Quetzy reminds Gilgamesh that the soldiers on the walls are in charge of the artillery, so they can't spare any. Instead, just leave removing the Chaos Tide to her. Her Noble Phantasm isn't nearly strong enough to evaporate the entire ocean, but it's entirely capable of drying up Tiamat's immediate surroundings after she makes land. You and Jaguarman excitedly recall that Quetzy can do that, and Quetzy notes it's all because you chose not to weaken her divinity back when you were fighting her. Ishtar can't believe how lucky you are, while Mashu happily notes your piledriver plan has come back to help you.
  579.  
  580. Gilgamesh asks if he can count on Quetzy, and she confirms. But, she adds, using her NP will take all of her power, so she'll need your group to ferry her over to Tiamat. I think she also says she'll need some magical energy supplied to her after using it too. Ishtar sums up the entire plan to see if she understands (I guess so she could sorta contribute to this conversation), and Quetzy confirms. You're up for it too, which Gilgamesh takes as a sign to start the operation. He tells his soldiers to take their positions, and that he should be the only person left in the ziggurat. He forbids his soldiers from abandoning their placements, no matter what happens. They are more than happy to obey, much to Gilgamesh's pleasure.
  581.  
  582. Gilgamesh orders you to go too, and tells you not to keep him waiting too long for your report on your success.
  583.  
  584. >You: I'm off, King Gilgamesh!
  585.  
  586. Your group hurries all the way out to the gates. Mashu reconfirms the plan with Roman, and he answers that right now he's in the middle of analyzing Tiamat's movement speed to figure out where you're likely to run into her. He warns you that the area around Tiamat will be extremely dangerous, as aside from the fact you're getting Tiamat's attention (he doesn't know what she'll do though), there's a huge concentration of Lahmus you'll have to fight through. Roman says to give him two minutes, and he'll have plotted out a route through the Lahmus to Tiamat- he cuts himself off because he just noticed Gilgamesh is addressing Uruk from atop the ziggurat.
  587.  
  588. Gilgamesh calls out to all of the people still in Uruk, and praises them for staying alive up to this point. Before he gets to the meat of his speech, he first notes that he's extremely pleased at their survival. Anyways, half a year ago Gilgamesh told everyone that Uruk was doomed. He didn't order his people to go out and meet that doom, though. In fact, he was entirely okay with them running away, losing themselves in pleasure, or just outright tossing themselves into Irkalla in grief. But instead, they chose to fight to the end. And thus Gilgamesh came to understand that Uruk was a joyous place. He came to understand that humanity no longer needed the protection of the gods, and thus he responded to his people's will by turning Uruk into a fortress. Even now, Gilgamesh does not think that was a mistake.
  589.  
  590. Uruk now faces its final trial. And once they deny the original god, the age of humanity will truly begin. Gilgamesh calls out to his elites to take heart: this is a battle to reject the gods. He tells them to offer their lives to their king, and that they should all strive to convey the glory of Uruk to all the generations to follow.
  591.  
  592. >Ishtar: ...I give up. I can't believe he's that prepared.
  593.  
  594. Ishtar reveals that Gilgamesh had a stage built on top of the ziggurat solely to make that speech. She calls him a moron, but Mashu and Roman are very impressed with him.
  595.  
  596. Anyways, Roman's done plotting out a path to Tiamat. He calls out your entire party (you, Mashu, Ishtar, Quetzy, and Jaguarman), and warns you that this is the point of no return. He asks if you're prepared for a series of harsh battles, and you affirm. Roman is satisfied, and then as Chaldea's current commanding officer he goes over the plan one last time. He tells your group to give it your all, and you set off.
  597.  
  598. It takes you about two hours to make it to Tiamat. As expected, the Lahmus immediately attack you. Ishtar and Quetzy move to serve as the vanguard (which is sorta weird since you're supposed to be protecting Quetzy but okay), and Roman warns you that standing on top of the Chaos Tide will damage you. Which it will in-battle, though not that much right now. Every time the characters talk about how much stronger it's gotten though, it will do more damage.
  599.  
  600. After the first fight, Mashu reports that the Lahmus are starting to morph into a larger form (hence why you fought a Beil Lahmu), and that the concentration of the Chaos Tide is getting thicker. Ishtar explains the latter as you getting closer to Tiamat, while Jaguarman freaks about the former. Roman can't believe how fast the Lahmus are evolving, and asks if you still think you can make it Tiamat. You assure him you can (though how confident you are is up to you), and in the process catch the attention of the Lahmu.
