#gwrewatch2014

The Great Gundam Wing Rewatch ‘14 Episode 06: PARTY NIGHT

Thrown into a new, uncertain destiny, Relena returns to the Earth. What awaits her is a school party and notice of Heero's transfer. Knowing Heero's secret, Relena figures out that the transfer is related to his next mission. OZ assassins come for Relena, and Heero ends up saving her.

This episode’s highlights:

That Relena-Mrs.Darlian moment. Relena says that whatever happens--whatever the truth may be--Mrs.Darlian will always be her real mother. (This scene is this mod's first taste of a soap opera moment in an anime when she was, like, nine.)

Treize believes that VFM Darlian is exactly the type of person who is "sacrificed to a new era". We love you Treize, but sometimes you make our skin crawl.

Relena goes to their school party. She invites Heero--who, ever the gentleman we always know, points a gun at her. But they go anyway and Relena tells him she has met Dr.J.

Meanwhile, Wufei, in Gundam Shenlong, is destroying the naval port. Sometimes we wonder what the boy does in his pastime.

In the circus, we find out Trowa is not afraid to lose his job. Or, you know, he just doesn't care. When the Ringmaster scolds him for being late, Trowa responds, "I made it here. That's good enough." Catherine ushers him onto the stage for their act.

Also, Trowa is not afraid to die. Cath realizes he actually wants her to mess up her knife-throwing act and kill him. (This begs for one whole meta! Anyone?)

Back at the party, Heero and Relena are having a conversation on the dancefloor. Then Lady Une attacks, with the intention of eliminating Relena. Heero mistakenly thinks that the OZ is there for him, so he suits up and fights. Lady Une wonders if the Gundam is protecting Relena. 

...and it is. Heero himself doesn't know why exactly he is protecting Relena. He is confused. "What in the heck am I thinking? I'd be better off if she died, wouldn't I? What's wrong with me?!" he yells, before destroying the last OZ mobile suit.

Just as when Lady Une decides she'll go after Relena herself, Treize calls, telling her to stop the mission because he just decided to let Relena live. We find out that Lucrezia Noin has called Treize and told him the connection between Zechs and Relena. 

Back at the school, Relena is questioning Heero--she's asking the same questions Heero is asking himself. Heero tries to kill her again, but realizes he. Just. Can't. So he flies off, leaving Relena behind.

The Great Gundam Wing Rewatch ‘14 Episode 05: RELENA'S SECRET

With the Gundams' arrival, the true battle has begun; but is it what the colonies desire? Vice Foreign Minister Darlian leaves for the colonies again, taking Relena with him, but OZ's Lady Une plans the Minister's assassination. With Minister Darlian's dying breath, Relena learns the secrets surrounding her birth.

This episode’s highlights:

Relena's group of friends is really more of a fan girl club. While on Earth and dreamily looking up at the sky, one of the girls say that the colonies should be sparkling/is brighter than usual because Relena is in one of them. Like, seriously?

Lady Une gets kicked out of an Earth-Colony meeting because she doesn't have some kind of diplomatic authorization from Earth. Classy Une being classy walks out with a straight face and said she'd still want to get a report.

BOMB IN A MAKEUP KIT. That is all. 

Before Mr.Darlian dies, he reveals to Relena her real identity: that he is not her biological father and that she's a Peacecraft daughter.

Meanwhile, Duo gets his Gundam fixed "just in time for my next mission" and Trowa and Quatre part ways.

Tallgeese's restoration is still taking place. Noin expresses her doubt that the 22-year-old suit is better than the more modern mobile suits, but Zechs has his whole faith on it, being the prototype of all MS and even the Gundams.

Lady Une talks to the reporters and make it seem that the explosion that killed the Earth-Colony delegates in the meeting is caused by colony terrorists.

