Fate/Zero (Seasons 1–2)

Fate/Zero (2011) is a Japanese anime series you can watch online on iFILM. Set ten years before Fate/stay night, it covers the Fourth Holy Grail War — a ritual battle where seven mage-Masters summon legendary Servants and fight to the death. The prize is the Grail itself, which grants one wish. The entry fee is everyone else's life.

The anchor is Kiritsugu Emiya, a former hired killer now carrying the impossible goal of world peace into a tournament that punishes idealism. His opponents range from Kayneth El-Melloi, who insists on honorable dueling, to Tokiomi Tohsaka, whose Servant happens to be Gilgamesh. Studio ufotable animated the action sequences with a visual density that was ahead of its time, and writer Gen Urobuchi structured the story less like a shonen battle series and more like a cold-war political thriller: every alliance is temporary, every promise a trap.

Twenty-five episodes across two cours, released through 2011 and 2012. It plays as a standalone even without prior knowledge of the franchise — though if you've seen Fate/stay night, this prequel fills in the wreckage. Stream every episode of Fate/Zero online on iFILM.