Burke's First Impressions of Gundam Seed!

[Black Knight]

Sorry for the triple posting, mods. It's hard to copy-and-paste from separate posts, constantly scrolling back and forth, to get to the ones I want to reply to.

When posting, you can scroll below the text-entry box to the recap of previous posts, and at the top of each post in that is a "Quote" button which will solve your need for copy/pasting.

[LightningCount]

As an aside, Waltfeld's words "There are no clear rules to end a war!" have become a central theme to this series, I've noticed. It's a sad fact of reality that plagues much of the cast.

This idea, which implies the danger and futility of "eye for an eye" is presented in the CE universe perhaps better, or clearer, than in any other Gundam series or universe.

We find out Cagalli's friend Ahmed who was killed in a previous episode was a boyfriend, as his mother gives Cagalli a green stone he intended to process and give to her. She takes it hard, but very quickly she seems to be over it. I'm not sure if this is bad characterization, in the writers wanting to start a little something with Kira, or good characterization in that she's a tough girl and knows she has to put it behind her and move on. It's probably the latter.

I read this a little differently. As I understand it, Ahmed had a serious crush on Cagalli, and she respected him, but wasn't interested in anything beyond friendship. However, she is respectful of and hurt by his sacrifice, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Athrun and Nicol's R&R is over and they arrive on Earth with Le Creuset, who has to leave them with Yzak and Dearka at Victoria spaceport (occupied by ZAFT) to go help plan or take part in ZAFT's upcoming Operation Spit Break. Le Creuset leaves Athrun in charge of the team. Yzak is -not- happy. At this point, Dearka's starting to show some fire, getting angry at the humiliation of being defeated by Kira's Strike time and again. He's backing up Yzak's desire for revenge. Those two are -so- much trouble.

To my recollection, Rau's excellent English VA does great with this scene. It's so funny seeing him pick the team in a way that suggests he's figuring it out, when it's obvious he knows what he wants. And then Yzak not being amused in the least.

But, the peace and quiet doesn't last long, as Commander Morassim of ZAFT's coastal Carpentaria base attempts a couple of raids on the Archangel at sea.

And here it is. You'll rarely if ever hear this, but I'm a fan of Morassim. He has such a brief role, but he's a memorable face, IMO. So often Gundam series will go on without introducing enough command characters amongst the fodder. This guy represents the old guard of sorts, who isn't pleased with Rau and co, and thinks he can do it better his way. "I'll be the one to fell that so-called legged ship!" Plus, he has more of an experienced/grizzled look about him than most characters in CE. He brings a military credibility to ZAFT. Not to mention, he's a marine MS commander, and I love marine MS. He actually does quite good in battle, too, almost finishing off Kira with the Zno! That's a pretty passionate fight for a short-lived character to have against a main character. Some of the later series since don't take advantage of making characters like this.

A gunfight starts, and thus begins Episode 24, titled "War for Two" - the same name used for Episode 1 of 08th MS Team. I grinned at this.

YEAH! You noticed! This interesting episode definitely felt inspired by 08th MS Team, but I don't hear that often enough when its brought up. Part of that is because this episode, with its beach setting, has become a major influence on Sunrise anime since SEED, and rarely has it been carried out as well as it was in SEED, when it was already carried out well back in the day in 08th MS Team. Anyway, this episode set up some good character development building blocks.

The Archangel crew and Desert Dawn have a celebration of their victory and funeral for their dead....20 kilometers off the coast of Onogoro Island, part of the neutral Orb Union, Athrun's Gundam team is putting some -serious- hurt on the Archangel. The ship is taking a serious beating, the engines damaged and losing altitude.

Some of the way these two scenes were cut, especially the last one, seemed rushed and rather terse to me. But they get the job done.

Dunh dunh DUNH! Cagalli reveals that she is, in fact, Princess Cagalli Yulu Athha, daughter of Orb's leader, Lord Uzumi Nara Athha!

I am . . . Relena "Darlian" Peacecraft, princess of the Sanc Kingdom! A neutral kingdom that stands for "peace," but also harbors powerful weapons. Not the same, but this has got to be the base inspiration, adding to the things I mentioned before that Wing contributed to SEED's well-done melting pot. The first time I saw this, it hit me a bit the wrong way, because I had already seen enough scenarios similar to 0079 that I winced a bit when this came up. But in its own context and execution, just like the stuff from 0079, it's just fine, and is its own thing.

[E08]

But considering the complicated politics behind Morgenroete developing the Archangel and Gundam prototypes for the Atlantic Federation - and seemingly with Lord Attha's knowledge - Cagalli's statement from Episode 1 regarding her father's "betrayal" is finally starting to make some sense. Betraying Orb's neutrality for the sake of selling weapons to outsiders, I assume? Maybe they're the Anaheim Electronics of the SEED universe - they'll sell weapons to -anyone-!

Actually her father is in the dark about the cooperation with EA. Sadly in the anime, they only show him deny knowing about the deal. This is flashed out more in the sidestories, especially the Astray novel.

[AmuroNT1]

Apparently, Haumea is the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth. Why they're invoking her name in reference to warfare, I'll never know, but the character of Cagalli seems linked to her at least with the citizenry of Orb.

Also, Rau's pills? The "P" is for "Prilosec". That's what he gets for eating Taco Bell right before bed.

[Zeonista]

Oh, and Waltfeld's tiger-themed pilot suit looks... both cool and silly. I shouldn't be too surprised, considering the eccentricity of his character.

In original MSG terms of comparison, it makes him absolutely badass! Retro cool is always in. I take it you had not complaints about Aisha's feminine pilot suit?

Yzak is not happy about being forced to hang back, and when he and Dearka quite predictably throw themselves into the fight, they find themselves facing the same mobility problems Kira encountered with the Strike when he first landed on Earth.

Yzak and Dearka get to learn the important lesson about paying attention to the local expert. Yzak's rage mode is the old bujutsu lesson that anger is only useful on the battlefield if it is channeled into focused action. This lesson gets taught a lot for a while.

Cagalli, meanwhile, takes the Sword-equipped Skygrasper out, and quite awesomely does some damage to one of the ZAFT ships with the sword. While flying. Neat! Unfortunately, she gets shot down but survives. This becomes a regular thing with her.

This is true. Cagalli, while all heart and will, needs more practice in anticipating and evading enemy fire. or in gamer terms, the dice let her down on her Evade rolls.

Once again, the Strike is plagued with the low-battery problem, so Kira resorts to the pig-sticker knives - and delivers the fatal blow that destroys the LaGOWE and kills Waltfeld and Aisha. This becomes a regular thing for Kira.

This battle marks Kira's maturity as a MS pilot. He is no longer some talented and lucky kid in a Gundam, but a skilled fighter who knows what he can do, and make opportunities for victory happen.

As an aside, Waltfeld's words "There are no clear rules to end a war!" have become a central theme to this series, I've noticed.

Good point! It's really driven home to Kira about the dilemma he and the rest of the world faces. This is a war that neither side really wanted, but wants to win anyway, and it's sucking in neutrals to boot. When and where do the leaders on both sides agree to end things? It's also a good point that is tossed at the Japanese audience, who have 3 successive generations taught from birth that peace is always good, war is always bad, and everybody should be one big happy UN family. Sounds good in theory, but when big powers go to war against each other, how to get things resolved in a way that not only ends the war, but prevents a further conflict down the line? Getting battlefield affairs to match up with the peacenik line is going to be a big concern of Our Hero.

Meanwhile, Athrun and Nicol's R&R is over and they arrive on Earth with Le Creuset, who has to leave them with Yzak and Dearka at Victoria spaceport (occupied by ZAFT) to go help plan or take part in ZAFT's upcoming Operation Spit Break. Le Creuset leaves Athrun in charge of the team. Yzak is -not- happy. At this point, Dearka's starting to show some fire, getting angry at the humiliation of being defeated by Kira's Strike time and again.

Rau is a clever leader here, making sure Yzak doesn't get them all killed in one battle. Dearka's not leadership material yet. Nicol...yeah right. Time for the younger Zala to prove his mettle and defeat the Archangel! This is the point in the series where Dearka gets his own voice, instead of being the "me too" guy.

Kira would be enjoying the fresh air as well, if he weren't still caught up in his anguish and conflicted feelings over all the death around him. Waltfeld's words haunt him - that ultimately killing the enemy is the only way to stop the fighting.

Hard to get away from that one, ne? in order to have victory, one side was win, and one side must lose. Unless one side takes such losses in a defeat to make them concede defeat, nothing will be resolved. Peace and prosperity must first be brought about by death and destruction.

Cagalli catches him crying, and in one of the most heart-warming bits to date in this series, she gives him a big hug and tells him it'll be alright. They sit down and have a heart to heart talk... only for Flay to show up and break up the good moment.

Another great scene, also showing the tug-of-war going on in Kira's heart, with Cagalli and Flay standing in for doing what seems right over going along with the situation.

I think Kira could deal with his problems a lot better if he were with someone like Cagalli - someone he can actually TALK to and sort things out with. Unfortunately, I don't see this changing anytime soon...

Sooner than you think...

And I absolutely cannot overlook one of the most crowning moments of awesome in this series so far - the Archangel doing a BARREL ROLL to bring its big top deck guns to bear on some GOOhNs and take them out! I cheered big at this, though I'd hate to have been anyone on board for that, heheh.

It's easy to forget that Amuro didn't beat the Zeons all by himself, her had an entire ship backing him up, working together. One of those shipmates was MIrai Yashima, the upper-crust glider enthusiast who became the skilled helmsman of White Base. Dacosta stands in for Mirai here, and gets a few moments of awesome by developing a Sulu-like flair, and growing confidence in his beloved ship.

A gunfight starts, and thus begins Episode 24, titled "War for Two" - the same name used for Episode 1 of 08th MS Team. I grinned at this.

Missed it myself the first time.

The two part ways when they get word of rescue coming soon, from both Athrun's team coming to retrieve him, and Kira's Strike coming to retrieve Cagalli. They part ways, after such a tense and fascinating encounter... but I can't help but wonder if either of them are any better off for it?

Get back to us on that in about a dozen episodes.

Cagalli reveals that she is, in fact, Princess Cagalli Yulu Athha, daughter of Orb's leader, Lord Uzumi Nara Athha! "Rambo" is her bodyguard, Colonel Ledonir Kisaka.

Really excellent use of the Big Reveal here!

[quot]Orb granted safe harbor to the Archangel because they want the Strike Gundam's combat data, along with Kira's assistance, for their Morgenroete weapons manufacturing company. In exchange, they're offering a lot of assistance for the Archangel and its crew.[/quote]
More on this in the Astray manga. It's a favor-for-favor exchange, fair enough under the circumstances. As you will learn, Morgenroete has ample reason to be interested in Strike data.

