On the Skipjack, Vidar tells Rustal that he heard McGillis convened a Seven Stars meeting on Earth, which Rustal figures is due to Iok’s actions. However, he’s already dealt with Teiwaz and isn’t worried about what McGillis has planned. Rustal asks Vidar is McGillis is going to make a move, and Vidar answers that he’s been trying to understand what McGillis’ true intentions are, and if he’s right, McGillis will make a move. Later, Rustal watches Liza’s call to revolution and sees that Vidar was right, so he orders the entire Arianrhod Fleet to gather. The revolutionary forces detain the Seven Stars members and fight for control of Gjallarhorn headquarters. Isurugi reports to McGillis that they’re waiting to see what the branch bases do, and in Earth orbit Liza is building a defense network against Rustal. McGillis declares that there’s no turning back now, so he’s going to do his part. McGillis finds Gallus Bauduin arguing with his guards, and McGillis says he may be seen as a traitor now, but things will change soon. McGillis thinks back to his life of poverty on the streets as a young boy, and how he was victimized by other boys. Eventually, he and several other boys were taken in by Iznario Fareed, who enjoyed physically and sexually abusing them. It was then that McGillis learned about the life story of Agnika and the need to possess power. Mikazuki calls Isurugi when he can move, but he’s told to wait until headquarters is secure. Rustal is informed that it’ll take three days for the entire Arianrhod Fleet to gather. Iok’s men ask Rustal to let Iok join the fight against the coup, and Rustal is amazed that Iok could inspire such loyalty after so many failures. Liza meets Orga and tells him that what Tekkadan did at Edmonton inspired them to rise up. Liza gives them a status update and reports that the Arianrhod fleet will have 40 Halfbeak class ships when fully assembled, which Eugene notes is double what they have. Orga says they won’t have to fight all of them, and Liza adds that they only need to buy enough time for McGillis’ plan to succeed. At Gjallarhorn headquarters, McGillis enters the chamber where the Gundam Bael is stored, but just then the Gundam Vidar smashes in through the ceiling. Vidar gets out of his cockpit and removes his mask, revealing that he’s actually Gaelio.
Yamazin sees that Julieta is suited up for battle and tells her that she’s too early. Julieta responds that she can’t sit still with a coup happening on Earth. Julieta wonders where Vidar is, and Yamazin explains that he got special permission from Rustal to go to Earth. McGillis comments that Gaelio is now Rustal’s dog, but Gaelio insists that they’re equals. McGillis says that Gaelio has a bad habit of trusting people too easily, and Gaelio responds that he was once killed by someone he thought was his best friend. Gaelio says that he never understood McGillis, but ever since they were kids, he wanted to be admired by him. Gaelio wanted to find out what McGillis wanted so badly to betray everyone, and McGillis standing in front of the Gundam Bael is his answer. He thinks that McGillis can’t understand any human feelings and only acknowledges force. Gaelio tells McGillis to get inside the Gundam Bael, but Mikazuki arrives in the Lupus Rex and asks if he can kill Gaelio. He uses the tail blade to knock back the Gundam Vidar, and McGillis tells him he can’t win. Gaelio then activates Alaya-Vijnana Type E and moves as quickly as a real Alaya-Vijnana user, and Mikazuki recognizes his movements. Yamazin explains to Julieta that the Gundam Vidar has a pseudo Alaya-Vijnana System based on Ein’s brain. Mikazuki uses his tail blade to push Gaelio back. Julieta asks why Vidar would use such a system, and Yamazin answers that he said he had an enemy he couldn’t beat alone. She also explains that the system allows the Gundam Vidar to fight as well as the Gundam Barbatos. McGillis finds it amusing that the fruit of his research on the Alaya-Vijnana System allows him to pilot the Gundam Bael. Mikazuki and Gaelio take their fight outside, but they stop when McGillis emerges. Gaelio calls Mikazuki and apologizes for despising people who use the Alaya-Vijnana System. Gaelio escapes and heads to the Moon in a shuttle. McGillis makes a worldwide broadcast announcing that he has awakened the Gundam Bael, which Liza declares as their victory. Rustal thinks back to McGillis talking about Bael as a child and calls him a fool. Gaelio calls Rustal and vows to obey him from now on. McGillis declares that the person who controls the Gundam Bael wields absolute power and must be obeyed without question. Gaelio interrupts the broadcast and denounces McGillis as a traitor who will be defeated.
McGillis’ revolution begins in earnest, bringing about some dramatic confrontations in the process. We learn his backstory, including that he had a rough life as a street urchin and was sexually abused by Iznario. He learned about Agnika as a child and has carried this lifelong obsession to gain power for himself. I can see now why he has a soft spot for Tekkadan, given their similar backgrounds. If he had been on Mars, he could’ve ended up as a space rat or human debris, just like many of the members of Tekkadan. It’s interesting that all his manipulations of Gaelio and Ein led to him being able to get the surgery as an adult and pilot Agnika’s Gundam Bael. Using the suit of the founder of Gjallarhorn obviously has symbolic meaning, but I don’t think it alone will guarantee victory. We also get the reveal that no one at all would be surprised by, which is that Vidar was actually Gaelio. He’s gone to such lengths to defeat McGillis that he’s using a pseudo Alaya-Vijnana System based on Ein’s brain. At least he’s aware of the contradiction, given that he apologizes to Mikazuki for his earlier attitude. It’s only going to be an uphill battle from this point for McGillis and Tekkadan.
Iron-Blooded Orphans Info
Director:
Tatsuyuki Nagai
Writer(s):
Mari Okada
Hajime Kamoshida
Michihiro Tsuchiya
Toshizo Nemoto
Shinsuke Onishi
Hiroyuki Yoshino
Mayori Sekijima
Tatsuto Higuchi
Yousuke Kuroda
Mechanical Designer(s):
Naohiro Washio
Kanetake Ebikawa
Ippei Gyoubu
Kenji Teraoka
Tamotsu Shinohara
Character Designer(s):
Yu Ito
Michinori Chiba
Musical Composer:
Masaru Yokoyama
Format:
50 episodes; 9 compilation episodes
Airdates (TV):
Japan 10.04.2015 – 03.27.2016 (S1);
10.02.2016 – 04.02.2017 (S2)
U.S. 06.04.2016 – 12.11.2016 (S1);
10.08.2017 – 04.28.2018 (S2)
Airdates (SE):
Japan 04.29.2022 –
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