  601.  
  602. >Lahmu: Human...
  603.  
  604. A bunch of other Lahmus appear.
  605.  
  606. >Lahmus: HUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMANHUMAN!
  607.  
  608. Ishtar can't believe how many there are, and cries out for you to run. Mashu tries to save you, but before she can get there arrows rain down and stop the Lahmus. Quetzy identifies them as being from the remaining troops on the coastline, which scares Mashu in a different way since there were only around 30 people. That's nowhere near enough to defend against the Lahmus, and indeed some of them start heading off towards the troops since they're easy targets. Ishtar groans that you don't have the time to save them, so Quetzy begs Jaguarman to go instead since she's far faster. Jaguarman confidently accepts, then asks you to take care of Quetzy for her since when push comes to shove Quetzy tends to blow her top and get really scary. You thank her, and then off she goes. Mashu watches her leave your group, and notes that the rest is up to- Ishtar completes her thought and says you'll have to push through without Jaguarman, so you'd better get fired up. Ishtar confidently declares she won't let a single Lahmu lay their limbs on you, and the second battle starts.
  609.  
  610. Roman alerts you that Tiamat has accelerated, and curses that at this rate she'll make it to the Wall of Napishtim, the dams Gilgamesh had set up. If she breaks them, the Chaos Tide will flood Uruk and destroy it before Tiamat even gets there. You can either tell him you just need a little more time or urge the Pterosaur you're riding to go faster. Mashu reports there's only about 700 meters left before you reach Tiamat, and that given your current speed you'll make it in about two minutes. Quetzy cautions Mashu not to count her chickens before they hatch, and notes that you're close enough now that you can feel the impact of Tiamat's steps. She warns her to be careful not to get blown away. Mashu accepts the warning, and then in turn tells you to be cautious with your rearguard selection, as she has no idea what might happen. This is the game's vague hint that your party will be shuffled in the battles from now on.
  611.  
  612. You've gotten close enough. Mashu and Ishtar congratulates your tactical capability, and Ishtar goes on to note that while the "Chaos whatever" has gotten even stronger you should still be fine at this range. This causes Roman to muse about how bad it would be if you fought Tiamat at point blank, but he decides not to dwell on worst case scenarios. Roman asks if Quetzy is ready, and she affirms as she's gotten plenty of magical energy from you.
  613.  
  614. >Quetzy: Now that we've come this fa- Mashu, duck!
  615.  
  616. Mashu does so and barely avoids a slash from Ushiwakamaru. Ushi tsks, as she'd finally been freed from her boring role as protector to go attack something. Roman is surprised at Ushi's sudden appearance, and belatedly realizes the Chaos Tide is masking any other signals. Mashu can't believe Ushi is standing in your path again, and demands to know if she's really surrendered both her body and soul to Tiamat.
  617.  
  618. I'm going to be honest here and admit I can't really decipher Ushi's speech patterns that great, so pretty much this entire scene is just my best guess.
  619.  
  620. Ushi replies that actually, she feels quite comfortable under Tiamat's rule, and that she can't think of anything better. She goes on a bit of a rant about how now she can focus entirely on her hatred, how she wants to kill all humans, and how she thinks murdering everyone in Uruk will be ecstasy. She adds that if you plan to stand in her way, then you'll just get swallowed up by the mud and die... Or maybe you'll end up like her? She thinks that would be nice. Then she says something about how in a few days she'll be the same as Tiamat, and be able to spawn familiars as strong as a demon pillar. And then a sudden topic change to how if something pesters her like a bug, then she'll smack it like a bug, just like she did under her elder brother, or something.
  621.  
  622. Mashu starts to bemoan that it's already too late for Ushi, but in what is becoming a trend Ishtar cuts her off to finish that thought. Ishtar adds that Ushi's interior is a goopy mess of hundreds of selves that could break off at any moment. She has no idea what monster might erupt out of Ushi, but Ushi thinks the answer is simple: hatred towards humanity. She calls herself a pillar of meat fashioned out of a million corpses. Ushi declares she's gone beyond the level Gorgon was at, and that she'll kill you all. Quetzy seems to take umbrage at Gorgon getting dissed, and tells you it's time to fight. As long as Ushi is here, Quetzy won't be able to freely use her NP. So you'll have to pluck Ushi out by the roots! Which is a hint that you need to kill the original Ushiwakamaru to stop the endless spawning. Ushi laughs to try it if you can, and proclaims that as long as she's there your plan will never succeed.
