GUNDAM SEED DESTINY EPISODE SIX: THE DAY THE WORLD ENDS
Okay, hopefully I'll pick up the ones I missed over the holidays, but it's Thanksgiving and I need something to do.
LAST EPISODE: The Minerva learns that Junius Seven is moving from its orbit, and will crash onto the Earth's surface unless stopped. The Voltaire and Rousseau are dispatched to help, with Issac in command and Deakka as his MS commander. Asuran decides he's going to launch with the other Minerva MS pilots, but the mission suddenly changes as Deakka's Meteor Breaker force is attacked... by ZAFT GiNNs?
The attack on Deakka's squad continues. The lead enemy pilot has a scar on his nose, and he expresses his desire to stop the ZAFT forces. Issac launches anti-MS weapons for his troops, and sorties himself at the same time. Shin combines the Air Strike Impulse. Cagali enters the Minerva's bridge, only to find Captain Gladys being informed that Sting's Squadron has sortied from the Phantom Pain. When Cagali asks what happened to Asuran, Dullindal tells her that he's out there. She's suitably shocked.
OPENING CREDITS. Hey, no real footnotes thus far. Deakka flies a Gunner Zaku Warrior, similar to the green suit Asuran uses but with (predictably for Deakka) a big anti-MS cannon as the primary weapon instead of the in-shield energy axe. I'll intro Issac's in-stream.
More meteor breakers are moved towards the surface as Issac launches. He's flying a Slash Zaku Phantom, and looks pretty similar to Abyss' MS mode. He goes to work quickly on the GiNNs, but Sting and Co. Show up and engage. Issac and Deakka aren't happy with their troops being shredded, and Shin hits the afterburners to catch up. His slower squadmates can't keep up, and Asuran expresses dismay that they're straying from the mission profile. Lunamaria thinks it's a good idea that they take out the attackers first, so that's what they'll do. On board the Minerva, Trine wants to attack "Bogey 1", but Gladys wants Dullindal's input. He doesn't want to think they're from Earth. Dullindal points out that the Bogey might think they're helping the attackers, which Gladys notes makes sense. Dullindal asks Gladys to contact Bogey-1, and she does so using the distress signals.
Lunamaria and Stella resume their duel, and Issac (1) opens up a HUGE double-headed axe before going to work. Asuran's holding his own nicely in the Zaku, dueling with Sting's Chaos and taking out one of the gunpods. Lunamaria's not doing so well against Stella, however, as she barely dodges a killing blow before scoring with a thrown axe.
On Earth, word is spreading about the impact crisis. The President of the United States acknowledges the problem publicly, and the broadcast is heard on a familiar small island with a helmet floating in the surf... and a robotic bird flying through the air. The TV inside is playing the Orb version of the President's address. Rakusu (2) and Kira are out on the front steps of the cottage that we last saw in "Beyond the Stars," listening to the President announce that they're going to get as many people to shelters as possible, but it won't be everyone. Jibril and his cat (3) are watching all the feeds in a monitor room. He's not happy, but not in a panic.
After the break, the first meteor breakers drill into the colony and start slicing it up. The message gets through to Roanoke's ship, but the battle continues. Shin, who dropped out of sight for a while, is tied up with Abyss, while Ray's clearing the GiNNs. The breakers are having an effect, and the colony splits in half. That causes Sting to pause, as he thought that the Minerva was helping the descent. Asuran transmits that splitting it in two isn't enough... and since this is his first broadcast on an open channel, both Deakka and Issac hear him. Issac calls him a bastard and gets pissed off at Asuran usurping his command authority... and Deakka hilariously sits back and lets the two resume their verbal sparring(4). Asuran and Issac team up to wipe out another trio of GiNNs, arguing all the way - Issac isn't going to take orders from a Civillian. They take the time to beat up on Chaos, and Shin's shocked as how good they are. Sting's Squadron gets a recall order from Roanoke - but Gladys notes that it might be because they're approaching the re-entry point. Lunamaria limps her damaged Zaku back to the Minerva. Gladys decides that the Minerva's going to go into the athmosphere and blast away at the falling colony, which is viewed as something of a suicide attack. She sends the Chairman off to Issac's ship, but Cagali doesn't want to leave until Asuran's safe. Issac and his team get their recall orders, but Asuran's still working on the last breaker. He knows the Minerva's strategy isn't guaranteed to work(5). Shin wonders why Asuran works for Orb, but their talk is interrupted by the last three GiNNs. The lead pilot (with the scar) says that his daughter's tombstone has to be dropped on earth, and that ZAFT has forgotten the grief of those who were killed in the attack on the colony. Asuran surely hasn't forgotten, as we flash back to his last visit to his mother's grave(6). The attackers apparently believe that the peace treaty was a BAD idea, and that Patrick Zara's ideas were correct (7). Asuran, apparently still bitter that he didn't get to kill his dad, attacks with more ferocity than we've seen to this point. Shin also takes out a GiNN, but is damaged when it explodes. In perhaps the MOTHER of all Gundam Flukes, the destroyed GiNN's head hits the meteor breaker and activates it.
