Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 24 (Fin) – Family Matters

Things look grim with Aerial wrecked and Eri not responding. Suletta also gets a hit of data storms and is briefly knocked out, but quickly comes to with renewed purpose. Like her mother, she’s experiencing physical consequences to her close contact with the Permet, so it all comes down to whether she can hold out long enough.

Her mother’s security is able to take back control of Quiet Zero and detains Miorine, Nika, Chuchu and the others, but without Eri it’s just a giant hunk of metal. As for the Assembly League president, he should really have a mustache so he can twirl it as he orders the giant frikkin’ laser to fire again as soon as it’s charged.

After Lauda returns Suletta’s little keychain and gives her his reluctant blessing to get the job done, she heads back to Quiet Zero with the husk of Aerial, and Prospera tells her good job. But Suletta isn’t here to hand Ericht back to her mom so she can plug her right back into the system domination machine. In two huge landmark moments in Suletta’s life, she tells her mom “no”, then tells her she’s wrong.

While attempting to transfer drive controls from Calibarn to Aerial, Suletta and everyone else receives a little surprise: Elan, the Elan who first befriended Suletta and stood her up at the bench, coalesces in the data storm to give her a hand.

Turns out he’s like Eri, unable to exist in the physical world, but perfectly capable of helping summon the Bits and reawaken Eri. When she does awaken, Suletta tells her she wants to be “greedy”—she wants to live in a world with her sister and their mom.

Eri gets the message, and she agrees. She sends out a data storm that hacks system-wide communications, allowing Miorine, who announces to everyone out there that Benerit Group has not only surrendered, but is hereby dissolved and liquidated with immediate effect; its assets to be distributed to Earth-based corporations.

MioMio also exposes the Assembly league’s collusion with Grassley and promises to make the smoking guns public. Elan resigns on the spot, while Shaddiq tips his proverbial hat to Miorine’s guts. It’s one of Mio’s finest moments, and she does it while Prospera’s bodyguard has a gun to her head!

The Assembly League Prez still believes he has the last trump card in the form of his Giant Frikkin’ Laser, but Suletta and Eri (with a bit of help from their Permet-etheeral buddies) send out another data storm without Quiet Zero which overrides and shuts down its firing sequence, eliminating the last threat to them and those they love and care about. Nadeem, Dr. Cardo, and others come to Prospera, urging her to join them on the other side.

But Prospera isn’t ready to turn tail and cast away her mortal bonds. Both Suletta and Eri thank Prospera for choosing the future over revenge, and declare that they want to stick together as a family from now on. Quiet Zero and the Gundams start to break down into the vacuum of space, having done their job.

Suletta is left floating in space once more, but she’s not alone. MioMio catches a ride on a mobile suit to pick her up. For a few moments, she fears Suletta might have finally succumbed to the incredible strain of the data storms, but when her eyes finally open, MioMio’s tears of despair turn to pure joy and relief.

Fast-forward three years, and a clean-cut Nika has paid her debt to society and reunites with the other members of Earth House, still hard at work using GUND tech to help, for instance Petra, who is now officially with Lauda. Elan is on a quest to track down the places Norea drew in order to feel closer to her, while the Grassley House girls back MioMio up as she continues to confront the protests and problems on earth head-on.

At the same time, MioMio hasn’t buried herself entirely in her work, because as the sun sets she comes to a farm where she meets up with Suletta who is playing with children. The two of them both have gleaming rings, as they both went and got married at some point in the past three years.

While I wish we could have seen the actual ceremony, it’s also nice to see them simply chilling arm-in-arm, a picture of marital bliss, and a still unfortunately relatively rare instance (both in anime and American TV) of a gay couple living happily ever after.

It’s also good to see that both of them, with support from one another, have found their purposes in life. No longer led by the nose by their families’ legacies, they’re now doing everything in their power to make the world they live in a better place for those who come after them.

As Grassley House girls and Earth House crew await them at the top of the hill, MioMio offers Suletta a hand up, and their joined hands no longer tremble in uncertainty, but are firm in their resolve and their love. It’s a beautiful place to close the book on The Witch from Mercury, which to me stands out as one of the better series of the franchise.

P.S. Thanks to flamerounin for reminding me of Eri’s fate: she’s still “around”, but now her consciousness has been transferred to Suletta’s keychain! I agree that this is hilarious, and there now must be a third season—a sitcom—with starring newlyweds Suletta and MioMio with Keychain Eri as the third wheel!

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 23 – Sisters and Brothers

A number of plotlines come to a head this week: Suletta begs Eri and their mom to stand down. Eri doesn’t want to hurt Suletta, but she will if she doesn’t stand down. Suletta won’t. Lauda is convinced Guel is in the “thrall” of Miorine, whom he blames for bringing Gundams back into the world, resulting in the death of their dad and the wounding of his beloved Petra.

Chuchu pilots Demi Barding without Permet (which she learns is a tall order) into the data storm, carrying a module containing an infiltration team including MioMio, Elan, and Belmeria. You know: the type of defenseless module famed throughout the Gundam universe for not being blown up and everyone inside them killed…right?

Delling manages to get out of bed and gather enough strnegth to call for an emergency session of the Assembly League to reconsider intervening in Benerit’s affairs. One of Eri’s avatars finally insists that Suletta stop interfering. To show she means business she prepares to blow up the module containing MioMio and the others.

She’s stopped, presumably by the real Eri, and the info density of data storm around Quiet Zero begins to degrade. The infiltration team uses this hiccup in the storm to continue on and board Quiet Zero.

But while the defenseless module is safe, no one anywhere near Benerit or Quiet Zero will be for long. The Assembly League president, now fully in the pockets of the Peil Group sisters, are preparing to use a megaweapon located in Lagrange 1 called the Interplanetary Laser Transmission System.

Unbeknownst to that threat, the infiltration heads to the necessary control panel to initiate the shutdown sequence, but they’re pinned down by Haro-piloted security drones, and Prospera herself heads down there with a pistol in hand. All the while, the Jeturk brothers continue to duel.

Lauda resents that Guel kept his role in their dad’s death secret, believing Guel’s need to bear the burden of everything to be a sign he doesn’t have confidence in him. Lauda manages to chop Guel’s suit into pieces, but the Gundam seems to be taking its toll on him.

They draw their energy swords for one final joust, but at the last moment Guel retracts his blade and lets Lauda impale his suit. Lauda flashes back to the first time they met when he was adopted. Guel immediately embraced his new little brother and put him at ease.

Now Lauda wishes he hadn’t stabbed Guel’s suit, which is sparking and leaking oil and poised to explode at any moment. It doesn’t, thanks to Felsi sortieing, shooting Guel’s suit with firefighting foam pellets, and telling the brothers to end their stupid sibling spat at once. Thank you Felsi!

