Thanks as always, to everyone for your comments and replies and answers to (non-spoilery) questions and the like. This has been a really fun trip to share with you all so far. Oh, and to let the appropiriate repliers know, I will be careful with the opening credits for SEED Destiny when it starts (probably just skip them to avoid spoilers). I've also ordered the various Astray manga from Amazon and hope to read them soon, to ifll in the gaps, so to speak.
And now for my impressions and review of Episodes 36 thru 40. Wow... soooo much stuff happens in these episodes!
Chaos ensues at the ZAFT military headquarters, following the disaster at JOSH-A Alaska base. Chairman Zala is informed that some of the PLANT council members have stormed the meeting room, including Eileen Canaver (I assume she's the councilwoman who informed Clyne of the change of target a couple of episodes ago), demanding an explanation of what happened with Operation Spit Break. Clyne managed to escape, he and Lacus are both at large, pursued by the government. Zala claims that info regarding Spit Break's true target was somehow leaked out, blaming Clyne, since his daughter was aiding an "enemy spy." (However, I'm 90% certain that Le Creuset is who leaked this info to the Earth forces, via the mysterious Azrael, for his own agenda.) Zala orders all council members who were close to Clyne, including Canaver, to be "restrained." Oh joy, here comes the martial law. Sieg heil, Herr Zala? Ugh...
Athrun arrives at his father's office and learns all of this, and is told that his fiance Lacus is a traitor. He's ordered to take the new Justice Gundam and pursue the Freedom Gundam, to capture or destroy it, kill the pilot and anyone he comes in contact with. Athrun learns from Nicol's father that the new mobile suits have nuclear powerplants and N-Jammer Cancellers, and if the Earth Forces find out about this, they'll start using nuclear weapons themselves again, repeating the Bloody Valentine/Junius 7 massacre.
Athrun goes to Lacus's home, finds a Haro, and relives some memories of spending time with her. He sees her rose garden, remembering a clue of where she might be, and goes to a symphony hall where she first performed. Lacus is there, singign her song of peace. She tells Athrun that she helped Kira because he needed the power of the Freedom Gundam. Lacus asks Athrun what it is he's fighting for and believes in. If it's for following orders, medals, and other nonsense, then Kira will be Athrun's enemy again - as will she.
Before Athrun can reply, they're stormed by government agents who had been following him, expecting him to lead them to Lacus. However, ZAFT soldiers loyal to the Clynes gun down the government agents, and help Lacus escape. As she leaves, she tells Athrun that Kira is on Earth, adn he should go have a talk with him. With this knowledge - and his orders from his father - Athrun boards the new Justice Gundam and leaves for Earth.
On Earth, the Archangel crew is happy (and shocked) to see Kira alive. He tells them he's not with ZAFT or the Earth Forces, and that no one is allowed to touch or collect data from the Freedom Gundam in any way, or he'll fight them. Murrue Ramius agrees to his condition.
I have to pause a bit here to comment on the Freedom Gundam (since I forgot to in the post for eps 31-35), and this is all personal opinion. The Freedom looks pretty neat, it's a nice solid design, and its wing fin/cannon things are kinda cool. It vaguely reminds me of the Double X, which isn't a bad thing. However, one trend I've noticed in some (but not all) Gundam shows when it comes to the standard mid-season MS upgrade is also an upgrade in size/bulkiness, and it's not necessarily something I like. It started with the ZZ Gundam taking over from the Zeta (my all-time favorite Gundam) as the lead in ZZ, and I've never been a big fan of its design - it's bulky and has far too much kibble. We saw this again in X, with the aforementioned Double X replacing the X as the lead MS. It doesn't look bad, it's a pretty decent design, but it's bulkier and tends towards a bit more kibble than the X. But I prefer the original X's slender, sleeker design over the bulkier Double X. And the same goes for the Freedom. I've been trying to decide on a SEED or SEED Destiny MG model kit to add to my new little collection of Gundam models, but I don't have much space or money, so I want to get one to represent the Cosmic Era stuff. I have pics of Destiny's Impulse and Strike Freedom on the covers of the DVD sets sitting here beside me, and while they look good, honestly, they look like almost straight-up rehashes of the Strike and Freedom. So far, based on only seeing the first 40 episodes of SEED, my favorite is the Strike - the first and the slickest and leanest of the designs. However, I'm going to hold off on getting a kit until I get through all the CE era stuff - maybe something else will come along to change my mind until then. We now resume our regularly scheduled episode block review!