The Orb citizen kids from Heliopolis are eager to get off the ship and visit their homes and families. Well, except for Flay. Because she has no one at home to love her. Oh, boo hoo. As for Cagalli, a woman she knows named Myrna comes around. She seems to be a nanny/maid/caretaker type woman for the Attha family, for the next time we see her, she's escorting Cagalli, who's now outfitted in another pretty dress.

Yay, home an a well deserved break for the volunteers. Orb is definitely not Flay's happy place, she is odd girl out for many reasons. Myrna is Cagalli's nursemaid, who despairs of her tomboy behavior and wants her charge to be a proper young lady. Hence the dress, Kira's renewed amazement, and Flay being one pissed kitty.

Maybe they're the Anaheim Electronics of the SEED universe - they'll sell weapons to -anyone-!

Morgenroete may seem underhanded, but they realized the potential of mobile suits, and wanted to develop some for Orb's sake. Again, the Astray side stories detail this aspect. Cagalli's father is sincere inhis desire for peace, but he understands the wicked world enough to condone military development. After all, Orb's peaceful neutrality relies on them being able to guarantee it if another nation doesn't want to respect it! So MS development ought to do the trick.

And Flay. Sick, twisted, and frankly -pathetic- Flay. She has no job on the ship, except for fawning over and sleeping with Kira.

Flay is supposedly being trained as a comm bunny, which is necessary but uninteresting work when heroic MS pilots are not involved. So it gets ignored in favor of pointing out her lack of a life beyond Kira and revenge.

I've hated Flay since she started her secret revenge trip and manipulation of Kira. That hate is still there, but now it's joined by something approaching... pity? I don't want to pity her. But she's certainly pitiful.

Gandlalf would give you a cookie. Flay's desire for revenge is hollowing her out, making her less of a person than the Feddie Princess she was in episode 1. While Kira has changed for the better, she changed for the worse. What's to be done about that?

[Burke Rukes]

Here we go, with episodes 26 thru 30!

Episode 26 is a recap episode. Nothing to say here, except, we didn't need another recap episode so soon after the last one.

And now we also get the 3rd new opening credits! I love the animation on this one the best so far. The song is good, too. There's a new Gundam! Actually, there are a few new Gundams. I know the one with the big fin-thingies on its back is the Strike Freedom Gundam, from seeing its model kit and stuff everywhere. There are a couple of quick flashes of other new Gundams which I can't identify yet (and I'm trying not to cheat by looking at the mecha files on MAHQ until I've seen the new model in action and been given a name ). A couple of new pilots in addition to those new units as well. It's nice to see Le Creuset get some action-filled screen time in the op credits now, as well. Hopefully he'll start playing a bigger part in the story. And I get the impression Mu La Flaga will be taking over as pilot of the Strike? That is, if Strike remains as-is and isn't actually upgraded into the Strike Freedom. I can't wait to see.

Episode 27, titled "Endless Rondo" (what's "Rondo"?), introduces us to a Morgenroete employee named Erica Simmons. I guess she's an engineer/administrator type. Oh and she can type on two computers at once. I don't suppose she's a Coordinator, is she? Anyway, she spends a lot of this episode giving us yet even MORE recap, in the form of a technical report she's filing regarding the Strike and Kira Yamato's performance to date.

And, at long last, we learn what "SEED" means. Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor. Judging by this, and combined with the "seed dropping" moments we've seen (and will continue to see), I'm going to throw my own idea out as to what it all means. I could be off-base, but here goes.

I think "SEED" is a theory regarding people with a "superior evolutionary element" (in this case, the genetically-enhanced Coordinators of humanity) having a higher probability of creating their own destiny or fate, simply on the basis of their having greater abilities than their less-advanced kin. In general, day-to-day life, Coordinator's abilities allow them to make greater achievements, be they scientific (mobile suits, N-jammers), cultural/artistic (Nicol's piano music, Lacus's singing), or whatever. Things that Normals can achieve on their own, as well, but with greater effort and difficulty. Coordinators have the natural genetic advantage to -create- the world around them at will. And thus, they are "destined," in a sense.

Now, the seed-dropping-and-disintegrating thing, followed by moments of intense butt-kicking we've seen with Kira, are moments when these abilities take a jump, or kick into overdrive during an intense, stressful, fight-or-flight moment. The visual of the seed dropping is purely symbolic, I think - it's not actually happening, it's just a metaphoric, symbolic visual cue for us, the audience, when a "seed blooming" moment of outstanding ability is occuring.

It's all rather vague, I know. I tend to think a lot more in abstract and philosophical ways these days, and often those ideas are hard to put into words. But judging by what everyone here has said, the whole "seed" thing is rather vague, anyway. I guess it's up to the viewer to decide for themselves how to interpret it.

Kira has brought the Strike Gundam to the Morgenroete factory, and is being given a tour by Erica Simmons. She brings him to see a surprising sight - mass-produced Gundam types, called the M1 Astray! Three prototypes are there, piloted by cute girls (hey, why not? ), but like most of Orb's citizens, are Normals, and are having a hard time making their Astrays do complex human body type movements. Part of the deal offered to the Archangel crew by the Orb Union is that Kira help Morgenroete improve the OS for their Astrays.

They're joined by Cagalli, who is not happy. She seems to have no problem with Orb developing the Astrays for their own self-defense, but she's been at odds with her father for some time now, regarding the development of the Archangel and Gundams for the Atlantic Federation at Heliopolis. Cagalli doesn't seem to believe it, but everyone else knows that Lord Uzumi Attha didn't know about it. I, for one, want to also believe he's innocent in this "betrayal" of the Orb Union's neutrality, but... I have doubts, as evidenced by other developments later in these episodes.

But as a result of this, Uzumi stepped down as chairman/chief representative of the Orb government, handing the reins off to Cagalli's uncle (his brother, I guess), though in truth, Uzumi is still doing a lot of important leaderly things behind the scenes.

But Cagalli and Uzumi's relationship is certainly strained. She hates being called or thought of as a princess, and she would rather be proactive about doing something to stop the war raging right outside her home country. She doesn't believe her father's denial or dismissal of Morgenroete developing the G-weapons and Archangel, so that's why she went to Heliopolis and was seen there in Episode 1. She had to see for herself, and her worst fears were confirmed. Thus, she joined Desert Dawn, helping to defend another nation's people from invaders, to truly understand what it's like in the rest of the world.

Later on, Cagalli is packing up to rejoin the Arachangel crew when it leaves Onogoro Island, and has another big argument with her father. Cagalli doesn't want to kill anyone, but she wants to help bring the war to a quick end. However, Uzumi points out that death only leads to more hatred and more death, the vicious cycle of war. Cagalli can't stand by and do nothing, but her father tells her that if she truly wants to stop war, she needs to find out what causes them.

[soapbox] I love this bit from her dad - it may not be an answer, but it's a big arrow pointing to an answer, that so many people in this world never seem to think about. I just hope Uzumi means the causes that are deeper than the supposed "reasons" like politics and ideology and resources and other nonsense that the brainwashed masses seem so easily swayed by, to put on uniforms and grab weapons and kill their fellow human beings over. I know "hot" topics like politics and religion are verboten here on Mecha Talk, so I'm not going to get into my own thoughts on such things, that's not the purpose of this thread. But I'm holding out hope that Gundam Seed will really get into the nitty-gritty of this issue. If there's one thing I love, it's a good, entertaining work of fiction that makes people -think- about real-world issues and ideas, that strips away the sociological BS or exposes it for what it truly is. [/soapbox]

As for Cagalli and Uzumi, I wonder if daughter and father can reach some understanding with each other? I have my doubts at this point, since there's other stuff happening on Uzumi's part...

Meanwhile, Athrun and his teammates are on Onogoro Island as well, toting some fake ID's, but no helpful faked security clearance, trying to sneak into Orb's military port or Morgenroete's facility, with no luck. They're trying to get confirmation of the Orb Union's official announcement that they sent the Archangel on its way, rather than granted it safe harbor.

They comment on how peaceful the Orb Union is, and it truly seems so. I get the impression that the Orb Union is probably far more technically advanced than the Earth Alliance nations, in that they have fully functioning modern cities and amenities, there doesn't seem to be any energy crisis. My guess would be they operate primarily off of green/renewable energy, as well as geothermal. Peace is nice, when you don't have a war taking lives and eating up resources and destroying your ability to make a better world.

Meanwhile, Captain Murrue Ramius has made arrangements with the Orb government for the Heliopolis crewkids on board Archangel to get to visit their parents before they set sail again. It's a tearful reunion for Kuzzey, Tolle, Miri and Sai, but troublesome for Flay, because she has no family now.

Quite surprisingly, Kira's Natural parents are also there to meet him, but he doesn't want to see them. He's burying himself in rewriting the M1 Astray's OS before Archangel takes off. Flay finds him and confronts him, thinking he's staying aboard to keep her company, out of pity for her and her lack of family. Flay has an emotional breakdown, upset that Kira would feel sorry for her (Does he? I can't tell.) when everyone else should be feeling sorry for Kira, because of the pressure of his Strike pilot duties, all the death and killing he's caused and witnessed, and the failures to keep others from dying. It's a moment of painful honesty for Flay, which seems to take Kira aback - and frankly, I'm taken aback by it, too. Kira breaks up with her on the spot, saying that it was a mistake. Good move, Kira. And yet... mentioned in my last review post that I was starting to feel something akin to pity for Flay, and I'm still not sure. But I might be feeling sorry for her now. It feels like the first time since her father died that she's been honest, both with herself and with Kira. Rather than using her grief to lash out at others, or manipulate Kira for her own ends, her grief is finally coming home to haunt her. It had to happen sooner or later.

We finally see Kira's parents... and they have a private meeting with Lord Uzumi. There's a lot of cryptic things said between them, and though it's never said out loud, it's made pretty clear that Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Attha are, in fact, brother and sister. The big questions are, of course, the details. Is Kira adopted? Or are they half-brother/half-sister, with different fathers? (I suspect this because Mrs. Yamato does most of the talking with Uzumi.) The line that gives me the most pause, from Mrs. Yamato: "No matter what may happen, there is no way that we will disclose the truth to that child." Does she simply mean the brother/sister thing? Or something else?

Meanwhile, Kira's still burying himself in his work, helping with the upgrades to the Strike (which Morgenroete's technicans are overheard saying has been pushed to the limit and has been "screaming for help" ). Kira doesn't want to see his parents, telling Mu La Flaga that if he sees them, he would have to ask, "Why the hell did you make me a Coordinator?" Following the mysterious meeting between his parents and Uzumi, this question now takes on a much bigger significance. I'm seriously starting to get a "big, long-term plot" vibe from this whole thing, Kira and Cagalli's relationship, Kira being a Coordinator whereas Cagalli is a Normal (we assume, I still have some suspicions, but I'm starting to think she is indeed a Normal), Kira coming to be the Orb-developed Strike's pilot, etc. It smells like some big conspiracy. But I could be wrong, it may all just be a lot of plot-convenient coincidences.

