Review by Chris

June 4, 2000

At Granada, Killing is informed that Operation Rubicon has failed and that the Gundam is still in Libot. He sees his commander overriding an order to load nuclear weapons onto a warship. Killing tells him he never asked permission, and his commander asks him if he plans to violate the treaty. Killing says that Side 6 never signed the Antarctic Treaty and then shoots his commander. He takes command of Granada and orders the loading of the nukes to continue. On Libot, the police investigate the Kaempfer and ask to speak with Chris. A detective asks for information, but she refuses to answer any questions. He says the Zeon are attacking Libot because of the Alex, and he doesn't want anymore people to die. Chris says it couldn't be helped, and the detective says no one should ever have to die because it couldn't be helped. Al gets burgers and is shocked when he sees a dead boy being pulled out of the rubble of a building. Bernie sits in the forest looking at the nearby grave of Steiner. He recalls Steiner's last words, asking if the Gundam had been destroyed. Bernie tells him Misha destroyed it, and Steiner tells Bernie he's a bad liar before dying. He also recalls meeting with Charlie and telling him that the rest of the team is dead. Charlie tells him to escape, and Bernie says he wants to lay low until it is safe. Charlie explains that if the Alex isn't destroyed by Christmas that the Zeon will send a warship to destroy Libot. Al brings Bernie the burgers and says that people die easily. Bernie tells him that people die when they run out of luck, and he says he's leaving Libot. He explains to Al that the colony will be destroyed and tells him that he and his mother should escape. Al says Bernie could destroy the Alex, and Bernie admits he's a rookie who never shot down a single mobile suit. Al says he's just lying because he's scared, and he tells Bernie he hates him. He says he'll tell the police, and Bernie reminds him he's an accomplice. When Al goes to a video arcade, he thinks of Libot being destroyed and runs away when a cop approaches him.

Chris examines a child's toy in the ruins of a house and sees Al walking by. She asks how Bernie is, and he says he doesn't care. He asks her what she would do if a fleet was coming to destroy the colony, and she says she would fight. He asks if only cowards run away, and she says that's not necessarily right. She tells him she would be sad if she ran away and everyone dear to her died, but some people just have to run. At the spaceport, Bernie buys a ticket to the Francheska vacation colony. Al visits the ruins of the school and is thrown out by construction workers. He sees Telcott and Chay being thrown out as well and runs over to them. They show him the ammunition they collected, but he isn't very interested in that. In space, the Tivvay class ship Graf Zeppelin is loaded with nuclear missiles. The captain asks Killing if he's sure about the missiles, and Killing tells him not to question orders from headquarters. Al goes to the police station and decides to tell them everything, even if it means he's an accomplice. The police remember him from a few days before and don't believe his story. At the spaceport, Bernie heads for the bar while waiting for his shuttle. He sees a woman who he thinks is Chris for a moment. As he drinks, he listens to the drunken woman make an angry phone call, and he thinks about Al and the Cyclops Team. He leaves the spaceport. Later that night, Al's mother tells him that his father is coming back to live with them starting on Christmas. Al isn't happy about the news and doesn't want his father to die. Bernie calls Al and tells him he's going to stay and try to attack the Alex one more time. He asks Al for help, and All tells Bernie he loves him.

There's not so much going on in this episode, but there are important developments setting up for the conclusion. Killing's assassination of a fellow officer probably surprises and baffles some people. In the Zeon government, the leader is Degwin Zabi, but he's a figurehead. The real leader is his Gihren Zabi, and Killing's loyalties seem to lie with him and not Kycilia Zabi. There are some other important developments in this episode. Al is shocked by seeing a boy's corpse, and he's starting to see what war really is. It's not some cool game to play. This is evident when he runs into Telcott and Chay and feels uncomfortable around them. They think collecting ammunition shells is cool, but he sees that it isn't. Bernie also thinks about quitting in the face of having the rest of the Cyclops Team die. It's strange that the ravings of a drunken woman calling her boyfriend would cause him to change his mind, but it did. There's only one episode left to this series, and the tragedy is going to begin flowing soon.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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