As Suletta continues to distract Aerial, Mio and Bel find the old shutdown code doesn’t work. Prospera arrives on the deck with security drones to tell them she changed it. Mio tries to get around the admin path, and remembering what Suletta said about words in the genetic code of the tomatoes, responds to her mother’s words by saying “I love you too” in DNA code.

The code works, but Prospera advances on Mio and Bel, who fires her gun until it’s out of bullets. It doesn’t stop Prospera, who is prepared to kill MioMio, but she’s stopped by Elan, who shoots her mask off.

With Quiet Zero and its data storm shutting down, and a dazed, maskless Prospera no longer a threat, the Assembly League fires the Interplanetary Laser at Quiet Zero to destroy it, Benerit Front, and everything in Lagrage 4. They’ll sort out the mess and Peil will rebuild as the leader of a new Benerit.

This too doesn’t come to pass. The laser blast is stopped before it can reach Quiet Zero by a shield…put up by Eri. She wasn’t ordered to do this by her mother, but she’s certainly doing it to protect her, if not Suletta and her friends.

The laser packs one hell of a wallop, however, and in the ensuing blast that dissipates the laser and saves everyone, Aerial is critically damaged. Did she decide, with her mother’s plan to build a world she could live ending in failure, that she would at least ensure Prospera would survive? Whatever her motives, will her apparent sacrifice be enough, or will the Laser just charge back up again? There’s just one episode left of this season to sort it all out.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 22 – The Kids Are Alright

As Quiet Zero destroys a third of the Assembly fleet and forces their retreat before going dormant to recharge, Guel is unable to convince his fiancée to come out of her room. Tortured by the devastating consequences of her choices, MioMio is in full-on hikikomori mode, while Suletta and Earth House are springing into action.

Suletta’s friends respect her decision to confront her mother and Eri, but they won’t let her go alone. They’re all in this together. Aided by Selecia and Rouji and with Felsi pitching in, their ranks have grown. And considering the risk she’s taking on behalf of peace, Suletta is allowed to speak to Miorine…but not before she defeats Guel in an old-fashioned duel with foils.

I honestly did not know Suletta was so good at fencing, but also not surprised considering how skilled she is in the cockpit. Both are a form of martial dance, and when she’s able to duck under Guel’s lunge and score the first hit square on his chest, he graciously accepts defeat and restores her white Holder’s uniform.

Through the bedroom door Suletta tells MioMio that she’s made the decision to move forward even if she gains nothing, but admits that she’s scared about what’s to come. Mio tells her she can’t give her a pep talk, and how all of her decisions were mistakes.

Suletta tells her she’s made mistakes too—including killing others—but she’s only where she is because she met Miorine, and that’s not a mistake. Mio emerges from her blankets and walks to the door to meet Suletta in her jammies and the ultimate bedhead. Suletta offers her hand and Miorine takes it, tenderly, even lovingly.

After apologizing to Earth House, Mio meets with her father, who is awake but not yet able to speak. She tells him she’s not going to run, either from the Benerit Group or the curse of the Gundams. Delling responds with what looks like an expression of approval and pride.

Suletta and Miorine participate in a meeting with Parche, Belmeria, Guel, Elan, Kenanji to determine how they’ll be able to get Suletta to engage Quiet Zero. A support ship with Miorine and the techs aboard, along with Guel in Selecia’s Demi Barding, and both will be off the Permet network so Eri can’t hack them. Suletta will be piloting Calibarn to distract Eri and the swarm Gundnodes.

As the Benerit Group Front is evacuated, Mio meets with Shaddiq, shows him her resolve, and proposes a deal with him. She then suits up with Suletta, who presents her with a tomato. Earth House research discovered a message to Mio’s mother in the genetic code of the fruit, and Mio takes a big juicy bite, and tells Suletta they’ll grow more, together.

But first thing’s first: Suletta has to stop her family from rewriting the world. To do so, and to interface properly with Calibarn, Suletta will have to clear Permet Score 5 without any filters or Eri beating the brunt anymore. It’s the first time Sulettat has to endure the same data storms as other Gundam pilots, and it’s very touch-and-go as the score jumps from 2 to 3 to 4.

But Suletta hangs in there, Miorine trusts her and keeps the sequence going, and Suletta is able to clear Score 5. With that, she immediately sorties, breaking through Quiet Zero and generally causing a big ol’ ruckus. Even when Prospera realizes it’s Suletta in the cockpit, she doesn’t stop the drones from attacking her. But she taught her daughter well; the drones can’t beat her.

As Miorine’s ship and Guel’s mobile suit prepare to commence their part of the operation, the Schwartzette appears on the battlefield and opens fire on Guel. It’s our wild card boy Lauda, who is angry that Guel is still letting himself be led by the nose by “that troublesome woman” presumably Suletta.

While the brothers look poised to duel, delaying Guel’s role in the operation, Suletta gets close enough to Quiet Zero to cause Aerial to launch out of the mothership. Her childish avatar appears and asks Suletta what she’s doing there. Suletta tells her sister straight up that she’s there to stop both her and mom.

It won’t be easy or painless, but I have faith that Suletta, with Miorine and all her friends supporting her, can do just that.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 21 – To-may-to, To-mah-to

The sun rises on a school in ruins full of whiny little Spacian bitches (my God their complaining) but an Earth House on the rise. Seceila, mistress of whisperers as she is, must know Suletta’s M.O. down pat. After watching her help the other students out with small comforts without gaining anything from it, she’s compelled to ask Suletta “Have you changed?” Suletta gives her a confident look and a cool “I guess so.” How sweet is a liberated Suletta?

Petra is in critical condition, but she’s not dead. It’s a significant glimmer of hope after Witch from Mercury was rather stingy with the stuff last week. In the wake of the attack on Asticassia and the arrest of Zenelli, Miorine is duly elected the new Benerit Group president. It’s not an occasion for celebration. Recent tragedies on Earth and in Space on her ostensible watch aside, the group Miorine is about to inherit is about to shatter.

Those indolent Spacian brats having to rough it in the relief camp are in luck: Earth House doesn’t hold grudges. Suletta stashed away a sizable tomato harvest prior to Miorine’s greenhouse’s untimely demise by errant mobile suit.

She and the Earthians distribute the sweet and delicious nightshades to the other students, who welcome a little comfort in dark times. Everyone in Earth House is happy to be kept busy for the distraction. Perhaps in part due to Petra and Felsi’s attitudes toward her changed, even Chuchu doesn’t object to the tomato distributing.

Martin takes the time to talk more with Nika, who says she’ll be dropping out to face the music and return in her own right. It’s both sweet and rewarding to watch these two forgive each other and vow to support each other in the future. That it’s not a romantic development but something far more complex nuanced, makes it more compelling.

If the episode was simply a collection of these fine instances of some characters moving forward (Suletta, Nika, Martin) while others fall (Shaddiq, Miorine, Bel) I would have honestly been satisfied. But this episode had far grander ambitions.

Bel approaches Suletta, along with Inspector Guston Parche of the Space Assembly League, who wants to speak to Suletta. Now while we’ve heard a lot about the SAL, I don’t believe there’s much explanation of what exactly it is yet, so we get that: it’s the Space United Nations, if nations were corporations. That is, it mediates problems among all the competing nation-corps.

That context of neutrality is crucial to the events that follow, as the Peil Group goes rogue withdraws from the Benerit Group to to blow the whistle on the group’s militaristic designs and secret WMD, Quiet Zero. Basically, Peil run snitchin’ to the SAL, who deems Benerit a threat to peace and votes to mobilize a “forceful intervention” fleet to dissolve it. As if MioMio didn’t have enough shit to eat.

As that SAL fleet looms, the newly-released Sarius speaks to Miorine, managing to rag on her comatose dad (“he didn’t teach you enough”) while proposing a possible face-saving solution: throw Grassley under the bus for everything, and save the rest of the group, which Sarius believes to be of paramount importance. But Miorine has decided to draw the line when it comes to people she’s sacrificed for what she believed to be the greater good.

Back at Earth House’s relief tent, Bel explains Quiet Zero, which works kind of like an electromagnetic pulse, only rather than disable all electronics in its range, it hijacks all systems and vehicles that use Permet…which is pretty much everything. Prospera’s goal is to expand the radius to encompass all of the Earth sphere—creating a new world.

Bel and Gaston (very Beauty and the Beast) come to Suletta in hopes she can talk Prospera down, but with a look of bitter resignation and forced cheer, Suletta admits that reasoning with her mom is likely a lost cause. Then she tells Bell, Gaston, and all her Earth House family that she’s not Prospera’s real daughter, only a Repli-Child designed to be a key, then cut loose.

Suletta goes on to say that her mom is creating this new world for Aerial, AKA Ericht, who can now only live within data storms. She still loves her mom, because it’s thanks to her she got to go to school and meet everyone. But she doesn’t think there’s anything she can say to change her mom’s mind. That’s when Gaston says if talking won’t work, they’ll have her pilot a Gundam the SAL confiscated during the Vanadis Incident, the Calibarn, nicknamed “Monster”.

That’s when Nika speaks up for Suletta, lambasting Bel for blithely sacrificing yet another pilot like she did to Elan Ceres. Bel has no defense, and indeed falls to her knees and weeps. The only reason she hadn’t apologized for what she’d done is because she finds it so unforgivable in her own eyes.

But while Nika, Chuchu, and the others object to Bel using Suletta, Suletta herself isn’t bothered by it. Now that she knows she isn’t immune to data storms, but that Ericht bore all of the suffering so she didn’t have to, she still wants to talk to her “big sister”, and her mom, one more time. She’ll do what she can, even if she doesn’t gain one or two or anything else.

Once again, we’ve already got a high-9 episode with Suletta agreeing to pilot Calibarn. But we’re still far from done, because there’s still that space battle between the Assembly League fleet and the Benerit Group. Instead, they encounter Quiet Zero, a massive jewel-shaped battleship commanded by Suletta. Suit-type GUND-Bits sortie to face the SAL fleet.

It doesn’t take long for the Assembly fleet’s suits to realize the bogeys are unmanned drones too maneuverable to easily defeat. At Prospera’s command, Aerial connects to Quiet Zero, which goes from red to blue as a spherical network expands from the ship, and with it, a data storm under her control.

Once hacked and immobilized, the fleet isn’t just disabled, it’s utterly obliterated with cool, terrible precision. It’s also the biggest and most ambitious space battle to date in Mercury, even though, or possibly because it’s a squash match. Prospera isn’t playing.

Faced with still more death and destruction, Miorine’s downward spiral not only continues but accelerates. She seems to be at or damned near her breaking point. Never have I wanted Suletta to be by her side more than now, not least because I know Suletta wouldn’t throw salt on the wound by condemning MioMio, but probably thank her for dumping her because of where she ended up: free to make her own choices.

Suletta may be perfectly willing to risk her life to speak to her sister and mother again, to try to learn more about them and understand her loved ones better. But she’s not going alone. Chuchu speaks on behalf of all Earth House in saying they’re going with her, and lord knows she’ll need their help. Ceres, who was sitting outside the tent listening to everything, also lends his services, after properly apologizing to Suletta for the things he said to her.

Lilique and Aliya half-jokingly remark that his personality changed yet again, but this is the same Elan who was a major asshole to Suletta for weeks. She’s not the only one who’s changed. There are people she wants to talk to, and there’s a place he wants to go. Watching the kids unite to bring down a rogue mama had me rubbing my hands together with robust anticipation.

In addition, a new wild card takes the stage in Lauda. While he overheard that Guel had a hand in their father’s death, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Lauda has settled on a scapegoat: Miorine. Miorine, the cursed president already far too resigned to take on all of the amassed guilt of the world and let it crush her. She aimed to keep Suletta out of this mess, but now Suletta is choosing, on her own, to charge into it head-first.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 20 – Who’s Allowed to Live?

As Norea watches the carnage unfold on earth, she gets even more worked up and filled with an unquenching thirst for vengeance. Guel and Kenanji head to the school for evidence of Shaddiq’s treachery, but Shaddiq already knows what he’s up to, and he and Grassley House intercept them. Finally, these two are facing off in mobile suits, but it’s no longer a school duel, nor a game.

Martin reports his progress to Secelia, but she and Rouji are more concerned with why Aerial is on Earth wreaking havoc. Martin, of course, has no idea. Earth House watches helplessly as what’s left of GUND-Arm’s reputation goes up in literal smoke. Lilique tells the others to shut the news feeds off and leave it to the president.

The Earth Housers are left wondering if they should just be good and go back to attending class, as Suletta is doing. That said, she’s not paying much attention, as she’s understandably preoccupied with just what the heck is going on with Miorine. Petra offers Suletta her notes as further thanks for saving Lauda. When Suletta asks if Petra is in love with him, she bristles, but doesn’t deny it (obviously).

When Cathedra, Dominicus, and Guel in his Darilbalde are barred from reaching the school by Shaddiq and his fellow Grassleyans, it doesn’t take long for Guel to play the only hand he has and accuse Shaddiq without evidence. But Shaddiq doesn’t care what Guel hurls his way if he doesn’t have hard evidence. That evidence is about to be moved, as Henao is overseeing Sarius’ relocation while Shaddiq buys time.

However, Kenanji and Dominicus manage to slip through and land within the school environment. That’s when the door to the holding area is unlocked and Norea heads out like a revenge-fueld missile. Elan tries to stop her, first from leaving their quarters and then from entering the cockpit of her Gundam, but fails on both accounts.

Norea won’t be denied. But while she has her singleminded mission to take as much away from the wretched Spacians as they took away from her, Nika is also suddenly free, and her look of determination indicates she’ll be making a beeline for Earth House.

I knew Norea would be one of the series’ most volatile wild cards, and she goes absolutely feral on the totally undefended Asticassia. She blasts and blows up buildings, vehicles, and people without any rhyme or reason. She simply wants to let it all burn. In the process, she ends up blowing up her fellow Earthians hangar.

Petra leads a stunned Suletta through the increasingly distressing amounts of wreckage and carnage, and each of them carry an injured classmate on their backs when Norea fires on their location and they’re both obscured by smoke, dust, and debris. Considering Petra’s quite blatant death flags earlier about making Lauda take her out to lunch and dinner, I didn’t feel good about her chances.

Meanwhile, Lauda listens in as Guel and Shaddiq battle both with words and souped-up mobile suits, and then the inevitable happens: Shaddiq lets slip that it was Guel who killed their father. Lauda had been a loyal and trusty younger brother to this point but that’s probably over now.

There’s no more damning sign that Things Will Never Be the Same as watching a Front security mobile suit crush what looks like Miorine’s greenhouse. And while the camera doesn’t linger on any crushed tomatoes, it doesn’t have to use symbolism; students are being crushed and killed.

At first, Felsi’s campus-calibrated mobile suit is the only thing standing between Norea’s rampage and utter destruction of the school, but then Secelia, Rouji, and Martin arrive at Earth House (that’s right, Secelia is running in this episode) and offers Chuchu (the only pilot around) her prototype mobile suit.

The suit still needs to be calibrated for Chuchu, so who should show up right on time to do just that but a contrite Nika, ready to help. Apologies and forgiveness are put on hold—everyone has work to do. That said, Chuchu tells Nika to tell her everything “from A to Z”, otherwise she won’t know what she’s forgiving her for.

As Shaddiq and Guel continue to duel in space, Shaddiq condemns Guel for getting Miorine’s hands dirty, and he and his Grassley comrades tell him a boy who grew up with a silver spoon knows nothing of the struggles they’ve faced, and the choice they’ve made as a group of orphans to break the “unjust peace” that’s been forged by taking the power from the Spacians.

Henao needs just five minutes to get Sarius safely to the rendezvous point with the Assembly League…but she doesn’t get it. Guel defeats both Sabina and Shaddiq, telling them if all they do is take, they’ll never gain anything, which I thought was a great line. While Guel technically wins the battle against Shaddiq, it comes at the cost of his mobile suit…and very possibly Lauda’s loyalty as well.

Elan sorties in Sophie’s suit to try to stop Norea one more time…and he actually succeeds, tenderly taking her suit’s hand into his and promising that he’ll stay by her side come what may. If she’s scared of dying, of the things in her sketchbook, he’ll help her find a way to live, because they’re both allowed to live.

Unfortunately, Elan stopped Norea far too late. The damage she did had been done, the people she killed aren’t coming back, and under such circumstances, the security forces are shooting to kill. Just as she tells Elan to tell her his real name later, her suit is shot through the core and she is obliterated in the explosion.

Norea isn’t the only major loss this week. Petra doesn’t survive either. She died having saved Suletta when she was a deer in the headlights after the attack, and in the process of trying to save the student on her back. May both Norea and Petra find the peace she couldn’t find in life.

In the aftermath, there are rows of dozens of dead Asticassia students. Chuchu slams her fist on her cockpit display, bitterly wishing she could have done more. But both she and Felsi definitely saved an even greater number from being added to Norea’s butcher’s bill.

That night, as security drones hover over the ruined school, the members of Earth House and Nika are reunited with Suletta. But before Nika can say anything to her, Suletta interrupts. Her hands are covered in cuts and bruises as she scratches and heaves and moves the mass of stone and metal rubble before her.

She simply asks that everyone help her. There are still students trapped under this debris, and some of them may not be beyond help. It’s only a glimmer of hope in an episode called “The End of Hope”, but it’s an important one. Suletta’s meager request galvanizes Earth House not to worry about what they did or couldn’t do, but focus on what they can in the here and now.

More importantly, no one is telling Suletta to do what she’s doing, and she’s doing what she feels she needs to do. It’s another first for her, and even if it wasn’t on her wish list, both that and more firsts like it will be essential in the days and weeks to come.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 19 – Cleaning the Stables

Miorine and Guel are headed to earth, unaware of just how dangerous a scorpion they have as an escort in Prospera, piloting Aerial. Miorine may be planning to bolster her presidential bonafides through direct talks with Earth, but Prospera has entirely different and far more selfish motives.

In one of the surprises of the whole show, Secelia has Martin give her a pedicure to put him in his place, but also offers him the advice he needed to hear: if he believes he sold out Nina to save Earth House, he needs to come clean to his house and seek forgiveness there.

Piel’s newest Elan is now with Shaddiq, telling him more people might support Miorine in the election if the Gundam they brought crushes the Earthians, but Shaddiq knows Miorine will do everything in her power to prevent that. Miorine isn’t fazed by the unarmed protestors, and alights from her limo to meet with Earth’s leaders face to face.

As Norea finally fills her sketchbook and breaks down from the grief of losing her sister and best friend Sophie and admits she’s afraid to die, Miorine receives the Earthians’ list of very legitimate grievances, including the Benerit group’s use of extralegal detentions, torture, and murder in their search for the Plant Quetta terrorists.

That said, Miorine brings GUND-Arm medical tech to the talks, and this intrigues one of Earth’s representatives to the point he agrees to a 10-day ceasefire until the election is over. If Miorine wins, then the real talks can begin. Seeing them shake hands after her hand was previously ignored feels like a big win for Mio. Turns out it’s the only win she’ll get, and an all too brief one.

Suletta, having hit rock bottom last week, finally begins her slow ascent. Emerging from her bedroom to eat, ChuChu drags her out to be with the rest of Earth House, who have prepared a sumptuous breakfast. It’s here where Suletta realizes she still has a family that cares about her.

Martin then arrives and comes clean as Secelia advised, and receives the forgiveness he wanted but didn’t think he’d get. Suletta knows Nika wasn’t trying to cause any harm but only protect her own family. As Lilique puts it, even if it wasn’t the best way, it was all she could do. Suletta lingers on that.

While Mio handles the talks, Guel went with Kenanji to speak to Sedo, the Dawn of Fold-affiliated kid who he knew from when Guel was their captive. Sedo wants to join Grassley House’s academy for war orphans like the “Prince”. Kenanji gets angered by this, because “Prince” is the name of one of Grassley’s finest graduates: Shaddiq.

It doesn’t take much to put two and two together and realize that Shaddiq, in concert with Fold, organized both the Plant Quetta and Open Campus attacks. Guel informs Mio, who tells him to return to Space and try to find evidence. She imagines Shaddiq is keeping his adoptive father Sarius at Grassley house.

But even Shaddiq’s plans seem to be in peril due to the whims of one Prospera Mercury, who uses Aerial’s abilities to take control of a piece of Earth artillery and have it fire at her, giving her the justification to retreat. But instead she heads to a secret Space Assembly League facility—Ochs Earth—and lays waste to the Gundams stored there.