Kira's Birdy senses Athrun hanging around outside Morgenroete's facility and goes outside to greet him. Kira follows, looking for Birdy, and comes face to face with Athrun again. The two friends-turned-enemies, now separated by a fence, and so, so, so much more. Athrun has to fake not knowing Kira in front of his teammates, as he gives Birdy back to Kira... with a very painful exchange of words, and a reflection of the flashback parting-of-ways scene from Episode 1. It's a new parting of ways... two friends who seem to have now passed a point of no return. It's so painful to watch. I feel so sorry for these two, and yet... it's mostly Athrun's fault, I have to say. He's the one willing to kill people and wage war because he's angry over the death of his mother. Kira wants to stop the war and the killing. I feel sorry for Athrun, but as it has been since the beginning, I can't sympathize with him to the extent that I can with Kira.

Near the end of this scene , Cagalli and Simmons are driving by, and Cagalli sees them. She stops and runs up to Kira. Does she see and recognize Athrun? It's hard to say, and if she did, she isn't saying yet, either.

Just before the scene where Mu is asking Kira why he doesn't want to meet his parents (so hard to cover this stuff in scene order, I have to jump back and forth a lot ), they're with Erica and 2 of the Astray test pilots, watching the 3rd pilot operate an M1 Astray using Kira's new OS, and it performs marvelously. Everyone's very impressed, and Mu indicates that he wants to try it out as well. However, Kira doesn't like this idea. I wonder why? Maybe it's because if Mu can operate a MS, he'll be out killing more people more effectively in the war? That would be my guess - Kira doesn't want anyone dying. And yet, he willingly helps Morgenroete develop a new OS for the Astrays. Granted, the Astrays are intended as a "defense only" weapon, but undoubtedly this may involve killing. Kira's pacifist ideology is so muddled at this point, despite his efforts to cling to it.

Episodes 29 and 30 throw us back into the action, and boy howdy, DOES it! Rambo - I mean, Kisaka - gives Ramius and the Archangel officers some intel and info on Orb's current political situation, while somewhere in the ocean, Athrun and his team wait aboard their submarine/carrier. Athrun knows the Archangel is there, from his meeting with Kira, but won't tell the others why. Yzak is angry as always, just from waiting around. Athrun and Nicol do a bit of bonding while they wait.

Back on the Archangel, they're prepping to leave Onogoro Island, with Tolle Koenig volunteering to be the pilot for Skygrasper 2. However, Cagalli doesn't seem to be coming along this time. She arrives at the ship just as it's leaving, wearing what seems to be an Orb military uniform, to let Kira know his parents are there at the dock watching him leave. He asks Cagalli to tell them he's sorry, but he's not ready to meet them just yet. The brother and sister (I assume) hug, giving Kira's parents and Lord Uzumi a shocked, worried look.

The Archangel sets sail, and is set upon by Athrun's team as soon as they clear Orb's territory. The fight is pretty ferocious, with Kira's Strike taking an arm off of Nicol's Blitz before going to blows against Athrun's Aegis. Kira damages the Aegis, knocking it down, and Athrun's battery runs dry, its phase shift armor turning off. Kira is about to deliver the killing blow with his BFS when Nicol and his Blitz reappear to try to save him - only to fail big and have the Strike's sword slice right into Nicol's cockpit. The Blitz goes boom, and much shock and sadness and rage ensues.

Episode 30.... oh wow. Just wow. Where to begin? Well, at the beginning, I suppose.

Kira returns to the Archangel, to the cheers and compliments of the deck hands at his taking out the Blitz. He doesn't want to hear it. He also doesn't want to hear Mu telling him that kill-or-be-killed is part of a soldier's life. Kira's not happy at all. I can't blame, though I have to say, at this point, the whole Kira anguishing over another unnecessary and/or accidental death he caused is starting to drag to me. I still think he's one of the most sympathetic and sympathizable hero leads in a Gundam series to date, and I don't want him to lose that idealism, but I'm hoping he'll start maturing, and try to make the best of a crappy situation, rather than crying and moping all the time. The crying and moping was necessary early on, but it's time to get on with life.

Back on the ZAFT sub/carrier, Athrun's team is taking Nicol's death hard. Yzak is surprising in his reaction, wondering why it had to be Nicol - the one he always mocks and calls coward - who was killed. Or maybe it's just anger at yet another humiliating defeat at Kira's hands. Athrun, however... poor Athrun. If his friendship with Kira was considered lost, Nicol's death just threw it over a cliff. Athrun blames himself for Nicol getting killed, because he was too soft on Kira in their previous battles. Athrun's out for blood. There's truly no going back now.

On the Archangel, Tolle's excited and telling stories to his friends about his first sortie in a Skygraper in the previous battle. Flay sees her (former?) friends talking and enjoying each other's company, and she looks very lonely and left out. She goes looking for Kira, who's off moping again. But before anything can happen, Athrun's team launches another attack on the Archangel. Flay stops Kira in the corridor, wanting to talk to him... maybe she's finally getting over her selfishness and truly wants to open up and make things right with Kira. I would like to think so, but it'll have to wait, as Kira rushes to launch in the Strike. All Flay can do is literally hide her head under a pillow in fear, and wait for him to return.

This battle is without a doubt the most ferocious and exciting and deadly to date in the series. Athrun's Aegis scores a critical hit on the Archangel, forcing it to make an emergency landing on a nearby island. Mu's Skygrasper and Dearka's Buster both score critical hits on each other as well, forcing both to crash land on the island. The Buster can't move, and with the Archangel sitting right there in front of him, he exits the cockpit with his hands up - guess he's cool-headed enough to know when to surrender.

The Duel Gundam, oddly enough, isn't seen much in this big crazy battle. Unless I missed something happening somewhere?

Kira and Athrun go flat-out nuts against each other with the Strike and Blitz, scoring lots of severe damage, though honestly, I'm not a fan of the freeze-frame dramatic-pose style of showing off a "big fight." The two are truly out for blood, when suddenly Tolle flies his Skygraper at them, to try to save Kira. Athrun throws the Aegis's shield... and it smashes right into the Grasper's cockpit, blowing it up and killing Tolle.

This sends Kira into a berserker rage, followed by Athrun, both of them having those "seed dropping/blooming" moments, and their fighting grows even more intense and out of control. Athrun changes the Aegis into its MA giant claw of doom mode, grasping the Strike, and about to fire its BFG, when the battery runs out. It can't fire, and it's phase shift armor turns off. In his desparation and anger, Athrun immediately arms the Aegis's self-destruct system and ejects. The Aegis goes boom in a HUGE explosion, taking the Strike with it!

This is the first "NOOOOOOO!!!" cliffhanger episode ender of the series. Just.... wow. Holy moley on a stick!

A summary of the damage and body count for episodes 29 and 30:

Blitz blown up, Nicol dead. Skygrasper 2 blown up, Tolle dead. Skygrasper 1 and Mu shot down. Archangel shot down. Buster shot down, Dearka looks like he's surrendering to the Archangel. The Aegis blown to smithereens, possibly taking the Strike with it, and Kira still inside the Strike (though the Strike's PS armor is still on when the Aegis explodes, so the Strike might survive). Athrun barely escaping (?) the blast of the Aegis explosion. And Yzak's Duel... MIA?

Whew...

There's so much big and important stuff that there's not many miscellaneous comments and questions I have left for these 5 episodes.

Flay finally has a job on the ship. She does laundry.

Murrue Ramius Stock Footage Bridge Battle Boobie Bounce Count: 4

Who are the reverend and the kids on that island the big battle ended up on in episode 30?

That's all for now! Ramius is still hot, and my thoughts on Episodes 31 through 35 coming soon!

[APendragon]

A rondo is a type of dance, actually, so I kinda saw it as another title allusion to Endless Waltz, the way War For Two was for 08th MS Team.

Also, I too am loving reading your reactions haha, got me re-watching the series now, and remembering my initial enjoyment of it. Looking forward to more!

[AmuroNT1]

I have to say Burke, I'm really enjoying your thoughts here. To you this stuff is all brand-spanking new, but for the rest of us Seed is almost ten years old, and Destiny about eight. Most of us have spent the last few years stewing in the various disappointments we found with these two shows, having endless fights and debates over this character or that mobile suit or the other storyline, and just generally being bitter, cynical S-O-Bs about the entire Cosmic Era timeline (well, except for Astray). But you've got a really positive outlook on things, which is refreshing not just in comparison to what we're used to, but because (if you'll forgive my saying so), most people would expect an old hand like yourself to sneer at Seed for just being First Gundam in a shiny new veneer. It's actually making me feel better about the Cosmic Era timeline in general.

I really do like Believe (the third opening here); it doesn't get a lot of love in video games like Super Robot Wars, though Moment is probably the least used of Seed's four theme songs. Also, the Gundam in the opening is just Freedom; Strike Freedom doesn't appear until Destiny.

Just for the sake of convenience, the "shattering seed" thing is officially dubbed "SEED Mode". They will elaborate on it a little, but it's kind of confusing. Honestly, one of the things that caused so many fights over this series is the fact that we go through what TV Tropes calls "Flip-Flop of God", where director Mitsuo Fukuda says one thing about Subject X in an interview, and then half a year later says something entirely different and contradictory. It's a lot harder to keep up with now that Gunota is gone (RIP), but that's neither here nor there.

Erica Simmons is, if you hadn't already guessed, named in tribute to our very own Mark Simmons. That's gotta be a cool feeling, knowing that a fictional character was named after you, especially if it's a character from a word of fiction from an entirely different country.

I can't recall if they discuss it here, but according to the setting Orb is actually ruled by a council of five prominent families who IIRC are the descendants of the nation's founders, one of which is the head family. In Seed we meet the Attha, while Astray introduces to the Sahaku and Destiny the Seiran. I don't think the other two even have names.

Get used to seeing Nichol's death, BTW. Just like Heero Yuy's self-destruction before it, that scene is going to be flashed back to over and over and over and over...

I think Yzak's reaction to Nichol's death is a combination of the team's "little brother" getting killed and maybe a little of the classic survivor guilt of "The last thing I ever said to him was so mean-spirited; why wasn't I nicer to him when he was alive?" My mother went through something like that when a friend of hers died in a car accident, and she said that you still feel terrible afterwards even if both you and the person knew it's just meaningless teasing.

Unfortunately, they tend to leave some side elements of the main plot vague in the anime, only to resolve them in the Astray manga. For example, it obviously deals with the prototypes for the M1 Astray you see in the series, and there's a chapter where one of the three "Astray Girls" gets pilot data from protagonist Lowe Guele, explaining how Orb was able to make the M1s before the Archangel arrived. They also resolve a big plot point that has to do with that big battle in 30, but I won't say anything about that yet. If you have the chance, definitely give Astray a look; it's all kinds of fun, and Tokyopop's translation of the original is pretty good (ignoring the fact that they completely get one character's gender wrong).

