With his friends seemingly dead, Athrun deserts ZAFT but
is pursued by Shinn and Rey, both armed with two brand new Gundam Mobile
Suits. Gilbert Durandal, now in a
position of total control and able to strike as he sees fit, turns his
attention to Logos and a desperate Lord Djibril. As Shinn, Rey, Lunamaria and their elite
Gundams push the tide in ZAFTs favor, the Archangel and her crew continue to
recover from a devastating battle. But
will they have the strength to strike back against a powerful enemy with
relentless and ruthless intentions?
The end begins and by normal standards I shouldn’t be
happy about that. But Gundam Seed
Destiny has been that kind of a trial, probably why I decided to refer to this
overall Gundam Month Mark IV as THE GAUNTLET.
Nevermind doing twenty Gundam Seed reviews, try handling ten belonging
to this travesty. And yet despite that,
somehow Seed Destiny managed to surprise me.
I still hate it but it finally took steps to rectify lots of character
issues and even deliver a cheer worthy moment towards the end. Better late than never? (no way it saves this
series from getting anything less than a 5 or 6 if im being generous).
Durandal began to show his true colors. He’s not only going to crush Logos but he’s got some other, more sinister plot going on and he’s found the perfect pawn to make it happen. Oh Shinn. Shinn, Shinn, Shinn. I guess it’s ok to finally start calling you a villain now. You’ve been patted on the back for going about things the wrong way and now you’re one of the main arms of the man in charge. Athrun and Meyrin’s escape from ZAFT could have been Shinn’s defining moment, when he was forced to choose between Durandal’s future and Athrun’s plight. At this point, hoping he’d do the right thing is just stupid. No, Shinn took the easy way out and attacked Athrun, supposedly killing him and Mey. All the while Durandal and his hidden mole, Rey, continue to scheme about how to bring Shinn further into the fold. What’s worse, the Minerva crew is firmly onboard with the theory that Athrun and Mey were spies. And…oh dammit Lunamaria. Shinn kills her sister and he’s the first person she flings her arms around…and kisses him too? If it wasn’t for Talia being hella suspicious about Durandal’s endgame…you know what, no, despite that, I hope the Minerva sinks before the show ends.
Speaking of Mey, how come she is the one who got promoted
to such a pivotal role all of a sudden?
She’s hardly spent time with Athrun in the series. If anyone should have helped him escape it
should have been Luna. Luna has been
Athruns biggest supporter on the Minerva, whether she wanted to hook up with
him or not. And her off the books recon
mission to spy on Athrun and Kira proved how good a guy he is. He’s stuck his neck out for the Minerva more
than he should have. Hell, even Athrun
says, “Ive hardly spoken to her. But she
risked her life to save me.” Sense is
not being made here people. What will
Mey contribute to the Archangel crew now that Lunamaria couldntve done in
greater capacity? This is just another
example of things being done on the fly with just about every cast member but
mostly the new people. Actually, the
only newbie who I truly felt bad for in all of this was Meer. She’s so fully committed to the Lacus persona
that she couldn’t bring herself to run away with Athrun. I’m sure there’s more to this but I felt more
for her than most characters this entire series. But if Athrun’s right (and he probably is)
Durandal’s not gonna have much use for Meer soon so she’s in danger. That’s not good.
So while the new cast we being bogged down in their own
stupidity, the old crew finally started to get their mess sorted out. Athruns escape from ZAFT was long overdue and
the first smart move he’s made in ages.
Kira returned to space to save Lacus from pursuit AND get his hands on a
shiny new Gundam, The Strike Freedom.
For all of Seed Destiny’s many, many flaws, the mecha have looked
great. The Strike Freedom (name aside) is
a fun mix of the old Freedom with a hint of Amuro’s Nu Gundam from Char’s Counterattack,
cause of the fin funnels. And Cagalli
FINALLY retuned to Orb and took charge with ZAFT bearing down on it. Her first order to have her “husband” Yuna
removed resulted in the S.o.B getting punched by and admiral and tackled by
multiple men… how the hell did you find a way to make me cheer and laugh at the
same time Seed Destiny? I’m not sure how
much this makes up for everything that’s come before. But seeing Kira, Athrun and Cagalli act like
themselves again did feel like the good old days.
There was a lot of large scale action in this set from
the battle of Heavens Gate to the Second Siege of Orb. Shinn, Luna and Rey were at the forefront of
the former and laid waste to everything.
Shinn has become so OP that he can cleave three Destroy Gundam’s in two
like they weren’t even there. Remember
last time when it took everything everyone had just to hold off Stella until
Kira took her out? Also, was that Sting? I thought he died a couple sets ago? Well…he’s definitely dead now, courtesy of
Gundam Grimm Reaper Shinn himself. While
Djibril escaped to Orb, I’m shocked we didn’t get a scene of Shinn breaking
into the area where the last of Logos was housed and slaughtering them
all. Also, I don’t care if he’s second
guessing himself. Shinn has not, and
probably will not, learn his lesson before this show is over. Case in point, Djibril hiding out in Orb with
Yuna and his father means the little asshat will finally get his wish to burn
the country to the ground. But first
he’s gotta go through Cagalli and probably Kira again…and I think they’re done
with his bull crap and are ready to kick his ass. Also, Zakus, Goufs and now Rick Doms are
being rolled out…I think Zeon should sue.
I’m surprised Gundam Seed Destiny managed to bring me a
tiny bit of joy in an otherwise bleak, depressing and infuriating watch (words
I’ll def use in my Final Thoughts in a couple of days). The new cast is mostly a lost cause. So I guess my very little hope is that Kira,
Athrun, Lacus and Cagalli can pull their resources together and give Shinn, the
Minerva and Durandal the epic ass kicking they’ve needed handed to them for the
last 10-15 episodes. We’ll see how much
of that pans out starting tomorrow with more Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny,
right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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