The colony hits the athmosphere, as does Minerva, which sweeps back its wings for re-entry. The last of the GiNNs - Scarface, predictably - says that he wants to make the Naturals understand their sorrow (8), and grabs onto Asuran, but Shin saves him by slicing off Asuran's Zaku's legs, causing the Ginn to fall. While escaping, they can't pull it off, and Asuran falls into the same plunge Kira survived three years earlier...
... speaking of him, he's on the beach watching the wreckage burn up on re-entry. But there's still a pretty big chunk incoming....
END CREDITS. The song is still really good - not surprisingly, as it's sung by the same girl who did my favourite of the SEED entrance songs, "Realise"
NEXT EPISODE: The wreckage looks to hit Rome (the freeze-frame of the impact shows something that looks a lot like St. Peter's square, although I suppose it could be London since they showed a river in the previous shot) and if you saw Armageddon, you know what happens.
OVERALL: While I'm apprehensive about getting Rakusu back around, Kira's looming spectre is what this series needed to kickstart it. He's got plot points with Asuran, Cagali and most importantly Shin, and it'll be nice to see the Freedom in flight again. Presumably Asuran will get the Chaos eventually as a replacement for his melted-to-slag Zaku; no way he dies. I'd say this was the best of the series thus far, and up there with a good SEED episode.
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(1) His Slash Zaku is blue - the elite officers get custom paint jobs, and his is obviously a bit of a tribute to his beloved Blitz.
(2) THE SINGING PINK HAIR OF EVIL!
(3) Could this guy be any more of a Bond villian?
(4) The poor guy's been hearing it for too long.
(5) HOW he knows, I'm not sure - this isn't something that came up in SEED, AFAIK.
(6) I'll skip the Raven jokes.
(7) Yeah, NUKING THE FUCKING MOON was entirely rational.
(8) Then again, no Earth civilians were hurt by the Neutron Cannon....
- - - - -
Ignited
The new theme song isn't that bad, really. There's that one good bridge before what I assume is the chorus (on the opening credits, it's the bit with Stellar, Sting and Auel), but it's still a bit too peppy for me.
I got a bad copy of Episode II, but I'm not motivated enough to fix it right now. If anything pops up that requires a correction, I'll do so. Mainly, it just involves techie stuff translated badly... the price you pay for the rush job, I guess.
New ep tonight, the one Japan got half of before earthquake coverage forced it off the air.
GUNDAM SEED DESTINY: EPISODE TWO
I got lazy because I was distracted by the Sox and Yanks deciding to do a marathon game, but here comes episode 2:
TEASER: Same as last time. Cagalli (1). The attack. Sting, Auel and Stellar steal the Gundams. Sword Impulse Gundam. "ARE YOU TRYING TO START A WAR???"
OPENING. There's actually three groups of three established early - Asuran's old unit (Issac, Deakka), the Minerva crew (Shin and two other pilots we meet properly this episode) and the Earth Force trio. Song still isn't (2) great.
PHASE TWO: THE PEOPLE WHO CALL UPON FIGHTING.
Shin's still brawling with the stolen Gundams, as Asuran and Cagalli look on in awe. Sting has no idea what he's facing, as they didn't think that a fourth Gundam was in development, much less one as good as Impulse. Minerva's XO, Arthur Trine, reminds Shin that his goal is to capture, rather than destroy, the renegade suits. Minerva's captain, Talia Gladys(3), finally picks up on the fact that the suits have to be going somewhere, and warns the defence forces to be on the lookout for capital ships.