  623.  
  624. After you beat her, another Ushi spawns. She mocks you for still not understanding that fighting her is futile, no matter how many of her you kill. Roman wonders how you're supposed to beat her. Mashu notes that even if Ushi has become a different person, she still doesn't understand why Ushi wants to kill people so much. You voice the question, and Ushi is outraged. She asks (you) why you've been protecting humanity up to this point. You think the Lahmus are horrifying, right? She agrees. But she also thinks that there's no difference whatsoever between humans and Lahmus.
  625.  
  626. Ushi starts unsubtly referencing the exploits of her adult self. How amidst an uncountable number of tragedies there was a single amazing exploit. How amidst an uncountable victims there was a single miracle. How amidst countless people measuring profits and losses, there was a single person acting selflessly. But their only reward was being disgraced by people jealous of what they had accomplished. She sneers that humans are always like that: they swarm around but a single miracle and mockingly ruin it. Ushi is furious that she and her fellow soldiers had to fight, had to be killed for people like that. She believes it's time to correct humanity, and her solution is death. Wipe the slate clean, and start all over again. Only then can humanity be saved. She begins spawning even more enemies, and Ishtar notes that if Ushi keeps dividing her soul like this, even she doesn't know what kind of monster Ushi will turn into. Ushi laughs, and shouts that she'll never let you lay a finger on Tiamat, that her mob will slaughter you.
  627.  
  628. >???: I am sorry, but that is impossible. Amidst the masses, a single hope can only be snuffed out.
  629. >???: But why would you deny your single great achievement?
  630.  
  631. Turns out Benkei's not dead (I'm not sure about his lines either by the way). He begs your forgiveness for showing up at the eleventh hour. Considering your dialogue choices, he's also presumably covered in wounds, but he laughs that his limbs are still working so he's in perfect shape. Benkei declares himself a cowardly, honorless insect, but even so he'd like you to entrust his lord's failures to him. He grabs Ushi, who angrily demands this "third-rate actor" to let go of her. Benkei refuses, and in what might be a reference to the original myth says something about how he will not let go even if he dies. Ushi is silent for a bit, then says sure. They can die together. She stabs both him and herself... Not that this will actually kill her. She muses that she'll be sans traveling partner now, and adds that as she is now Benkei had no hope against her. She pauses, then quietly notes that if Benkei had managed to survive this long, it would've been fine for him to just hide somewhere. She ponders that she wouldn't have expected this kind of foolhardy courage from Hitachibou, which I think may be the first time she addresses the fake Benkei by his actual name.
  632.  
  633. But Benkei still isn't dead. He's quite scared of his imminent death, and notes that no amount of resolve could have prepared him for this. But it isn't resolve that's driving him: it's anger. He tells Ushi that the hatred she feels now was not bestowed upon her by Tiamat. Her rage against humanity was always within her... and he couldn't stand that. He tells Ushi that she used to be someone who always saw things differently from everyone else, someone as free as the wind. He sighs that being a genius is a sorrowful situation, and that ultimately Ushi died alone. Then I think he says something about how surely the true Benkei wouldn't have wanted that.
  634.  
  635. Anyways, Benkei can't stand to see Ushi so consumed in rage. Ushi tells him to shut up, and screams something about how she feels like she's splitting apart. She doesn't understand why he'd give her a sermon now, and Benkei laughs and agrees that it's ridiculous. But preaching is all he can do. The two start to glow, and Ushi bewilderedly observes that Tiamat's authority is leaving her. Then she corrects herself, and realizes that she's being separated from Tiamat. She demands to know what Benkei is doing.
  636.  
  637. >Benkei: ...Nothing in particular. As Benkei, it is only natural that I should do this! This time, I will stay with you to the end!
  638. >Benkei: If the Sea of Origin is my foe, then even my name can be of some use!
  639. >Benkei: Now, let our karma burn to ashes in the Western Pure Land! The Pilgrimage of the Five Hundred Arhat!
  640. >Benkei: ...Yoshitsune-sama. Please forgive me for my long absence...!
