Review by Chris

November 7, 2002

The Sadalahn arrives at the former Titans base at Mount Kilimanjaro, which has now been occupied by Neo Zeon. Haman thinks about Char and how she is always alone. She wonders if she will die before seeing the dream of the Zabi family restoration in space. Elsewhere, the Gundam Team uses a Zaku Tanker to travel across the desert. They reach an enormous salt lake and stop to take a rest. Ple runs into the lake and is disgusted by the salt water. Elle, Beecha and Mondo run into the lake to swim, but Judau stays behind and spots August's Dreissens approaching from across the lake. He takes off with Double Zeta and attacks. He quickly blows up one of the Dreissens with his double beam rifle and then turns his attention to August. Beecha joins the battle with the Zeta Gundam, and Judau tells him to stay out of the fight. After August is chased away, everyone praises Judau on his fighting abilities. Beecha is jealous and thinks he could do as well if he had Double Zeta. Glemy asks August why he didn't fight until the bitter end, and August says he wanted to test the strength of the Gundams and see why it is they keep losing to them. Glemy asks August to come with him and takes him to a secret room filled with Ple clones. Glemy says he knows August is a spy for Haman and asks him if he would betray her. He also mentions the Zabi family and says his connection to them is why Haman indulges him. August decides that Glemy is powerful and swears to be loyal to him. On another end of the salt lake, the Argama docks at a Karaba base belonging to Chott Melrhir. Bright plans strategy with him and decides to go to the Federation's secret headquarters at Dublin where the Neo Zeon will be heading. August's Dreissen squad begin attacking the base, and Bright returns to the ship. He orders a counterattack and wonders where Judau and the Gundam Team are.

The Gundam Team continues to travel across the desert, and Ple complains about not being able to take a bath. Mondo calls Roux in the Zeta Gundam to see about the situation, but she's fallen asleep and hasn't been watching anything. She sees a fire at the Karaba base and says there's trouble. Beecha trips Judau and runs off with Double Zeta to join the battle. Judau wants a mobile suit, but Elle and Roux take the Mk II and Zeta Gundam, leaving him with nothing. He then gets into the Dodai Kai and is joined by Ple. As the Argama takes off, Beecha arrives and destroys one of the Dreissens. August then turns his attention to Beecha and attacks him. Beecha lands in the shallow lake, and August shoots and disables him. Elle tries to jump across the lake and uses the Zeta Gundam's Waverider to attack August. She jumps off the Zeta Gundam so that Roux can transform and attack. Elle stays with the disabled Double Zeta and fights off the Dreissens, but her beam rifle and arm are destroyed. Judau calls Bright and tells him to send out the Hyaku Shiki. August is chased by Roux, but she is unable to hit him. He jumps off his Base Jabber and slices into the Waverider's nose, causing Roux to crash in the water. The Hyaku Shiki is launched on automatic, and Ple flies close to it so that Judau can jump over to it in midair. Once he gets in, he jumps onto Ple's Dodai Kai and attacks August. As they fight in the air, Judau slices off the Dreissen's arms and destroys it. Elle and Beecha argue about him taking Double Zeta out. Glemy sees that winning with physical strength alone isn't possible, which is why he never tried to be stronger than Haman. The Argama takes off and heads for Dublin. Beecha apologizes to Judau and tells him he is the best pilot for Double Zeta.

It looks like the Africa arc ends with this episode as the Gundam Team finally rejoins the Argama after the battle of Ghardaia. There's some strange things going on here. First, why is Beecha suddenly so jealous of Judau's piloting skills? He never really showed any signs of that after rejoining the crew. Glemy reveals to August his secret Ple clones, but he also reveals that August is a spy for Haman. This was never hinted at before, but it seems from August's statements that he really only cares about himself and not Glemy and Haman. Unfortunately, he seems too confident in battle and loses to Judau. He did manage to beat Beecha and Roux, who both fought particularly bad in this episode.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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