Not that it'll help, because the attacking ship is cloaked. ZAFT high command ain't listening, anyway. A... familiar... masked man is in command of the Earth vessel. A couple of stealth-painted Earth MSes (Dagger-class, IIRC) are sneaking near a launch tube on the surface of Armour One; Masked Guy orders them to "go... in a calm manner." Heh. The ship loads up its weapons (4) and launches a couple of regular Daggers. They're shooting for the Nazca-class ship ahead of them, specifically aiming for the Mirage Collider. The XO orders the Godfleet to fire, and the Nazca is blown away. ZAFT's other ships are stunned as the Earth ship de-cloaks... it's Archangel-class. They engage, with the Earth MSs appearing to get the better of the conflict. The stealth units seen earlier attack the port, and destroy a launching ship on the ramp. The entire colony, and specifically the participants in the engagement within, feel the shockwave.
Auel expresses shock that there's another new model out there, and Sting is loathe to leave it behind. All three move in on Impulse (5), and Asuran moves in to even the odds. Of course, Abyss blows the crap out of his suit, and Cagalli collapses, bleeding, into his arms. He retreats as more ZAFT suits arrive to take up the fight.
On the ground, Ray (Za Burrel, blonde guy who looks DISTURBINGLY like Terra from Teen Titans) gets into a damaged suit, and he clears wreckage off another so that Lunamaria (Hawke, the redhead from the previous episode) can hop in. Chairman Dullindal is urged to move to a shelter, and when that request is denied he's told to go to Minerva. Lunamaria and Ray join in the now-aerial engagement (6) and Auel starts to wonder if Impulse has a power limit. Sting orders Stellar away, but she's determined to bring down Impulse. Auel tells her "then you might as well die here... Leonia might as well say 'goodbye'" and that gets a reaction - Stella goes into shock, and Sting is shocked at what Auel did. She's trembling, and saying that she's going to die, and Auel said that he had no choice. As they climb, Lunamaria's damaged Zaku blows an engine.
MIDLINE.
Asuran tries to land, but the base is too thrashed. Cagalli's okay, and he decides to follow Dullindal, who's driving away. Outside Armour One, ZAFT's numbers advantage is starting to reduce the Earth ship's initiative, and the Masked Man decides to head out to buy some time. The Aegis is going out to join the fight. With Lunamaria and Stellar out of it, the air war is down to 2-on-2. Lunamaria lands on Minerva as Dullindal approaches.
The Aegis is, in fact, a pink version of Fraga's beloved Moebius Zero unit, with four independent gunpods that rain death upon the ZAFT troops. Ray then gets a "flash" of something, presumably connected to the Aegis' mysterious pilot(7), but he has no idea what it is. Stellar starts to try and blast her way out of the colony, and Shin calls for the Force Silhouette. Captain Gladys orders the launch, since it's not exactly a secret anymore. We get the launch sequence, and the Silhouette arrives in time to bail Shin out of a tough spot. He ejects the sword silhouette and the Force unit attackes (8). Shin's back in it with the extra speed, and shows off a neat new trick by ramming his electrified shield into Abyss. He then moves after Stellar, who's terrified of him; Sting saves by firing off a full barrage. That misses, but it blows a hole in the colony wall, and athmosphere starts venting. Everyone takes the chance to head outside, but Minerva's comm officer notices that Impulse's power is approaching the red zone. Capt. Gladys decides Minerva will launch in support.
Asuran and Cagalli land in Minerva's bay, and Lunamaria quickly grabs a gun and questions them. Gladys asks Dullindal to wait in a cabin, but he tells her that he won't be put on hold (9). Minerva preps for launch as Lunamaria questions Asuran; he tells her to put the gun down, and tells them who Cagalli is. What he doesn't do, however, is give his real name; he claims to be "Alex Dino." They request an opportunity to meet with Dullindal. Cagalli's name is enough to stop Lunamaria's inquisitiion.
Outside, the stolen suits board the earth battleship. Stellar's still pretty messed up, and talks to herself in the third person. The Aegis moves out, and Ray again gets an intuitive twinge. Minerva moves into launch position, as within Cagalli tries to question Lunamaria. When red alert is called, Asuran asks Lunamaria if they're going into battle... and CAGALLI CALLS HIM ASURAN (10). Whoops. Lunamaria sure as hell knows who he is NOW.
Impulse is engaging the Aegis, Ray's trying to catch up, and the Earth crusier's behind him. Minerva launches (11).