Kira has a talk with the Archangel officers, where he learns about the EA forces' setup of Archangel, Eurasia and ZAFT, and he tells them that the PLANT leaders didn't know Alaska was the target, either. It's clear that both sides are being taken for a ride, and they have to decide their next move. Panama is out, since they're now deserters and they know what the EA brass pulled at JOSH-A. Kira tells them that they need to think about what they need to fight against. Murrue says she can't even remember why she's fighting anymore. Mu suggests they go back to the neutral nation of Orb. Sai and Kira also have a good talk, and Kira finds out Flay was transferred off the ship. It looks like these two are finally patching things up, and I'm happy for them.
This also marks a major transition point for our main cast of heroes, and that includes Athrun. This story is mainly Kira and Athrun's journey, about both of them caught up in horrible events and circumstances, forced to face some harsh realities, but somehow come through it and be both better people, and help make the world a better place. Well, the world isn't better yet, but I get the feeling it's starting in that direction. Kira and Athrun are on the same path, and will end up at the same place, though Athrun, being in the military for so long now, is a few steps behind Kira. But he'll get there, as we soon see.
So Archangel arrives at Orb's Onogoro Island and is given safe harbor yet again by Lord Uzumi Attha. Cagalli tackles Kira, in tears, chewing him out for making her think he's dead, but she's so ver happy to see him alive. I smiled big at this scene. Cagalli and Kira make quite a pair (and I don't mean romantically, ya pervs
). She also tells Kira about her finding Athrun on the Strike-n-Aegis-go-boom island, how torn up he was from believing he'd killed Kira. Cagalli and Kira have a serious heart to heart talk about Kira and Athrun's friendship/rivaly. Kira's really showing some maturity in this scene, how far he's come, particularly since coming so close to death at Athrun's hands recently.
Miriella brings a meal to Dearka, who's still in the brig. He wants to know what's going on and why a prisoner has to stay on a ship for so long. Miri doesn't know, all she can tell him is that they're now in Orb and no one's allowed to disembark. I'm still not sure what to make of this strange thing developing between Miri and Dearka. He mocks her, she tries to kill him, then she protects him, now she sees him regularly and brings him meals. Maybe she's making some small piece with Tolle's death, knowing Dearka isn't responsible, and maybe even taking some pity on him, even if he is an enemy? Hard to say.
Kira and the Archangel officers meet with Uzumi and Cagalli, learn that the Cyclops System took out 80% of ZAFT's attacking forces. So the Atlantic Federation EA brass got a 2-for-1 deal out of their weapon of mass destruction - cripping ZAFT as well as wiping out the Eurasian and unwanted elements in their own ranks. They're also pumping out the propaganda big-time, making it seem like ZAFT was responsible for the huge, kilometers-wide smoking crater that was JOSH-A and the countless civilian and military casualties. (Can you say "false flag operation"?) The anti-Coordinator war-drum beating is intensified.
The Atlantic Federation is also putting pressure on neutral nations, particularly Orb, saying anyone who doesn't join their fight against ZAFT is considered an enemy. Though it was obvious from Episode 1, here it's specifically pointed out that Orb welcomes both Naturals and Coordinators into its populace and doesn't discriminate. I say good for Orb! Unfortunately, their peaceful, prosperous, liberal paradise is about to get to get dragged into this senseless war. If I were living in that world, Orb is where I'd want to be. I don't care if it's doomed by outside militarism - if I could live in a good place like that, even for a short while, it would be worth it.
With the Atlantic Federation now posing a true threat to Orb, Uzumi finally decides to take a proactive position, ready to use force if necessary to bring the conflict to an end. He asks the Archangel crew to make their own choices whether they want to rejoin the Earth forces (yeah, right), or join Orb.
Meanwhile, ZAFT launches an attack on Panama, though they have very limited forces following the disaster in Alaska. Their objective is to destroy the mass driver at the spaceport to keep the Earth-bound forces trapped on the planet, since ZAFT already controls the other 2 Earth Alliance spaceports. The battle rages, with the EA forces deploying the 13th Autonomous Corps (BIG grin! First Gundam reference!
), which consists of their first mass-produced mobile suit, the GM-looking Strike Dagger! The Daggers seem okay at first, but they don't stand a chance against the far more experienced ZAFT pilots, including Yzak and his Duel Gundam. During the battle, ZAFT deploys a series of Gungnirs - a type of EMP weapon that disables all of the EA forces' electrical systems, but they do physical damage, too, and it manages to destroy the Panama spaceport's mass driver launch rail. Following this, the surviving EA forces try to surrender - and are massacred en masse by the ZAFT troops. Blood for blood... this is serious payback for what ZAFT suffered at JOSH-A. Blood for blood... and the futile, deadly cycle continues.