Also, is that Murrue Bounce Count for these five episodes only, or the series in total?

[Wingnut]

Ah so you made it to Nicol and the Blitz's demise. Get used to seeing it a lot in many overused flashbacks both in this series and the sequel. I also think the writers/animators forgot about the Duel as it's far from dead or missing.

[LightningCount]

There are a couple of quick flashes of other new Gundams which I can't identify yet (and I'm trying not to cheat by looking at the mecha files on MAHQ until I've seen the new model in action and been given a name ). A couple of new pilots in addition to those new units as well.

Like I said, the 3rd opening is probably my fav. The tease of new pilots and Gundams was a really nice and unexpected surprise for me, and added to the show grabbing its own identity away from its inspirations.

Episode 27, titled "Endless Rondo" (what's "Rondo"?)...And, at long last, we learn what "SEED" means. Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor. Judging by this, and combined with the "seed dropping" moments we've seen (and will continue to see), I'm going to throw my own idea out as to what it all means. I could be off-base, but here goes...Now, the seed-dropping-and-disintegrating thing, followed by moments of intense butt-kicking we've seen with Kira, are moments when these abilities take a jump, or kick into overdrive during an intense, stressful, fight-or-flight moment. The visual of the seed dropping is purely symbolic, I think - it's not actually happening, it's just a metaphoric, symbolic visual cue for us, the audience, when a "seed blooming" moment of outstanding ability is occuring.

"Rondo" is a musical term. It's complex in its technical nitty-gritty, but the most basic definitions are: "A musical composition built on the alternation of a principal recurring theme and contrasting episodes." OR "a piece of music in which a refrain is repeated between episodes: often constitutes the form of the last movement of a sonata or concerto." As someone said, this could have been a subtle reference to Endless Waltz, which talked about three "recurring" beats of war, peace, and revolution. In the end, it's a poetic title for the repetitive tragedy of war.

I think your definition of SEED, or SEED mode, and how it works, is pretty spot-on, save for one detail you'll come to learn later on. However, the ins and outs of it are left to the imagination. Erica Simmons, which I had no idea had a relation to Mark Simmons, is a pretty cool side character, IMO.

The line that gives me the most pause, from Mrs. Yamato: "No matter what may happen, there is no way that we will disclose the truth to that child." Does she simply mean the brother/sister thing? Or something else?

Hmm. Very observant.

I'm seriously starting to get a "big, long-term plot" vibe from this whole thing, Kira and Cagalli's relationship, Kira being a Coordinator whereas Cagalli is a Normal (we assume, I still have some suspicions, but I'm starting to think she is indeed a Normal), Kira coming to be the Orb-developed Strike's pilot, etc. It smells like some big conspiracy. But I could be wrong, it may all just be a lot of plot-convenient coincidences.

Good question. Never fully thought of it. Could be a little of both, perhaps?

Kira's Birdy senses Athrun hanging around outside Morgenroete's facility and goes outside to greet him. Kira follows, looking for Birdy, and comes face to face with Athrun again.

This scene is a hallmark of SEED's "human," dramatic writing. Really good stuff.

Kira is about to deliver the killing blow with his BFS when Nicol and his Blitz reappear to try to save him - only to fail big and have the Strike's sword slice right into Nicol's cockpit. The Blitz goes boom, and much shock and sadness and rage ensues...Kira and Athrun go flat-out nuts against each other with the Strike and Blitz, scoring lots of severe damage, though honestly, I'm not a fan of the freeze-frame dramatic-pose style of showing off a "big fight." The two are truly out for blood, when suddenly Tolle flies his Skygraper at them, to try to save Kira. Athrun throws the Aegis's shield... and it smashes right into the Grasper's cockpit, blowing it up and killing Tolle...Athrun immediately arms the Aegis's self-destruct system and ejects. The Aegis goes boom in a HUGE explosion, taking the Strike with it!

SEED and CE are famous for grisly on-screen deaths, and Nichol and Tolle's certainly illustrate this. These are indeed really powerful episodes that drive home the warnings given by Waltfeld and Uzumi about "eye for an eye." I agree that the Athrun vs. Kira fight could have been much more effectively animated, but SEED does have its shortcomings at times in its MS movements, and this was one of those times. It was still dramatic, but felt a little less dynamic than I would have liked after all the build up. I like the Aegis, and this claw move was very cool. And Gundam self-destruction; Heero Yuy would be proud. As an aside, I really wish the Blitz could have had more screen time. It seems its highlight was all the way back in episode 6 with the Artemis mission. But Nichol served his purpose; he had some really great character moments with Athrun toward the end. And his timid leanings and musical inclinations brought to mind Quatre R. Winner for me, but used in a different manner, which was neat. There's a sorrowful line delivered by Athrun about Nichol's age and piano playing in the English dub (coming up) that is just knocked out of the park for power.

Anyway, you're really getting into the stuff where SEED truly becomes a show of its own.

This is the first "NOOOOOOO!!!" cliffhanger episode ender of the series. Just.... wow. Holy moley on a stick!...[and] Who are the reverend and the kids on that island the big battle ended up on in episode 30?

These two comments/thoughts are connected. But the story bridge is largely locked away in a manga side-story that was concurrently running in Japan during the original airing. This is one of the big "ugh" moments in SEED's shortcomings, where intentional multimedia marketing tie-ins obstructed the flow of the anime's basic plot (and not just side points like how the Astray's were originally developed and such. Unfortunately, Gundam 00 has some of these annoyances, as well). Nevertheless, SEED recovers from it. It just takes a lot of imagination on the viewers part to say the least.

Oh, a late but final note here, Waltfeld's tiger suit...very reminiscent of GI JOE's Tiger Force, if anyone remembers that.

[Burke Rukes]

A rondo is a type of dance, actually, so I kinda saw it as another title allusion to Endless Waltz, the way War For Two was for 08th MS Team.

A-ha. Thanks! *grins at yet another nod to previous Gundam inspirations*

But you've got a really positive outlook on things, which is refreshing not just in comparison to what we're used to, but because (if you'll forgive my saying so), most people would expect an old hand like yourself to sneer at Seed for just being First Gundam in a shiny new veneer. It's actually making me feel better about the Cosmic Era timeline in general.

Well, there are good remakes and there are bad remakes. Sadly, the bad ones seem to outnumber the good ones, but there are good ones out there, so I try to give anything "old is new" a fair shake, 'cause you never know when you'll get a real treat. Fortunately, Seed is a real treat for me. I'll admit that I'm going to be going into Destiny with -some- trepidation, simply because I see so much controversy and hate over that series, but I'm going to keep as open a mind for it as I have with Seed, and the same will go for 00. I'm sure I'll find things to gush about in those series as well, and things I won't like. So far, Seed has been fantastic, and it's quickly becoming one of my faves of the entire Gundam franchise. Of course, hindsight may change this opinion, but that's to be expected.

No matter what, I'm glad I can give you a new look at an "old" show through fresh eyes, in a way.

Also, the Gundam in the opening is just Freedom; Strike Freedom doesn't appear until Destiny.

Ah, okay. I've seen so many Strike Freedom Blitz Launcher Gundam this's and Aile Justice Sword Insert-Noun/Adjective-Here Gundam that's listed for Seed and Destiny it's easy to get them mixed up, when I haven't actually seen them on-screen yet.

Erica Simmons is, if you hadn't already guessed, named in tribute to our very own Mark Simmons. That's gotta be a cool feeling, knowing that a fictional character was named after you, especially if it's a character from a word of fiction from an entirely different country.

Oh really? Is that just a rumor, or has that been confirmed by the powers-that-be? If so, congrats to Mark for the tribute! I honestly hadn't given the name a second thought, myself. I've known so many people named Simmons in my life that to me it's fairly common, and Gundam has a healthy mix of common names from various modern cultures as well as "weird futuristic" names. Thanks for pointing that out.

Get used to seeing Nichol's death, BTW. Just like Heero Yuy's self-destruction before it, that scene is going to be flashed back to over and over and over and over...

I had a feeling I would be, yeah...

If you have the chance, definitely give Astray a look; it's all kinds of fun, and Tokyopop's translation of the original is pretty good (ignoring the fact that they completely get one character's gender wrong).

Hehehe, that's rather sad, but yes, I plan to play lots of catch-up on the manga scene, too. It sounds like the manga tie-ins are such an important and critical part of the overal story for the recent series' in the last decade that they can't be ignored.

Also, is that Murrue Bounce Count for these five episodes only, or the series in total?

That's for the series in total so far, as of Episode 30, and for that one particular stock footage shot of her in her chair on the bridge. She's had a couple of other bouncy moments here and there, but that one seems to get the most use. Not that I'm complaining. Have I mentioned that Ramius is hot?

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Episode 26 is a recap episode. Nothing to say here, except, we didn't need another recap episode so soon after the last one.

Get used to this.

Erica Simmons. I guess she's an engineer/administrator type. Oh and she can type on two computers at once. I don't suppose she's a Coordinator, is she?

Yes, the lovely miss Erica is a Coordinator. Another one of the things that makes ORB the "land of peace" is that Coordinators aren't as heavily discriminated against there.

They're joined by Cagalli, who is not happy. She seems to have no problem with Orb developing the Astrays for their own self-defense, but she's been at odds with her father for some time now, regarding the development of the Archangel and Gundams for the Atlantic Federation at Heliopolis. Cagalli doesn't seem to believe it, but everyone else knows that Lord Uzumi Attha didn't know about it. I, for one, want to also believe he's innocent in this "betrayal" of the Orb Union's neutrality, but... I have doubts, as evidenced by other developments later in these episodes.

For the full explanation see the SEED Astray manga.

They're joined by Cagalli, who is not happy. She seems to have no problem with Orb developing the Astrays for their own self-defense, but she's been at odds with her father for some time now, regarding the development of the Archangel and Gundams for the Atlantic Federation at Heliopolis. Cagalli doesn't seem to believe it, but everyone else knows that Lord Uzumi Attha didn't know about it. I, for one, want to also believe he's innocent in this "betrayal" of the Orb Union's neutrality, but... I have doubts, as evidenced by other developments later in these episodes.

Another plot point they could have brought up but didn't.

Quite surprisingly, Kira's Natural parents are also there to meet him, but he doesn't want to see them. He's burying himself in rewriting the M1 Astray's OS before Archangel takes off. Flay finds him and confronts him, thinking he's staying aboard to keep her company, out of pity for her and her lack of family. Flay has an emotional breakdown, upset that Kira would feel sorry for her (Does he? I can't tell.) when everyone else should be feeling sorry for Kira, because of the pressure of his Strike pilot duties, all the death and killing he's caused and witnessed, and the failures to keep others from dying. It's a moment of painful honesty for Flay, which seems to take Kira aback - and frankly, I'm taken aback by it, too. Kira breaks up with her on the spot, saying that it was a mistake. Good move, Kira. And yet... mentioned in my last review post that I was starting to feel something akin to pity for Flay, and I'm still not sure. But I might be feeling sorry for her now. It feels like the first time since her father died that she's been honest, both with herself and with Kira. Rather than using her grief to lash out at others, or manipulate Kira for her own ends, her grief is finally coming home to haunt her. It had to happen sooner or later.

