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Gundam 00 Season 1 Ep. 6: Seven Swords

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Summary

In South Africa a mercenary named Ali Al-Saachez surveys the damage to the mining site caused by Lockon. He then gets a phone call from the private military company PMC Trust and is informed that he has to return to the home base in Moralia. At the AEU’s Central Parliament, politicians debate the issue of sending troops to Moralia, which will cause an armed intervention from Celestial Being. They finally determine to send troops to Moralia as a unified decision of the whole AEU. On the bridge of the Ptolemaios, Christina tells gunner Lasse Aeon that a week in confinement should be more than enough for Allelujah, especially since he was trying to save people. In his cell, Allelujah thinks about what happened earlier and wonders who that person was. When Tieria enters, Allelujah asks if his confinement is over, and Tieria comments that he doesn’t seem to have learned his lesson. He doesn’t think that Allelujah should be a pilot, but Sumeragi arrives and explains that Allelujah’s abilities are needed. She says that Moralia’s president is secretly meeting with the AEU leadership, and Tieria says that’s a direct challenge to Celestial Being. Sumeragi orders Allelujah and Tieria to prepare to descend to the surface. At the HRL’s low orbital station, a scientist concludes that there’s nothing wrong with Soma’s body, and Sergei asks what would cause her to act as she did. The scientist concludes that Soma’s quantum brainwaves were externally affected by someone else with enhanced glial cells, but he’s put a device in her suit to isolate her brainwaves. At the AEU’s capital in Paris, Marina meets with a French minister of foreign affairs. The minister says he can only promise food supplies because they AEU needs technicians to finish its orbital elevator, but also because Azadistan is politically unstable. Saji knocks on Setsuna’s door to offer him extra food from Kinue, but Setsuna says he’s going out. He comments that the incident in space was quite the disaster, and Saji says that he’d never expect to have been saved by Celestial Being. Elsewhere, Sumeragi, Christina and tactical operator Feldt Grace ride the orbital elevator down to Earth, and Feldt reviews the file on Moralia. Founded in 2284, the country borders France, and although it has a small population of 180,000, it has more than 3 million foreign workers, and much of its economy is dominated by PMC Trust. Elsewhere, Billy and Graham discuss the Moralian situation, and Billy comments that the AEU must certainly also be trying to capture a Gundam. Patrick arrives at a Moralian air force base and buzzes the tower with his Enact. Hong Long informs Wang that the AEU and PMC Trust are performing a large joint military exercise. At their hotel, Sumeragi agrees to let Christina and Feldt go shopping while she goes drinking. Setsuna arrives at the uninhabited island and meets with Lockon and technician Ian Vashti, who has come to deliver new equipment for the Gundam Exia and Gundam Dynames. Allelujah and Tieria descend from above in the Gundam Kyrios and Gundam Virtue and approach the island.

Sumeragi has a drink in a bar and meets with Billy. Billy wonders how many years have passed since they were at the university, and he tells Sumeragi about his current work on the Gundam investigation team. He mentions that Eifman is part of the team and has already developed theories about the particles that power the Gundams, but he refuses to discuss them with anyone. Billy asks about a certain “incident,” but Sumeragi tells him she’s forgotten all about him. Back at the hotel room, Christina happily examines all the clothes she bought for Feldt . Marina calls Shirin to tell her about what happened, and Shirin mentions that Celestial Being is headed for a showdown with Moralia. At a PMC Trust base, an AEU officer gives Ali a custom Enact so that he can capture the Gundams. Later, Sumeragi, Christina and Feldt meet with Wang and Hong Long to prepare for the upcoming operation. Eifman asks Billy about his meeting with “Kujoh,” and Billy says that she’s forgotten about the “incident.” Graham overhears them and wonders if they’re referring to the strategic planner from the “incident.” As the Gundams approach Moralia, Lockon orders everyone to follow the plan and keep an encrypted channel open for any mission updates from Sumeragi. Moralia declares a state of emergency, and as Saji watches the situation on the news, he says it isn’t right that Celestial Being first saved people and is now starting a war. He doesn’t think they’ll change the world, and their actions will only spawn further hatred. In his hotel room, Alejandro tells Ribbons that he hears the sound of the world’s evils. In the skies over Moralia, Allelujah takes out the attacking air forces. On the ground, Lockon uses his new full shield to block attacks from a squad of Hellions before he hits them with his sniper rifle and beam pistol. Tieria uses his cannon to take out a large number of Hellions. Patrick’s Enact and a group of Hellions approach, and he’s eager to take on a Gundam. Tieria fires again, destroying the Hellions and grazing Patrick’s Enact. Elsewhere on the ground, Setsuna uses his new GN blades to slice apart a group of attacking Hellions. Suddenly, Setsuna comes under attack from Ali’s Enact, and Setsuna realizes that his moves are being predicted. Ali tells Setsuna that his skills as a pilot are lacking, and Setsuna recognizes the voice and recalls Ali from his days as a guerilla. Setsuna can’t believe it, and Ali declares that the Gundam is his.

Commentary

Like episode 2, this episode also ends on a cliffhanger with Setsuna under attack from an enemy ace. If Ali is predicting Setsuna’s movements, it’s likely that he’s the one who taught him how to fight. Many have pointed out similarities between this series and Full Metal Panic. Like Sousuke Sagara, Setsuna was a child soldier in a Middle Eastern conflict and now is a member of a secretive organization with advanced mecha. Now there’s a Middle Eastern battlefield connection between Setsuna and Ali, much like Sousuke and Gauln (although Ali seems quite different from Gauln). We see that Moralia corresponds to modern Monaco, and PMC Trust is a major player within the country. The mention of private military companies reminds me of Metal Gear Solid 4, but it could also be a reference to real world military groups like Blackwater USA. Additionally, we discover that Sumeragi and Billy went to university together and were involved in some “incident” with Eifman, but we don’t know what that is, nor why Eifman calls her “Kujoh.” From the way Billy spoke to Sumeragi and held her hand, it’s obvious they were at the least close, and perhaps romantically involved. Finally, the information revealed about Soma seems to back up the idea that Allelujah was part of the HRL’s super soldier experiments. Only time will tell.

Overall Rating
4/5

Gundam 00 Info

Director:
Seiji Mizushima

Writer:
Yousuke Kuroda

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kanetake Ebikawa
Takayuki Yanase
Hitoshi Fukuchi
Kenji Teraoka
Naohiro Washio
Kunio Okawara
Seiichi Nakatani

Character Designer(s):
Yun Kouga
Michinori Chiba

Musical Composer:
Kenji Kawai

Format:
50 episodes; 3 compilation movies

Airdates:
Japan 10.06.2007 – 03.29.2008 (S1);
10.05.2008 – 03.29.2009 (S2)
U.S. 11.24.2008 – 02.09.2009 (S1);
06.29.2009 – 09.21.2009 (S2)

Video Release (SE):
Japan 10.27.2009 – 02.23.2010
U.S. 09.04.2018

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