Relena swears that she'll revenge her father's death--also it's the first time we see Relena holding a gun. :)

Dr. J appears on screen for the first time, and he explains to Relena who Heero Yuy really is. This time, since she knows Heero is being made to fight OZ, she'll start believing they are "on the same side." However, Dr.J said if she values her life, she should stay away from Heero.

Heero has a wicked sense of humor. In a standoff, Heero (in Wing) fires at Duo (in Deathscythe) when the ground beneath Deathscythe starts to crumble. Caught off guard, Duo starts to scream while staring at Heero's shot. Slowly it's revealed that Heero actually targets the Leo MS that was approaching Deathscythe from behind. He laughs out loud and says he has returned the favor.

So far we have:

Episode 1: The Shooting Star She Saw: Part 1, Part 2

Episode 2: The Gundam Deathscythe

Episode 3: Five Gundams Confirmed

Episode 4: The Victoria Nightmare

We're very sorry we haven't put up any rewatch posts lately! All admins are busy with Real Life Stuff these past few days. We'll try to post Episodes 5 and 6 this week, so stay tuned!

A Soldier of Peace: Lucrezia Noin Episode 04: The Victoria Nightmare

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After watching episodes 01-03, the depth of what we know about the gundam pilots stop at the handful of inklings about their personalities that we get from their individual appearances. We know that it’s Operation Meteor and that they’re accepting missions from—at this point—a still faceless group of colony rebels. But we still haven’t gotten a peek at what the boys really think about peace and war. 

When Lucrezia Noin appears for the first time, we know right away what she thinks about wars from her conversation with Zechs Merquise. Noin playfully asks Zechs what kind of “rumors” he has heard about her; he answers something about her excellent career as an Instructor at the Lake Victoria Academy and how she has become a “superior all-around soldier”. Then he follows it with a, “But Noin, you used to hate wars, what's with all the effort you're making?”

Noin silently laughs and says it’s all for her love of outer space.

This is where the line between the Good Guy and the Bad Guy pigeonholes starts to blur,when someone in an organization that is supposed to be the “enemy” doesn't fit the antagonist's caricature mold and have a cause as noble as this. She doesn't mean she merely wants to go to outer space. Noin is a true dignified soldier—she's not interested in fighting battles but she will fight if it's for love, for peace, to keep the peace in the place she loves and at the same time in the place where she came from: the Earth. Why is she fond of outer space anyway? The stars, probably? Perhaps something to do with the lives that it gets to shelter with the establishment of the colonies? No concrete explanation or back story has ever been shown, but from the get-go we see Noin’s unshakable passion to protect it.

And then we see more of her views: “The value of life versus war is something I can’t even compare.”  She treasures life. She provides a place for the trainees to unwind, teaches them to not overdo things, and thinks it’s unfair to launch operations that put soldiers’ lives at risk (you’re a top military school alumna, Noin, but about the last bit Zechs thinks you forgot to read the Warrior’s Manual).

Take note: we're first introduced to these philosophies using Noin, an OZ soldier, not any of the five pilots or the main female lead. We're slowly being eased into the Fields of Grays by giving us a remarkable example. An example, of course, that is as human as a human can be.

Noin’s sense of right and wrong has always guided her and has probably never failed her…that is, until the ‘Nightmare at Lake Victoria.’ When a cadet dies in her arms following Chang Wufei’s attack on the base, she’s enraged. She’s probably thinking, what kind of respectable warrior would kill would-be-soldiers in their sleep? She hops into a mobile suit and is able to corner Wufei. She knows he is the reason her trainees died, but what does she do when she sees that “he’s just a baby?” She tells her soldiers to hold their fire because NO, YOU CAN’T SHOOT A KID. HE’S JUST A LITTLE BOY. IT’S WRONG TO SHOOT A LITTLE BOY. And it’s a pretty bad decision, because it just leads to more death. 

In the end, even if she’s still able to crack a joke, she is emotionally torn. In her beat-up Aries and with her damaged pride, she convinces Zechs to let her fight with him against the gundams because she wants “to get stronger”.