From Losers to Glory-A Gundam Wing Special-Part 10

Previously:

Duo kicked Zech’s ass with the help of his new friend (who is a girl) Hilde and Treize got a new girl protegee of his own in Dorothy Catalonia.  Oh and Heero also was gifted the eternally cool Gundam Epyon…and now in the next volume of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz-Glory of the Losers.

Vol.10 (Episodes 34-37)

In the Anime:
In space, Wufei’s colony is attacked by OZ.  While he does his best to defend it, his clan destroy the Colony rather than let it fall into OZ’s hands.  On Earth, Romafeller launches an all out invasion of the Sanc Kingdom.  Despite the arrival of Quatre, with a newly rebuilt Gundam Sandrock, and the Maguanac Corps, the Mobile Dolls are just too much for the Sanc Kingdom defenders.  Rather than see her country fall to complete ruin, Relena surrenders and gives herself over to Romafeller.  Meanwhile, both driven mad by their respective Zero Systems, Heero and Zechs clash outside of the Sanc Kingdom ruins until they both collapse from exhaustion, trade Gundams, and go their separate ways.

In the Manga:

• When Wufei rides out to confront the OZ soldiers attacking his colony, his Altron Gundam is sporting the winged laser unit from its TV Anime counterpart.
• Wufei does not fight Zechs and Wing Zero following the destruction of his home colony as Zechs is on his way to Earth to help defend the Sanc Kingdom.
• Heero goes straight from Luxemburg to the Sanc Kingdom battle.  Also, Zechs does arrive in time to help defend the Kingdom, in the Anime he doesn’t make it.
• Of major note, Zechs is piloting the Endless Waltz Model of Wing Zero which does indeed confirm it received its angel wings from Tallgeese.
• While we do see Quatre and the Maguanac Corps arrive to defend the Sanc Kingdom, we don’t really see Quatre arrive and use the Gundam to defend the Maguanac homeland from a Mobile Doll assault.  Also Sandrock has been rebuilt in it’s prior version (presumably it’s Endless Waltz incarnation is being saved for when Quatre goes back to space), 
• During his duel with Heero, Zechs receives another vision from Wing Zero, this time of his and Relena’s future destines, including Relena becoming Queen and his possibly destroying the Earth.
• Duo and Wufei launch simultaneous but separate attacks on the still under construction Battleship Libra.

One thing I have to give Volume 10 credit for is how well the artwork captures the true ferocity of the battle it’s showing us.  One of the Gundam Wing Anime’s downsides was the constant reuse of animated segments from Leo’s getting blown up to Virgo’s being airdropped while a line of them fires away.  The battle of the Sanc Kingdom in Glory of the Losers is intense and gritty as it always should have been presented.  I’m surprised Sandrock’s Endless Waltz form hasn’t made an appearance yet but as I said in the notes above, it’ll probably be around for the finale (guess the Maguanac Corps didn’t want to spend the extra cash for the model for their leader).  Zechs arriving to the battle to save his homeland is an interesting wrinkle.  By the time he had arrived, Relena had already surrendered.  It’s easy to argue that with Wing Zero (now in full Endless Waltz mode with those spare boosters from Tallgeese) and Epyon on their side, the Sanc Kingdom couldve pushed back the Romafeller assault.  But by this point, Heero and Zechs are clearly under the influence of their respective Zero Systems and cant really see anything past beating the bejezzus out of each other.  Does that add to the tragedy of the Sanc Kingdom or would Relena have surrendered no matter what? 

It's funny that Zechs says “This battle will change the future” during his duel with Heero.  While I still think the overall end of this Manga will be the same as the Anime, history does seem to be in flux still.  And with Duo and Wufei teaming up to attack Libra before its even finished, who knows, Glory of the Losers might still have some surprises waiting in the back quarter of its run.  There’s more From Losers to Glory: A Gundam Wing Special still to come.