Review by Chris

Original Review: August 23, 2000
New Review: May 30, 2004

The Freeden makes landfall in southern Asia, which has been fiercely attacked by the New UNE. While on duty, Garrod thinks about Katokk and wonders if he did the right thing by not firing the satellite cannon at the New UNE. Nearby, Shagia and Olba watch the Freeden and plan to do something evil. Shingo stops the ship when they hit a minefield, so Jamil has the Gundams shoot the surrounding area to detonate all the mines. Overhead, a jet flies by carrying Prince Willis Aramis of Estard, his advisor Rooks Hanomark and General Lee Jackson from the military. They spot the Freeden, and Rooks recognizes it as the Vulture ship that recently stole a new Gundam from the New UNE. Lee wants to contact them because they're powerful and are fighting the same enemy. The Freeden lands outside the small nation known as the People's Republic of Estard, and Jamil, Sala, Garrod, Witz and Roybea drive to the palace to meet with Willis. Jamil tells Willis that he will need time to consider their offer to join the fight, and Lee scolds Willis for being too indecisive. Rooks steps in and tells Jamil he has three days to decide. On the Freeden, Techcs examines Ennil and asks her what she will do now, but she isn't sure. Toniya tells Shingo that Jamil seems even more quiet than before now that the New UNE has appeared, and Shingo thinks he's just being quiet because he's unsure of what to do. While drawing, Tiffa senses something and tells Kid that everyone is in danger. As Jamil and the others drive through the city, an air raid siren is sounded. The citizens rush to shelters, and Jamil decides to join them because they're too far from the Freeden. A group of New UNE bombers appears in the sky and carpet bombs the city. The crew emerges from the shelter afterwards to find the surrounding area in ruins, and Garrod tells Jamil they can't let the New UNE do this. The next day, the Freeden joins Estard's military operation. At a meeting, Lee lays out a plan to destroy a New UNE airbase to put an end to the carpet bombing. The soldiers show some doubt about his plan to have a small group of mobile suits destroy the base, but he assures them they have powerful Vultures helping them. The Estard forces join with their allies from Democratic Republic of Gastar and the United Kingdom of Northernbell to form a battle group consisting of landships and Pyron mobile suits. Garrod visits Tiffa before launching, and she tells him she feels he is far from her recently. He tells her he doesn't think that's true and says he will always be with her. As he prepares to launch in the Double X, Lee tells him that the Pyrons will lead him to the New UNE airbase.

In the battlefield, the allied forces come under attack from New UNE Daughtress units. Witz and Roybea launch from the Freeden and join the assault. Elsewhere, a group of Pyrons lead Garrod through a forest, unaware that the Frost brothers are following them. Roybea has some trouble fighting off a Balient, and Witz asks him why he's having trouble. Roybea tells him he's not in his usual good mood today. The Daughtresses continue their ground assault against the Pyrons, and Balients appear from the skies to attack as well. At the palace, an advisor named Grant Stewart tells Willis he should negotiate for peace with the New UNE if they are successful in this battle. Willis doesn't quite agree, and Grant tells him that Lee will eventually destroy their country. He leaves when Rooks comes into the room. Willis tells Rooks he can't bear to think about the soldiers, and Rooks tells him he must think of the soldiers as chess pieces defending the country if he wants to be a successful leader. On the battlefield, New UNE Commander Romanov orders the mobile suits to flank the enemy while bombers attack from the sky. Garrod and the Pyrons reach a summit overlooking the New UNE airbase. As he is about to activate the twin satellite cannon, Shagia and Olba appear and begin to destroy the Pyrons. They challenge Garrod because they want to see how he fights with the Double X. Elsewhere, the New UNE mobile suits begin to fall back, but Jamil is suspicious. The main Daughtress forces enter trenches, and more appear on both flanks. In the air, Witz comes under attack from new high speed Gadeel mobile armors. He chases after them, but they maneuver quickly enough to evade all his attacks. Shagia destroys the remaining Pyrons, and Olba grapples Garrod from behind. Shagia moves in with his beam saber for the kill, but Garrod breaks Olba's scissor claws and kicks Shagia away. He then activates the twin satellite cannon and receives the laser lock from the Moon. The microwave energy arrives, and Garrod destroys the airbase just as a group of bombers is about to take off. With the Gundam Airmaster heavily damaged, Witz shoots one of the Gadeels and punches the other. With the airbase destroyed, Romanov orders his forces to retreat. Later, Lee thanks Garrod and the others for their help. From her window, Tiffa watches Ennil walk away from the ship.

Now that the ocean arc is over, the show is taking a new direction. In Asia, there seems to be a lot of wars between the New UNE and the smaller independent countries. In the previous episode, Bloodman's speech paints the UNE as peaceful, but in this one they carpet bomb innocent civilians. They also seem to have secretly built a massive force, as they have new mobile suits and land battleships. I guess when the world is in ruins, no one cares what anyone else does. Also, it seems that the nation of Estard is in trouble. Young Prince Willis is a weakling, and both Rooks and Lee want to use him for their own ends. Tiffa doesn't appear much in this episode, but it's becoming more evident how much she's changed. Ennil has changed too, but it doesn't look like she's ready to join the crew yet. I'm sure we'll see more of the Frost brothers, especially since they've now been out-Gundamed by Garrod's Double X.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

<<back to Gundam X episodes