While fighting breaks out, it’s covered on the news waves. Feng and her companion, who pose as smugglers but are really Space Assembly League agents, secure Bel and even learn about Quiet Zero from her, but while trying to move her to a secure location Prospera’s aide kills Feng and Bel just narrowly manages to escape with Feng’s partner.

The end result of Prospera going her own way is that conflict between Earth and Space flares back up and escalates. Blood is spilled mere moments after Mio got her ceasefire, leaving her entire trip a failure and making her the face of the entire fiasco.

But when Suletta watches the newsfeed and sees Aerial among the burning rubble and crying children of Quinharbor, she finally understands why Eri pushed her away, and told her to stop clinging to her and their mother. Eri kept Suletta out of this mess so she could rise to fight another day. There’s even another Gundam looking for a pilot that I’d say has Suletta’s name on it.

If last week Suletta hit rock bottom, this week Mio-Mio seems to be in the same spot. Both her designs on forging a peace with Earth and her presidential prospects are in tatters. She, like Eri, was right to try keep Suletta out of this, even if her methods were extreme. But now that just means that Suletta has the freedom to choose what to do with herself. I imagine she’ll forgive Mio and try to save her. Suletta’s rise towards agency and selfhood begins now.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 18 – Go Forward, Gain Nothing

I’ll be honest: It’s weird seeing Suletta in the standard drab Asticassia uniform, but in true Suletta fashion she’s decided to take her fall from grace in stride: by going forward. She still has a wish list, and so she starts knocking items off, from asking “a cool question” in class o eating lunch with friends. Her cheerful attitude doesn’t sit quite right with her Earth House chums, particularly Chuchu.

Guel isn’t wearing his white Holder’s uniform, as he’s joined the ranks of High Schoolers Doing Adult Business, taking over Jeturk from Lauda. His new fiancée Miorine is also in a snappy business suit, a clear visual sign that they’re too cool for school. Mio has a Benerit Group presidential election to win, but neither she nor Guel have the track record to get the time of day from the real adults.

As with Shaddiq and his girls, there’s an air of “playing at being adults” to them, but the fact is with their fathers dead or incapacitated, Mio and Guel have no choice but to step up, regardless of whether they’re ready or deserving. It’s a blow to Mio to learn Shaddiq is also in the running for president, and also in the lead thanks to his alliance with Peil.

Suletta still tends the greenhouse I assume Mio has abandoned due to her new hectic work schedule. Lauda stops by to toss another “Mercurian wench” barb her way, but when Chuchu gets in his face, he, Petra, and Felsi thank her for saving his life. She’s not sure what to do with that, but is still pissed that Suletta is taking this the way she is.

But from Suletta’s perspective, Mio did nothing wrong. Suletta broke her promise never to lose a duel. Though, if she knew it was Mio who hit the kill switch on Aerial she might think differently. As for Nika, she’s still in purgatory with a dour Norea who just wants to kill Spacians and an Elan looking for something to do with Peil backing Shaddiq.

As protests on earth spread and grow more violent (which I believe is Shaddiq’s doing), Mio, while in confrence with Guel and Prospera, believes speaking to the Earthians directly is the kind of bold move that could help her make up her huge deficit against Shaddiq. At the same time, the Earth House arranges to have Suletta meet with Mio.

Bel runs afoul of Jun Feng. And then there’s Martin, who sold out Nika. He goes to a designated school counseling booth to speak to an automated Haro, only to be busted by Seceila of all people, calling him a “dirty rat.” This episode checks in on literally everyone.

When Suletta parts ways with her Earth buddies to see Mio, she ends up in a dark hangar, reunited with Aerial. She hops into the cockpit and flies out into space, where she admits to Aerial that she’s not so sure she’s gained two by moving forward. It hurts not seeing Mio.

That’s when Gundam’s light trim turns from red to blue, and Suletta finds herself in a kind of virtual construct where she meets Eri’s avatar face to face. Eri tells her she “filled in” for her admirably, and tells Suletta she’s one of her “repli-children” created from her genes.

Once Permet Score Eight is reached, Eri doesn’t need a pilot. Quiet Zero, which Suletta knows nothing about, will create a world where Eri can live, so Suletta isn’t needed anymore. So she urges Suletta to stop clinging to her, and to mom.

With that Suletta is ejected from Aerial’s cockpit, and drifts through space in a spin until caught by Prospera. Her mom tells her everything is just as Eri said, and it’s time she go back to school, which she says has all she needs “to fill her heart.” Both Eri and Prospera want Suletta to live freely, as Mio does, but without a bride, or duels, or Aerial to pilot, Suletta is feeling particularly empty and useless.

If the episode began with Suletta pretending everything was okay and moving forward, the end of the episode shows her in full existential meltdown. Everyone and everything has conspired to strip away all of the things she had used to define herself up to this point. Seeing (but notably not hearing) her sobbing as she floats in space sure feels like rock bottom.

The question is, what will become of this newly empty vessel; this blank slate that is Suletta Mercury? I am extremely interested to find out if she’ll finally move forward for real, and if she’ll chooses to reject the path of safety and tedium her mother, sister, and bride have laid out for her.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 17 – The Final Duel

Backed into a corner, Miorine agrees to take over Prospera’s Quiet Zero program. Prospera only asks that Suletta be allowed to participate in one last duel with Aerial, and then Mio can “do as she pleases” with her. Mio’s next interaction with Suletta demonstrates the strain of their still ill-defined relationship.

Based purely on Miorine’s reaction and not her inner morality, Suletta apologizes for “saying something weird” in the greenhouse (about killing if her mom told her to). When Mio asks if Suletta would ever give up Aerial, Suletta flatly says no; Aerial is family, after all.

Suletta then talks about celebrating Mio’s upcoming 17th birthday, unaware that it’s already the beginning of the end for her. At the Benerit Group Front, Business Wonder Boy Shaddiq voices his intention to run for president and form an alliance with the Peil Group.

Back at the greenhouse, Suletta is watering plants when Elan comes in. Having failed to steal Aerial, he confronts her directly to give it to him. When she tells him she doesn’t like him like this, he says the Elan she did like is gone and not coming back. Then he pulls a Taser on her.

She’s rescued…by Geul, who dispatches Elan with alacrity, then offers thanks to Suletta for helping inspire him “move forward and gain two.” He admits that part of her is what he fell for, and makes clear to her that she’s precious to him.

Suletta understands this is a confession, and politely rejects him, for she too has someone precious. That someone, Miorine, is hiding in the bushes listening, and eventually shows herself to declare to Suletta what she wants for her birthday: for her to win one last duel … against Guel.

I thought we were done with the “kid gloves” of the school duels, but this one is touted again and again as the “last” such duel, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. While Suletta simply asks that if she wins, Jeturk house align themselves with Earth House to stem the harassment from other Spacian houses, if Guel wins, he gets Aerial.

