First Impressions / Gundam

Summary:

At a police station in the Human Reform League, Saji is shown his sister’s body and begins grieving over her. Meanwhile, up on the moon, Libbons explains that he’ll need sometime with Veda, but Alejandro doesn’t mind because the Corner family has already waited over 200 years for this. As Libbons works through the various levels of Veda’s system, he offers Alejandro some information to pass the time. It tells Alejandro that Laguna’s finished the arrangements of the GN-Xs, and that in turn makes him think that Laguna’s role is complete. Over on Union’s high orbit space station, Daryl meets Patrick and recognizes him as the first person intervened against by a Gundam. Patrick wants to meet Union’s top gun, but Daryl reports that Graham isn’t participating in their current operation. He gets angry when Patrick refers to Graham as a coward, however Kathy then shows up to diffuse the situation. Elsewhere, on the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi brings some drinks for Christina and Felt as they work on separating Veda’s backup system from the Gundams. They know that someone has been using Veda’s systems, and Tieria wonders if they can go up against those new mobile suits without Veda.

Lockon, however, tells Tieria not to worry because even if they can’t rely on Veda’s backup, they still have the Gundams and Sumeragi’s tactical forecasting. Tieria thinks that Lockon doesn’t know about the crime that Sumeragi committed in the past, but it turns out that Lockon does know, and he feels that everyone makes mistakes. For her, it was a big one. He thinks that she chose to fight in order to cast aside her past and that she dilutes her broken heart with alcohol. When Lockon makes it a point to say that being able to do this is still human, Tieria realizes that Lockon knows about him. After Allelujah interrupts the two to give them standby instructions from Sumeragi, Lockon makes it clear to Tieria that the cooperation of all four Gundams is essential. Tieria, however, jokes that Lockon should be saying that to Setsuna. At that moment, Setsuna finds himself carrying a rifle back in the devastated landscape of the Kurdish Republic. Marina suddenly appears behind him and, referring to him as Soran, calls him over. She proceeds to show him a flower that’s blooming and uses it as an example of how things can get better. Marina thinks that he doesn’t have to fight, and this eventually leads to Setsuna dropping his gun, but right at that exact instant, he wakes up from the dream. Questioning why Marina was in his dream, he also wonders to himself about wanting to stop fighting.

Back on Earth, Sergei leads a force of GN-Xs to attack the Trinity siblings’ Africa base, but the Trinitys strike first by firing the Throne Eins’ cannon from long range. Johann thinks that Laguna has betrayed them, though in truth, Laguna is already dead. Meanwhile, Saji returns to Japan and speaks with Kinue’s boss who starts their conversation off by saying that there isn’t anyone in his business who doesn’t know the name of Saji’s journalist father. It seems that Saji’s father had been imprisoned after some false accusations, and the main thing Saji remembers is that his father often told his sister to seek the truth by connecting the facts. When Saji inquires about what his sister was investigating, her boss admits that it was Aeolia Schenberg and apologizes because he thinks he should have stopped her. Up in space, Sumeragi realizes that there are 19 enemy units headed their way, so she orders everyone to suit up and get ready. Once they engage the GN-Xs, the Gundam Meisters find that their opponents can take out GN Fields and have great mobility. Setsuna ends up fighting two at once while the others quickly get overwhelmed by enemy fire. Tieria tries to strike back at Patrick’s GN-X by firing his primary cannon, but right before he can pull the trigger, the Virtue powers down because the backup from Veda is gone.

In fact, all four Gundams have stopped moving, and Tieria wonders if Veda has abandoned him. Setsuna thinks that this is just like his past because even though he’s piloting the Exia, he can’t become Gundam. Over on the moon, Libbons asks Alejandro if this is okay, and Alejandro comments on how a United Nations military victory is necessary for world unification. He feels that as long as the GN Drives remain, Celestial Being can be always be revived, and since he’s a greedy man, he wants to obtain both the Earth and Celestial Being. Fortunately for the Gundams, Sumeragi had planned for this and orders the switch over to their systems. On the Exia, Setsuna gets visions of Marina again and tries to get it out of his head by declaring that he’s still alive and yelling for his Gundam to move. The Dynames, the Kyrios, and the Exia all power back up at that exact moment, however the Virtue does not because there is an error with its system change. As the fierce battle resumes, Patrick charges his GN-X at the motionless Virtue, but Lockon protects Tieria by using the Dynames as a shield. The Dynames thus takes the full force of the GN-X’s beam saber which pierces through the Dynames’ armor.

