Fate/Zero serves as a prequel to Kinoko Nasu’s visual novel, Fate/Stay Night. Most of the Fourth Holy Grail War contestants are in some way (usually by blood or surrogate parenthood) related to the contestants in the Fifth War. One of these exceptions, though, is Waver Velvet. When the audience first meets Waver, he’s a student at the Clock Tower, a Mage institution of higher learning. His professor, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, humiliated him in front of his class by insulting Waver’s idea that a mage can rise above the limits of their bloodline. Determined to prove himself, Waver participates in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Of the seven Masters seen in Fate/Zero, Waver is one of three to make it to the end of the War alive, being spared by Gilgamesh. He then continues his studies well into adulthood. Here, we find him as Lord El-Melloi II, having taken over the late Kayneth’s class and conducting investigations at the behest of the Mage’s Association. This is what the series The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II revolves around. And with the first season already being concluded, here are some exciting ideas of what could be in store for fans next season.
A Waver and Rin Time Jump
Troyca
The original visual novel, Fate/Stay Night, is an example of a parallel-style story. Rather than revealing its intricacies in chronological order, it’s instead divided into three separate timelines with a recommended reading order. The first and second of the three routes, Fate (named sheerly for the confusion of fans explaining it to newcomers) and Unlimited Blade Works, respectively, end with the notion that following the Fifth Holy Grail War, Rin Tohsaka and Waver use their combined effort to destroy the Holy Grail itself, ending all future wars.
However, this disagrees with many members of the Mage’s Association. It essentially triggers a fallout (or, to use terms of the extremity, a civil war) between those who want the Grail’s destruction and those who don’t.
So for a future season of The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II, it would be interesting to see both Rin and Waver in action, dismantling the Grail. This would be an exciting turn of events on several levels. For starters, the audience would get to see the (hopefully) creative and revamped designs of both Rin and Waver. Additionally, the audience could see what they’ve learned. Rin is already a talented master mage, but seeing just what she’s learned over the past ten years would certainly be a spectacle. The same applies to Waver. Although not necessarily a talented mage by any stretch of the imagination, he is nonetheless intelligent. And seeing just how his skills develop after ten years would make longtime viewers proud, having known him since his humble beginnings in Fate/Zero.
But it wouldn’t just be the two of them putting their skills to use against a static object. Surely mages from all over the Fate world would take massive issue with the pair’s actions, wanting to keep the Grail system in place. Namely, Zouken Matou (a combination of Voldemort and Emperor Palpatine, squared) would be a major force acting against our heroes. It would practically be another Holy Grail War in on of itself and one that would make for great television.
Waver Surpassing Kayneth
The introduction of Waver in Fate/Zero occurs simultaneously with another participant in the Holy Grail War: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Serving as one of Waver’s professors in magecraft, Kayneth scolds Waver in front of the class for daring to believe that a mage from a lesser bloodline could overcome one that comes from a more fruitful family. An explanation of what exactly is meant by a “fruitful bloodline” in Fate is in order.
Mages pass on the magecraft that they learn to the next generation through “magic crests.” Once a mage has inherited a magic crest, anything that they learn then gets added to the crest and passed onto the next generation, and so on. Essentially, it is possible for a single mage to possess the combined abilities of entire generations, so long as the crest is passed on consistently. Kayneth argued that the number of times the crest has been passed down is a solid, undeniable metric for just how powerful a mage is.
This, of course, is easy for him to say, coming from a family with a long history. Waver tried to counteract this argument with his paper, saying that Kayneth’s proposed system of judgment isn’t as clear-cut and that it is possible for a mage from a lesser bloodline to overcome someone from a “superior” one.
So in the next season, Waver officially surpassing Kayneth is absolutely necessary. In the world of Fate, though, this won’t be easy to demonstrate nonverbally. Therefore, someone who knew Waver and Kayneth would need to confirm it outright. Perhaps an authority on magic, like another professor who was a colleague to Kayneth and now Waver. This would certainly contribute greatly to Waver’s character arc, knowing that he wasn’t wrong and was on the right path the whole time.