  641. >Ushi: ...Fool. You always worry about the most idiotic things.
  642. >Ushi: I wouldn't be this pleased if I were receiving a coward's life.
  643. >Ushi: To go as far as to become a sage, good grief... No matter how far a fool may go, he's still a fool...
  644.  
  645. Both Benkei and Ushi vanish. After a pause, Mashu reports that they died together, and that Tiamat's guards have vanished. After his own brief pause, Roman agrees then says there's no time to grieve. He asks if Quetzy is ready, and she affirms, saying she's also made up her mind. She warns your group to run away as soon as she flies up to confront Tiamat, because if you're too close you might burn up too. You ask if she's really ready, and she chides you not to make such a long face. Leave it to her.
  646.  
  647. Quetzy soars up to Tiamat and addresses her as the Sea of Origin. She says she empathizes with Tiamat's sorrowful situation, but all the same the world now belongs to humanity. Quetzy refuses to acknowledge Tiamat as she is now, a mass of hatred with neither reason, nor purpose, nor even a mind.
  648.  
  649. >Quetzy: The Mesoamerican gods live alongside the forests and animals! They exist for the sake of those who would fall to ruin without the blessing of the sun!
  650. >Quetzy: The past stands before you!
  651. >Quetzy: So too does the present. And so too does the future. Come, winds! Come, lightning!
  652. >Quetzy: Now is the time for the dawn's morning star to shine! Feel the shine of the sun as well!
  653. >Quetzy: Piedra del Sol! [The Sun Stone]
  654.  
  655. Tiamat screams in pain, and the surrounding Chaos Tide dries up. Mashu then very awkwardly stands in as a narrator, and describes Quetzy being 100 meters in the air, that a massive heat source is there too, and that the solar wind is evaporating the Chaos Tide. Ishtar shrieks that it's hot, and asks Mashu to put up a shield. She ushers you behind Mashu too. Then she grudgingly recognizes Quetzy's capabilities, and mutters that she can't believe Quetzy had such a powerful trump card. Had she used it against Uruk, it would've burnt to ash in an instant. Then she notices something is wrong and screams Quetzy's name.
  656.  
  657. Up in the air, Quetzy is being attacked by Lahmu. She's annoyed at how eager they are to attack a helpless target, but also laughs that they're too late, she's already done. She's all prepared to head back to your side, but then the Chaos Tide comes back. Or rather, as Mashu realizes, more of it is flowing out from beneath Tiamat. Mashu continues to narrate and observes that Quetzy seems to be trying to activate her NP again. Ishtar wonders if Quetzy intends to burn herself out.
  658.  
  659. Quetzy grimaces that the Lahmu attacking her can transform into drills, and are practically missiles. Her shoulders, abdomen, and thighs have all been pierced. She jokes she can't even hear the sound of the ten count anymore, and admits that even she, famed for her toughness can't take much more. Then, she thinks of (you). Quetzy gets her second wind, and triumphantly shouts that she won't halt Piedra del Sol until the Lahmu tear her limb from limb. Or until Ereshkigal gets her part of the plan ready. Then some Chaos Tide splatters around, and Quetzy jokes that now there's literally some mudslinging going on. But even that won't stop he- Then Quetzy realizes what Tiamat is doing. The Chaos Tide rising up is forming into wings.
  660.  
  661. Down below, Mashu reports that Quetzy has stopped her NP and is now returning. Quetzy lands, and then immediately jokes about how Tiamat (who she starts off addressing with a respectful suffix before changing her mind and removing it in favor of ruder terminology) was a real tough cookie and a total heel. You'd have to be a moron to fight her up front! Ishtar agrees, and announces the end of the operation. You've managed to dry up the original Chaos Tide from the ocean, but there's nothing you can do about the replacement Tiamat spewed out. Ishtar recommends returning to Uruk to come up with a new plan. Quetzy says no, and tells Ishtar not to be so negligent. Ishtar should understand full well that there's no longer any point in going back. If your group fails to stop Tiamat now, then she'll just make it to Uruk and put all of the effort so far to waste.
  662.  
