By Graham’s Flag locks blades with Setsuna and he believes he was able to find the Gundam Exia because it wasn’t spreading GN particles. Graham activates his thrusters to push Setsuna downward, but Setsuna breaks off and knocks away Graham’s blade. Graham moves in again and grabs Setsuna’s shoulder, but Setsuna pulls away. Graham falls back a bit and pulls out his linear rifle, which he fires several times. Setsuna dodges and uses his beam saber to slice Graham’s linear rifle in half. Surprised by the beam saber, Graham breaks off and escapes. Back on the carrier plane, Graham complains that he’ll have to write a report about losing his rifle, but Billy says that the data gained on the Gundam is so valuable that it would’ve been worth losing the entire Flag. Graham comments that he thinks the Gundam’s pilot is young because of the way the mobile suit moved. Setsuna begins spreading GN particles, which causes the plane to lose track of him. He wonders who the Flag pilot was. At JNN, Kinue researches Aeolia’s background and sees that he was an early advocate for the use of solar power. She wonders why, if he founded Celestial Being, they would wait 200 years to make their move. The AEU intelligence director is briefed on Aeolia and informed that he has no known descendants. They couldn’t track down information on his finances, but the director isn’t surprised, given the lax security of the 21st century. At the base station of the HRL’s space elevator, Lockon, Allelujah and Tieria stand at a table until Setsuna arrives. Allelujah asks if something happened, and Setsuna answers that he wrote a report. Lockon tells Tieria that they’ll leave space to him. Allelujah wonders if they’ll be be able to smuggle the Gundam Virtue back to space via the elevator, but Lockon doesn’t think it will be a problem because it’s been disguised as construction materials for the space colony. Allelujah comments that their main weakness is that the Ptolemaios‘ operational time is limited without the Gundams’ four solar reactors, but Setsuna cuts him off and tells him not to discuss classified information. The other Gundam Meisters leave the station, and at the same time Sergei arrives from space. Several soldiers prepare to escort him to a commander, but he insists on traveling to Ceylon first because he doesn’t believe things unless he sees them himself. Elsewhere, Graham and Billy report for duty at the Union’s MSWAD headquarters. An officer informs them that they’ve been reassigned to a new anti-Gundam investigation team, to be headed by scientist Ralph Eifman. At school, Saji is bored during a lesson about the four centuries of conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Louise asks Saji at lunch if he’s thought about the future and if she’s a part of it, but he angers her by answering that he’s only thought vaguely about it. Alejandro meets Wang at a bar, and she informs him that the third mission will begin soon.
Elsewhere, Sergei arrives at Ceylon and visits the base where the Gundams attacked earlier. An officer escorts him to the hangar where they’re investigating the missile container dumped by the Gundam Kyrios. Another officer explains that the container doesn’t have any new technologies, nor is it of a design made by any nation or company. At MSWAD headquarters, Billy estimates that the Gundam’s power output is probably about six times that of the Flag, and Graham comments that he’s most impressed by the Gundam’s maneuverability. Billy concludes that the maneuverability is due to the light emitted by the Gundam. Eifman introduces himself and says he’d like to capture a Gundam. Graham wants to have his Flag tuned up within a week, and he tells Eifman to disregard the stress that will place on the pilot. Graham then gets a call that the Gundams have appeared. In South Africa, Lockon’s Gundam Dynames attacks a mineral mine and easily takes out several Work Loaders with its GN beam pistol. Lockon doesn’t like taking on such easy targets, and the Work Loaders eventually disarm and escape. Graham wants to launch and take on the one in Taribia, South America, but Eifman tells him not to. He explains that he hates narcotics, so if the Gundams are going to burn the drug fields, he’ll support that. He concludes that they want to sever the sources of war. Allelujah flies over Taribian airspace and begins carpet bombing the drug fields. He says to himself that he’d do a mission like this anytime. Sergei is informed that the third Gundam is in Ceylon, so he decides to launch in a Tieren and see it for himself. Setsuna destroys several Tierens and assumes his mission is complete until Sergei arrives in a Tieren High Mobility Type. Sergei tosses aside his gun and draws his carbon blade, which causes Setsuna to wonder if he’s being tested. Sergei charges forward, and Setsuna uses his blade to cut off the arm holding the carbon blade. Sergei then grabs the Gundam Exia by the head and blacks out its cameras. He attempts to rip the head off, but Setsuna uses his beam saber to slice that arm off, as well as the Tieren’s leg. In space, Tieria launches from the disguised container and returns to the Ptolemaios. After docking the Gundam Virtue begins transferring energy to the ship. Sumeragi tells Tieria they should have a toast because the others safely completed their missions, but he declines. Saji returns to his apartment and sees his new next door neighbor: Setsuna. Saji introduces himself, but Setsuna only gives his name before entering his own apartment. As Saji enters, Kinue is on her way out to work. Louise calls and tells him to turn on the news, which is carrying the story that the Real IRA has just announced it will cease armed terrorist activity. Speculation points to the disarmament coming as a result of Celestial Being’s appearance. Amazed, Saji comments that the world is changing.
The appearance of Celestial Being is already having an impact on the world, as illustrated by the disarming of the Real IRA at the end of the episode. That comes across as an odd choice of conflict, as Northern Ireland has been relatively peaceful in recent years, unless something is supposed to happen in the future. It seems that Celestial Being’s mission isn’t limited to intervening in conventional wars, as Lockon intervenes in a South African civil war fueled by natural resources, and Allelujah intervenes in South America’s drug trade. Setsuna completes this round of intervention by returning to Ceylon, which matches him against Sergei. He’s now fought a major pilot from each of the three superpowers. Graham’s fight was rather brief, but it’s understandable because he’s testing the Gundam’s abilities. He’s now assigned to an anti-Gundam squad, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to capture a Gundam. This episode also begins to tie some characters together. The mysterious Alejandro seemed to be a Celestial Being supporter, and that’s now cemented by his meeting with Wang. Also, we see that Kinue is Saji’s older sister, and coincidentally Setsuna is their neighbor. Given that Kinue is a reporter, this is bound to create problems for Setsuna. Another interesting tidbit is that a space colony is under construction. Although other Gundam universes have featured space colonies, it makes more sense to have space elevators first, which can be used to ferry people and supplies. Now that the world is beginning to change, the question is, what else will change?
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