When Patrick tries to attack a second time, beam cannon fire suddenly blows off his GN-X’s arm. The source of this is the GN Arms piloted by the Ptolemaios’ gunner Lasse, and he manages to destroy a GN-X before a retreat flare is fired for the United Nations forces. Unfortunately, the Dynames has already suffered heavy damage, and Haro reports that Lockon is injured. On the moon, Alejandro admires Sumeragi’s foresight in having an alternate system ready for the Gundams. Libbons then reports that he’s cleared level 6 of Veda, and Alejandro notes that he’s almost there. Back on Earth, Union President Brian thinks that this result is acceptable for such a hastily assembled force. He’s on the phone with one of the AEU leaders who has set the analysis and mass production of the GN Drive as top priority, and after hanging up, the AEU leader thinks that this will allow his side to be on equal footing with the other superpowers. The Human Reform League president meanwhile thinks that the age of Gundam is over because the world is changing.

Preview:

Opening with Saji finding out that his sister is dead is a really heavy way to start the episode, but it’s effective. It really emphasizes the human tragedy aspect of all this. I’ve said before that this might drive Saji to join the military or something, but given how journalism runs in his family, maybe he’ll pick up where his sister left off instead. Kinue being dead wasn’t the biggest surprise of the episode though – that distinction is reserved for how they almost killed off Lockon. The fact that Lockon somewhat has the role of the older mentor character made it even more believable that he’s going to die eventually, but it still seems a bit too early for that. And for now, it looks like he’s still alive – just injured pretty badly.

As for Setsuna, it bothers me a little that Marina is the embodiment of his inner desire to stop fighting. I didn’t think that she was quite such an important figure in his life, at least not yet. Maybe this’ll spur him to pay her another visit, and perhaps they’ll develop a deeper relationship out of it. For the time being though, he’s probably got more fighting to do, especially since Ali Al Sarshes is in the preview for next week’s episode. I actually wonder if Ali Al Sarshes is going to be the one who finally takes out the Trinity siblings. Now that they’re up against superior opponents, I almost feel bad for those three…almost.

121 Comments

  5. intense action as usual,Didn’t know that GN-Arms were looks like MA at first glance . Hope setsuna will pwned them all.Maybe lockon injury can’t be healed because the red GN-drive right?

    evana
    Reply

  21. Why is everyone making a big deal about Setsuna seeing Marina in his dreams and vice versa? I mean lets go back for a min, the first OP for the show clearly showed that those two are/will be connected somehow. And with him just poping in on her late at night like that a few eps back? They guy sees/feels something about her that he hasen’t started to notice until this ep with the dreams.

    It’s the same for her also, we’ve seen lots of scenes with her thinking about him.

    And since this is anime, age difference be damned. If anything happens it’s all fine and well imo.

    GP
    Reply

  22. Yeah, Patrick did that to Lockon. Actually, while Tieria is in shocked about Veda abandoning him, Patrick goes in for the kill but Lockon covers for Tieria and then… 🙁

    xytrix
    Reply

  23. @GP
    Its like…his mind is a bit messed up to see those hallucinations. His sub-consciousness took up the image of the person most important to him(although he does not realise it yet) and “expressed” the doubts about this whole mind.

    @xytrix
    yeah…Tiera should feel REALLY bad…

    Unknown Voice
    Reply

  24. @GP agree, what i am more interested in is how Setsuna was able to get everything back to work..

    as for LockOn… LIVE LOCKON! LIVE!
    though i already know he’ll survive its still iecky to watch it =

    KarumA
    Reply

  26. @Karuma
    They were able to get everything to work because Sumeri suspected that there was some danger of Veda betraying them. So they installed a back OS, when Veda was disconnected, she brought the backup system online. The drama queen that is Tieria was in shock because he was cut from Veda, so he didn’t do anything.

    golthin
    Reply

  27. Eek, it really does seem the spoilers to be true. Lockon gets visually impaired; Felt proposes to Lockon; Tiera encourages Lockon to reciprocate Felt’s feelings; Lockon x Felt becomes real.