  663. Ishtar asks what they should do then. Does Quetzy want to burn herself out? Because if that's the plan, Ishtar's got her own trump card. Quetzy denies it, and finally tells the group that Tiamat can fly. You ask if that means everything you've done so far was pointless, and Quetzy unfortunately confirms it. Drying up the Chaos Tide isn't enough anymore, since if Tiamat can fly then you can't drop her into Irkalla. Ishtar protests that Tiamat being able to fly makes no sense, since she's an earth goddess. Quetzy interrupts her rant to address you.
  664.  
  665. >Quetzy: So, [Your Name]? Sorry, but could you give me one last thing?
  666. *smooch*
  667. >Ishtar: Wai- What are you doing?!
  668. >Mashu: *blush*
  669. >You: This is... Mucho... Mucho...
  670.  
  671. Quetzy happily declares she feels 100% again, and prepares for another round. Mashu tries to politely point out that that's an awful idea, since Quetzy is still heavily injured. Somewhat echoing Benkei, Quetzy says that as long as her limbs are still attached she's fine. She's a phoenix, after all.
  672.  
  673. >Quetzy: Ishtar.
  674. >Ishtar: ...What?
  675. >Quetzy: I'll be going on ahead. I leave the rest to you.
  676.  
  677. Ishtar says goodbye (or to be more specific she says the thing Japanese people say to see someone off when they leave), and says she'll be expecting an amazing lucha libre move. Quetzy says of course, and asks you to watch as well as she scores a knockout high in the sky.
  678.  
  679. Flying back up to meet Tiamat, Quetzy observes that no Mesopotamian weapon could even scratch Tiamat. But! Quetzy's body is a weapon of the land itself. To a god of a distant land like herself, a Mesopotamian god is nothing special.
  680.  
  681. >Quetzy: I'll show you the underworld of Mesoamerica [Xibalba], the force of the collision that destroyed countless lives.
  682. >Quetzy: Let my body be a fiery stone, a comet that destroys the land!
  683. >Quetzy: Here I go: Ultimo Tope Patada! My burning spirit, Xiuhcoatl [Flames, Burn Down Even The Gods]!
  684.  
  685. The screen fades to black. There is a slam, and then a falling sound. And then you can just barely hear it, but the Spanish language weeps from what Nasu has done to it.
  686.  
  687. Down below, Mashu is stunned at Quetzy's sacrifice. Roman reports that while the attack made Beast II retreat slightly, it didn't cause any major damage. Tiamat roars, and then Roman further reports that she's counterattacking with another surge of Chaos Tide. This is bad, because the Wall of Napishtim is very close. Mashu observes that both the Chaos Tide and a countless number of Lahmu are approaching, and desperately asks you for orders. Roman continues to report bad news and declares that the Wall of Napishtim has broken, and that the Chaos Tide is heading toward Uruk. Furthermore, he's picking up a magical reading from Tiamat's back: she's forming wings. Roman asks Ishtar if she can do anything, since the skies of Mesopotamia are her domain. Ishtar shoots back that if she could do anything, she would've already. But even her bow is useless against Tiamat.
  688.  
  689. Mashu continues the report, and says Tiamat is taking off. She's about to bemoan that Uruk is doomed, but then she notices a change in the situation. Black snakes are erupting from the Chaos Tide and dragging Tiamat down to earth. Ishtar is amazed that Tiamat is losing in a contest of sheer power, and wonders who could be doing this. Meanwhile the Lahmus are very angry.
  690.  
  691. >Lahmu: Let GO... Let GO, let GO, let GO! FilTHY, impoSTOR...!
  692.  
  693. Then a Lahmu charges you, causing Mashu to panic. But then a newcomer smacks it away.
  694.  
  695. >Gorgon: ...Hmph. The only filthy things here are you lot. You laugh like humans despite being nothing more than egoless mud.
  696.  
  697. Ishtar and Mashu are stunned. Roman is to, as he announces that he's picking up the reading of the goddess Gorgon. He warns you to be careful, but you just tell him to shut up.
  698.  
  699. There are dialogue options for this scene, but it feels to me like only one choice is actually correct. I went with them for this summary.
  700.  
  701. >Gorgon: ...
  702. >You: Thank you, Gorgon.
  703. >Gorgon: ...Think nothing of it. I simply chose of my own free will to gain revenge on Tiamat.
  704.  
  705. Gorgon tells you not to get in her way, and then you fight some Lahmus.
  706.  
