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In the prologue to Unlimited Blade Works, we see Rin drop her pendant after saving Shiro's life. She doesn't bother picking it up, and later, Archer returns it to her.

However, in the first "main" episode, we see that Shiro picks up the pendant and takes it home after he is revived, and he doesn't encounter Archer until the next day. So it doesn't seem like Archer could have intercepted him at some point and retrieved the pendant. Moreover as additional support for this, when in episode 12, he topples Rin's jewelry chest, he sees her pendant and notes that it's exactly the same as the one he remembered seeing that night. So it looks like Shiro believes the pendant he finds at Rin's house is different from the one he has.

Is there a contradiction or omission here? It doesn't seem like Rin has more than one pendant, from the narration in the beginning of UBW.

Maroon
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    Writing this because I was confused in the first season, but at the time, I just chalked it up to me not paying enough attention to what was going on. Then when I watched the ongoing season, I realized that I was on to something. – Maroon May 15 '15 at 07:24
  • Why are you asking something that is going to be explained the VERY NEXT EPISODE? – Euphoric May 15 '15 at 13:07
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    @Euphoric: it seemed like a useful question (in that I'd imagine other people might have the same question), and moreover, it's something someone could have picked up on only watching the first three episodes. It's just that I only really remembered that Shiro had a pendant at ep 12. – Maroon May 15 '15 at 13:24
  • Coz' Archer is the future self of Shiro. That's why there are two pendants in the series where Archer returned it to her and where Shiro keeping the pendant in his house. – オレンジ May 17 '15 at 13:03

2 Answers2

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I've only just started the second season, but from a combination of the material here and what I've gleaned from sources like the Wikia, I have something of an answer.

There is no contradiction or omission, in that there isn't only a single pendant involved in the series. In the first episode of the second season, we have this exchange.

[Shiro shows Rin the pendant.]

Rin: Huh? How did you get that?

Shiro: Anyway, you can have it back. I have another pendant like it at my house. After Lancer nearly killed me at school, it was lying next to me. I picked it up, and I've had it ever since.

To this, Rin seems surprised. So barring any weird, supernatural duplication, there must be more than one pendant.

N.B.: it seems that Rin's pendant is unique. Archer tells Rin that she shouldn't lose it again back in the beginning, and that it suits her (and not others). From both my guess and the Wikipedia episode list, it looks like Shiro was returning the pendant from Rin's room, although the English dialogue isn't completely clear on this. (I could not tell if Shiro's explanation for having one of the pendants was supposed to explain why he had the one he was returning. But this is more plausible, and perhaps Shiro didn't realize that the pendant lying next to him after he almost died was necessarily Rin's, even if he remembers her in the hallway.)

However, this doesn't explain where Archer got the pendant he returned to Rin. Now, Archer's true identity is:

Shiro of an alternate timeline from that of Fate/stay night [...] He is summoned because he still has the jewel pendant that Rin used to save his life after Lancer stabbed his heart. The jewel he owns is the actual catalyst used for his summoning rather than the one that Rin still has at the time of his summoning. (Source: Wikia)

So it must simply be that

Archer gave Rin his own pendant (which he obtained from her in another timeline in a similar fashion to this one), and implicitly lied about picking it up.

Update: I'm watching the UBW movie now, and Shiro tells Rin when returning the pendant that

I didn't realize [it was yours] until I saw one with the same shape in your home.

So I'm not sure if the conclusion I gleaned from Wikipedia about which pendant was being returned was right. The anime series would suggest that he simply took the pendant out of Rin's chest and is returning that one, but here, it looks like Shiro is returning the pendant that he'd kept after being revived.

Update 2: the visual novel (which I would consider "canon") makes it clear that Shiro is simply returning the pendant he found at Rin's house (i.e. the one Archer "returned"), when he explains to Rin where he found the pendant he's returning:

I found it in your room. Oh . . . You might get surprised when you get home, but I'm sorry. I tipped over your dresser . . . Well, I have the exact same pendant at my house.

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Maroon
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    It should be pointed out that there is a 4th conclusion of the Holy Grail War which isn't shown in any media. in this conclusion the Holy Grail War didn't end well as The Shadow went on a rampage (Archer recognizes it and thinks to try and defeat it *this time* when he sees it in Heaven's Feel). so regardless what Shirou does with Rin's Pendent matter not especially in Unlimited Blade Works because in it Rin will guide Shirou so that he doesn't become a Counter-Guardian and end up as bitter as EMIYA did. – Memor-X May 17 '15 at 22:11
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    Also should note that Archer knew the pendent he had was Rin's because he saw her use it to save Shirou. for the most part of the other Routes Shirou doesn't learn who saved his life so it stands to reason Archer didn't as well in his time (i think i remember Rin mentioning to Archer it was one of a kind before he gave back his) – Memor-X May 19 '15 at 22:31
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Archer is Shirou!
Basically that's it!
Because Shiro was grateful about being saved, he kept the pendant and even as a heroic spirit he kept it. There is only 1 pendant; the other one came from another time and space!

senshin
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