Le Creuset is still holding Flay Allster prisoner. Or something. She has a gun, and pulls it on him. Why does a prisoner have a gun? And is sitting in her captor's office He tells her she may be wearing a uniform, but she's no soldier. She's not fighting for justice or anything like that. What is going on here? More to come on this.
Back at Onogoro, Erica Simmons summons Kira and the gang to Morgenrote for a surprise. She's repaired the Strike Gundam, and installed the OS Kira wrote for the M1 Astrays, meaning a Normal pilot can use it. Cagalli wants to, but Mu La Flaga gets to be the Strike's new pilot. Yay Mu! I knew you'd get your mitts on some MS control stick someday!
Now that the mass driver has been taken out, the EA Forces' Lunar base will eventually run out of supplies. The EA brass & leadership are in a panic, and they pressure Orb to join the fight on their side (partly so they can get access to Orb's spaceport/mass driver), but Orb refuses. We now finally see the enigmatic Muruta Azrael, a slimy snake of a young man who offers to lead the EA's "negotiations" with Orb. He leads a fleet to Onogoro, carrying an ultimatum demanding the mass resignation of Orb's government and disarmament and disbandment of its military. We also meet the 3 pilots for the Earth Forces' new Gundams, a trio of punk slacker kids named Orgo (pilot of Calamity), Shani (pilot of Forbidden) and Clotho (pilot of Raider). An entire military full of trained, disciplined soldiers/pilots, and this is the best they could come up with?
Elsewhere, Athrun's scouting around on Earth in his new Justice Gundam, looking for Kira and the Freedom Gundam. He sees the crater that was JOSH-A in Alaska, and makes his way back to the island where he last faced Kira, finding the wreckage of his old Aegis. He encounters Reverend Malchio and the orphan kids on the island. I have a few questions here about Malchio. So far he's been a rather enigmatic character, but otherwise not that interesting, beyond his talk about "keepers of the Seed." But how did he get back to Earth so fast? Unless he left sooner than I thought sometime off-screen? I can't remember if he was there with Kira and Lacus and her father when informed about the Spit Break betrayal. And is he blind? He seems to have his eyes closed all the time. I'm not sure if Malchio is just supposed to be an incidental "Yoda" type character, there to be in the right place at the right time to say cryptic-yet-meaningful things and just help the heros along in their story, or if there's more to him, if he's part of the goings-on behind the scenes that we haven't seen yet (especially in light of him being a diplomatic envoy of sorts). Hmm...
ZAFT's Carpentaria base is requesting a meeting with Orb, to offer an alliance and support, but Orb refuses. Lord Uzumi fears that if Orb takes a side, they'll end up being the next Panama disaster. The Orb government warns the people of the impending Earth Forces' invasion, starting evacuations. Murrue informs the Archangel crew of the situation, and says she no longer has any authority over them, since they're all deserters. They're free to make whatever decision they want - to stay on the Archangel and help defend Orb from invasion, or to disembark and get to safety. She thanks them all for their support until now, sticking by their "unreliable captain." I love this woman. She's capable (if inexperienced) and kind, cool-headed yet has her convictions, and respectably modest, never copping an attitude. I'd stay on her ship and ride with her into battle, to do what's right. Oh, and have I ever mentioned that she's hot?
The Archangel crew makes their personal decisions and gets ready for the attack. Kira promises Cagalli that he'll do everything he can to protect her nation and her family. He says this route is the hardest, but it's the right one. Miriella informs Dearka that he's free to go, giving him his pilot's suit, but Morgenroete has taken possession of his Buster Gundam. With Archangel now on its own, sided with Orb, there's no reason to keep him prisoner. Kuzzey decides to leave the ship, but is afraid he'll be thought of as a coward. Sai, however, supports Kuzzey's decision and promises to see him again when it's all over. Only 11 people end up leaving Archangel's crew. Murrue asks Mu why he's staying, and in a big "woo-hoo!" moment, he simply answers by taking her into his arms and kissing her! Yay, it's about time you crazy kids got together! (*secretly wishes I could be Mu, he gets his own Gundam -and- the awesome girl!*
)
The time limit for the Earth Forces' ultimatum runs out, and they launch their attack on Onogoro Island. Azrael is pleased that Orb refused to surrender, and hopes they fight to the very end. At Reverend Malchio's church/orphanage, Athrun watches the news of the invasion, and gets kicked in the leg by an orphan who hates ZAFT, having lost his parents in their invasion of Victoria spaceport. It's a small moment, but an important one for Athrun, who sees first-hand the pain and anger caused to an innocent child by the very army he's been fighting for until now. He's been on the precipice of a huge change, fueled by his almost-killing of his friend, the actions of Lacus, and so much else going on around him. This little bit with this poor boy may seem like a small thing, but I see it as so much more - the straw breaking the camel's back, the camel being Athrun's fading loyalty to ZAFT and its cause.
