I pulled this off from the Animesuki forum:
That SM/ FSN xover make more sense when you think about it. Archer and Saturn are both Counter Guardians. And would the Senshi try to kill them if they knew the truth?
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell
Quote:
First off: Eireis!
Legendary heroes who have gained fame, power and prestige back when they were alive: these are known as Eireis. These Heroic Spirits accumulated fame and power during their lifetime, have been known to accomplish great deeds and thus, even beyond their deaths, were remembered as figureheads of mankinds.
Basically, they're the epitome of the hopes and wishes of mankind. Eireis are basically legendary people who have really done deeds beyond their nature - such as slaying "troublesome beasts" way stronger than them (cause sometimes they aren't just beasts at all, it's a rough collective term to use, but oh well). They have averted great danges and have been remembered for their deeds and acomplishments (wow, this line is repetitive). You have to remember, however, that back then, humans were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay stronger than they are now. Bedivere was able to run way faster than a normal human, that's an example.
Anyways, when these legendary figureheads die, they become Eireis. They are absorbed by the Throne of Heroes which goes beyond the concept of time, as well as worlds - basically the Throne not only transcends time, but every parallel world of Earth. Eireis are stored depending on the information that the Throne has accumulated back when they were alive up to the point of their death. Not every deed of the hero will be recorded by the Throne, but (IIRC) those that are more remembered by the people. Stuff like that. Importance and the like. oh, and what's important is to remember that once recorded by the Throne of Heroes, an Eirei will always exist. And even if a paradox will force the world to rescind the Eirei's existence, it will still exist. As to how I don't know.
Anyways, these Eireis are kept in the Throne of Heroes, as spirits with neutral personalities to be accessed by the world or Araya. While Eireis are beneficial to humanity - they are, after all its protectors, there is a darker side of Eireis that Archer realized.
As for memories, in order for these perfect culmination of humanity's hopes and dreams to become untainted, these Eireis remember nothing after their death, they only remember what has transpired during their lifetime, as well as what the Throne of Heroes has recorded for them. After their death is a different story - they have records which involves information of their duties (what they have done as Eireis) stored within the Throne for the main spirit to access (IIRC yet again). These records however are not direct memories - they're like, well...diary entries, for the lack of a better comparison.
So we come to: Counter Guardians! The other Eireis.
Well, we all know that humanity is not all-knowing, omnipotent and omniscient, despite every effort at doing so. And, usually, due to limited human knowledge and self-awareness, we often cause more harm to ourselves and others than good.
But what if the harm is enough to endanger the greater good of humanity? Here comes the Counter Guardians. These are Eireis tasked to respond to dangerous situations - usually where massive destruction can, and, or will occur - only when human intervention is at work. In other words, if humans foolishly caused the trouble, in some way or another, Counter Guardians will be sent to eliminate the problem - by eliminating any and all humans within the vicinity (or so it's implied).
Think of this as killing the few for the good of all. Archer was an Eirei to have become a Counter Guardian - this was the pact he unknowingly made with the world. Also, Archer is the only Eirei that's relegated into being a Counter Guardian, so I can assume that most Counter Guardians are usually nameless "Eireis" in a sense.
If Eireis exist to protect humanity from anything that threatens it (Type-Human? Hilarious), then Counter Guardians also exist for the same purpose - but only if it was done by human hands, and it usually involves human casualties. Tsk, nothing we can do there.
See why Archer sudenly hates his existence?
On to: Servants!
As repeatedly stated, Servants are simply Heroic Spirits, yet weaker than they should be. The Servant system of Heaven's Feel makes use of the pre-existing Eirei system within the Throne of Heroes as the Greater Grail works to access the Throne of Heroes.
Servants are, first of all, unrestrained to physical bodies. This is what makes them sooooooooooooooooo dangerous. They cannot be harmed by conventional weapons - guns, swords, knives, missiles, heck, even nukes. Scary! Hence, why Servants are harmed and killed only by hougus, or sorcery-enforced attacks (Souiichirou giving Saber a beatdown was because he was superbly reinforced by Caster).
These Servants, however, are only copies of the real Eirei that is existing within the Throne - the same case when the Grail uses Eireis/Counter Guardians to accomplish a particular task. So you cannot say that you can actually kill the Eirei behind a Servant. It's impossible. You can kill the Servant, since they are only temporal projections of the Eirei they are based on. A little roundabout, yes?
Servants are way weaker than Eireis. Eireis are way stronger than Servants. But Servants are given consciousness and personality when they are summoned and utilized, unlike Eireis who are summoned as pure power (fuyuki wiki, and most especially arai of Beast's Lair, I credit you for all this info! It's impossible for me to impart such knowledge otherwise!).
As for Servants depending on how they perform based on how they were back alive, that depends on you - rather, the Master. Even if the Master can provide high amounts of mana to the Servant, their MGI affects their mana capacity, still limiting their performance unequal to their performanc eof when they were alive. They may be weaker in performance, but nothing beats having a spiritual body that you can dematerialize or materialize at will! Oh, and one of the benefits is that it literally makes you unkillable, unless another Servant doesn't think very highly of you.
...I think people might understand this or not, to clear up some misunderstandings? Also, this is by any means NOT CANON or not that definitive. I just wanted to get some points across. Pointing out more would involve a longer post. XD;
That SM/ FSN xover make more sense when you think about it. Archer and Saturn are both Counter Guardians. And would the Senshi try to kill them if they knew the truth?
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell