Random Curiosity

Summary:

In the aftermath of the battle with the GN-Xs, Lockon is put in intensive-care unit of the Ptolemaios. Dr. Moreno thinks that he will need at least three weeks to recover, but Lockon insists on getting back to work because they don’t know when the enemy will come again. His other reason is that he realizes Tieria would worry as long as he is sleeping. Lockon thinks that, no matter how strong Tieria is, he is also fragile, and in fact, Tieria does indeed blame himself for Lockon’s injuries. Down on Earth, a Union general is holding a press conference about how a special force under the UN has been formed for a Gundam search-and-destroy operation called Fallen Angels. Billy meanwhile tells Graham to wait a little longer as they install a GN Drive onto his custom Flag. Back on the Ptolemaios, Ian and the pilots are assessing damage on the Gundams, and Ian notes that the Dynames in particular is beyond repair until they return to dock. Elsewhere on the ship, Felt spots Lockon moving through the halls and proceeds to eavesdrop as Lockon finds and urges Tieria to go back to being his normal highhanded self. Tieria, however, feels that he’s lost his qualifications as a Gundam Meister because he can’t link directly with Veda anymore. In response, Lockon suggests that, since Tieria is merely not able to link, he can still become like the rest of them.

When Tieria comments on how their plan won’t work without Veda, Lockon asserts that it can and points out that they’re piloting Gundams to fight for the eradication of war. Lockon feels that they should do stuff rather than talk about it, and he uses Setsuna as an example of someone who recklessly does what he thinks. As Lockon turns to leave, Tieria apologizes, but Lockon just points to what Sumeragi had said about making mistakes and being human. Meanwhile, somewhere on Earth, the Trinity siblings are forced to eat canned food while they hide out with their Gundams. Johann is on the phone with Wang Liu Mei to ask for arrangements to return them to space, and he is shocked to find out from her that there’s a UN force already headed their way. Unfortunately, they have to work with a lower particle generation rate from their Throne Gundams’ GN Drives, so Johann warns his siblings not to be wasteful. Sergei leads the UN forces again, and when Michael launches his GN Fangs, the GN-Xs fall into a circular formation that allows them to shoot the Fangs down. Video coverage of this battle is being beamed all across the world, and Marina is relieved to see that none of the Gundams belong to Setsuna. Watching the same video feed is Saji in a dark room and dark mood, and he wants the Gundams to be destroyed. The battle ends after Soma’s GN-X succeeds in slicing off part of the Throne Drei’s armor, and Johann orders another retreat.

As they review this battle footage aboard the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi and the Gundam Meisters discuss how the world is organizing against them. Setsuna questions what Gundams are there for and points to how the Trinity siblings have been expanding the ravages of war even though he feels that Gundams should be eradicating war. In response to this, Lockon suggests that the attack on the Trinity siblings by the UN forces is a dispute that requires military intervention. Setsuna decides to go despite Allelujah’s objections, and after Lasse volunteers to join him in the GN Arms, Sumeragi gives Setsuna a mission plan along with instructions for him to come back. Tieria watches from the observation deck as Setsuna and Lasse take off, and when Lockon, knowing that Tieria was worried about Setsuna, says that Tieria could have gone too if he wanted, Tieria calls him foolish. Meanwhile, the Trinity siblings have stopped on an island in the Atlantic to survey the damage to the Throne Drei. To their surprise, an Enact suddenly flies in, and from it emerges Ali Al Sarshes. He introduces himself as a mercenary and claims that someone requested him to be here, but when Johann questions if that person was Laguna, Ali Al Sarshes reveals that Laguna is dead. As the Trinity siblings are still reacting to this piece of news, Ali Al Sarshes pulls out a gun, shoots Michael in the chest, and at the same time admits that he was the one who killed Laguna.

