機動戦士ガンダム /Kido Senshi Gundam episode 41
Mobile Suit Gundam – 41

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Gihren watches his father’s fleet leave for peace talks with the Federation and thinks of how his father is too late to stop things. Gihren receives a report on the new Zeon weapon, Solar Ray, and learns that it can only be fired once but will be pretty devastating. On Kycilia’s ship, Kycilia has a meeting with Char but before he leaves, she asks him about his vendetta against the Zabi family. He’s surprised she knows and states that he’s been dreading such an event. She confesses the same and she states that after he had found Lalah and placed her in the institute, Kycilia had him investigated and discovered his true identity. She also believes his focus has changed to the Newtypes rather than revenge which he agrees is true. She promises that they will discuss this again after the upcoming battle.

On White Base, Bright holds a meeting with the senior staff about Newtypes, which Amuro concedes he might be. However, Amuro argues that for a crew like theirs to have come so far, they all must be Newtypes. Bright agrees but says that Amuro is special.  On Zanzibar, Char has final instructions for Lalah, stating he will be taking orders from her and kisses her. She requests he wear a regular flight suit from now on when taking Gelgoog into combat, which he agrees to do. Kycilia orders the attack on the fleet with White Base in it and both sides engage in combat. Amuro engages Lalah and is surprised she’s a girl. She destroys his beam rifle and vows that she’ll protect Char from Amuro. Amuro is surprised by this as Lalah asks why he fights since he has no family or home.

As Char launches to join the fight, Amuro asks Lalah why she fights. She answers it was for the one who saved her and wonders why she had to meet Amuro. Amuro answers that it is fate, which confuses her. Char senses this and his negative reaction is so strong that it is sensed by Sayla, Mirai, and others. Char arrives and attacks, telling Lalah not to listen to Amuro. Sayla flies in and tells Char to back down but he can’t hear her and damages her G-Fighter. Amuro destroys Char’s rifle and the two clash with energy blades as Char pleads with Lalah to back him up, which she agrees to do.  Amuro has to avoid attacks from Lalah while fighting off Char as Sayla tries to back up Amuro. Again, Char damages the G-Fighter and is about to destroy it when he finally realizes Sayla is inside and holds off, giving Amuro an opportunity to slice off one of Gelgoog’s arms.

Amuro has had enough of Char and is going for the kill but Lalah saves Char by taking the beam sword hit instead. Just before her Elmeth unit explodes, she has one final telepathic chat with Amuro in which he agrees with her that humanity is evolving into Newtypes and that one day, people will be able to control time itself. Gundam and Gelgoog drift out of range as Elmeth explodes, leaving Amuro in tears over killing Lalah and Char enraged. Char returns to the sole surviving Zeon ship, Gwazine, and reports to Kycilia, telling her that Amuro’s powers are growing at an alarming rate. Kycilia receives word to evacuate the area as Gihren is about to fire Solar Ray at the approaching Federation fleet, something that alarms her and Char. Meanwhile, White Base races to catch up with the main Federation fleet about to attack A Baoa Qu.

Thoughts/Review:

I guess the Japanese couldn’t decide on which English term they were going to use for the new Zeon weapon, thus we heard it called “Solar System” and then in this episode, “Solar Ray.” Heck, even within the episode, Gihren called it “Solar System” at one point and then “Solar Ray” the next.

Anyway, the weapon looks like it is going to be something similar to what the Federation used against the Zeons when they took Solomon..  That being the case, why would its sudden use be something that would alarm both Char and Kycilia?  Both may have their own agendas but both fight for Zeon. Maybe the two of them think Gihren would become too powerful or that Solar Ray’s usage at this point is just an act of desperation.

While on the subject of Kycilia and Char, I know there’s a quote from the Godfather, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”  It seems to me that this may have been Kycilia’s reasons for snapping up Char and putting him under her command after the Garma incident. After learning his true identity, it seems that even though Char was a danger to her, at least she could keep an eye on him because in spite of it all, he did fight for Zeon (as I stated earlier). It also seems to me that she was planning on using Char to gain power because if he eliminated her family, whom she does not appear to have been close to, then she could rule and then remove Char at her leisure, or even secure him to her side if she took power.  However, with only two more episodes and having been informed that Kycilia doesn’t live (not sure how she dies), I guess this is all moot.

Char shows some deeper affection for Lalah when he kissed her.  This was not surprising, considering how over protective of her he’d been.  It is a shame that Amuro ended up taking her life when she sacrificed herslef to save Char, whom she clearly loved. While it is understandable that Lalah fights for Char, as she informed Amuro in their telepathic communication, what I don’t understand is why Amuro’s reasons for fighting weren’t the crew of White Base.  In my mind, Amuro started off fighting just to save some innocents back when the series began.  After that, he only fought because he had to, but after he matured a bit, his reasons for fighting came across to me as wanting to defend his ship and crewmates.  In my mind, that’s an excellent reason to fight but I guess Amuro is fighting because he’s got nothing better to do.

It seemed almost odd that despite his weeping in the cockpit, Amuro seemed fine after having killed Lalah.  Ditto for Char, who seemed enraged after Lalah died but then seemed OK when he reported to Kycilia.  Of course, Char might just be nuts and have gone off the deep end but is good enough to not let that slip.  After all, he couldn’t even sense his sister in his battle with Amuro and damaged her G-Fighter twice and nearly destroyed it in that third attack which he aborted.  He could only “see” Lalah and thus couldn’t see anything else around him.  So, I can’t help but wonder how he’ll be when he and Amuro battle once more and how Sayla will play into this.

Well, almost done here.  Hard to believe I’ve come this far but I’m excited to see how the series ends.