This is the episode that shows what different characters are do to try and reach peace, and showing us that Degwin Zabi isn’t a completely bad guy. It also has a very trippy sequence as we fully get to know the motivations of Lalah and Amuro.
The episode was written by Kenichi Matsuzaki and directed by Shinya Sadamitsu.
The story involves Kycilia calling out Char on his real identity and asking him why his quest for revenge changed? When he says Lalah, she understands and says they won’t have peace and resolution between them until after the war. An attack is than mounted to stop the Fleet that the Trojan Horse is leading as Degwin Zabi goes over to the Federation to negotiate for peace as Gihren Zabi prepares the Solar Ray. From here the story unfolds.
Here is the assessment of the episode:
The Pros: Degwin Zabi – A guy who backs up his regret with action and trying to change the war he started. Where this goes remains to be seen, but I suspect that Gihren is going to kill him as he lamenting that Degwin has become a sentimental old man as he prepares the Solar Ray to decimate a portion of the Federation’s Fleet. We also see that the death of Garma his son, is a major motivation for his quest for peace.
Gihren Zabi – Is a bastard and great bad guy. We see him follow through on his ends justify the means approach in his preparation to the point that his Father who is the Lord of Zeon in name is worth killing. History repeats as Degwin did the same thing to the last lord of Zeon.
Kycilia Zabi – Knows the truth of Char’s identity and tells him and forces him to face why he changed his mind on revenge and that things aren’t resolved but winning the war is more important. You can tell she puts Zeon over her personal issues with other people.
Lalah – We see that Lalah is more aware of the big picture than Char and when she connects to Amuro during the battle shows him a vision of peace. It is here she asks him why he fights and learns because he has to, where for her it is to protect. We see her take this to the full degree when she sacrifices herself to save Char from Amuro’s attack.
Char – Char’s hate has consumed him to the point that he nearly kills Sayla in battle. We see him have a great moment with Kycilia though that at least for the moment, he’s put his hatred for the Zabi family aside for Lalah and the hopes the Newtypes bring. We also see his despair at the death of Lalah, the woman he loved.
Amuro – Amuro is shown the bigger picture and how his fighting to kill has hurt so many…he and Lalah connect over the dream of peace and stop fighting when they see their past and current meeting as destiny and resolve to stop…before Char forces their hands which leads to Amuro accidentally killing Lalah.
The Set up – The Solar Ray is about to fire and probably is going to destroy General Revil and Degwin Zabi which will make peace less likely (and also continuation of the Gundam series since many characters we haven’t met will have reasons to hate).
The Cons: The Dream Sequence – The vision or dream was way too confusing and it was hard to understand what Lalah’s and Amuro’s motivations were fully during it. It could have been done much more subtly and with much less words. It was excess.
This is a favorite episode for sure and has some great character development! I can’t wait to see how it all plays out in the final two episodes…especially in regards to Char and the Zabis and Char and Sayla.
Final Score: 9.6 / 10.