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Episode
23: Earth Ablaze
Review by
Chris
September
12, 2002
In a simulation,
Glemy brainwashes Ple and convinces her that Judau and the Gundams
are her enemy. She says that Judau is her brother, and he insists
that Judau is the enemy. The brainwashing is too much for Ple, and
she passes out. Leina sees her being carried out of the simulator,
and Glemy explains that she is just sick. On the Argama,
Beecha and Mondo tell Bright they don't mind fighting but say they
have no motivation. Bright says protecting the Earth is a good motive,
but they counter with the fact that they are Spacenoids. Bright
tells them that Earth is the mother of humanity and that it is everyone's
responsibility to protect it. Bright then asks Judau if he hates
him for dragging him and Leina into the war, and Judau says no.
Bright asks him what he will do after rescuing Leina, but he doesn't
know. Elle and Roux think that Judau will stay to see the war through.
Elsewhere, Glemy takes Ple over to the Sadalahn to introduce
her to Haman. Haman tells Glemy that her going down to Earth will
weaken Axis, but Glemy says that Axis can be rebuilt, but she is
one of a kind. Haman tells Glemy that she will introduce him to
the Federation government, and he vows he will follow her. On the
Argama, Torres receives a report from Karaba that Axis spies
have infiltrated the Federation capital at Dakar, Africa and taken
it over. Bright begins a battle alert, and Judau asks Roux to let
him pilot Zeta Gundam and her Double Zeta. Judau launches and heads
for the Neo Zeon fleet. Ple wants to go fight, and Glemy asks her
to reassure him that Judau is her enemy. After Ple leaves, Glemy
orders the Sandra to turn around to face the Argama and
launch the Zssa squad.
Glemy launches
in his Bawoo and leads the Zssa squad. As Judau approaches them,
he is attacked by Ple's Qubeley Mk II. Ple deploys her funnels and
attacks Judau, which places him on the defensive. On the Argama,
Beecha refuses to launch and tells Elle that Bright has no right
to send kids into battle to die. Elle tells him that saving Leina
is a good reason to fight, but he says nothing. She says he is disgusting
and slaps him. After a moment, Beecha changes his mind and gets
into the Hyaku Shiki. Roux launches in Double Zeta, followed by
Elle in the Mk II with Flying Armor and Beecha in the Hyaku Shiki.
Glemy attacks Judau with his beam saber and asks if he is Roux.
Judau says he isn't and asks Glemy if he was the one who brainwashed
Ple. He then escapes to look at the Neo Zeon ships, and he feels
Leina calling out to him from the Sandra. As they approach
the atmosphere, the Sadalahn and the Mindra deploy
their ballutes to safely pass through the Earth's atmosphere. Judau
approaches the Sandra, but Ple emerges from behind a piece
of junk and attacks him with funnels. Roux tells Elle and Beecha
to leave the Zssas to her so that they can help Judau. As the Zssas
attack, Roux takes them on with her double beam rifle. Judau grapples
onto the Qubeley Mk II and tells Ple to remember chocolate ice cream.
He gets into her cockpit, but she points a gun at him. When Glemy
approaches, she shoots Judau in the arm and knocks him out of her
cockpit. Glemy attacks Judau and accidentally hits Ple, sending
her out of control and into Earth's gravity well. Elle and Beecha
attack Glemy, and Ple asks Judau to save her. He transforms to Waverider
mode to serve as flying armor for Ple. The Sandra deploys
its ballute to descend to Earth, followed by the Argama.
Beecha looks at the Earth and thinks about how big it is. After
entering the atmosphere, Judau is amazed as he looks at the Earth.
This was
certainly a very exciting and action packed episode. It reminded
me of episodes from the original series and Zeta Gundam where
battles were fought in Earth's atmosphere. It looks like Judau is
a big problem, which causes Glemy to brainwash Ple to make Judau
her enemy. Also, something odd occurs here. Haman thinks to herself
that Glemy is dangerous, and Glemy thinks that Haman suspects him
of something. What exactly is he doing to make her suspicious? Also,
it seems like Beecha finally makes a mature decision and decides
to join the war in earnest. There were some good moments in the
episode when Bright spoke to him and the others. It's also good
to see the Hyaku Shiki back in action, but Beecha can obviously
never pilot it as well as Char did. Now that the cast is on Earth,
it looks like it's time for some interesting battles.
Overall
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
 
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