    How did they know this before hand?!?

    And also, somehow I feel that those extra guys in Ptolemaios will become the next gundam pilots in the 2nd season.

    -Izaak, Lord of the Lotus Clan.

    Izaak
    Reply

  28. WOOOOWWWWW big deal about lockon so what? its all about the GN Arms coming into it this episode if none of you noticed! and whats going on with alejandro libbons and veda thats much more important than lockon not being able to see, maybe he’ll get a mask that enables him to see? I think ali sarges steals the zwei…any thoughts?

    Nadleeh
    Reply

  32. Saji is important because in my opinion I think he’s going to become another GN pilot and go after the Thrones. He has beef with the Thrones but not the rest of CB. There may be a tense moment but I think he is going to join the CB Gundams and go after people like Ali-Sarshes in season 2. CB also wants people who want to ends wars and Saji fits that. I think him joining the military is less likely because he most likely won’t get a Gundam suit unless he turns out to be an ace pilot on the first day getting a promotion.

    Jarmel
    Reply

  35. aw, Lockon badly hurt. Felt better comfort him. if the rumors are true that he is gonna be visually impaired, how can he manage to pilot Dynames? unless they give him implants to compensate for his loss or a system in Dynames to allow him to see without his eyes then its most likely he will be replaced? seems like Graham or Saji do have a possibilty of taking Dynames’ wheel if ever.

    BlaH
    Reply

  38. In typical Gundam fashion, the good guys will somehow (at the very last min) turn the tide… maybe a gundam upgrade? Exia Xtra? anyway like in all gundam series (except 0079 and f91), the hero(s) get new gundams midway….

    Remember…
    GP01 to GP03?
    Mk II to Z Gundam?
    Z gundam to ZZ?

    and of cos the recent…. Strike + freedom = Strike Freedooooom xD

    Peter
    Reply

  40. seems like, Saji now has a big chance of being a Meister, he has the right motivation to be one if ever he learns that Ali killed his sister(Setsuna prolly gonna tell him or Ali himself) @Nadleeh, Lockon with a mask sounds interesting, so far the series is without a masked character 😀

    karmafreeze
    Reply

  43. Setsuna dreaming about Marina *saying something which will have effect on him*, is weird coz there isn’t supposed to be any *telepathy or magical powers* involved in Gundam. And since he snapped back from his hallucination looking shocked shows that his suddenly wanting to stop fighting was something he just came up with, and Marina helped – as part of his imagination or a dream. I think it’s just TOTALLY WEIRD! Now if they had actually met or it was a flashback, that would be OK. If Setsuna had realized for himself that he wanted to stop fighting and imagined that Marina would probably agree, that would be OK too.

    Now I think that the connection between Setsuna and Marina is “imagination”.

    Which I hope, isn’t so.

    Yukiruchan
    Reply

  45. @demon_god04

    Atachable Weapon platfom like seen in original MS gundam timeline and CE timeline. Like Meteor or that one in MSG, which name always escapes me… :[

    Unknown Voice
    Reply

  51. @Gil…
    well theres two spoilers. one is that

    Show Spoiler ▼

    the other is that
    Show Spoiler ▼

    maybe botha re connected, maybe no, who knows…

    Unknown Voice
    Reply

  52. Show Spoiler ▼

    sgogeta4
    Reply

  55. @Peter: Forget about:

    Turn A Gundam->Turn A Gundam
    Gundam Alex->Gundam Alex
    Ground Gundam->EZ8 (Downgrade)
    ZZ Gundam->ZZ Gundam (Zeta Gundam was a placeholder until they could retrieve ZZ, not a midseries upgrade. Judau pilots it for all of 10 episodes)?
    MS Igloo (One shot units)
    Wing Zero->Wing Zero (Endless Waltz OVA)

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

  62. @Glitch: In real life, when you’ve lost tactical advantage, you run the hell away before you start losing your men left and right.

