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Gundam SEED Phase 34: Seen and Unseen

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Summary

Rau calls Patrick and tells him that all forces are in position to commence Operation Spit Break and are waiting for his orders. At the PLANT, Lacus tells Kira that it’s going to rain and asks him to come inside and have tea. At the Carpentaria Base, Athrun apologizes to Yzak and thanks him for all he’s done. They shake hands, and Yzak tells Athrun not to die so that next time he can be the subordinate. On the Archangel, Natarle drags Flay through the corridors as she objects to having to leave. Flay asks Murrue why she has to leave, and Murrue says it’s an order from headquarters that she has to obey. Murrue thanks Natarle and says she hopes they’ll meet again somewhere other than on the battlefield. She asks her to take care of Flay before they leave. Mu protests having to be a pilot instructor in California, but Murrue says his training could help reduce the casualties. He says goodbye and leaves as she holds back her tears. On the bridge, she is informed that the Archangel will now serve as part of Alaska’s defense forces until further notice. She asks about transferring Dearka, but the officers tell her they’re too busy with the upcoming attack on Panama. Sutherland is informed that all preparations for the Cyclops System are going according to plan. At the Carpentaria Base, Athrun sits in a space shuttle and thinks about what’s happening to him. Lacus asks Kira if he likes being on the PLANT, and Kira asks if it’s ok for him to be there. Malchio tells him that he’ll know what he has to do and where he has to go because he carries the SEED. In space, ZAFT ships and mobile suits gather in Earth orbit to prepare for atmospheric descent. All across Earth, mobile suits, planes and submarines mobilize to begin the attack. Patrick gives the official signal to commence Operation Spit Break and sets the target for the JOSH-A base at Alaska. Soldiers are all surprised that the target isn’t Panama, but Yzak isn’t. He sees that by making the Alliance gather their forces at Panama, Alaska will be left weak. Siegel gets a call from Council member Eileen Canaver, who tells him that Patrick lied and the real target is Alaska. Kira drops his cup and feels intense pain in his chest.

Natarle takes Flay to where her designated submarine is loading. Mu shakes Natarle’s hand and says goodbye before leaving with Flay. Vosgulov submarines approach Alaska, and mobile suit carriers enter the atmosphere and begin unloading GINNs and CGUEs. Mu leaves when he says he forgets something and runs through the hallways. Alarms go off as ZAFT forces approach. From the air, GINNs, CGUEs and DINNs attack while BuCUEs approach on the ground and GOOhNs and ZnOs by sea. Yzak attacks several Alliance ships and destroys them while Rau takes off in his DINN. He flies through a waterfall into a secret entrance and sees that Azrael’s intelligence was correct. Lacus finds Kira crying, and he tells her he has to go back to Earth. She tells him that going will not end the war, but he says he has to. She asks him if he will fight ZAFT again, and he says he won’t fight them or the Alliance. She gives him a red ZAFT uniform and drives him to a military base. From the safety of an escaping submarine, Sutherland orders Murrue to defend the base. Though the Archangel has virtually no defenses and no fighters or mobile suits, Murrue orders the ship to launch. As Mu runs through the hallways, he feels the presence of Rau and approaches an abandoned control room where Rau is examining the Cyclops System. Rau detects Mu and shoots at him. Mu fires back and ducks behind a desk. Rau says he has no time to play with Mu and leaves. Flay hides in the hallways and grabs a dead soldier’s gun when Rau approaches. She is shocked when she hears his voice, which is identical to her father’s. She tries to shoot, but he knocks her out and takes her with him. At the military base, Lacus takes Kira into the hangar where the new Freedom Gundam is stored. She tells him that it’s ZAFT latest suit and that it incorporates all the new technologies from the Alliance’s Gundams. He asks her why she is giving it to him, and she tells him he needs it to do what he wants to do. She tells him that having the will and power to do something isn’t enough. Kira suits up and gets into the cockpit of the Freedom Gundam, where he sees it has an N-Jammer Canceler. He steals the Freedom Gundam and is attacked by several GINNs, but he slices their heads off. As he heads for Earth, he flies by Athrun’s shuttle at close range.

Commentary

The long-rumored Operation Spit Break finally begins, and we see that Patrick lied to everyone about its true target. It was, however, good strategy to make the Alliance concentrate their forces in Panama and make Alaska the true target. However, Sutherland and the other Alliance officers already knew he was coming because they escaped before the attack even began. But how did they know? Rau mentions that his intelligence came from Azrael, who is connected to Blue Cosmos and the Alliance. Since Rau seems to have his own motives, was he the one who informed the Alliance of Spit Break’s real target? Some characters go their separate ways, and we see that Murrue really cares for Mu. Finally, Kira gets his hands on the brand new Freedom Gundam and steals it. You have to wonder why in nearly every Gundam series security is so poor around new Gundams, which allows kids to constantly steal them. We have keys and car alarms, so why don’t Gundams?

Overall Rating
4/5
Gundam SEED Info


Director:
Mitsuo Fukuda

Writer(s):
Chiaki Morosawa
Hiroyuki Yoshino
Hiroshi Ohnogi
Shigeru Morita
Akinori Endo
Yuuichi Nomura
Akemi Omode

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Kimitoshi Yamane
Junichi Akutsu

Character Designer:
Hisashi Hirai

Musical Composer:
Toshihiko Sahashi

Format:
50 episodes (original); 48 episodes (HD); 1 short; 3 compilation movies

Airdates (Original):
Japan 10.05.2002 – 09.27.2003
U.S. 04.17.2004 – 04.15.2005

Airdates (HD Remaster):
Japan 01.xx.2012 – 11.xx.2012

Video Release (SE):
Japan 08.27.2004 – 10.22.2004
U.S. 07.11.2005 – 11.22.2005

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