  707. Afterwards, Gorgon observes that she can't keep Tiamat confined much longer. Not in her current form, at least. Mashu asks if Gorgon will cooperate with your group, but Gorgon reminds you that to her you're all eyesores. She adds that you'd just get in the way, and actually you just being here is irritating her so just run back to Uruk already.
  708.  
  709. Gorgon says she'll smash Tiamat's wings.
  710.  
  711. >Mashu: Th-Then we really should cooperate! We can all be together agai-
  712. >Gorgon: Don't make me laugh. You lot can barely deal with the Lahmu, you've lost Quetzelcoatl, and on top of all that you're covered in wounds.
  713.  
  714. Gorgon points to (you) and observes you're on the brink of dying from magical exhaustion. Mashu too is in no condition to be holding up her shield. Gorgon has no need of weaklings, so you should just do what weaklings do and flee to safety. Mashu tries to protest, but you tell her it's time to go. Gorgon approves of your ability to understand your own limits. Then Roman warns that a fourth wave of Chaos Tide is coming, and that if you stay where you are you'll get swallowed up. He agrees with Gorgon, you need to go now. Ishtar also agrees, and points out that with Quetzy gone you no longer have a convenient ride. She says Mashu will have to carry (you) away... Or should she do it? Anyways, she reminds you that Maanna is her property and that once the singularity is restored she'll be expecting something in return from Chaldea for loaning it out.
  715.  
  716. >You: Mashu, let's go.
  717. >Mashu: But... But, Senpai! That Gorgon is An-
  718. >You: There's no need to say the obvious.
  719. *Mashu starts tearing up*
  720. >Gorgon: Go. A farewell is unnecessary. After all, I know nothing of you lot.
  721. >You: Thanks for everything up till now.
  722.  
  723. You leave. Ana drops her act, and muses over how in the end she never got to say goodbye. But you apparently passed her the wreath at some point (maybe when she died before?), because she says that receiving those flowers was more than enough. She turns to Tiamat and explains that she didn't force your group to go just so they could escape. She also didn't want to show (you) her form as a monster, a reason she admits is pretty silly.
  724.  
  725. >Gorgon: Regardless, I shall give you a real injury now. It will be a return gift for the actions I've done as you up until now.
  726. >Gorgon: In my great snake form, I can send even the dragons of the earth plummeting to the ground! My composite divinity, has reached critical fusion point...!
  727. >Gorgon: Dissolve all! Pandemonium Cetus [Forced Seal, Pandemonic Temple]!
  728.  
  729. The screen fades to black. There is a tearing sound, and then some slash effects. You hear the sound of a Heroic Spirit vanishing before the screen returns. And then Tiamat moans.
  730.  
  731. Further off, Mashu quietly confirms that Tiamat's "right side" (her right half? her right wing? I dunno) has crumbled away and that Gorgon has died. But despite that, Tiamat still seems to be in good health. Roman agrees it's harsh, but reminds her that you need to go. And fast, because the fifth wave of Chaos Tide is incoming, and with the dam gone you'll be swallowed up in a tsunami. He urges you to return to the castle walls of Uruk. Mashu agrees, and then (politely) picks you up. She doesn't want to waste even a second of the time Quetzy and Gorgon bought for you.
  732.  
  733. Back at Uruk, everything is burning and Lahmu are everywhere. One Beil Lahmu in particular starts cackling about how two goddesses have fallen, but then Gilgamesh kills it. He snarks that no matter how much the Lahmu may try to imitate language, they're still just animals of low intelligence. Then he praises the results of your operation, saying it was the greatest outcome he could've hoped for. He also says something about how even though they were goddesses, they were still good company.
  734.  
  735. Gilgamesh observes that nobody could've seen Tiamat being able to fly coming, so being able to seal it off like Quetzy and Gorgon did was straight up a miracle. Were it not for their efforts, than Uruk would've already fallen. But with that said, they still didn't buy nearly enough time! He muses that whatever the situation, goddesses sure do tend to be useless. The Chaos Tide is making a road for Tiamat to travel, so she'll be in Uruk in two hours. He demands to know if Ereshkigal has finished constructing the "Gates of Irkalla" yet. She replies not to be ridiculous: she's rushing it with magic, but it's just too wide. She says something about how they're breaking up the roads of Irkalla to try and match the topology or something, I dunno, it's architecture stuff. But the point is, no, she's not ready yet.
  736.  
