However, they still used certain means to control Shirou Emiya, which was equivalent to controlling Saber.
Saber knew Shirou Emiya's father, Kiritsugu Emiya. She was one of the few who retained memories of the previous Holy Grail War, so she knew Shirou Emiya was Kiritsugu Emiya's son, though she did not know he was an adopted son.
And Shirou Emiya had left Saber with a very favorable impression. She felt he was completely different from his bastard father.
Originally, the Reincarnators thought they only needed to proceed step by step and emerge at the crucial moment to reap the benefits and win the Holy Grail War.
But after seeing the First Emperor, they realized something was wrong.
The First Emperor had actually defeated Gilgamesh. The previous winner had been eliminated, while the First Emperor was so powerful that no one could match him. At the very least, according to what they knew, absolutely no one in this Holy Grail War could defeat the First Emperor.
Fortunately, they held their strongest card.
Saber!
To further strengthen Saber, they removed Avalon's scabbard from Shirou Emiya's body, allowing Saber to regain her scabbard.
Saber immediately evolved into "Scabbard Saber"!
How strong was Scabbard Saber?
With Avalon, she could remain invincible. After all, once Avalon was activated, no one could harm Saber within it—though Saber could not attack either.
But the retcon was that in the 2006 version, she activated Avalon to withstand Ea head-on, then cut down Golden Flash with one stroke. With the scabbard deployed, Artoria could move and even reflect attacks.
And even if the scabbard was not used for defense, it was still an enormous boost.
Before obtaining the scabbard, a single Curry Stick could drain her completely. After getting it back, she could fire off three Curry Sticks in