While I really liked this scene and thought Flay got a little bit of justice here, I kind of wished they'd taken the whole psycho girlfriend thing to a more "dramatic" conclusion. Considering the events of episode 30 I guess they had to do it the way they did it.

it's made pretty clear that Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Attha are, in fact, brother and sister. The big questions are, of course, the details. Is Kira adopted? Or are they half-brother/half-sister, with different fathers? (I suspect this because Mrs. Yamato does most of the talking with Uzumi.) The line that gives me the most pause, from Mrs. Yamato: "No matter what may happen, there is no way that we will disclose the truth to that child." Does she simply mean the brother/sister thing? Or something else?

Yes, you're right, Kira and Cagalli are brother and sister. Or are they?! (Muhahaha) In any case, this is the start of a plot thread in SEED that... well you'll see.

Tolle Koenig volunteering to be the pilot for Skygrasper 2

I never really got why Tolle was so gung-ho to pilot the Skygrasper.

only to fail big and have the Strike's sword slice right into Nicol's cockpit. The Blitz goes boom, and much shock and sadness and rage ensues.

MY PIANO!!! Unfortunately the drama of this moment has been kind of ruined for the rest of us because it's become something of a running joke.

I can't blame, though I have to say, at this point, the whole Kira anguishing over another unnecessary and/or accidental death he caused is starting to drag to me. I still think he's one of the most sympathetic and sympathizable hero leads in a Gundam series to date, and I don't want him to lose that idealism, but I'm hoping he'll start maturing, and try to make the best of a crappy situation, rather than crying and moping all the time.

I would imagine if it were me I would be upset about having to kill but did I or did I not become the Gundam pilot to protect my friends? Someone was always going to die at some point, that fact should have been accepted when I got recruited.

[Zeonista]

Here we go, with episodes 26 thru 30!

This its the turning point of the series, where things go into overdrive and stay that way until the end! Dominion-kun & I ended up watching the latter 26 episodes of this series in one long overnight go because of the action and suspenseful endings!

And now we also get the 3rd new opening credits! I love the animation on this one the best so far. The song is good, too. There's a new Gundam! Actually, there are a few new Gundams.

You will be seeing a few new Gundams before too long. Speaking of new things appearing, did you notice someone/something missing this time?

Episode 27, titled "Endless Rondo" (what's "Rondo"?), introduces us to a Morgenroete employee named Erica Simmons. I guess she's an engineer/administrator type. Oh and she can type on two computers at once.

Ms. Simmons is Morgenroet's chief MS engineer and designer. She is one smart and capable lady. I bet Mark wishes he could type that well and fast, to speed along his translation posting!

I think "SEED" is a theory regarding people with a "superior evolutionary element" (in this case, the genetically-enhanced Coordinators of humanity) having a higher probability of creating their own destiny or fate, simply on the basis of their having greater abilities than their less-advanced kin. In general, day-to-day life, Coordinator's abilities allow them to make greater achievements, be they scientific (mobile suits, N-jammers), cultural/artistic (Nicol's piano music, Lacus's singing), or whatever. Things that Normals can achieve on their own, as well, but with greater effort and difficulty. Coordinators have the natural genetic advantage to -create- the world around them at will. And thus, they are "destined," in a sense.

Sounds as good as anything else I've heard!A little better than some, even.

It's all rather vague, I know. I tend to think a lot more in abstract and philosophical ways these days, and often those ideas are hard to put into words. But judging by what everyone here has said, the whole "seed" thing is rather vague, anyway. I guess it's up to the viewer to decide for themselves how to interpret it.

In that sense, a group of viewers trying to interpret SEED is like the story with the six blind men and the elephant. Fukuda was rather coy about requests to explain the phenomenon.

Kira has brought the Strike Gundam to the Morgenroete factory, and is being given a tour by Erica Simmons. She brings him to see a surprising sight - mass-produced Gundam types, called the M1 Astray! Three prototypes are there, piloted by cute girls (hey, why not? ), but like most of Orb's citizens, are Normals, and are having a hard time making their Astrays do complex human body type movements.

Once again, for more details on the story, we request you refer to the Astray novel and manga. Have you detected a pattern about this part of the story?

She seems to have no problem with Orb developing the Astrays for their own self-defense, but she's been at odds with her father for some time now, regarding the development of the Archangel and Gundams for the Atlantic Federation at Heliopolis.

Despite her idealism, Cagalli understands that upgrading the OMNI forces with MS and Archangel-class warships is not necessarily in Orb's best interest. It probably won't make the war any shorter, and ZAFT is not as threatening to Orb as OMNI, who can dispatch fleets from Asia and the Americas t confront them. They may still get in trouble with ZAFT anyway, since the Coordinators are not going to be impressed by Orb claiming neutrality while helping their enemy. Her father is taking some risks in trying to protect his people.

Later on, Cagalli is packing up to rejoin the Arachangel crew when it leaves Onogoro Island, and has another big argument with her father. Cagalli doesn't want to kill anyone, but she wants to help bring the war to a quick end. However, Uzumi points out that death only leads to more hatred and more death, the vicious cycle of war. Cagalli can't stand by and do nothing, but her father tells her that if she truly wants to stop war, she needs to find out what causes them.

Cagalli's father has a point. Just flailing around at random isn't going to help. If Cagalli wants to stop the war, she needs to identify and understand the reasons for it starting. Reasons which may or may not be addressed by the agitprop being dished out on both sides. (Don't discount the agitprop entirely, sometimes leaders mean exactly what their soundbite say.) She also needs to understand both sides' war objectives, what they are trying to accomplish by attaining victory. Then she'll know what to do, although knowing what to do and having the means to do it are separate issues.

As for Cagalli and Uzumi, I wonder if daughter and father can reach some understanding with each other? I have my doubts at this point, since there's other stuff happening on Uzumi's part...

They will, it's not going to happen yet, though.

They comment on how peaceful the Orb Union is, and it truly seems so.

Yes, since Orb Union is at peace, everything is nice and shiny and happy, right? But then, so was the island of Oahu in the first week of December, 1941. Orb's claim of neutrality won't matter much if the EAF or PLANTS decided they are too much of a hindrance.

Quite surprisingly, Kira's Natural parents are also there to meet him, but he doesn't want to see them. He's burying himself in rewriting the M1 Astray's OS before Archangel takes off.

Kira seems like a jerk here, but he's matured some, enought to concentrate on his important task instead of skipping off for a fun time with his folks. He is not too happy about the Coordinator issue though, as will be explained later.

The line that gives me the most pause, from Mrs. Yamato: "No matter what may happen, there is no way that we will disclose the truth to that child." Does she simply mean the brother/sister thing? Or something else?

It's something else. Definitely something else, but that will have to wait since it is very important later on. You have been warned, though.

Meanwhile, Kira's still burying himself in his work, helping with the upgrades to the Strike (which Morgenroete's technicans are overheard saying has been pushed to the limit and has been "screaming for help" ).

This is a reference to the original RX-78-2, which experienced heavy wear from having Amuro pilot it beyond its original capabilities.

Back on the Archangel, they're prepping to leave Onogoro Island, with Tolle Koenig volunteering to be the pilot for Skygrasper 2.

Tolle is the most capable of direct action, following Kira. He is definitely wanting to do his part, especially since Milly-chan is doing so well as a bridge bunny. Note how lovey-dovey those two are?

The brother and sister (I assume) hug, giving Kira's parents and Lord Uzumi a shocked, worried look.

Serves them right, too, for being so close-mouthed about the situation.

The Archangel sets sail, and is set upon by Athrun's team as soon as they clear Orb's territory. The fight is pretty ferocious, with Kira's Strike taking an arm off of Nicol's Blitz before going to blows against Athrun's Aegis. Kira damages the Aegis, knocking it down, and Athrun's battery runs dry, its phase shift armor turning off. Kira is about to deliver the killing blow with his BFS when Nicol and his Blitz reappear to try to save him - only to fail big and have the Strike's sword slice right into Nicol's cockpit.

This is a first-rate MS battle, all the way! Thanks to the tell in the credits, I was waiting to see what might happen, and it did! So much for Nicol, and it was still a bit of a shock.

I can't blame, though I have to say, at this point, the whole Kira anguishing over another unnecessary and/or accidental death he caused is starting to drag to me. I still think he's one of the most sympathetic and sympathizable hero leads in a Gundam series to date, and I don't want him to lose that idealism, but I'm hoping he'll start maturing, and try to make the best of a crappy situation, rather than crying and moping all the time. The crying and moping was necessary early on, but it's time to get on with life.

Kira is sad because he realized that he just tried to seriously defeat Athrun, and if Nicol hadn't intervened he might have injured or killed his best friend. He and Athrun really are enemies now. He saw it happening, wished it wouldn't happen, but he didn't get his wish, and now it's happened. And he didn't even get to kill Yzak, just some other guy. Yeah, he's messed up about it.

Yzak is surprising in his reaction, wondering why it had to be Nicol - the one he always mocks and calls coward - who was killed.

Even though Yzak gave Nicol a lot of hassle, he never really thought Nicol could go that far for a comrade, or that any of them could actually die for real. Perhaps Kira and Athrun are not the only ones geting the war-is-hell lesson?

Flay stops Kira in the corridor, wanting to talk to him... maybe she's finally getting over her selfishness and truly wants to open up and make things right with Kira. I would like to think so, but it'll have to wait, as Kira rushes to launch in the Strike. All Flay can do is literally hide her head under a pillow in fear, and wait for him to return.

Kira, nice guy that he is, apologizes for dumping his bad feelings on Flay, and for a moment she is ready to believe in him and put the past behind her. And then Fate intervenes....

This battle is without a doubt the most ferocious and exciting and deadly to date in the series.

This battle is on the intensity level of a UC grudge fight, which matches the story point quite nicely. It's really on now!

The Duel Gundam, oddly enough, isn't seen much in this big crazy battle. Unless I missed something happening somewhere?

No, he gets left behind in the course of events.

Athrun throws the Aegis's shield... and it smashes right into the Grasper's cockpit, blowing it up and killing Tolle.

Dominion-kun and I were afraid for Tolle, who obviously didn't know not to volunteer for anything in a Gundam story! Alas, our fears were justified. As always, a death for a death didn't solve the issue at all....

This is the first "NOOOOOOO!!!" cliffhanger episode ender of the series. Just.... wow. Holy moley on a stick!