Miorine, who is present for the pre-duel ceremony, tells her those stakes don’t matter if Suletta wins, and she’s never lost. But now that we know Mio wants Suletta out of that cockpit at any cost, this felt different. Suletta doesn’t feel invincible here; she feels like a sitting duck.

Miorine wants Suletta to be happy, but doesn’t believe she can truly be that when fighting and killing. So in addition to striking a deal with Prospera that will prove decisive in the coming duel, Mio tells Guel to reclaim her as his bride, so that his company can support her in the coming election.

Just as Miorine is preparing to push Suletta from the center of everything to the margins where she can be kept safe, Elan joins Norea and Nika in a storage room of misfit toys, no longer loyal to or wanted by anyone. It’s a compelling room of wild cards, and more importantly, Suletta can’t rely on Nika’s technical skill to fix up Aerial, who is not 100%.

When the duel begins, it looks like it will be another easy victory for Suletta. She’s committed, and her Gund-Bits are overwhelming, as always. Add to that Guel, who has cut his hair as a symbol of his rebirth and also been embraced and supported by Lauda, Petra (who is now dating Lauda?) and Felsi, is experiencing some pretty brutal effects of PTSD.

When he freezes up, that family calls out to him, waking him up and allowing him to dodge Suletta’s decisive antenna-severing blow. Then Mio receives a notification from Prospera on her phone: an Aerial kill switch. Suletta hears Eri say “I’m sorry” as “Happy Birthday” plays, and after briefly hesitating, she hits the button, and Aerial shuts down and goes dark.

Guel takes the deactivated Aerial’s antenna and wins the duel. Shortly after, Miorine opens Suletta’s cockpit to let her know it was she who shut Aerial down, because she wanted her to lose. This duel was a trade, and Suletta made a “good shield”, but her usefulness to Miorine is now at an end.

In one final twist of the knife before saying goodbye to her “Mercurian country bumpkin”, Miorine brings up Suletta’s uniform settings and removes the Holder regalia, as with her defeat she is no longer the holder.

She may no longer be anything, anymore. Miorine knows Prospera sent Suletta here to fight and win duels. Now there will be no more duels (though I’m not holding by breath about that), and she has lost. It’s an absolutely brutal, heart-wrenching turn of events … but I can’t fault Miorine.

Ultimately, Mio knew Suletta would never quit fighting in a Gundam of her own volition. Aerial had to be taken from her for her own good. Mio did this because she loves Suletta and wants her to be free from her terrible mother all this political bullshit, and from a life of further bloodshed that will eventually tear at her soul.

The question is, now that Suletta is at or fast approaching rock bottom, what the heck—if anything—is next for her? She’s been well and truly taken off the board. From her perspective, Miorine betrayed her, dumped her, broke her heart because she was falling short as a groom, even if that’s not at all the case. Now comes the picking up of the pieces.

GODDAMN TEARJERKER™ CERTIFIED

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 16 – Returns and Investments

The cat’s out of the bag: Prospera turned her daughter Ericht into a Gundam and is using her second daughter Suletta to pilot her. The thought of this makes Belmeria ill, but she’s already in too deep, and Prospera, now in full mugging Villain Mode, isn’t about to let her off the hook.

Shaddiq has adopted a more buttoned-down look as Grassley’s new acting president. News has spread of the attacks on Quetta and Asticassia and Benerit’s hardline policies on Earth. Benerit is off balance, just like Shaddiq wants. They need a new president, and all the companies are jockeying for the upper hand.

As for GUND-ARM’s president, Miorine, she is cleared of any charges and free to return to a locked-down, hollowed out Asticassia. Her employees are already falling victim to anti-Earthian sentiment caused by all the news. There is so much she can’t control, but at least she can disperse a Spacian student with footage of him assaulting poor Martin.

Their well-meaning comrade Nika is a “guest” of Grassley House, where Sabina reveals that she’s Earthian too (or at least was before joining the house), and asks Nika to join their cause, since their fundamental goals to bridge Earth and Space align. For her part, Nika is done with being a victim, and ends justifying means.

We get only that one scene with Nika, who started out as a stock crack engineer character but has grown into a full deuterogamist, but it does what so many of these scenes that juggle so many characters and motivations excel at: engages me and make me want more.

Speaking of deuterogamists, Guel Jeturk, the prodigal son, has returned to the Benerit Front. Lauda Neill, who has been just barely keeping the company and himself above water, is so happy and relieved his brother is alive he faints. Petra, who like Shaddiq and Jazz are now wearing the business uniforms of the corporatocracy, gives Guel a warm welcome home.

Guel promises to take care of everything while his brother rests. After hitting one rock bottom after another, I’m now fully on board with Guel finally rising again, regardless of whose side he ends up on.

It’s this reunion, and Miorine being thanked and welcomed so warmly by Earth House, that prevent this episode from being a complete downer. Also, I loved the dark comedy of Noto Mamiko really momming it up when Prospera casually pops in to say hi and introduce herself to Suletta’s new friends. It would be a sweet interaction if we didn’t know this is just a façade, and that all these kids are just expendable assets for her cause.

In an effort to grab power during the vacuum caused by Delling’s coma, the Peil co-CEOs order Elan to steal Aerial, currently impounded (GUND-Arm’s business activities are also suspended). However, when he tries to start her up, he is attacked by a data storm. Eri, whom Elan mistakes for a young Suletta,  appears in that storm, one of many, and basically tells him to fuck off. Elan takes his frustration out on Bel.

He’s not entirely wrong to do so, as her desire to survive has led her to perform experimentations that have killed others, including former versions of himself. Bel is being so emotionally wrecked this episode I don’t know how much longer it will be before she does something desperate that no one expects; just one more wild card in a whole deck of them (I haven’t even mentioned the machinations of the pair of smugglers Miorine is still working with).

This brings us to the long-awaited reunion of Suletta and Miorine, who have not spoken or seen each other since The Slap (content warning). When Miorine first arrives she’s quickly enveloped in GUND-Arm clerical work, but Till raises Suletta’s hand for her, and she invites Miorine to the greenhouse she’s been tending in her stead.

The two are surrounded by the vivid life of the thriving tomatoes and enveloped in a warm light rarely seen in other parts of the school. Suletta starts by asking if Miorine is mad, but it’s not that. In fact, Miorine has been wanting to apologize, and thank her for saving her and her father. Things seem to be going well in terms of getting these two back on board…and then Suletta smiles.

She cheerfully says her mom told her Miorine would “understand eventually” that she and Aerial “did the right thing”—moved forward and gained two. Miorine tells her flat-out she absolutely cannot smile about how someone was subtracted to save her. She gets Suletta to admit that she would use Gundams to kill if her mom told her to, because her mom is always right.

It’s painful and heartbreaking to see the horror from last season return to Miorine’s face in her very next interaction with her groom. If there’s a silver lining to this scene, it’s that she finally realizes, once and for all, that she can only go so far as long as Suletta remains Prospera’s brainwashed puppet.