  737. Gilgamesh curses, and wonders if the future he foresaw really is unchangeable. Then, after a pause, he decides that's not right. After all, trying to change the future is why your group is even now still desperately scrambling around.
  738.  
  739. >Gilgamesh: Very well then! Come, oh divine Tiamat! I shall strike you back into the Imaginary Number World with all that Uruk has to offer!
  740. >Gilgamesh: Make haste and return, Master of Chaldea!
  741. >Gilgamesh: For I shall show to you Uruk's final move!
  742.  
  743. ---
  744.  
  745. Rough Translation of dialogue before the final battle:
  746. http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/6031-Fate-Grand-Order-Story-and-Lore/page1261
  747.  
  748. ---
  749.  
  750. Gilgamesh dies on the surface but shows up again for the final battle because it takes place in the underworld and his ghost is there.
  751.  
  752. Ereshkigal dies from breaking the laws of the underworld by helping humans (the buffs in the last few battles, excluding the HP regen which is from Merlin). This happened while the party was fighting Tiamat, so they don't know about it, only Ishtar does. The last conversation between the two has Ereshkigal saying she might be able to meet Guda again and Ishtar going "but that would be a different you without the same memories" and yeah they're basically just saying she'll be a servant later.
  753.  
  754. There's no further mention of King Hassan after the fight. He just shows up and does his thing, you get him as a support once, and that's it.
  755.  
  756. When King Hassan shows up, Merlin says that the conditions for him to get involved were already here, since the Beast had appeared. At the end, he also says that the Beast being here was a condition for not just Hassan but also for him to get involved (due to the stuff about grand servants fighting beasts?)
  757.  
  758. Chaldea itself is now being drawn towards Solomon's singularity, the Grand Time Temple Solomon, and if they collide Chaldea itself will be entirely annihilated.
  759.  
  760. ---
  761.  
  762. Some bullet points on the whole Enkidu/Kingu thing I thought I'd share.
  763. Correct me if I'm wrong on anything or add anything else you know.
  764.  
  765. >Enkidu was loved by the people of Uruk.
  766. >Some civilians even called him "green friend".
  767. >The Soldiers called him Enkidu-sama.
  768. >When the real Enkidu died, his body was preserved in a mausoleum (?) and civilians would go and visit him.
  769. >Uruk and the underworld are connected (?) So if a person dies, only the body dies but the soul remains in Irkalla (?) The exception to this is Enkidu because he is technically not human, he is a vessel with a soul. When his body dies, his soul is gone forever. That's why Gil and Enkidu can't never be reunited (Ereshkigal comments on how tragic this all is or something)
  770. >One day Enkidu's body disappeared from the mausoleum and Gil got very angry
  771. >When Kingu was "born" (his soul was "plugged" into Enkidu's vessel) he immediately knew that he wasn't Enkidu
  772. >Some civilians recognized him and he got angry. He could sense his body's memories but he knew they weren't his own.
  773. >He was very conflicted when fighting Uruk soldiers. He didn't want to kill them but he thought it was because of his body's feelings.
  774. >Kingu always refers to Gilgamesh by his full name, never Gil.
  775. >Kingu has full control of Enkidu's vessel when fighting. Except when he encounters Gil. He can't fight Gil. His body won't listen to him. That's why he always retreats.
  776. >Gil knew immediately that Kingu wasn't Enkidu. He never calls him Enkidu, only Kingu.
  777. >Kingu almost died when Tiamat betrayed him (How did this happen again?) and took the Holy Grail he had (did he have one to begin with?) and apparently it left a hole on his chest after it was removed (?)
  778. >Kingu had a conversation with Solomon's soul (Please someone expand on this, I didn't get any of it)
  779. >When he was injured and almost dying, he unconsiously goes to a place called Heavenly Hill (?) This is the place where Enkidu and Gil met and became friends.
  780. >Ishtar (or someone else, I don't really remember) tells Gil that Kingu no longer had a grail so Gil starts looking for him.
  781. >Gil found him at Heavenly Hill (he knew he was going to be there) ang gave him a grail.
