If episode 1 of 'Fate/Zero' introduced the identities of the seven Masters,
Then, starting from episode 2, the origins of the seven Heroic Spirits were revealed to the audience.
At this point, viewers who had previously read the setting materials on Su Yan's official website found it much easier to immerse themselves.
As for those who hadn't done any "homework," they had to follow the plot while simultaneously digesting all the new lore.
And…
These vividly characterized Heroic Spirits quickly captured the audience's attention.
The towering, open-minded yet ambitious Conqueror King—Alexander.
Watching a legendary king from history descend into the modern world and learn about all kinds of new things left audiences amused.
Even though he was summoned alone, his first thought was still to build an army and conquer the world.
When his Master, Waver, expressed that his wish was merely to win the Holy Grail War and prove himself to those who looked down on him for his low lineage—
He was promptly smacked away by the Conqueror King, who mocked him for lacking ambition.
Thus, the impression of "the Emperor domestically disciplining his young bride on their wedding night" was firmly etched into viewers' minds.
And the line—
"If you want people to respect you, why not just use the Holy Grail to wish to grow 30 centimeters taller?"
—instantly broke a lot of viewers emotionally.
Then came the explanation of the three Command Seals on the Masters' hands, which could control the Heroic Spirits.
And of course—
the battle scenes and visual effects that audiences had been eagerly waiting for.
Since it was an ensemble cast, the episode also interwove warm daily moments between Kiritsugu Emiya and his daughter Illya.
And—
The revelation of the female lead Saber's true identity: King Arthur.
A king historically known as the King of Knights… was actually a woman.
There was also the legendary scene of pulling the sword from the stone, saving the nation in its time of crisis.
And ultimately, the story of her downfall—betrayed by her own subordinates.
Then there was the seventh Master, Ryuunosuke Uryuu, and his Servant.
Add to that the dazzling entrance of the golden king—the Hero King Gilgamesh—appearing in the sky, with countless weapons floating behind him in the magnificent display of the Gate of Babylon.
And finally, at the end of episode 2—
The clash between Saber and Lancer.
After this episode aired, audiences in the Xia Nation fully realized:
This wasn't a romance.
This was a fantasy, action-heavy battle series.
And even with just two episodes out, the show's worldbuilding, mythological background, and historical lore had already exploded in popularity across the country.
["So in the story, King Arthur is recorded in history as a man, but is actually a woman? Is that even possible?"]
["How could her subordinates not notice? She's that beautiful—how did they think she was a man?"]
["But according to the official setting materials, she had a wife, a child, and was even 'cuckolded' by a subordinate named Lancelot… what's going on there?"]
["As the story progresses, the author keeps updating the setting materials. But given the fantasy world with magic and all, it's not that hard to understand, right? If mages exist, why couldn't a girl become king? Just use magic to conceal her appearance. As for marrying another woman and having a child… yeah, she probably really got betrayed. Maybe Lancelot is the father."]
["I just realized—Kotomine Kirei's Servant, Hassan, seems really weak. Gilgamesh defeated him instantly."]
["That was clearly an act! Didn't you see that Kirei and Tokiomi Tohsaka were putting on a show?"]
["My point is—even if it wasn't an act, Gilgamesh could probably still defeat Hassan instantly."]
["After watching two episodes, this feels like the most detailed and complex setting Su Yan has ever created. Even though the setting materials only briefly touch on the background, it really feels like a fully real world exists behind it…"]
["Especially after Artoria's identity was revealed, the official Dimensional Pictures website immediately released her character biography."]
["Honestly, that biography made me cry. A king who saved her nation, drew the sword from the stone, ruled diligently for years without a moment of rest, yet was feared by her subordinates for being too rational and lacking empathy. She fought bloodily on the Hill of Swords, and due to her own decisions, her subordinates rebelled, leading to the kingdom's collapse… And her final wish before death was to return to the day before she became king, to choose not to draw the sword, to live as a simple shepherd girl—believing that way, the kingdom wouldn't have been destroyed because of her…"]
"Wait, the female lead Artoria has that much hidden story?"]