    Lockon’s blinded for sure. If it wasn’t shards from his helmet’s broken visor, it was the intensity of the light emitted by the beam saber that his eyes took in at such a close distance.

    RmX
    Reply

  63. I bet anything that Lockon’s eyes are “distorted” and so his eyes view light different than normal. I bet anything he gets a mask to “correct” this problem.

    Hence, we get our masked character.

    Kageho
    Reply

  65. umm…did anyone else notice anything strange about the animation for this episode? the people, especially Sumeragi, looked a little weird compared to previous episode…(check out the beginning scene with Sumeragi talking to Christina after the opening and after Alejandro talks to Libonze)

    yeah…wtf

    umm...yeah
    Reply

  66. ahh this episode!!

    I really do feel bad for Saji now i mean that guys life sucks right about now. I really hope he follows his sister and finds out CB’s leaders true objective.

    as for Lockon that sucks. I mean who wants to help out Tiera anyway??

    and whats with the GN-Arms (‘s’?)
    it looks like a fighter for the Ptolemaios if anything.
    if its just going to be like a METEOR unit that will be disappointing. :[
    and if you look closely at the Ptolemaios on both the right and left sides their seems to be something missing between the wings. idk probably me. or just the model kit.

    Brandon
    Reply

  70. @Haro: I’m not sure what good a beam saber would do to parry a full speed downward thrust. I’d expect that Lockon’s no expert with swords either. He always resorts to his pistols once the sniper rifle becomes useless, and only pulled out his sword once to defend against Graham back in Azadistan.

    RmX
    Reply

  73. @Tkpenalty

    Oh yea? And you coincidentally forgot on what RedGN particles do to that possibility? And on why Luise won’t be getting new arm? Wounds from RedGN are PERMANENT and might even cause long term damage other than to the wounded part.

    Unknown Voice
    Reply

  74. @RmX

    Actually, downward means little to nothing in space since there is only microgravity. However, your argument stands as Patrick was still going in at full speed. This momentum allowed him to pierce the Dynames armor and reach the pilot.

    Also, I think it is hard to rush with a shooting unit to try to save another one… Guess you just do what you can in desperate situations like that.

    Hope Lockon won’t remain totally impaired though. It would suck if they removed him from the battlefield.

    gammaoh
    Reply

  75. Marina happening in Setsuna’s dreams and being part of his inner desire points so much to the possibility of them as a pair n if we look closer at their ages, Marina is older than Setsuna… and she could be a symbol of what he wants to protect desperately…

    Poor Lockon indeed. He is the oldest of all and would definitely be playing a mentorship role towards the other Meisters… this episode 21 brought quite a lot of surprises to me and the plot is just getting richer and even more juicer too! And we finally know what Alejandro’s ambition is… we’ll definitely see how the Gundam Meisters will defeat this ‘ambition’…

    YanLan
    Reply

  77. Well considering on a typical sunny day Setsuna daydreams bystanders being blown up, Marina showing up in his dreams is just another part of his subconscious.

    Ali did a good job of messing the kid’s psyche.

    RedWolf
    Reply

  79. Setsuna X Marina makes perfect sense, Sets totally needs a mature girl to mother him after what he has been through.

    If anyone is getting a mask, it’s going to be Graham in his red GNDrive-custom Flag!(That would be so cool)Maybe Lockon can pull a Mandara Uchiha and steal his brother’s eyes?

    Saji the new Dynames pilot? That was my first thought when so it trashed like that. But I think the more probable situation is that Saji will continue his sister’s investigation, and play a pivotal role later in the plot. I still think his father played a role in CB and the original gundam, and he’ll eventually end up building something that well effect the outcome of the series.

    BTW, was it ever explained what happened to the original gundam? You know the one that saved Setsuna? It looks like the RX-78 from the first gundam series but with a really cool GN-Drive that seems more powerful than the ones the ptolemaios gundams use. After all the series is called Gundam 00, so if Exia is 01, wouldn’t that one be 00?

    ‹(•¿•)›
    Reply

  80. Hey Guys! Louis DOES get an artificial hand! If you look real closely at the ED, when she looks up at Saji and lifts up her right arm a little bit to shor her left arm underneath it, you will see a line that connects her wrist to her arm. You will also see a difference of color between the hand and the rest of the arm. PROOF MY FRIENDS!!!