END CREDITS. End song still rules, and I now realise (heh) that the journalist is Milly Howe, ex-Archangel CIC.
NEXT EPISODE: Impulse v Aegis. Ray gets back inside, and Cagalli gets bandaged up. "The Portents of Crossfire," in one week (12).
THOUGHTS: Kinda blah episode after a good start, but it's one of those times when you have to get a bunch of characters from point A to point B, and it's probably better to do it all at once. The masked man is sure being painted as Fraga, but who knows what's happening considering all te clones running around these series. Then again, not many pilots are good enough to take a MA up against a Gundam and live; maybe only Fraga is capable of that kind of miracle. Still, there wasn't much plot to this one, and I'm amazed the review turned out as long as it did.
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(1) Might as well TRY to get the "correct" spellings worked in along the way. Still not going to change Asuran, though.
(2) SOX WIN! SOX WIN! BACK TO THE SLUM!
(3) We get the name in segments throughout the episode, so it's okay to put it here. I doubt the XO will ever get a proper introduction.
(4) Typical EA stuff - the Godfleet cannon, etc.
(5) Impulse has a nice proximity system that I don't think we saw in operation on any of the older suits.
(6) They're both flying Zaku MS units, but Ray's in a white Phantom, more of an officer's suit.
(7) We're obviously supposed to remember the Fraga / Kruuze connection, and associate this the same way. I don't think it's Fraga under the mask, but I'm prepared to eat my words if it is.
(8) THERE'S the traditional Gundam blue on Impulse. It's an upgraded version of Strike's Air profile, basically.
(9) They're pretty close - he calls her "Talia. "
(10) MORON! God, she's still as dumb as a post.
(11) Still not as cool-looking as an Archangel-class.
(12) Seriously, that was it. Not much to that particular preview.
- - - - -
Okay, here we go - Gundam SEED Destiny (I'll just refer to it as Destiny, to differentiate it from SEED)
Phase 01: Angry Eyes (1)
We begin with a return to Episodes 38-40 of SEED, as the Earth Alliance attacks Orb, and Freedom launches from the Archangel as a defender (3). A family is escaping the main city to get to an evacuation ship, but Calamity lands nearby and starts to trade fire with Strike, in a scene I beleive we saw in that arc, but from a different perspective. The daughter (4) drops her phone, and the son, Shin, slides down the hill after it. An exchange of fire between Calamity and Freedom (5) then produces an explosion that knocks the kid down the hill, phone in hand. An Orb soldier runs over to him, but when the kid sees a hand in the burning wreckage, he runs over to get it... only to find it's disembodied, and the broken bodies of his family are scattered up the hill. Going for the phone saved his life... but that's not much of a consolation. He stares up at the duel between Freedom, Calamity, Raider and Forbidden, and screams.
CREDITS. Geez, and I though KIRA had issues. And the pink-haired evil that sings is back. Fuckers.
OPENING NARRATION: C.E. 72. The year and a half-long war between Earth and PLANT gradually met its end after the battle at Jachin Due. Eventually, under a mutual agreement between them a treaty was made at Unius Seven to achieve peace, equilibrium and walk on... (6)
One year Later, at Plant Armoury HQ. We get an intro to the new ZAFT mecha, but I'll let those sit until we get up to full speed on who flies what. I will mention the heavy mech GazuOOT, however; the name's just too goofy for me to give it a free pass. ZAFT is prepping for something to take place the next day as we see a girl being shuttled into the base proper. She's heading to a ship that's identified as the Minerva, tasked with moon defence. A long-haired ZAFT leader gets out of a helicopter, and starts discussing the Blue Cosmos with a subordinate (7). Kagari gets off a shuttle, and the ZAFT leader is told that the "Princess of Orb has arrived." (8). Kagari's bodyguard, sporting a pair of the girliest shades in history, complains that she's not dressed appropriately. It's Asuran, of course, and I guess he wants her to show more skin. Like the cute blonde in the spaceport that Asuran notices... guess the Kagari / Asuran relationship is as abmiguous as ever. Asuran ID's the new ZAFT chairman as Dullindal - he presumably took over from Issac's mother at some point in the last year (9). Kagari's on her way to a secret meeting with the man himself. They engage in diplomatic talk, and note that the situation still hasn't stabliised. Kagari doesn't want a military action, obviously.