Miorine angrily confronts Prospera in a visceral scene that again makes great use of the zero-g environment to enhance the overall sense that everything is becoming unmoored and floating free. Prospera drops the nice mom act on a dime. She admits to using Suletta as her puppet, but asks Miorine whether she simply wants to be the new puppet master. Does Suletta even have enough of a sense of self and will to be her own person? I sure hope so! So does Miorine.

But then Prospera slides the knife in and twists it, saying that everything she’s doing with Suletta and Quiet Zero is to exact vengeance against Delling Rembran for what happened at Vanadis 21 years ago. She wants Miorine to hear the screams and cries of her family and colleagues she hears every waking moment. This game me chills.

Appeasing or quieting those voices is a primary driving factor in everything Prospera does, whether it’s pulling Suletta’s strings, or backing Miorine as the next president of Benerit Group. In the battle for the kids to escape the vicious cycle started by their parents and their parents, it is not going well so far for the kids. But that just makes me that much more invested in their struggle to do so.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 15 – What Do You Want to Do?

Gundam wisely doesn’t try to juggle too many storylines this week, but focuses on the fallout to the Earthian resistance group Dawn of Fold in the aftermath of Sophie and Norea’s assault on Asticassia. Led with a steady hand by Naji and his right-hand man Olcott, the group hastens an evacuation of their current base before Spaceians arrive to blow them to bits.

Scenes of their half-ruined buildings and modest food, water, and weapon supplies underscores the power mismatch. Dawn is also composed of both grizzled vets, rookies eager to prove themselves, and innocent kids who have already lost too much. For the latter two groups, survival may not be as important as revenge.

Norea certainly would like to take revenge on Nika by killing her, as she’s responsible for the Spaceians now knowing where Dawn of Fold is holed up. Norea curses and kicks her for being a traitor to her people, and for what? “Ideals?” Still, it’s hard to feel anything but horrible for poor Nika.

She didn’t want her Asticassia friends to be hurt or killed any more than she wanted her Earthian bretheren hurt or killed. In the seething churn of the Space-Earth conflict, long since devolved into a mostly one-sided affair, both she, Norea, and the departed Sophie are nothing more than statistics. Nika’s “betrayal” wasn’t some kind of turning point.

What is happening now was always going to happen, no matter what Nika did, and whether she’s dead or alive, because the one now doing the stirring in that churn is Shaddiq Zenelli. As he explains to his adoptive father while sitting his trademark Indian-style on a table, the time of Spaceian dominance in this war is about to end.

Shaddiq intends to give the Earthians, to which he claims half of his blood and all of his loyalty, more and more Benerit Group assets with which to upset the balance of power. For too long Earth has been a whipping boy while Spaceians enjoyed clean water, hot meals, warm beds. Shaddiq has never forgotten the deprivation he came from, and he’s determined to end the suffering of his people.

But whether anything he does actually reduces or ends the suffering of Earthians is very much an open question. The kids of Dawn of Fold are just wrapping up a makeshift memorial to their hero Sophie when they’re ordered to board evacuation vehicles. That night, a Spaceian punitive force of Mobile Suits arrives to put Dawn of Fold down.

Have I mentioned that Guel Jeturk is a captive of Dawn? Well he is, and he is lost. Olcott has to force feed him to keep him alive as a bargaining chip, though I wonder how much the likes of Lauda would be willing to give up to get Guel back. Two kids, Seethia and Sedo, stay behind at the school where he’s held. Seethia hopes to take revenge for losing her dad by killing him.

When the school is bombed, Olcott, Guel, Seethia, and Sedo are buried in the rubble. Everyone is fine, except for Seethia, who is too far gone for Olcott to justify bringing along. Guel is also under rubble when Olcott leaves with Sedo. He emerges and carries Seethia on his back until he finds a crashed mobile suit.

The pilot inside is dead, but the cockpit still has power, so he pulls out the corpse, climbs in, and takes flight. It’s all for naught, as Seethia succumbs to her injuries in his arms. Guel lands the suit and asks Olcott what he should do. Olcott tells him that’s for him to decide, just like everyone else. Which side will Guel take, now that he’s gone through several crucibles of suffering? Earth’s? Benerit’s? Neither?

Back in a clean and sterile lounge in space, where the civility and comfort almost mocks the blood and mud and death down on Earth below, Miorine meets with one of her father’s top officers, who explains that her mother Notrette spearheaded Quiet Zero program in hopes of bringing order to a world that war partitioning wasn’t achieving.

It’s only now that Miorine is hearing that Delling actually cared about her mother enough to keep her project alive, if in secrecy. Like Olcott with Guel, this officer tells Miorine that she doesn’t have to carry on this project; her life is hers. But is it really?

Under the circumstances, the mess Guel and Miorine (not to mention Suletta and Nika and Shaddiq) have inherited from the previous generations is so vast, it probably feels like there is no better path than the one laid out before them. All we know is, nothing the adults have done so far has been able to do anything but control and extend the conflict. Perhaps Quiet Zero, whatever form it takes, will change that. Or maybe it will only make things worse.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 14 – These Violent Machines Have Violent Ends

Lady Prospera continues giving the isolated Miorine the rundown on why Suletta is at Asticassia. She believes she’s fulfilled her role as a “proper” mother by making Suletta’s dream of going to school and having friends come true. But the school is also the perfect place to “optimize” Aerial and its ability to “rewrite the world”—i.e. control any system—through data storms.

Miorine doesn’t like this project one bit, of course, but it’s also not something she can reject hastily now that it’s in her hands. Meanwhile, at the dust-up in the mobile suit hangar, Nana only suffered a broken arm, but even at Suletta’s urging won’t trouble her further by telling her what’s going on…or what she’s done.

Elan tries for the umpteenth time to elicit a kiss from Suletta, only to be interrupted once more by Sophie and Norea. Sophie is excited to duel against Suletta, kill Nana before she can snitch, and make Suletta her official big sis. Norea passes a smartphone with something on it to Elan in his capacity as Peil representative.

When the “Rumble Ring” begins, it’s an open invitational battle royale meant to showcase to all visitors the abilities of Asticassia pilots. It’s all in good fun. But there’s another plot at play during a battle that includes Lauda and Felsi from Jeturk, Sabina and Renee from Grassley, Suletta and Chuchu from Earth House with Elan pitching in, and some randos.

Things take a turn and the sanctity and relative safety of the dueling environment is changed forever, when Sophie and Norea blast into the battle area and start firing live rounds. Dueling Committee members Secelia and Rouji watch in horror as their elaborate game is suddenly stained with the blood of a real dead pilot.

Secilia immediately cancels the Rumble Ring and orders an evacuation, but the battle continues. Sophie’s green Gundam is joined by six of her own “Gund-Bits”—unmanned Gundams she calls “Gundvolvas”, while it becomes clear that Sabina and Renee are merely pretending to be losing to Sophie and Norea.