    Console65
    Reply

  81. @Console65 – that isn’t her artificial hand, that line and different color is the shirt she is wearing. She probably will get an artificial hand later but the ED does not show it.

    ChansteR
    Reply

  82. is it me or the whole gundam 00 has a gundam wing plot twist in it, e.g. setunna being the new heero and ismail being the new relena. the gundam got betrayed and abandoned, and they are on their own. i am not saying that G00 is a clone of GW, but a lot of the plot twists are very similar.

    Kai
    Reply

  83. Even if it has GW allusions i think this series plays the execution much better.

    Man poor Lockon…my fav gundam pilot out of commission. Swift recovery!

    And Setsuna x Marina while weird somehow works imo… that just my opinion (yeah the age diff is weird)

    ren
    Reply

  84. This episode just cements why I think this is the best Gundam series to come out since the UC days. Not only the drama of it all, but the realism behind the battles. Suits actually get damaged but don’t blow up in a pink cloud of smoke due to a single hit, whilst the Gundam pilots actually have to use skill & tactics to hit their target.

    FX102
    Reply

  85. @Kai, I think this show is to GW, as Seed was to UC. While 00 has alot in common with Wing, it definitely has a post 9/11 feel. The most striking difference is their treatment of terrorism. Wing really ends up glorifying terrorism, particularly in the beginning, and the idea of killing yourself for some cause. (Remember how the pilots were constantly looking for chances to you the self-destruct button?)

    In 00 they really make a point to denounce terrorism, and portray it as cowardly, and the pilots struggle with the thought they might really just be terrorist, and as evident in this episode they want to live!

    The first time I watched Gwing after 9/11, I was really taken aback by some of the scenes. Like Heero destroying the plane full of military leaders in I think ep10. Wufie and Trowa flying planes into OZ aircraft carriers ep11. Oh, and when Wufie planted explosive in military barracks in one of the first few episodes, that really bothered me. I remeber how awesome I thought the first 20 episodes were, but now there kinda eerie to watch, just goes to show how much an event can change your view of things.

    ‹(•¿•)›
    Reply

  89. New Leak:
    ロックオン>失明>デュナメス大破
    ティエリア>自分を守って失明&瀕死の重傷をおったロックオンを見て心が折れる。次の出撃(防衛線)でナダ レ大破
    ハレルヤ&アレルヤ>ほとんど見せ場がないままプトレマイオスを守る為に(スメラギをキスしたのちに手を振 り切って出撃)
    中性子爆弾?を積み込んで連合軍に突貫!自爆!
    トリニティ>ネーナ以外死亡、ネーナは次クールの伏線を残しつつ刹那に同行する
    >スローネはお髭を剃ったイイ男に奪われる(二機は大破してのこり一機)後に魔改造
    グラハムは死亡するようなシーンが流れるが次クールで復活する為の伏線であってファンは心配な い
    コーラさんは・・・ベットシーンに期待

    ティエリアが「私」「僕」と言ったり外見からして実は女なのでは?と言われていたが
    実際にはCB管理用人造人間の1体で
    ベースにCB創設者の半端な記憶(幼少時の記憶が混ざっている)と娘のDNAが混ざっているた め
    ようは女性ホルモンが多いってこと、これも次クールの伏線となり語られる
    正確には性別が無い男性器も女性器も無い

    Translation :-
    Lockon>Blinded>Dynames scrapped.

    Tieria>After Seeing Lockon being in a critical condtion and blinded from protecting him, gives a silent prayer. He set out for a sortie which will see Nadleeh being scrapped.

    Al & Hal > Hal cannot bear just stting around and leaves the Ptolemaios in danger, set a Neutron Bomb(?) to Kyrios and goes 911. But not before kssing Sumeragi and leaves her heartbroken.

    Trinity > Nena will be the sole survivor. She will leaves with Setsuna and their fate will be left hanging for the crew of 2nd season to decide.> Eins and Drei will be scrapped, the remaining mech will falls into the hand of the clean shaven guy to modify as he sees fit.