Back on the street, the blonde from before is checking herself out in the mirror, and since we know where this is going I'll point out that it's obvious she's not used to civillian dress. She starts dancing down the street, and her two compnions glance back, dismiss it as her being weird, then continue. She eventually runs into Shin, who catches her and cops a feel in the process. His friend calls him on it as I have Love Hina flashbacks due to Shin's reaction. He's still got the cell phone.
MIDLINE... brings us the evil one. AAARGH! (10)
Dullindal is trying to justify the creation of new ZAFT MS forces. Asuran isn't happy with the look of the suits. ur mysterious three goofy-hair-colour friends are picked up by a jeep, which seems unusual. Dullindal is addressing Kagari as Princess, and she's not happy about it. He keeps pushing her buttons, reminding her that Orb can't get involved in a military action as the result of a treaty. If they do, ZAFT will "revise our contract." He believes that the use of military force is inevitable... sooner than he thinks, as the trio are snuck into the ZAFT base by their undercover friends, and arm themselves with submachine guns (11). Blondie prefers a knife. They storm the base, and she uses it - the blue-hair is ID'd as Auel (12); he seems to have a thing for Matrix-esque moves. Dullindal reminds Kagari that there'll never be an end to the conflict. Auel helps me out by ID'ing greenhair as... oh, fuck it, I'll only get one shot at this:
HE... IS... STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! (13)
The three of them hop into three mobile suits... and, shock of shock, they've got GUNDAMS. Power up, and they all activate PS armour - the suits more or less co-ordinate with their hair; the only one off is Stellar (the girl), whose suit is black with a bit of yellow. Since some ZAFT officer is kind enough to ID them in a general manner, I'll make the specific IDs now:
CHAOS Gundam - green one, piloted by Sting. Transforms into mobile armour similar in construction to Fraga's old Moebius Zero unit, with the independent gunpods.
ABYSS Gundam - blue mech, bears a SCARY resemblence to the old S3 Transfomer Swoop, sans beard. Transforms into a Sweep-alike, optimised for underwater use if the credits shot is any indication. Basically, a transforming version of those low-level ZAFT mechs Kira beat up on when Archangel was crossing the ocean to Orb.
GAIA Gundam - as mentioned, the black one piloted by Stellar. Looks to be from the same line as Nikkoru's Blitz and the Earthforce's Raider suit, only that this one transforms into a jaguar-type mech similar to the ones used by ZAFT's desert forces.
The three saboteurs go after the hangars housing the ZAFT mobile suits, and ZAFT tries to respond by deploying their own suits. Kagari and Asuran know what's going on - the three stolen suits are Gundams (14), which means that the regular MSes are in deep trouble. Kagari and Asuran are escorted away, and Dullindal radios Minerva for help. A female ZAFT captain answers, and asks her subordinate Arthur to get on the circuit. Kagari and Asuran are separated from their escort as Gaia causes enough damage to cause an intact ZAFT MS to fall to the ground behind them. Asuran takes advantage and drags Kagari towards it.
On Minerva, "Impulse" is getting ready to go.
IMPULSE Gundam - piloted by Shin, it's ZAFT's version of the beloved Strike from SEED. Three weapons packs, or "Silhouettes" (that we know of), - Launcher, Sword, Air. Each one's different from the original package, as they involve MUCH heavier weaponry. Sword has two blades that combine into a lance, Launcher has two guns a la Buster, etc. The suit itself actually resembles a Gundam from the older series, as it's controlled from a jet fighter ("Core Splendor") that transforms into a torsal link between the Silhouette Sniper, Chest Flyer section (head and arms) and the Leg Flyer (obvious, no?). It can still form a Gundam with just the Core, Chest and Legs - the Shilhouette is added firepower, nothing more.
Core Splendor & associated parts launch from Minerva's central cat, in a manner similar to Archangel(15). Asuran's in business, standing his mech up for a duel with Gaia (16). He dodges, then tackles Gaia. Stellar draws her beam saber, but Asuran grabs an axe from his shield and fights back. Chaos comes in and hacks off an arm, but he's interrypted by Core doing a flyby. We get the first transofrmation sequence; the Leg Flyer attaches first, then the Chest, then the Silouette latches on and powers it up. It's RED at the moment, which looks a bit odd and kinda reminiscent of Heavyarms from Wing.
Shin's revealed as the pilot, and asks why anyone wants to start another war.
He then, of course, commences ass-kicking himself. Gotta keep to that Gundam tradition.