Yeah, it's a jaw-dropper for sure! :shocked: On the first viewing, this is where Dominion-kun & I decided we couldn't stop watching for the night. Not at all tired, we immediately put in the next disk...

Flay finally has a job on the ship. She does laundry.

Yeah, she got a lot of the miscellaneous jobs like food delivery and laundry so the undermanned Archangel crew could keep more skilled personnel at their posts.

Murrue Ramius Stock Footage Bridge Battle Boobie Bounce Count: 4

May I presume that your D-cup runneth over?

[LightningCount]

My last section of comments may have gotten lost in the fold given where they were, but I wanted to add one last thing to them. Music. By this point, but even as early as the Desert Arc, and into the 30s, SEED hits its instrumental musical stride, I think. It's not necessarily as good as the best of Gundam, but it's definitely memorable and above average. This composer has a great track record, having worked on the The Big-O and the Fatal Fury Trilogy (AKA: Legend of the Hungry Wolf OVA, The New Battle OVA, The Motion Picture). He does a fantastic (perhaps even stronger) job on Destiny, too, even as he borrows a sonic page from Pirates of the Caribbean. Interestingly, there are actually a handful of song cues shared between SEED, Destiny, and the The Big-O.

IMPORTANT of note: SEED Destiny's NA DVD release changed the opening credits into a remix of various openings and swapped opening songs. (Maybe it was too expensive to have all the songs in the show?) I think the rest of the songs are still in the extras (maybe?), but it's sad, because Destiny has some great opening themes with great matching images, particularly the first one, Ignited, which is by the same artist as SEED's first opening song. As it is, you get a Bandai remix of various openings' images with pretty big spoilers for later parts of the series, and the second opening song in place of the first. When you swap openings' images, it's kinda like if SEED had showed you things like Cagalli facing off with a gun against Athrun and a few of the latter Gundams from Opening 3 during the first opening. That'd be a spoiler, I think. They show way too many of the series changes in cast, IMO. So, just a warning. Maybe it was done for broadcast purposes.

And for fun. Not sure if you ever followed Toonami, but here were their promos from SEED (no spoilers):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bvwg3HC ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxa9RQHU ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDlL4C2G ... re=related

Toonami, famous for what they did with Gundam through Wing, did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, they buckled a bit and were inconsistent in editing due to the PC atmosphere of the time, which was more strict than when Wing or 08th MS Team aired. (Not to mention Toonami was in its waning days as far as influence).

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

The brother and sister (I assume) hug, giving Kira's parents and Lord Uzumi a shocked, worried look.

I wonder what their reaction would have been if Kira and Cagalli had kissed goodbye!

Blitz blown up, Nicol dead. Skygrasper 2 blown up, Tolle dead. Skygrasper 1 and Mu shot down. Archangel shot down. Buster shot down, Dearka looks like he's surrendering to the Archangel. The Aegis blown to smithereens, possibly taking the Strike with it, and Kira still inside the Strike (though the Strike's PS armor is still on when the Aegis explodes, so the Strike might survive). Athrun barely escaping (?) the blast of the Aegis explosion. And Yzak's Duel... MIA?

Yep definitely one of the most pivotal battles of the series and IMO one of the most well done. Kira and Athrun are just wailing on each other and there are no fancy spam machines to get in the way (you'll see what I mean later). And why was Yzak not present. Fukuda probably forgot him.

Murrue Ramius Stock Footage Bridge Battle Boobie Bounce Count: 4

Fukuda is obviously a fan of George Lucas rule #2: There are no bras in space! No here's a question for you. At this point in the series, who do you want Murrue to end up with? Mu? Or someone else?
Also, what do you think of the grizzled mechanic dude, Kojiro Murdoch?

[darkhunger]

The Duel Gundam, oddly enough, isn't seen much in this big crazy battle. Unless I missed something happening somewhere?

I was rewatching this recently so I could have swore seeing Duel knocked into the ocean after having its hovercraft thing destroyed by Strike... It was yet another humiliating loss for Yzak

[DuelGundam2099]

Poor Yzak and the Duel never did catch a break until the final battle.

[Burke Rukes]

I should have had this review up sooner (like, yesterday), but got on a serious roll, and watched 10 episodes in a row, rather than 5. But I don't want to make my already-too-verbose posts twice as long, so I'm sticking to the 5 episodes per post review blocks. Here we go, with episodes 31 thru 35!

Dearka is taken prisoner and the Buster taken into possession aboard the Archangel. The Archangel's engines are repaired enough to get airborne, and Murrue Ramius orders an immediate takeoff to dodge ZAFT pursuit, and a message sent to Orb, hoping they'll be able to rescue Kira and Tolle, who are now MIA.

Oh, there's Yzak. I guess he got injured/shot down again sometime in the last couple of episodes and I missed it. He's on the ZAFT sub, and learns that Athrun and Dearka are missing.

Cagalli and a rescue party from Orb arrives on the island, finding the wreckage of the Aegis and Strike. The Strike seems to have more or less survived intact, but the inside of the cockpit looks -slagged-. How Kira could have possibly survived, who knows? She does find Athrun unconscious on the beach. They bring him aboard their aircraft, where he's patched up. Cagalli questions him about what happened, and with great anguish, Athrun says he killed Kira. Cagalli learns of Athrun and Kira's friendship, and their conversation ends up with a lot of crying and screaming at each other over all the senseless eye-for-an-eye killing. These poor kids just keep going around and around on this issue. They want the killing to stop, the war to end, but they just don't know -how-.

Soon, ZAFT sends a craft to retrieve Athrun from the island, since Orb is neutral and has no reason to keep him. Cagalli gives Athrun a "stone of Haumea" amulet for protection from danger. This was really sweet of her. It's amazing how quickly these two have bonded in such a very short time - probably because they have much more in common than they do differences.

Everyone's taking the disappearance of Kira and Tolle hard, especially Tolle's girlfriend Miriella. Natarle, always the cold-hearted stickler to military protocol, orders Sai to box up their belongings, since they're MIA. Flay hears the news and seems to be genuinely upset to learn Kira may be dead. At this point, I just can't quite figure Flay out. My hate for her is dwindling though, and my pitying her is growing. I think she's just as confused about her own state of mind as I am. Dearka's being escorted through the ship, and acts like a pig when he sees Miri crying. Ugh, he's turning into Yzak lite.

And yay, the Archangel finally makes it to the Earth Forces' Alaska base! In relative safety now, Mu La Flaga wants to fix and arm the Skygrasper and go back to look for Kira and Tolle. Murrue stops him, tearfully admitting she'd try to rescue them too, but she begs Mu to stay. She comes very close to admitting her feelings for Mu, if he shouldn't return. It's occured to me now that Mu really has been a supportive rock under Murrue's feet, one person she's come to truly rely on for moral support, whether she's realized it before or not. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that these two favorite characters hook up.

And at the end of episode 31, on one of the PLANTs, at the home of Lacus Clyne... we find an injured, bandaged Kira waking up in a bed. How the heck did he get there? How is he even alive?!?! We meet Reverend Malchio - the reverend at the church/orphanage we see very briefly in the Strike/Aegis go boom episode. He found Kira laying injured in his prayer garden. But -how- is he even alive?! Malchio's only answer is, "You are the man who possesses the Seed. That's why." HUH?!

Kira spends the next few days recovering at Lacus's home, having talks with her, remembering his friend Tolle and all the death and killing he's seen and been part of, and the torment his former friendship with Athrun has turned into. He's upset at having killed people, but Lacus assures him it's alright, because he was protecting people. Kira's still not sure what he should do or where he should go, though Lacus asks him, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could remain like this forever?" It would be nice, indeed, for them. (However, I think the plot has other plans. ) Malchio brings up the vague "Seed" thing, saying because he's one of the "keepers of the Seed," he will know where he should be going and what he should be doing. I can enjoy vague and cryptic plot elements... as long as there's a payoff in the form of an explanation. However, I suspect a clear explanation isn't coming anytime soon.

Conspiracies abound among the Earth Forces brass at Alaska base. Shadow-faced military officers discuss the Archangel and crew, one of them saying it's fortunate that the Strike & Kira are MIA. Judging by the stuff they say, it's very obvious that the Earth Alliance military leadership is pretty much controlled by Blue Cosmos at this point, spouting that "for our blue and pure world" slogan. "What have you told Azrael?" "I've told him that we'll make appropriate changes to fix all problems. This was an unfortunate situation. And maybe another is about to happen." Who is Azrael and what does all this mean?

We get sneak peeks of upcoming new Gundams they've developed, based on the Orb-built Gundams - Calamity (fairly decent design, reminds me of Dragonar-2), Forbidden (extremely ugly with those huge shields and that armor crab shell thing) and Raider (not too bad, the MA mode looks like a fusion of Wing Gundam and Gundam Epyon).

We also see a glimpse of something inside the base called a Cyclops System... *cue dread-inducing music*

Inside Alaska base, Ramius and the Archangel crew are told to remain on standby... and remain on standby... and remain on standby. For 5 days. ZAFT's Operation Spit Break is believed to be taking place at the Earth Forces' Panama spaceport, but the Archangel is ignored. Finally, Sutherland orders the officers to attend a formal inquiry into their activities since leaving Heliopolis. The hearing isn't pleasant - it's tantamount to a court martial, with Sutherland grilling Ramius on every decision she's made, and essentially laying the blame for every bad thing that's happened along the way, from the destruction of Heliopolis and the loss of 4 Gundams, to the destruction of the 8th Fleet and loss of Admiral Halburten. He's particularly angry about Ramius allowing a Coordinator to pilot the 5th Gundam, spouting his anti-Coordinator rhetoric. Man, this guy is a serious jerk. Well, considering he was having a dark, conspiratorial meeting prior to this, and considering what happens in the next couple of episodes, he's far more than a jerk. He's evil, pure and simple. Surprisingly, during this hearing, Natarle looks troubled. I think she actually feels sorry for Ramius.

At the end of the witch-hunt - er, I mean, the hearing - Sutherland orders the crew to return to their posts and wait for orders, except for Natarle, Mu and Flay, who are to be transferred. Flay's transfer is something of a surprise - but I guess not, considering she's the daughter of the late vice minister - and Sutherland points out her words and actions in joining the military, that she doesn't have to be on the front lines to be useful. Sounds like they were going to use her for propaganda purposes. And considering what happens in the following episodes... perhaps they're aware of her equally hateful anti-Coordinator stance, as well? Preserving not only a propaganda figure, the grieving-yet-patriotic daughter of a killed leader, and a useful member/tool for Blue Cosmos...?

Speaking of Flay.... it's occured to me that Archangel has played host to a lot of princesses or daughters of leaders, on all sides. Cagalli, daughter of Uzumi, the chairman of the Orb council. Lacus, daughter of Chairman Clyne of PLANT, and Flay Allster, daughter of the Earth Forces' military vice minister (whose name escapes me at the moment). I'm not sure if there's an intentional pattern here on the part of the writers, but I thought I should point it out.