The EA ocean ships bombard the island and launch lots of Strike Daggers, which meet resistance from Kira's Freedom, Mu's Strike, and a whole lot of M1 Astrays, including the 3 cute female test pilots we met earlier. Even Dearka gets his hands on the Buster and joins the fight to help defend Orb! Go Dearka! I used to despise you, now I'm starting to like you! Mu's doing superbly in the Strike, and helps the less combat experienced Astray girls. Kira also continues to take care not to kill anyone, using the Freedom's powerful array of beam weapons (it fires a rainbow of fruity flavors!
) to disarm or disable the Strike Daggers.
The EA forces also deploy their new Gundams, piloted by the slacker punk kids. What's that thing the evil doctor scientist types make them drink before they take off? Some sort of drug to enhance their natural abilities? They launch with orders to do anything they want, as long as they don't damage Morgenroete's facility and the mass driver. These three cause all kinds of chaos, apparently fueled by whatever drugs they were given, which seems to give them some sort of berserker rage. They spend as much time fighting and attacking each other as they do the Orb defenders. It's absolutely nuts! They simply go wild, causing chaos, but never doing anything effective. Their Gundams are pretty powerful, though - particularly the Forbidden, with its I-field like anti-beam shields, and the dogfight between them and Kira's Freedom and the others is intense, but nobody can seem to get an edge one way or the other. Kira seems to be almost overwhelmed, though - and is saved from a nasty shot by one of the junkie psycho punks at the last moment by the arrival of Athrun in the Justice Gundam!
It's an awesome tag-team effort as Kira and Athrun fight side by side against the berserker punk trio's Gundams. I love the Justice's backpack/flight module being able to serve as a remote attack drone! The punk kids start fighting each other again, but then they start having violent spasms of pain and are forced to retreat to their ship. Azrael likewise orders a withdrawl - he thinks his three pet Gundams and their whacked-out pilots are his key to victory, without them in the battlefield, there's no point in continuing for now.
The battle over for now, the Orb defenders catch their breath to lick their wounds and tend to the casualties. Kira confronts Athrun about his intentions, and Athrun tells him that he has no intention of fighting Kira and his friends, and that he's here to talk. The two land and exit their Gundams, standing face to face. Everyone's shocked to see Athrun, but Kira tells them Athrun is not an enemy. It's a quiet, awkward moment as the two face each other, unsure of what to say, until at last, Kira simply smiles and says hi. Athrun still seems hurt and conflicted, unsure of what to say, but in a heart-warming moment, Cagalli runs out and hugs them both tight, being very very happy to see them both.
Kira and Athrun have their first serious heart-to-heart talk about everything that's happend, and wehat they want. Kira's decided to fight, but only to stop the ones who are causing the fighting. Miriella overhears their conversation and learns that Athrun is the one who killed Tolle. She's upset when she hears this, but I get the impression that she's going to accept it and move on. Trying to stab Athrun with a knife (rather than Dearka) won't bring Tolle back. Later, Cagalli and Athrun have a talk, as well. Athrun isn't sure of what he's going to do yet, but he says he thinks he has an answer. As he says this, we see flashbacks to his recent meeting with his father. Maybe he's decided to confront Patrick Zala directly to stop the war from ZAFT's side? I hope so, this would help bring the war to an end, by stopping the one causing it... but facing his own father won't be easy. But Athrun's growing up fast now. I think it's time Athrun faced his father and told him he's wrong, to stop being his father's son and be his own man now.
Aboard the Earth Forces flagship, the slacker punk junkie trio are suffering some extremely painful withdrawl, being "punished" for their failure. Azrael finally says they've been punished enough, and it's time to resume the assault on Onogoro, with a warning that they'd better improve their performance. The junkies get their fix and sortie, the invasion is on again.
Athrun tells Kira the fight to defend Orb is hopeless, and he doesn't want Kira or anyone else to die. Surprisingly, Dearka agrees - it's the first time he and Athrun have agreed on something. It's amazing how much Dearka has changed in such a short time. I'm seriously starting to like this guy.
