#so their tendency towards emotional overreaction was both a temporary and fixable problem

[xcal1bur25]

It's my hot take that the most infuriatingly tragic part of the whole Artoria and Mordred dynamic is that Mordred was actually the perfect heir, one who could bridge the gap and be the leader Britain both needed and wanted, whereas Artoria could only ever be the former.

However, Artoria's perfectionism, the impossible standard that she held herself to, meant that she would judge even a perfect clone of herself as an unworthy heir. And Mordred isn't a perfect clone of Artoria, Mordred...is a flawed one. A version of Artoria who laughs loudly and rages louder, who wears their heart on their sleeve, whose love of battle is second only to their loyalty to their people. A version of Artoria who is, unlike the original, undeniably, unquestionably, human.

It's the perfect irony. Artoria's true heir is a homunculus who is more human than she ever seemed to be. A weapon forged with the sole purpose of destroying her that hardly needed convincing to swear undying loyalty to her kingdom and ideals. Every bit as brave, every bit as selfless, every bit a born leader (after all, the rebellion did not gather around Mordred out of nowhere) as their father. But also, not an inhuman machine, someone who could laugh and celebrate with their soldiers as much as lead them. One who could be seen to share in their people's anger and joy and grief and everything in between. Everything their father was, and everything their father didn't realize she needed to be, despite an origin and upbringing designed to create the exact opposite.

But because of Artoria's perfectionism, because she saw every bit of her own humanity as the thing that would destroy her country, instead of saving it. She could not understand that for all a king must exist for their people, a king must be of their people as well. Artoria looked her perfect successor in the face, she looked the solution to all her ever-growing problems in the face, she looked the embodiment of all the humanity she was trying to pretend she didn't have in the face,

and she said no.

And for that, Camelot burned.