War comes to the Sanc Kingdom and even the might of two
Gundams, the Maguanac Corps and Noin’s small band of defenders is unable to prevent
its downfall. Arriving too late to help,
Zechs finds himself clashing with Heero, as the Zero Systems in both Wing Zero
and Epyon push the rival pilots to their breaking points. When the dust settles, the balance of power
shall tip once again. As Relena clashes
with Duke Dermail on Earth, a new faction rises in space, seizing control of
Romafeller’s space forces. They call
themselves the White Fang…and they might have also found the perfect figurehead
to lead their revolution.
I think the song by Genesis said it best, “There’s too
many men, too many people, making too many problems, and not much love to go
around. Tell me why this is a land of
confusion.” The Sanc Kingdom saga came
to its expectedly tragic conclusion.
What followed was a mix of bold moves and totally out of nowhere
developments that began to propel Gundam Wing into its final act.
It saddens me that the budget on the series seems to wain
a bit at this point. More reused footage hampered a lot of the ensuing battle
for the Sanc Kingdom (even if the dramatic effect was still significant). Relena had to watch as her country was
destroyed again. Noin and Quatre had to
face facts that even with two Gundams in their corner, they couldn’t win. And Heero did exactly as he feared and went
on the warpath with Epyon. His long
awaited rematch with Zechs, having Wing Zero battle Epyon, was really well
done. The two Zero System influenced
pilots got to duke it out and find glimpses of what they’re supposed to do with
their lives…starting with switching suits.
Heero definitely made the right call passing Epyon over to Zechs,
clearly Treize built that Gundam for his eternal bff. Will Heero react better to Wing Zero having
spent time with Epyon, and vice versa for Zechs? Only time will tell but I know this isn’t the
last time these two will clash.
I guess it makes sense that with all the chaos around,
Relena would surrender herself to save what’s left of the Kingdom. I’ve been pretty nice to Relena over the last
couple of chapters and this week I think she made her greatest strides starting
here. What the frak was Duke Dermail
thinking making Relena the new figurehead of Romafeller? How could he not have forseen that would blow
up in his face (almost literally as he was killed at the end of this set of
episodes)? Relena’s only been growing in
popularity and has begun to change the minds of the once war hungry Foundation. It was so satisfying to see Dermail’s men begin
to question his position and why he was giving orders when he gave Relena the
power to control Earth with everyone witnessing this act? Actually I don’t know which was more
interesting: Dermail falling flat on his face thinking he could try and control
Relena like he tried to control Treize, or Heero deciding to see how Relena’s
new unification plan turns out. My one
nitpick here is Dorothy. I cant tell if
she’s playing Relena or genuinely impressed with her. Doesn’t she want war to never end? Does she think Relena will fail and war will
be an end result? Heck did she set her
Grandfather up to die convincing him to attempt to take down the White Fang
just to soothe his ego? I don’t know but
what I do know…that black dress suits her (those eyebrows be damned).
On the action side of things, the battlefield moved back
into space. Trowa found purpose in with
his amnesia storyline thanks to his reunions with Duo and, especially,
Quatre. Quatre is totally at fault for
Trowa’s present state and knows there’s no way he can be truly forgiven. Trowa may be in a bit of a fragile state but
im sure, even with his memories back, he’d forgive Quatre…just cause they’re
friends. It was good to see Duo back
with the group again, providing solid entertainment with Deathsythe Hell and
delivering one of the sets best lines, “Who’d thought I was such a nice
guy? After all, I’m here to save the guy
who destroyed you, Deathsythe.” It sucks
that Catherine and Hilde were forced to watch Trowa and Duo head off to fight
and get left behind. I feel like except
for Relena, Noin and Lady Une, the other women of Gundam Wing don’t really get
enough time to shine, Sally Po being the exception since she’s at the forefront
of a lot of action when she’s around.
As for the actual fighting in space, that’s where the
confusion comes in. Much like Relena
with the Sanc Kingdom, the White Fang’s Artemis Revolution comes almost out of
nowhere. It feels like the setup
happened all off screen, since we spent a lot of the near middle portion of the
show watching the Colonies accept OZ as their new savior, thanks to Lady
Une. Where did the urge to revolt come
from? How did these guys get organized? Who the heck is this blue vest sporting
Quinze who was setting things in motion?
Is it really that hard for them to believe the Gundams wont fight along
side them? Was there a reason Wufei had
to just pop into their debut when they tried to take over the Lunar Base? (that last part is probably a “no” but Wufei
was doing his best to get involved at every moment he could cause he’s going to fight the war
his way, alone and angry.) Time was
delegated to building up Romafeller as the next big bads after Treize and OZ
opened the series and we watched that power grow. The White Fang just feels like an excuse to
pad out the series to its 49 episode length.
NOW, much like the Sanc Kingdom arc, this could still work out in the
long run with the Gundam Pilots destined to come together and a disillusioned
Zechs standing as the White Fangs new leader.
When it comes to proper build up and initial execution though, I feel
that basic bit of storytelling might end up being Gundam Wing’s biggest flaw as
a series. It pains me to write that, but
it’s true.
It looks like the stage is almost set. How will Relena handle her brother becoming
the enemy of the Earth? When will Heero
and Wufei meet up with their comrades in space?
And what is Treize getting ready to do in response to all of this? I think the man without a path might be
turning into the man with a plan once again and there’s no way Treize is
sitting this mess out again. Whatever
happens, the end is in sight and next week, we begin the march to the epic
finale of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. See
ya then.
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