Review by Chris

December 4, 2002

Following the colony drop on Dublin, Haman returns to space in victory to claim Side 3 as her own. In Norway, the crew of the Argama board two shuttles to return to space. Bright regrets having to leave the Argama on Earth, but he thinks that Karaba will get good use out of it. Kamille and Fa watch the shuttles launch from Glasgow, and at a beach somewhere in Cacao, Sayla Mass and Leina watch as well. Judau thinks they won't be able to save anyone, and Elle tells him that they still have a chance because only Side 3 has been given to Haman. The shuttles pass through Side 4's shoal zone and approach La Vie en Rose. Everyone spots a new ship that looks like the Argama, and Bright tells them that it is AEUG's new battleship Nahal Argama. After docking, Bright and the others are greeted by Emary, Milly and Madchar. Madchar takes Bright aside, and Emary tells Milly to give Judau and the others a tour of the Nahal Argama. They proceed to the bridge, and Beecha jumps into the captain's chair and impersonates Bright. Two men come aboard the ship and tell Judau and friends to get off. Bright argues with Madchar about the AEUG's recent decisions. Madchar says that while Bright was on Earth the AEUG rebuilt its strength and no longer has need of stubborn child pilot. They want Bright to command a new crew on the Argama, and when he refuses they say he can't refuse an order from the AEUG high command. Judau and the others are caught eavesdropping, and he accuses Madchar and the AEUG of being cowardly like the Federation. A battle alert is sounded when several EWAC Zacks probe the area and return to the Endra II, commanded by Mashymre. He tells Illia Pazom that he no longer deserves to wear the rose for performing the colony drop. He sends out a squad of Zssas to attack and has the ship fire its guns.

The Zssas approach the two docked ships and fire several volleys of missiles. Judau and the others want to fight, but one of the men grabs him and tells him he is too arrogant. Judau says he has to fight, and the man says knowing how to pilot a mobile suit means nothing. Bright shows up and says this is no time to fight amongst themselves when the enemy is attacking. Judau manages to escape and is joined by everyone on the Nahal Argama. The ship launches, and Bright leaves Beecha in charge so that he can inspect the ship. He finds Shinta and Qum in a hallway, and they tell him that some men disobeyed his orders to go man the gun turrets. Illia approaches in her ReGelg, and Judau prepares to launch Double Zeta. Missiles from the ReGelg blow a hole into the hull and suck Shinta, Qum, Haro and the men out into space. Judau launches and fires several shots at Illia. They get close to each other, and she touches Double Zeta and sets off a strange reaction. Bright goes out in a small craft to rescue everyone, and Elle gets ready to launch in the Mk II to help Judau. Judau pauses when he sees Bright, and Illia sets off another strange reaction. The Zssas return to the Endra II because they have run out of missiles, which angers Mashymre. Bright sends out a line to rescue everyone, and Judau blocks Illia's attacks with his hyper beam saber. He escapes to an asteroid field and leaves Double Zeta behind an asteroid. Illia sees Double Zeta shooting at her from behind an asteroid and discovers that it is only the Core Top and Base rigged together with some cables. Judau shows up from behind in the Neo Core Fighter and fires missiles at Illia. Judau then breaks into the ReGelg's cockpit and has a strange reaction with Illia when their hands touch. Illia then escapes when Elle shows up with the Mk II. Mashymre lectures his pilots for leaving the battle and accuses them of being too cowardly to face the Gundam. Illia returns in defeat, and Mashymre is shocked to see that the rose has been destroyed because of Judau. The Nahal Argama takes off and heads for the Moon.

The Earth arc ends with this episode and finds the crew of the Argama returning to space, but without their ship. I find this very odd and don't see why they had to abandon it. The ship has a Minovsky Craft System and can certainly break through the atmosphere on its own. However, it looks like it's been pretty badly damaged, especially after the battle at Dublin. We get to see Kamille and Fa again, along with a total surprise appearance by Sayla Mass and Leina. Leina had such a great death scene, and it's a cop out to see her actually be alive now. And how is Sayla involved? Though the Argama is gone, the Nahal Argama is there to magically replace it. We also get to see Mashymre again after a very long absence, and he's changed drastically. Instead of being a goof like Gottn, he's more cunning and ruthless like Rakan or August. We found out from Glemy that Mashymre was the one who performed the colony drop, so he's no longer the noble knight he fancied himself to be earlier on. This is the kind of change I always want to see in him.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

<<back to Gundam ZZ episodes