"Yeah, it's all on the Dimensional Pictures website. And it updates every week along with the episodes. Just half an hour ago, they uploaded the Conqueror King Iskandar's biography."]
["Why didn't they include all this in the TV series?"]
["I heard some of it will be adapted. The Su Yan said in an interview that certain character backstories will be filmed, but released as paid content on streaming platforms after the series finishes airing."]
["So do I have to read the setting materials to understand the show?"]
["Not really. Su Yan said you can understand the main plot without them. The setting materials just help you better grasp the world and characters. If you're interested after watching, you can check them out. If the main story doesn't hook you, reading them won't help anyway—they're just supplementary."]
["Alright, I'm going to read the setting materials now."]
["The show keeps saying how amazing King Arthur and the Conqueror King are, but I didn't really feel it—yeah, these materials really help."]
["Su Yan is taking this project really seriously. None of the previous works had this level of detail."]
["Well, now that he's famous, of course, he's more careful. Building a reputation is hard—but destroying it only takes one bad show."]
As the series aired, discussions about the 'Fate' franchise's characters, mythology, and lore grew increasingly popular.
Originally, 'Fate/Zero' was created after 'Fate/stay night', though its timeline takes place earlier. Many characters' charm and backstories were already established in 'Fate/stay night'.
When 'Fate/Zero' was written, its author Gen Urobuchi assumed readers were already familiar with 'Fate/Stay Night'.
But in the Xia Nation, 'Fate/stay night' didn't exist as a game.
To minimize barriers for viewers, Su Yan put in significant effort to compile and publish all this mythological background online.
Additionally, Artoria's storyline from 'Fate/stay night'—which greatly contributed to her character appeal—would also be gradually released alongside the show.
After all, much of her charm came from Shirou Emiya witnessing her past through their contract.
Compared to SakuraNet, the paid video platform,
Su Yan's Dimensional Pictures website had the highest traffic that night.
The site lagged heavily due to the overwhelming number of concurrent users, like a university course registration system under peak load.
Yet fans still eagerly stayed up late, reading all the additional materials and story content.
The next morning—
On the Xia Nation TV character popularity rankings, Artoria took first place by an overwhelming margin.
At the same time, the actress who played Saber—Zhuang Yuxin—suddenly surged into the top five of the female celebrity popularity rankings.
Normally, such rankings were dominated by top-tier actresses.
But Zhuang Yuxin had achieved it…
in just two weeks.
It showed just how terrifying the popularity of Su Yan's new drama was.
By noon, episode 2 of 'Fate/Zero' reached a viewership rating of 5.32%, once again ranking first for the week.
As for second place—Zhongxia TV's suspense drama 'The Riverside'—its second episode only reached 4.81%, a significant gap that posed no real threat.
Media outlets also began flooding the space with coverage.
Some called it the highest-quality masterpiece in Xia Nation television history.
Others praised it as a work that created an entire fictional world just for a single drama.
Some of the praise was so exaggerated that even Su Yan felt secondhand embarrassment reading it.
However, Dimensional Pictures wasn't focusing solely on 'Fate/Zero'.
It was already mid-January. In about twenty days, the film version of 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' would premiere during the Spring Festival season.
The cost of on-location shooting and set construction alone had exceeded 200 million yuan.
And to handle the massive marketing push required for the Spring Festival season, Su Yan had invested nearly another 200 million into promotion.
It could be said that—
Based on box office revenue alone, the film wouldn't even break even unless it surpassed 1 billion yuan.
But having experienced the film industry in his previous life, Su Yan placed great importance on marketing.
A movie's quality depends on its story and production—
But whether it makes money depends heavily on marketing and promotion.
He had seen films with nearly identical plots—one version barely earning a few million, while another adaptation, with different producers and marketing, earned hundreds of times more.
That was the power of marketing and capital.
Of course, a massive population base also played a decisive role.
In his previous life, Su Yan had looked down on such practices.
But now, in the Xia Nation, since he had the ability—
He had no intention of avoiding marketing.
'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' was a good film.
There was no reason to leave it hidden in an alley.
Relying purely on word of mouth without promotion?
That would just be foolish.
If other films received proper investment and promotion—
Then 'Rurouni Kenshin: Movie' would too.