The invasion is turning into a disaster for Orb, though. Their mass-produced M1 Astrays are getting blown away, with the Forbidden, Raider and Calamity Gundam decimating the defense and causing their usual chaos. And what's up with that funky '70's sounding music? Is one of the psycho trio jamming out to music while he blows thing aways? Cagalli is having a hard time watching the battle with her father, and not being in it. Uzumi makes the difficult decision to abandon Onogoro Island, and orders everyone to gather at Kaguya spaceport for a retreat. The junkie trio go nuts and start arguing and attacking each other again, wasting energy until they run out and are forced to retreat. Their fighting against Orb's MS defense is still intense, yet still feels like all they can do is fight at a stalemate. The only useful hit/damage scored is by Athrun slicing up the Raider's wrecking ball/mace weapon with a beam saber.
Meanwhile, offshore in a ZAFT submarine, Le Creuset and Yzak have been watching the battle and developments and gathering intelligence on the new Gundams. And in a cabin, Flay sleeps... wearing a ZAFT uniform. Maybe she just needed a change of clothes, and this is all that's on-hand. Or has she switched sides...? I can't imagine she would, considering her burning hatred of Coordinators. Le Creuset decides to return to Carpentaria base. Yzak asks him about Flay - if she's a prisoner, why not treat her as one? Le Creuset says there's more to a war than just firing shots at each other. "I had been looking for a key, and now I've found that key. Or so I believe." More cryptic stuff from the mysterious masked man. What does he mean by her being a "key"? I'm starting to think this may not be a Char/Sayla thing, that maybe he simply recognized her as Vice Minister Allster's daughter and thought she'd be an important hostage. But she seemed to hear her father's voice when she met Le Creuset... there's still something else going on here, and I can't quite put my finger on it. I love this mysterious development! Here's hoping for a good payoff.
During this latest lull in the fighting, Uzumi informs the Archangel crew that the mastermind behind the actions taken by the Earth Forces is Muruta Azrael - who is also the leader of Blue Cosmos! With him firmly in control of the Earth Alliance military, and ZAFT and the PLANTs under the control of Coordinator radical Patrick Zala, the situation is very bad for everyone, especially neutral nations like the Orb Union.
Ramius and the Archangel crew vow to continue to fight for peace as best it can. At the spaceport, the ship is being fitted with some kind of fancy energy boosters to launch it up into space, while an Orb ship, the Kusanagi, is being readied for launch on the mass driver, and loaded with M1 Astrays to take Orb's fight into space as well.
Athrun talks to Kira and Dearka as they're getting ready to leave. Athrun knows it's not right to just follow orders and kill enemies, but he doesn't know what to do to end the war (go stop your dad, Athrun!). Kira asks himi to come along, and they'll find the answer together. I'm happy to see that these two have made peace, finally fighting together on the same side, for the right reasons. Here's hoping their friendship can heal one day, too.
The Archangel takes off, heading up into space, riding through a weird, cool, sparkling light energy current thing. It's very pretty! The Kusanagi is about to launch, when the junkie trio shows up in their Gundams to stop their launch. Uzumi puts Cagalli aboard the Kusanagi with Colonel Kisaka, to carry on his hopes for peace, but she doesn't wantn to leave her father behind. As they force Cagalli to board, Uzumi gives his daughter a photo of herself and her brother Kira, together as babies with their mother! Cagalli's in confusion and anguish as the Kusanagi takes off, leaving her father behind at Kaguya spaceport, possibly to never see him again. Kira and Athrun protect the Kusanagi's launch from the junkie trio and hitch a ride as it escapes up into space.
As Uzumi watches his daughter and her friends escape into space, he says, "The seeds have flown. We've succeeded. We won't let Orb and this world fall into the hands of those bastards." Chilling and defiant last words! He then sets off a self-destruct system, blowing up Kaguya spaceport and its mass driver, much to Azrael's chagin and Cagalli's anguish.
It's good to know she and her father came to an understanding before the end...
A few miscellaneous notes & comments about these episodes:
It's really hit me these last few episodes that this series makes an excessive use of flashbacks (and not just the Nicol dying/Blitz blowing up scene). A lot of scenes, used all the time. Flashbacks can be an effective storytelling tool, but if I have one complaint about this series so far, is that the flashbacks are laid on a little too thick.
Ramius has a boobie jiggle! She hasn't had one in a while. It's not the Bridge Battle Boobie Bounce (tm) stock footage, she's in civvies. And looks good in them.
The M1 Astrays look really really cool in action! I absolutely love its design. It's become my 2nd favorite MS design in this series behind the Strike.
Ummm, where's Natarle? The last we saw of her was her on one of the submarines sneaking out of JOSH-A, overhearing the big evil plot/betrayal details.
Shocking, action packed, drama filled and fantastic episodes! 40 down, 10 left to go!