Sai is trying to comfort grieving Miriella, but gets hassled by Flay for attention. Sai tells her that everyone is upset and depressed right now, and he's in no condition to comfort her - go find someone else. Ouch. I can't blame Sai, and she had it coming. But she's desparate, telling him she had no real feelings for Kira, but Sai knows better. Maybe she didn't, but she grew to have feelings for him anyway, even though she denies it. As I said before, Flay is lost in her own confusion right now, and so am I, when I look at her and try to understand where she's at now. Is she still wanting to play the manipulation bit for her own ends, or is she finally coming around to possessing something akin to empathy and caring for her fellow human beings (Coordinator or not)?

And now for one of the most emotionally intense and shocking scenes to date in the series. As Sai is arguing with Flay, Miri waits inside a sickbay room, where Dearka is tied up and laying on a bed. He mocks her again for her crying, mouthing off something about losing a good-for-nothing Natural boyfriend, when Miri loses it. I mean she LOSES it big-time! She grabs a knife and tries to kill him! If he hadn't sat up at the last second, her knife would've gone right into his face. He tries to get away, she keeps trying to stab him, but is stopped by Sai. Talk about being on the edge of my seat! Sweet, kind, cute Miri, capable of MURDER?! And if that wasn't enough...

Here comes Flay into the room to see what's going on. She sees Dearka... and a gun in a nearby desk drawer. In sickbay. What's a gun doing in there, seriously? Especially with an enemy prisoner in there? Well she grabs the gun and brandishes it at Dearka, saying "Coordinators all deserve to die!" and pulls the trigger... just as Miri jumps on her. I was jumping up and screaming "OH S#!T!!!," thinking for sure Miri would take a bullet and die! But she didn't, the bullet just kills a very dangerous and suspicious-looking light fixture. One moment, Miri is trying to kill Dearka with a knife, the next moment, she's stopping Flay from killing Dearka with a gun. I was utterly shocked - and baffled by Miri's actions. I guess when someone's angry and grieving and on edge, there's no rhyme or reason to the actions they can take... whew!

Meanwhile, ZAFT is preparing for Operation Spit Break. Athrun is still recovering from his injuries, and Rau Le Crueset returns, complimenting him on taking out the Strike, and giving him some news. Athrun is to receive a medal and is being transferred to special forces (Yzak is very jealous, surprise, surprise) and will report directly to the National Defense Committee and his father. He's also assigned to be the pilot of a new MS designed by ZAFT. And we also learn the shocking news that Lacus' father has been replaced by Minister Zala as PLANT's Supreme Council Chairman. This is not good news at all...

And Le Creuset seems to be planning an attack on the Alaska base, mentioning sneaking into an interior section called Grand Poro, and visiting what seems to be an Alaskan coastal town to get a data storage device from a contact. So Operation Spit Break might be a 2-pronged attack on both the JOSH-A base and Panama spaceport...

On the political front, the Earth Alliance appears to have offered a peace or armistice proposal to PLANT, delivered by Reverend Malchio as an envoy via Councilman Clyne (good to see he still has a seat on the council, even if he's not in charge, he strikes me as a fairly decent guy). It's called the "Olbani package," for some reason, no idea who or what Olbani is. The PLANT council overall is unhappy with the proposal, though Clyne wants to act on it. Things just keep getting polarized on both sides of this war, with Coordinator fanatic Zala in charge of PLANT now, and shady goings-on among the Earth Forces' brass (that has yet to play out, but it can't be good).

Natarle, Mu and Flay are getting ready to leave the Archangel. Natarle has a serious talk with Murrue about the need for military discipline on the ship, after the incident with Dearka in sickbay. Murrue admits she's not the most qualified for her position, and despite their differences, she's grateful for Natarle's help and thinks she'll make a good captain. When the 3 transferees leave the ship, Natarle has to literally drag Flay out. She does -not- want to go. Murrue bids a warm farewell to Natarle, and she doesn't want to see Mu go, and he doesn't want to leave to be an instructor in California. It's actually a sweet and tearful goodbye between them all (well, except for Flay). Natarle's parting with Ramius on friendly terms is surprising and quite nice - it's making me finally warm up to her character a bit. She may be hard-nosed and cold-hearted, but ultimately I think she means well. The only thing that still utterly disgusts me is her suggestion to kidnap Kira's parents to pressure him to stay in the military.

In another scene with some surprising character development, Miriella goes to see Dearka in his cell, but starts to leave when he wakes up. They have a brief chat about Tolle's death, and he tells her he didn't do it. I really wonder why Miri would go to see him, after she tried to kill him earlier, for the way he treated her. Curiosity? Wanting to apologize for trying to fillet him?

Archangel is transferred from the 8th Fleet to the Alaska Defense Force 5th Escort Group. Ramius still hasn't gotten an answer on requests for crewmembers wanting leave, transfer or discharged, or even what to do with Dearka. The staff flunkie says they're busy getting ready for Panama. If they're getting ready to repel a ZAFT invasion, shouldn't Archangel be part of the defense force? Shouldn't it be -doing- something rather than sitting around in dock? And Ramius got sorely grilled by Sutherland in the hearing - he clearly thinks she shouldn't be in charge, yet he moved the most capable officer (Naterle) -off- the ship. Something really stinks here...

Athrun leaves Earth on a shuttle bound for the PLANTs, and his father orders the launch of Operation Spit Break. The target: Alaska JOSH-A Earth Forces' HQ base, and not the Panama spaceport as everyone (including most of the ZAFT military) expected. Le Creuset helped plan this operation, and Yzak is happy. Minister Clyne, however is outraged, along with many on the PLANT ruling council, when he's informed that Zala changed the target. I assume this means the council approved Zala's plan when they believed they were going after Panama? Kira is there with Clyne and Lacus and overhears this, and is very upset.

Natarle, Flay and Mu are with a lot of other military personnel shipping out to their assignments. We haven't found out yet where Natarle is going. Mu's transport is heading towards Panama (I thought he was going to California?), and Flay will be going on the same ship with him to whatever it is she's doing. I'm surprised that Natarle's and Flay's destinations aren't specified - perhaps for plot surprise purposes? As they're waiting to leave, Mu realizes he forgot something and goes back into the base. Flay seems to follow him - guess she doesn't want to be left with people she doesn't know? I'm not exactly clear why she left that hangar/dock/whatever.

It's at this time that ZAFT launches their major assault on Alaska base. Archangel is at last given orders, to sortie and assist with the defense, to hold the line no matter what. Ramius does the best she can, but with no experienced combat tactician on board, the Archangel crew is having a tough time, but somehow holding out.

Le Creuset sneaks into the base through a hidden entrance, saying "It appears that Azrael's information is accurate." There's that Azrael name again, who is this person? Both Le Creuset (ZAFT) and Sutherland and the EA military brass mention this name. A 3rd party playing both sides against each other? I smell an even bigger conspiracy, beyond whatever the EA brass is cooking up...

When Le Creuset enters the base, Mu senses him - a 6th sense/Newtype thing? I seem to vaguely recall something similar happening way back in Episode 1, but at the time it somehow didn't catch my attention. Mu's going through the base finds whole sections abandoned, until he finds a computer/control room, with Le Creuset there, accessing data on the mysterious Cyclops System. They exchange gunfire but Le Creuset gets away, taunting Mu with a comment that if he's hanging around there, he's no longer useful to the EA forces. (At first this comment seemed like a simple taunt, but looking back at what happens soon... yeah. Le Creuset is in on a lot of what's -really- happening on both sides of the war.) Mu sees the Cyclops Sytem data and is shocked.

As Le Creuset is making his escape from the base, he encounters Flay. "Oh, my. This is interesting." Flay looks shocked - she hears her father's voice in Le Creuset's! She tries to shoot him, but he gut-punches her and takes her with him in his DINN out of the base. Okay, now I'm even -more- intrigued by what's up with Le Creuset! The mystery illness and drug, the seeming grudge against Patrick Zala, conspiring with this Azrael person, and now seemingly recognizing and kidnapping Flay! My initial reaction is that Le Creuset and Flay = Char and Sayla, but I could be totally wrong. Sooooo many questions, I can't wait to see the answers!

Back at Lacus' home at the PLANTs, Kira tells Lacus that he's going back to Earth. He can't remain with her and do nothing, now that he has a better understanding of what they should be fighting against. Not ZAFT or the Earth forces, though he doesn't say who or what he's going to fight. I have to assume the real powers-that-be that are pulling the strings and causing or keeping this war going, but we'll have to see.

Lacus agrees to help Kira get back, and giving him a ZAFT uniform disguise, she walks him into a military base, right past the guards for a restricted area, and into a hangar containing the Freedom Gundam! It's a new MS built under orders of Chairman Zala, based on the stolen EA Gundam prototypes and data. Lacus feels that this Gundam will have the strength Kira will need to do what he needs to. They say their farewells, with Lacus telling Kira that she will now be singing "the song of peace," whatever that means.

Kira is shocked to see that this new Gundam is powered by a nuclear reactor, and is equipped with a N-Jammer Canceller, and four times the power of the Strike - no more battery drain problem! "Neither will alone... nor strength alone..." Well, it looks like Kira has both now! He takes off, quickly learning how fast the Freedom is, easily dispatching two GINNs in the blink of a beam saber flash (looks like he's going to actively avoid harming any pilots from now on, which is good), and sets off for Earth - passing Athrun's PLANT-bound shuttle.

The battle at JOSH-A is intense, with ZAFT overwhelming the desperate defending EA forces. Mu rushes through the now-mostly-abandoned base, manned only by the soldiers actually outside or at the weapons providing defense. Archangel is taking a beating but still holding its own. Mu reaches a hangar, tells the troops to gather up the survivors and escape, and he takes off in a fighter and rejoins the Archangel. Unable to make radio contact due to all the N-Jammer and interference, he goes to the bridge and informs Murrue what's about to happen - the Cyclops System under the base will explode and leave a huge crater. They have to get out the area immediately. Murrue takes responsibility, using the justification that they've "fulfilled their orders" by defending the base, and orders a retreat.

As Le Creuset also makes his escape with Flay in his DINN, we learn that the majority of the EA forces are in Panama, and he says, "So they're sacrificing the Eurasian troops and the legged ship." What?! So the EA brass we now also see leaving the area on board submarines are Atlantic Federation only, and not Eurasian? How does one even tell them apart? Either way, it's now clearly a setup - the EA (or rather, Atlantic Federation) brass wants to eliminate the Archangel and the Eurasians. I'm shocked by this. So the EA brass (or the Atlantic portion, anyway) are raving Blue Cosmos-following Coordinator haters. But why are they destroying their own allies? This makes no sense at all! And why abandon and destroy their most powerful new warship? Even if Murrue is an "incompetent" captain, why not kick her and the ragtag crew off the ship, man it with normal personnel and use it elsewhere? It's a lousy, stinky, backstabbing, evil setup, but the big question I have is WHY?

