Fate/Zero 2nd Season Episode 3 Discussion

food said:
Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi [Name]
Kayneth demonstrated genius level talent during his time as a student. He was the youngest lecturer to grace the podium of the Department of Evocation in its history. His skills were not only in research, but also politics. Due to his great lineage, he had extensive connections. He was expected to form the greatest faction in the Clock Tower.

He did not participate in the Holy Grail War due to necessity or duress, it was merely to add a splash of "martial prowess" to his life's story. That was it. Although he did not severely underestimate the Three Founding Houses, he did boast that Lord El-Melloi could overwhelm them by skills alone.

The reason Kayneth brought many dangerous Formal Wears had nothing to do with research, but for entertainment value. Kayneth had talents not only in Spirit Evocation, but also in many fields of magecraft. He was really a man of many talents like Gennai Hiraga or Cao Cao.

Kayneth even considered the Heroic Spirits ---- Servants, to be part of his stock of Formal Wears. Because he never acknowledged the humanity of Servants, he did not understand Diarmuid's loyalty even until the very end. As a result, he effectively lost through self-destruction.

However, Diarmuid was not choosey of his Master, he would acknowledge anyone who would accept his loyalty. As a result, he did not understand Kayneth as a person either. If Diarmuid really appreciated Kayneth's talents and experience, then Kayneth would have treated him with a much softer attitude.

To Kayneth, unable to bond with his Servant was the second most unfortunate event at the worst. The most unfortunate event by far was encountering Emiya Kiritsugu. Although as a mage, Kayneth won by an enormous margin, as a killer, he was miles behind Kiritsugu. It was inevitable that Kayneth would lose in a melee such as the Holy Grail War. Because of Kayneth's sudden death, his many valuable research accumulated in the Cloak Tower was unorganized and left unattended. Although they were almost lost, the most useless formal student suddenly appeared to save the day. He had an unusual talent of "could not put magecraft to practice, but ingenious in the reinterpretation of theories and classification of systems". This student eventually compiled a tome named "Lord Kayneth's Encyclopedia of Arcane Secrets", which laid the foundation for the flourishing of House El-Melloi and its descendants.

By the way, in the Fourth Holy Grail War, the following strategy would insure the absolute victory of Team Lancer:

-Kayneth must not let his Servant recognize such things as honour on the battle field or knights' pride. He must let Diarmuid realize that the Holy Grail War was merely dirty chores that needed to be done.
-In order to fulfill the previous item, Kayneth must avoid any contact between Diarmuid and Sabre with his best effort.
-In combat, Kayneth must prioritize securing an exit. In a battle, missions would be considered accomplished if Diarmuid scored one hit with Gae Buidhe. Repeat this tactic, and exhaust all hostile teams.
-Capitalize on Team Berserker. Team Berserker was a powerful enemy against all other teams, but Lancer had an advantage due to compatibility. It would be optimal to let Berserker destroy the other teams and reach the finale. He could then be defeated at that point.