Ep 3. Raising The Curtain

In Fate/stay night season 1 episode 3, titled "Raising The Curtain," we see our protagonist, Shirou Emiya, continuing his apprenticeship under his Servant, Saber. He's still working hard to learn how to fight as a Master in the Holy Grail War, but he's not making as much progress as he'd like.

Meanwhile, a new character is introduced: Rin Toosaka. She's a fellow Master in the war and a student at Shirou's school. She seems to know Shirou and Saber already, and she seems to have an interest in Saber specifically. Rin and Shirou end up having a tense conversation in the school hallway, in which Rin warns Shirou to stay out of her way.

That same night, Shirou has a strange dream in which he sees a woman who looks like Saber, but with longer hair and different clothes. He wakes up feeling confused and unsettled.

The next day, Rin and Shirou are both called to the church by their mutual ally, Kirei Kotomine. He's the overseer of the Holy Grail War, and he wants to brief them on a recent development: one of the Masters has been killed. Kirei doesn't know who did it, but he suspects that it was either a rival Master or a rogue Servant. He cautions Rin and Shirou to be careful and not to trust anyone too easily.

That night, Shirou has another dream in which he sees the same woman he saw before. This time, she speaks to him, telling him that he needs to protect the people he cares about and that he shouldn't hesitate to fight for what he believes in. Shirou wakes up feeling more determined than ever to win the Holy Grail War and protect his friends.

The episode ends with Rin confronting a mysterious figure in a dark alley. The figure turns out to be another Servant, archer. Rin and Archer exchange tense words before deciding to form an alliance in order to take down the other Masters and Servants in the war.

Overall, "Raising The Curtain" is an important episode in the series because it introduces Rin Toosaka and sets up a new alliance between her and Archer. It also hints at the deeper connections between Saber and the mysterious woman that Shirou sees in his dreams, setting up a larger mystery that will likely be explored later in the series. Most importantly, the episode shows Shirou starting to come into his own as a Master and setting aside his doubts and fears about fighting in the Holy Grail War.