Natarle is also leaving JOSH-A aboard one of the EA submarines, and she's shocked when she overhears talk about the big plot of the base being blown up with its defenders.

Rau gets back to his command ship/sub/whatever, and orders Yzak to take down the Archangel and get through JOSH-A's main gate. He -knows- the Cyclops System is about to explode, and he's sending Yzak to his unknowing death? More and more conspiracies and questions on the part of this man! Yzak sorties and he and his team attack the Archangel. A ZAFT MS gets right up to the bridge and is about to fire its rifle into it, when at the last second, Kira swoops down in the Freedom Gundam and disables it, saving the ship! Yay!

Kira has a seed-burst moment, targets a whole squad of incoming ZAFT MSs, and opens fire with multiple beam weapons at once, disarming or disabling all of them in one blast! Murrue warns him about the Cyclops System, so he broadcasts a general warning to both sides' forces in the area (maybe because of its N-Jammer Canceller cutting through the radio interference?), warning them of the impending doom and telling them to stop fighting and escape. Everyone begins their retreat, but Yzak jumps Kira with his Duel. Kira's Freedom stops him easily, slicing off the Duel's legs with his beam saber, telling him to get out of here. The Duel is picked up by a ZAFT MS and gets away.

The Cyclops System is activated by remote by the brass "to preserve our blue and pure world" (ugh), and it emits some weird energy/radiation buildup/blast, looking very nuclear (must be a different kind of nuclear, if N-Jammers don't prevent it?). Soldiers and civilians on both side are killed in the shocking devastation. Archangel & company get away, with Freedom hauling a GINN that gets damaged in the blast.

The ZAFT forces are shocked. Le Creuset says, "We've been had by the Naturals." And then makes a secret, knowing smile...

Archangel & company land somewhere nearby. Kira talks to the badly injured GINN pilot, who asks why he saved him. "Because I wanted to." The pilot makes a pithy comment then dies. Kira's not happy. He has enormous power and ability with the Gundam Freedom, but even so, he can't save everyone, and even one death truly upsets him. It's good to see him holding onto his idealism, even as the harsh reality of war is something he's come to expect.

Athrun arrives at ZAFT HQ in one of the PLANTs, which is in near chaos at the failure of Operation Spit Break, due to the total destruction of Alaska JOSH-A base and the destruction of about 80 percent of ZAFT's invasion force. Athrun is met by a Commander Yuki, who tells him the news and says one of the new MS prototypes was stolen - with the help of Lacus Clyne. There's an ongoing investigation. Athrun is shocked. I would be too, if my sweet, ditzy pop-star singer girlfriend were suddenly breaking into military bases and helping others steal classified weaponry.

Once again, so much big important stuff happens in these episodes, that there's almost no "miscellaneous" notes and items to mention. Just 2 this time:

Nicol's mom back home, crying at Nicol's piano with a photo of him, following his death. It's good to see this, even if it's brief, after the couple of brief scenes we got where we see Nicol's parents.

Natarle gets a shower scene!

That's all for now, I'll have my review of my (already watched) Episodes 36 thru 40 tomorrow!

[Black Knight]

And at the end of episode 31, on one of the PLANTs, at the home of Lacus Clyne... we find an injured, bandaged Kira waking up in a bed. How the heck did he get there? How is he even alive?!?! We meet Reverend Malchio - the reverend at the church/orphanage we see very briefly in the Strike/Aegis go boom episode. He found Kira laying injured in his prayer garden. But -how- is he even alive?! Malchio's only answer is, "You are the man who possesses the Seed. That's why." HUH?!

As mentioned before, Kira's trip to Lacus' house is "explained" in the Astray manga. SEEDs are not, but this and Erica Simmons' monologue are all we get on it, really.

However, I suspect a clear explanation isn't coming anytime soon.

That's putting it...mildly.

Judging by the stuff they say, it's very obvious that the Earth Alliance military leadership is pretty much controlled by Blue Cosmos at this point, spouting that "for our blue and pure world" slogan. "What have you told Azrael?" "I've told him that we'll make appropriate changes to fix all problems. This was an unfortunate situation. And maybe another is about to happen." Who is Azrael and what does all this mean?

IIRC (and I could easily be wrong) but these commanders are all mid-level folks, predominantly colonels/captains like Southerland, and not much in the way of Admirals/Generals. Yes, Blue Cosmos has a strong following, but I don't really think it can be said to be running the show. You'll see who likely is, at this time, in the upcoming episodes, and more is indicated by Destiny.

We also see a glimpse of something inside the base called a Cyclops System... *cue dread-inducing music*

More on the Cyclops System. An established (in-universe, at least) technology, but one which relies upon the enemy actually attacking your base, which I guess is why the Blue Cosmos faction was so keen to leak details about Alaska's defences.

Archangel is transferred from the 8th Fleet to the Alaska Defense Force 5th Escort Group. Ramius still hasn't gotten an answer on requests for crewmembers wanting leave, transfer or discharged, or even what to do with Dearka. The staff flunkie says they're busy getting ready for Panama. If they're getting ready to repel a ZAFT invasion, shouldn't Archangel be part of the defense force? Shouldn't it be -doing- something rather than sitting around in dock? And Ramius got sorely grilled by Sutherland in the hearing - he clearly thinks she shouldn't be in charge, yet he moved the most capable officer (Naterle) -off- the ship. Something really stinks here...

Why they didn't transfer the crew to the base and assign a new crew is a rather good question, but there's no answer in-universe, just the fact that it would then make it hard for the crew to steal the ship in order to escape the Cyclops.

When Le Creuset enters the base, Mu senses him - a 6th sense/Newtype thing? I seem to vaguely recall something similar happening way back in Episode 1, but at the time it somehow didn't catch my attention. Mu's going through the base finds whole sections abandoned, until he finds a computer/control room, with Le Creuset there, accessing data on the mysterious Cyclops System. They exchange gunfire but Le Creuset gets away, taunting Mu with a comment that if he's hanging around there, he's no longer useful to the EA forces. (At first this comment seemed like a simple taunt, but looking back at what happens soon... yeah. Le Creuset is in on a lot of what's -really- happening on both sides of the war.) Mu sees the Cyclops Sytem data and is shocked.

Yes, they had the Newtype flash reaction with each other back in episode 1, and I think also later when Mu was trying to snipe the Vesallius a couple episodes later, before they got to Artemis.

Mu knows what the Cyclops is, because he's one of the few survivors of the Cyclops System used on the moon.

My initial reaction is that Le Creuset and Flay = Char and Sayla, but I could be totally wrong. Sooooo many questions, I can't wait to see the answers!

There were people expecting this after just the first episode. I think you've been fortunate in that you haven't had to spread this out one episode per week, and then watch people dissect the show for six days before the next installment. That was a lot of fun, but also I think contributed to the backlash against the show among large portions of the preexisting Gundam fanbase.

They say their farewells, with Lacus telling Kira that she will now be singing "the song of peace," whatever that means.

She is an idol singer...

As Le Creuset also makes his escape with Flay in his DINN, we learn that the majority of the EA forces are in Panama, and he says, "So they're sacrificing the Eurasian troops and the legged ship." What?! So the EA brass we now also see leaving the area on board submarines are Atlantic Federation only, and not Eurasian? How does one even tell them apart? Either way, it's now clearly a setup - the EA (or rather, Atlantic Federation) brass wants to eliminate the Archangel and the Eurasians. I'm shocked by this. So the EA brass (or the Atlantic portion, anyway) are raving Blue Cosmos-following Coordinator haters. But why are they destroying their own allies? This makes no sense at all! And why abandon and destroy their most powerful new warship? Even if Murrue is an "incompetent" captain, why not kick her and the ragtag crew off the ship, man it with normal personnel and use it elsewhere? It's a lousy, stinky, backstabbing, evil setup, but the big question I have is WHY?

When you anticipate the war shortly being over, it's a good idea to begin thinking about winning the next war, too. Wiping out a lot of trained & experienced Eurals seems to strike the 'Lanties as a smart move. Or at least the Blue Cosmos faction of the 'Lanty military.

Rau gets back to his command ship/sub/whatever, and orders Yzak to take down the Archangel and get through JOSH-A's main gate. He -knows- the Cyclops System is about to explode, and he's sending Yzak to his unknowing death? More and more conspiracies and questions on the part of this man!

Had to be fair; it wouldn't be right to make only the 'Lanty commanders be so callous as to arrange the murder of their own troops. Need to balance things by having Rau do the same. So for once Yzak is actually saved by his inability to defeat Kira.

The Cyclops System is activated by remote by the brass "to preserve our blue and pure world" (ugh), and it emits some weird energy/radiation buildup/blast, looking very nuclear (must be a different kind of nuclear, if N-Jammers don't prevent it?). Soldiers and civilians on both side are killed in the shocking devastation. Archangel & company get away, with Freedom hauling a GINN that gets damaged in the blast.

Microwaves, actually. Should be cooking people & making the water inside them boil off, that sort of thing. I'm less convinced that it should make warships & MS explode, or even penetrate them to cook the pilots from the inside, but whatever.

[LightningCount]

Scattered reply to Burke!

*These episodes, and the following arc, are the ones where this series puts its foot down and defines itself. Even when I was skeptical during the first watching, these episodes pretty much won me over.

*You're finally seeing why Rau is one of my favorite characters in SEED and fav masked men in Gundam. There are a few points from these episodes about him that I'm still not totally sure on. But wait and see!

*There actually IS one in-show reason for why they might leave and destroy the Archangel. The hint should come around episode 41.

*The Raider Gundam, the one that has the Epyon and Wing references is also akin to G-Gundam's Heaven's Sword Gundam, especially in how it moves. I love this tease of the three new Gundams!!! Also, Forbidden Gundam is not as ugly as it seems in action. It's sort of a combination of a UC mobile armor and Gundam Deathscythe (it will even steal/borrow a specific scene from Gundam Wing episode 2). And Calamity is also cool. The addition of these three eccentric designs added a much needed boost to the show and to the sense of "threat," and "personality," IMO.

*The speech of will and strength, and Kira's saving the day in Alaska was eye-popping the first time.

*Loved Athrun's verbal lament on Nichol to Cagalli in these episodes.

*Alaska Base battle is great. Love when the marine MS come up and start marching.

*Cyclops System is brutal visually.

*Enjoy the rest; Episode 37 is a favorite, too. And 39 and 40 REALLY pay off on longstanding promises, and may be the peak of the SEED series for me, despite good moments that will follow. (That arc up to 39-40 has a few more references to Wing, too).

*PS: I hope you saw my earlier note in this thread about the DVDs of Destiny and their changes of openings, in case it matters.