Nana is about to call the authorities to confess, but her phone is snatched up by Shaddiq’s buddy Henao. Her fellow Grassley housemates Maisie and Ireesha incapacitate President Sarius’ bodyguards and take him into custody under Shaddiq’s orders. He may not be in a cockpit, but he’s pulling all the strings here, and may have just succeeded in taking over his adoptive father’s company.

While Sophie is a crucial part of his plan, she couldn’t give a hoot about any of Shaddiq’s ambitions. She wants to duel with Suletta and make her her big sis, period. She’s willing to wound and maim and kill and destroy whoever and whatever she needs to to accomplish that and create a better life for herself.

Even as Suletta tells her killing to make those things happen is wrong, she thinks back to when she killed someone to save Miorine. Aerial was built to protect her and help her help others…right? In the midst of this logical conundrum, Aerial emits a data storm that disables Sophie, who was already at her Permet limit.

The battle within the training area is over, as Shaddiq’s objectives were achieved. As this is going on, Bel meets with Prospera and has her worst fears confirmed: there is a second will at work within Aerial—the will of Prospera’s second daughter, Ericht Samaya. The little girl named Eri from Ep 0 and the present-day Suletta aren’t the same—they’re sisters.

While Suletta has always regarded Aerial as her sister, she naturally doesn’t know that she once had a human body, but was turned into a Gundam due to their mother’s ambitions. Like her sister, Suletta is immune to the curse caused by Permet strain, a curse that claims Sophie’s life, and which Norea says will claims hers too in due time.

Prospera insists that Eri, now in Aerial form (I’m just realizing her name is phonetically right there), represents the “future of GUND”, the end result of research to create an end to war, disease and suffering, a pen with which to literally re-write the world as it is. This world may suck in numerous ways, who gave Lady Prospera the authority to unilaterally flip the script? Well…she did. She’s hoping Miorine, like Delling before her, will join her on this journey. But if she doesn’t, that won’t stop her.

As for Suletta, faced with the death of someone while she sits in Aerial’s cockpit (though Norea tells her the Permet killed Sophie, not Suletta), she can only take solace in knowing that she protected the school and her friends … but only for now. The “new world” Prospera is building is already stained with blood, and will be stained by a lot more. The only question is whose.

As for Nana, she is being arrested for terrorism. She may be the fall girl for Shaddiq’s machinations, but the fact remains: she made her choices. And since all of Earth House is brought in for questioning, she wasn’t even able to keep them away the trouble she was hoping to spare them.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury – 13 (S2 E01) – Estranged Couple

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This week opens with much bombastic action, as Suletta pilots her newly-rebuilt Aerial and proceeds to turn a gauntlet of five scrub challengers into chop suey with ease. Because she’s the Holder, she must accept a duel every two weeks, and the rich houses challenge her every time they can. This seems excessive for a student, but Suletta handles it with aplomb and her usual bright smile, which contrasts to her new, more vicious combat style.

Sulettta remaining the Holder, and student at Asticassia, are really the only positive things happening in her life right now. Her bride Miorine remains by her alive but comatose father’s side, hoping and praying for him to wake up while also dealing with the trauma of seeing Suletta splat someone right in front of her. GUND-Arm Inc. operations are suspended, so Earth House is in a holding pattern.

While public record is that the Plant Quetta incident was an “accident”, the Benerit Group is very much aware of what went down. They aren’t going to take the death of Vim Jeturk and attempted assassination of their president sitting down, and send forces to Earth to deal with those responsible. Shaddiq’s playing of both sides remains a secret, but he too is sidelined, forbidden from duels or family business.

Finally, we have Nika, essentially a third protagonist after Suletta and Miorine, still struggling with the guilt of aiding Shaddiq and almost getting her whole house (not to mention Miorine, her father, and Suletta) killed. I’m certain Suletta would forgive her if she explains herself properly, but even when given opportunities throughout the episode, she stays mum about her role in the Quetta affair.

That brings us to the big news at Asticassia: an Open Campus, allowing outside students to visit, tour, and participate in courses and activities. Among them are Earthian “Witches” and secret Dawn members Sophie Pulone and Norea du Noc. The moment Sophie finds Suletta she latches onto her and adopts her as a “big sister”, but this isn’t all glowing admiration; it’s at least partly an act.

We know that because obviously Sophie and Norea aren’t just here as transfer students (something “New Elan” notes is quite unusual). Nika knows this too, and tells Norea that she and her friends and comrades are done with this whole business. Norea pulls a knife on Nika, mocks her for playing the victim, thanks her for her service thus far, and asks politely for her cooperation in achieving both of their goals. It’s the last time Norea is polite, and her only warning to Nika.

I’d curse Norea for being such a jerk, but unfortunately she’s right; maybe Dawn would have found another mole, but their mole was Nika; she made her bed and now has to sleep in it. As for Sophie, she’s an agent of pure chaos at the Open Campus festival, dragging her “big sis” along and enjoying all there is to enjoy. One positive side-effect of this is that she snatches Suletta away from another attempt by Elan to ask her out on a date. Elan deciding to try a new tack next time filled me with dread.

When no one’s looking (because apparently there’s no security in the hangers during Open Campus???) Norea and Sophie crack into Pharact and try to hack the Gund Format, to no avail. When Nika arrives to force them to stop or she’ll blab, Norea activates the MS and prepares to crush Nika underfoot. She may not be as outwardly unhinged as Sophie, but Norea’s just as if not more volatile and dangerous if angered.

Fortunately for Nika, Suletta slides in with her scooter just in time to grab her and save her life. She tells everyone to stop fighting, but Norea takes Nika’s threat to expose them seriously. To protect the secrecy of their mission and roles, she’s ready to stomp both of them. Suletta stops her by challenging her to a duel. If she wins, Norea and Sophie won’t be able to lay a finger on Nika. If Norea wins, well…[runs finger across throat].

Suletta urges them, as students, to follow school rules, even though she’s talking to two literal terrorists who could give two shits about anyone’s rules or laws. But they agree, probably because Norea knows an “unfortunate accident” is more plausible in a duel than right there in the hanger, likely before she wanted to make any noise.

As for Miorine, she’s not alone where she’s currently being confined and questioned as her father recovers. Lady Prospera is there too. She admits Suletta went too far, but Miorine can’t deny that she and her dad would probably be dead without her actions, so Prospera urges her to remain friends. Miorine seems open to that, even if it will be hard to even face Suletta again.

Prospera also has a favor to ask of Miorine: that she take over the work of her father’s most secretive, and possibly most important, project: Quiet Zero. Apparently, the project has something to do with using the GUND Format’s network to “rewrite the world” into one without war. Suffice it to say, no good can come of Suletta and Miorine being apart. This first episode back was jam-packed with material, and upped the political and personal drama to the max. I’m all here for it.