    Graham>you will see him dying alright, but there’s some indications about his death that might see him returning at the hands of the second season’s crew, so fanboys, rejoice.

    Patrick>He’s in for a wild time in bed….

    Raiden
    Reply

  95. hmmm… maybe lockon will go blind and he wont be able to pilot the dynames anymore. he’ll stay back at the ptolemaios and do stuff there. They then repair/revamp the dynames and then maybe saji is the new pilot of the dynames? seems like they spent a little too much effort on saji if he just becomes a journalist.

    TheB1adeMaster
    Reply

  98. what are the reasons that cause virtue unable to backup by the way?
    actually if u noticed the 1st opening..u can see marina becoming exia..
    so most probably setsuna will have a very deep relationship with marina in the end.

    Stanley
    Reply

  99. what are the reasons that cause virtue unable to backup by the way?
    actually if u noticed the 1st opening..u can see marina becoming exia..
    so most probably setsuna will have a very deep relationship with marina in the end.
    hope things will go well.

    Jack
    Reply

  100. I have a question, which may be stupid cause I havent taken the time to catch up on my viewing the series, but from what was posted in the previous blogs I was under the impresion that the AEU leaders / Aliance were only given GN drives and not GN equiped mechs. If this is the case there is no way in hell they could design a new mech so fast… theres reverse engeneering to do on the GN drive, building a new frame, robotics that can support the increase in power and if they want increased speed/responce, new weapons, new OS, and lets not forget this all comes with brainstorming / desing stages plus countless hours of testing and build times. Theres just no way in hell they could develop the GN-Xs with such a short turn around.

    Even that last part of mass producing them would be imposible withought some hefty reverse engeneering even if they were given completed mechs.

    Neko
    Reply

  101. I don’t think Setsuna and Marina will have a romantic relationship. Muzushima said he didn’t want to put romance. Marina is also 8 years older than Setsuna.

    @Neko
    GN-Xs came with the Drives. This is fairly obvious and confirmed by Alejandro in Episode 21.

    flabortast
    Reply

  104. Looks like this episode confirms the main lead is Soran after all. He got 1 kill on the GN-X’s a nice one too and turned out to be the one who feared best in the attack. As for him and Marina thing, it is obvious, he is in self-doubt and Marina represents one part of his struggling conscience, the peaceful one.

    I think we can pretty much bet that part 2 will have a time skip in it. Probably between 6 months to 2 years, during which without the CB the world will go back into chaos with new Tau-GN drived MS and conflict between the 3 powers, I should say 2 since one of them will apparently fall. I am guessing Soran will be hiding at Marina’s place, which will kinda become his second base.

    jubeihimura
    Reply

  105. @ ‹(•¿•)›

    So you finally understand what it feels like to be invaded by a foreign nation? Welcome to 10 years ago!(before 9/11) You never felt much at the idea of your country invading another, but after 9/11 and you saw just what the rest of the world feels whenever they’re invaded by Arrogant Americans, your suddenly against violence? Amazing!

    -Izaak, Lord of the Lotus Clan.

    Izaak
    Reply

  106. It really seems/feels that Marina and Setsuna’s relationship may follow Relena Peacecraft and Heero Yuy’s relationship from Gundam Wing. It wont blossom into a love relationship but one of great respec of each other.

    Neko
    Reply

  108. Lockon being beaten so badly is the biggest surprise so far.
    The best option would be for the Trinity siblings to team up with the original CB
    and destroy Veda. It’s too dangerous leaving it to Alejandro’s greedy hands.
    I expect Lockon to recover, it’s still too early for his demise.

    drastikhate
    Reply

  111. hmmm… what are my speculations from this series… yeah.. a lot is saying lockon will be blind.. and i think that so too… graham… i think would be the gundam pilot for dynames… hmmm.. and saji.. a hater of celestial being would be the next captain, ensign, commandant or whatever it is for union… that is when season 2 comes…maybe we can also say that the trinity would be blown out leaving neena all alone and the end joining up with setusna … and marina.. i guess would be a follower of celestial being too.. maybe… 🙂

    setsuna f. seiei
    Reply

  114. speculations confirmed…
    dis is per last remaining episodes….

    Show Spoiler ▼

    MakubeX
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *