By At The Gundam Base, Koichi apologizes to Riku because he didn’t know about him fighting Tsukasa. He says that back in the days of GPD, you would modify your Gunpla when you repaired it, leading to more customizations. Riku says that he feels closer to the 00 Diver Ace after having used it in GPD. Even though what Tsukasa did to GBN was bad, in GPD, Riku could feel his pain. He thinks that he’s connected to everyone since he built the 00 Diver with his friends. Riku and Koichi head inside, where everyone is surprised to meet Aya Fujisawa, the real world face behind Ayame. Aya thanks Riku for getting the SD Gundam back and notes that her old Force is starting up again. Momo asks if she’s going to quit, and Aya answers that she’d like to stay with the Build Divers. Aya asks Riku what he’s going to do with his Gunpla, and he wonders if he should just repair it or build a new machine to move forward. Riku visits Sarah in GBN and tells her how they met Aya, and Riku wishes Sarah could’ve come as well. Kyoya appears and tells Riku that the anti-Break Decal patch is finished. Kyoya asks Riku about those wings of light and if he knew it would have that effect, but he doesn’t know. Kyoya reports that some of Tsukasa’s former mercenaries signed up for GBN accounts to play legitimately. Later, Riku struggles to come up with a new concept for the 00 Diver, and Koichi suggests going back to where he started. Riku meets with Magee in GBN and thanks him for helping them out in the beginning. He then visits Tigerwolf and thinks back on his training with him. He remembers Tigerwolf’s talk of a special move and thinks that those wings of light can’t be it because he doesn’t even remember how he did it. Riku then visits Shahryar, who provides a data analysis of Riku’s performance in the battle of the Big-Zam. His hope is that the data will help Riku in coming up with new Gunpla ideas. Riku asks Shahryar how he gets new ideas for Gunpla, and Shahryar answers that it’s love. Riku tells Sarah that he’s glad he joined GBN and met so many great people. He realizes that he’s crying and apologizes to the 00 Diver.
Kyoya speaks to the Game Master, who is bothered by the wings of light and wonders if Riku and Sarah were using a tool like a Break Decal. Kyoya insists that there was nothing odd going on, and that neither of them would cheat. Riku and Sarah visit Rommel, who reflects back on that early Force Battle with the Build Divers. Rommel says that he’d like to fight the Build Divers himself some day, which Riku happily agrees to. Riku thinks about all the things that he enjoys about GBN and having fought outside it in GPD. Riku asks Sarah about her statements of understanding the 00 Diver’s feelings, and she tells him that she called him the other day because she heard the 00 Diver. Riku proclaims that he wants to grow stronger with the 00 Diver, and it starts to glow with GN particles. Riku sees himself chasing the 00 Diver and thanks it for fighting alongside him. In this vision, he finally decides how he’s going to rebuild the 00 Diver. At The Gundam Base, Riku works on creating a new machine by combining the 00 Diver with parts from the Destiny Gundam. Later, in GBN he unveils the newly upgraded Gundam 00 Sky, which retains a chest scar from GPD as a reminder of past battles. Riku thanks everyone for helping him and creating great memories. Tigerwolf, Shahryar and Magee show up and are impressed by the new 00 Sky. Tigerwolf and Shahryar want to test it in battle, and Riku knows its debut will be coming soon. In a room with multiple monitors, a woman looks at an image of Sarah and states that she’s found what she’s looking for.
Now that we’re past the halfway point, it’s time for Riku’s mid-series upgrade. However, this takes up an entire episode of him soul searching, visiting people and reminiscing in the form of clips. I wouldn’t say there’s enough clips to constitute this being a clip show, but it’s just about as pointless. The episode features the introduction of Aya, who looks quite similar to Ayame, except that her ninja counterpart is shorter and bustier. There’s also the continued mystery around the wings of light and how Riku’s move actually saved GBN, but no explanation is forthcoming (other than the obvious fact that Sarah had something to do with it). Riku mentions Sarah understanding the 00 Diver’s feelings, but again, this is all done at a surface level with no real exploration in a way that anyone with common sense would think to ask about. And how do Riku and Sarah have a GN particle-fueled vision of the 00 Diver’s upgrade form? Overall, there’s not much point to this episode other than the Gunpla unveiling at the end.
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