END CREDITS (complete with a REALLY good song... can't wait for the single, this is playlist-worthy.)
THOUGHTS: Not a bad kick-start. We only got introdued to a few new characters, and they got screen time to establish them right away. It IS weirdly similar to SEED; it seems like only the number of Gundams being stolen has changed. Here's hoping some of the fun characters from SEED show up sooner than later, though; I have the feeling Shin's gonna annoy me before too long with his inner rage. It's also tough to think of ZAFT as the "good guys," when they were always opposed to SEED's heroes. At least Earth was on Archangel's side, sort of.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Since there will never be an end to conflict, power will be necessary." Dullindal, establishing his heel role pretty early.
NEXT: Our mysterious masked man makes his debut as the battle between Impulse, Asuran and the three stolen mechs rages on. Little bit of capital ship combat, too... and no sign of the pink-haired singing evil. HAPPY HAPPY!
- - -
(1) I hope you're impressed by my restraint in not making a Toy Story joke(2).
(2) Yeah, the footnotes are back. I'm saving the Bart Allen joke for when he appears on Smallville in a couple of weeks.
(3) As there's no sign of Asuran, I'd place this at the tail end of episode 38.
(4) Mayu, as we find out later. She sure as hell isn't around to introduce herself.
(5) Freedom fires last, AND we last saw Calamity on the ground near the family. Presumably, Shin will be assuming that Kira killed his family - makes his choice in Gundams a little inappropriate, though. The feud is sorta confirmed in the credit sequence, although it's obvious Asuran takes the second-string lead role again, rather than Kira.
(6) Walk on what? This is a U2 song gone bad. I'm assuming it was supposed to be move on.
(7) Apparently, Archangel blowing their leader to hell and back didn't stop the movement. Of course, that may not be much of an impediment in Gundam.
(8) Well, YEAH... but her father wasn't king. And she'd presumably be the queen, since... aw, screw it.
(9) Or her ascendancy to power in the final episode wasn't much more than a temporary thing, Asuran's dad being shot and all.
(10) Thankfully, she's not in this episode outside of the bumpers.
(11) The complicated security system involves... a keycard. Sheesh, at least the Gundams in SEED took a bit of WORK to get near.
(12) Which is as good as any a name... no way to Westernise it that I can see.
(13) Thank you, Gary Michael Cappetta.
(14) No word if they're nuclear-powered mechs or not; it's unknown if the N-Jammers are still in effect with the peace treaty being signed.
(15) And notably different than all ZAFT ships we've seen before.
(16) I'm left wondering which designer keeps giving these things such spacious cockpits.
- - -
Not bad... only an hour to watch and type. I'm getting better at these.
Oh, and I'm actually kinda going to use the real names this time, although I'm going to use the Americanised ones from the old series where applicable, since "Athrun" sounds like you've had your mouth stuffed with cotton balls.
Don't even get me started on Yzak. Yzeesh.
Mercifully, a lot of the leads have normal-sounding names this time out (not had to screw up "Shin"). And I don't have to re-think the spelling of the pink-haired death.
Yeah, we're going to try the play-as-it-goes method to Gundam SEED Destiny.
First episode is in, and the usual ramblings will be posted later today if all goes well.
(First thoughts: new theme stinks, new suits ROCK, new ending song's good, everything else is too early to pass effective judgment on)
Just posting something so it doesn't go dormant. I'll finish off Gundam Seed eventually - I've already sorta done the last 15 eps or so.
Turning Point, Part 2: The one Sven doesn't have a subbed version of.
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED
EPSIODE THIRTY: A FLASH OF THE MOMENT
In the an example of Murphy's Law, the key episode of the series is the one I find myself lacking subtitles.
The ending sequence of the previous episode is replayed, with Nikkoru's death.
CREDITS
Asuran and Kira look at the smoking remains of Blitz. Deakka and Issac land, see the carnage, and immediately go after Kira, who's saved by cover fire from Archangel's flak cannons and retreats. The surviving Kruuze squad members do likewise, as Asuran's still badly damaged.
Kira gets out of Strike, and the ground crew starts congratulating him on the kill. He shouts them away, then Fraga shows up and offers Kira a handshake. Kira stalks off, with Fraga in pursuit. Fraga tries to tell him that death is an inevitable result of their jobs, even if Kira didn't really want to do it. (1)
On the ZAFT carrier, Issac is really pissed... and his pounding of the lockers eventually gets to the previously-stoic Asuran, who shoves him into a locker (2). Issac storms off, but Asuran notices that his slam opened up Nikkoru's locker. Asuran opens it up, and Nikkoru's sheet music falls out. This causes Asuran to cry into Nikkoru's uniform... and decide that Kira will die for this.