  782. >Kingu got mad thinking that Gil was helping him because he too thought he was Enkidu
  783. >Gil was like "fool I never thought you were Enkidu, you're a citizen of Uruk, it is my responsibility to help the subjects of my kingdom"
  784. >Kingu still didn't understand. He said there was no reason for Gil to help Tiamat's "tool"
  785. >When Gil was leaving he said "use that grail and close that hole in your chest...I don't want to see his body disappear again in front of my eyes" "You're free, you are not the gods' tool, you have your own will and you're free to do whatever you want" (or something like that, very rough translations here)
  786. >Kingu was like "I don't have anything I wants to do"
  787. >During the final fight against Tiamat, Kingu helps Guda because he realized that the only thing he wanted to do was protect Uruk. Gilgamesh's Uruk.
  788. >"I wanted to see him again" "I wanted to talk to him again" "There are so many memories in this body that I wanted to share with you, Gil" (This is the only time he refers to Gilgamesh as Gil) These are all thoughts Kingu has had but has been ignoring
  789. >"But I can not do it for I am not Enkidu, I'm not the gods' tool either, I am Kingu"
  790. >He awakens Enkidu's Enuma Elish to fight against his own destiny.
  791. >Gil sees all this and is pleased to see that Kingu stopped thinking of himself as a tool.
  792. >When Kingu fights as an Avenger Roman (I think it was Roman) mentions Kingu can be summoned as any class, except Lancer.
  793. >It seems that the real Enkidu (you) summon knows of what happened with Kingu in the story and in his bond5 line he says that he'll too start to think of himself as a real person and not just a tool.
  794.  
  795. ---
  796.  
  797. Merlin has the potential to be a Grand Servant, though he's not right now
  798.  
  799. Romani mentions that all the servants who qualify to be Grand Caster have some form of farsight. For example Solomon can see the past and future, Merlin can see all of the present, and Gilgamesh can see the future.
  800.  
  801. Da Vinci says that Merlin has been secretly helping Chaldea out by giving them (or rather Prometheus) fuel all this time. He can do so because Avalon exists outside of time.
  802.  
  803. Da Vinci also asks how and why Merlin is here as a servant. Merlin can't say why, aside from how he has "ties" to this singularity. As for how, because this age exists before he was born and his body doesn't exist in it, he can postulate that he's dead in this world, and thus be summoned as a servant.
  804.  
  805. ---
  806.  
  807. That reminds me: Merlin says that Gods that care about mankind are suffering from bugs in their programming. The proper gods with only one function (god of war, god of death, etc.) don't care about humans, but the ones with multiple functions tend to love mankind, and he says this is not natural for them and probably caused by how having to handle so many different roles messes them up.
  808.  
  809. ---
  810.  
  811. Ana is a quiet child who hates everything inside until she gets out and talks to people more and realizes that she doesn't really hate everything. She eventually becomes the second Gorgon you see who helps you out.
  812. Original Gorgon hates humanity for "taking everything away from her". She wants to destroy Uruk. She does offer to make you her subordinate if you understood her though, but that's neither here nor there.
  813. Tiamat converses only in the song noises, but what can be inferred from her profile is that she wanted to kill everything and everyone that currently exists and revert the world back to where things are only born from her primordial ooze. Those that can "hear" her beyond that are only her children, but the most you get from that is the dream sequence in chapter 5.
  814.  
  815. ---
  816.  
  817. Gilgamesh says that Tiamat doesn't have any will anymore; Upon becoming an Evil of Mankind she ceased being the Tiamat that Ishtar had heard about, and became a system to destroy the world.
  818.  
  819. ---
  820.  
  821. Gilgamesh stays dead at the end. He says he had to die anyway due to the whole changing history thing (he has to die so that the next dynasty can start), and is glad that he had an excuse like this so that he didn't have to do something pathetic like off himself.
  822.  
  823. Anyway pretty much all of the humans are dead and at the point where there were only 500 survivors left he says that there aren't enough people for there to be a country left anymore.
  824.  
  825. ---
  826.  
  827. Roman says that Chaldea has decided to name the black mud "Chaos Tide".
  828.  
  829. Previously, Kingu had told Ushiwakamaru while she was captured that Solomon had named the black mud "Chaos Tide".
  830.  
  831. ---
  832.  
  833. The Gilgamesh in this chapter is the "wise king" version from after returning from the journey for immortality.
  834.  
  835. Ishtar says he used to be a horrible piece of shit who cared nothing for others and would kill people on a whim.
  836.  
  837. He says that the form he took on during the final battle (Archer) was from his prime, when he went down to the underworld.
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