Johann attempts to retaliate, but Ali Al Sarshes is too fast. He trips Johann and shoots him in the shoulder, though after Johann urges his sister to escape, Ali Al Sarshes actually decides to let Johann return to the Throne Eins so that they can continue their fight that way. However, Ali Al Sarshes doesn’t go back to his Enact; instead, he takes over the Throne Zwei. This shocks Johann because the Zwei is programmed to accept only Michael’s biometrics, and this means that someone changed it by using Veda. Unable to match up against Ali Al Sarshes’ superior skills, Johann is in disbelief because he feels that they were created to become Gundam Meisters. The Throne Eins blows up moments later in a cloud of GN particles, and Ali Al Sarshes turns his attention to Nena. He uses the Throne Zwei to knock her Throne Drei to the ground and is about to skewer her when the GN Arms suddenly appears and hits him. The Exia then emerges, and when Setsuna realizes who’s now piloting the Throne Zwei, he questions why Ali Al Sarshes is in a Gundam. At roughly this same moment on the moon, Libbons finally breaks through the final level of Veda and gains complete control. This allows him to bring out the capsule that contains the frozen body of Aeolia Schenberg.

Approaching the body with a golden gun, Alejandro comments on how Aeolia Schenberg won’t be able to see the transformation of the world. Declaring that he’ll be the one to change the world, Alejandro fires several bullets into the capsule while laughing maniacally. To his surprise though, a recorded video of Aeolia Schenberg suddenly begins playing. In it, Aeolia Schenberg recognizes that malice appearing there means that the world hasn’t become like how he wished. He thinks that mankind still foolishly likes fighting and is leading the world to its destruction, but at the same time, he still believes in the human race. Because he feels that the world and the human race must change, Aeolia Schenberg activates something in the Exia’s GN Drive that causes the entire Gundam to glow red. Gaining amazing speed just in the nick of time, the Exia avoids an attack by the Throne Zwei and proceeds unleash a lightning-fast counterattack. As Setsuna is still coming to terms with the Gundam’s new capabilities, he receives a transmission from Aeolia Schenberg that is also being broadcast to the Ptolemaios. Aeolia Schenberg acknowledges in the message that although he doesn’t know if the people who have GN Drives are the ones following his intentions, he’s entrusting with them the full capabilities of the GN Drive so that they can attain true peace. He prays that they’ll continue fighting to eradicate war not for Celestial Being’s sake, but by their own will together with the Gundams.

Setsuna then uses the Exia’s newfound powers to slice up part of the Throne Zwei and thus forces Ali Al Sarshes to retreat. Afterwards, he notices that his display screen indicates that this is the Trans-Am System.

Preview:

Well that was all sorts of awesome. The entire second half of the episode felt like it was one big surprise right after another. I had suspected that the Trinity siblings weren’t going to survive, but I didn’t expect that Ali Al Sarshes would be the one to kill Johann and Michael. Nor did I think that Ali Al Sarshes was going to take over the Throne Zwei, or that the Exia was going to get another power-up, this time from Aeolia Schenberg himself. I do have to say though, the name Trans-Am makes me think of old muscle cars, not some incredible piece of technology. Anyway, this was all very exciting to watch, and it was good to see the Exia kick some ass again.

This all also means that the mystery behind Aeolia Schenberg’s has mostly been solved and I imagine that his image won’t be showing up much more now that he’s given the Gundam Meisters what looks to be a final present. There’s a certain irony in how he’s giving them more power to fight to get rid of war, but that’s something that’s been prevalent throughout this series. Moving forward, the bigger question is what impact this all will have. Nena probably has a good chance of surviving for a while longer since she didn’t die with her brothers, but I also can’t yet see her as one of the good guys. And while I’m curious to see what Graham’s Flag will be like with a GN Drive, the Trans-Am system means that Graham is still losing out in the arms race. There also remains the issue of Saji who appears to be creeping further along the path of the dark side, though that’s probably something that they won’t have time to really develop until the second half of this series. Regardless, Gundam 00 is getting more interesting with every week, and I can’t wait to see how this first half concludes.