Archangel's getting closer to Alaska. Torhu, in the mess, is entertaining the crew with tales of the previous battle, and seems to be brushing off Kira's actions. Kira's with Strike in the hangar (3). Asuran's ship, meanwhile, has picked up Archangel on their sensors - it's passing through a group of islands, and presumably has to slow down a bit as a result. They launch on jet-sleds, alterting Archangel. Kira passes Frey on his way to respond to the alert, and she tries to apologise, but he blows her off.
Archangel is in trouble, as the three Gundams are on her before any mobile units have launched. Fraga eventually does so, carrying the launcher attachment and telling Kira to keep safe. Kira's already on deck with the Air Strike package. Fraga starts a long-range duel with Buster (4) as Kira flies up to engage Duel and Aegis. Asuran, however, has a new plan - blow up Archangel's weapons as they charge to fire. This has DEVESTATING effects on the ship, throwing sparks through the bridge and setting off major explosions. Frey simply hides in her room. They open up with the Gotfreit cannons to try and hold off Asuran for a bit... but he takes out one of the ion cannons, critically wounding Archangel. Torhu leaves the bridge to get SG-2 in the air, as Kira's tied up with Duel. He does, however, manage to blow off Duel's leg. That lets Asuran take out Kira's blaster, sending him crashing to the ground.
Torhu launches as a storm descends.
Kira and Asuran go one-on-one on the ground as we see a strange man in a cabin overlooking the battle and the Archangel, which manages to make a controlled crash despite its serious internal damage. Buster moves in to finish, but Fraga saves the day. The two ships wind up with a bit of mutual destruction - Fraga blows off nearly half of Buster, but Deakka manages to knock out SG-1's engines on the way down. Fraga ditches nearby; Deakka crashes into a hillside near Archangel, losing power in the process. He's targeted by Archangel's one remaining cannon... and SURRENDERS. Even Ramiasu and the bridge crew can't really believe it, but they're safe for the moment.
Kira and Asuran are fighting and yelling at each other when Torhu reaches the battle scene and tries to interfere again. This time, however, Asuran's had enough of his annoyance, and just hurls his shield at Torhu. It crashes through the cockpit, and SG-2 blows up... leaving Milly with a simple "SIGNAL LOST" on her control panel. Kira gets pissed and drops a Seed, going after Asuran full-bore. ASURAN then responds by dropping a seed of his OWN (5) and they start tearing into each other's mechs (6). Asuran tears open Kira's cockpit before converting to fighter mode and clamping onto Strike... but even charging the main cannon is too much for his depleted batteries, and Aegis shuts down - still attached to Strike. Kira's trying to get his head lined up (7), so Asuran resorts to the only weapon he has left - Aegis' self-destruct (8). He gives himself ten seconds to get away... but that's not enough, as he's caught up in the shock wave of an explosion that's more than enough to blow Aegis, Strike, Kira and a good chunk of the island off the face of the Earth.
Phew. Now, the good stuff has officially started. Back next time for explanations of what happened to everyone, the answer to the question of how the series continues with Kira reduced to a pile of cinders, and howe (HA!) Milly deals with the news of Torhu's death. Archangel may have made it to Alaska, but the problems (and series) aren't over by any means.
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(1) This is the one scene I really need a transcription of. I got the tone right - Fraga's not happy with what he sees in Kira and is trying to talk some sense into him - but the actual dialogue is lost on me.
(2) And that even gets DEAKKA telling Asuran to calm down, which says something.
(3) FOUR replays of the death scene, now. Guess they were a bit short on time.
(4) Fraga pretty much fights him to a standstill.
(5) Okay, WHAT!?!
(6) Literally - Aegis is down to two limbs and mising a head by the end of this fight; Kira's lost his left arm and most of his torso.
(7) Most Gundams have machine cannons mounted on the head, which would be more than enough to kill Aegis now.
(8) If you ever need to blow up a mech piloted by Asuran Zara, his password's 2887. I'm sure that, somewhere, MSGW's Duo is bitching that they got to use the self-destruct while he still hasn't.
