Gundam Wing Ep. 18: Tallgeese Destroyed

Une receives a report that the Gundam engineers used to work for OZ and disappeared 20 years ago after completing the blueprints for the Tallgeese. The soldier says that the Tallgeese is still considered the most powerful mobile suit, but Une counters that it isn’t the most powerful unless all soldiers agree. She decides to have the engineers build a suit that’s more powerful than the Tallgeese and Gundams. Elsewhere, Zechs meets with an OZ officer aboard a transport landing ship. Treize calls in and says that the Romefeller Foundation is concerned about the Gundams, so he wants to know if Zechs will continue fighting as their knight. Zechs answers that he can no longer support Romefeller’s ideals and that his battle with the Gundams is over. Treize tells him to sacrifice his life for OZ because a guilty verdict in a court-martial would negatively impact OZ. However, a noble sacrifice would strengthen morale and make the Lightning Count name legendary. Treize says that if Zechs dies, he can be free. The OZ officer tells Zechs that he’ll soon be attacked by 70 suits manned by Alliance survivors who want to impress Romefeller. The officer says the mission is supposed to let Zechs escape, but he doesn’t see how against those numbers. Modified Leo mobile dolls destroy tanks and targets in a test demonstration viewed by Dermail and Tubarov. He believes that mobile dolls will eventually replace soldiers in the future. A manned Leo suddenly attacks the mobile dolls, so Tubarov orders the dolls to attack the Leo. Treize reveals himself as the pilot and says he wants to represent humans in a battle against mobile dolls. Tubarov points out that mobile dolls don’t show mercy and orders soldiers to control the dolls. The soldiers refuse, and Treize orders them to kill Tubarov. He then destroys the mobile dolls as several soldiers pull guns on Tubarov. Treize withdraws the order and tells Tubarov that wars are about more than mobile suits and that he should learn to value humans more. Quatre’s space shuttle drifts toward a colony controlled by Alliance soldiers, and the local commander wants to join forces against OZ. Several Tauruses approach the shuttle, so the Alliance forces sends out 20 Leos to protect Quatre. Nichol orders the mobile dolls to fight the Leos while he goes after the shuttle. Une meets with the engineers and asks them to build a mobile suit, but they refuse. Nichol calls Une to report on the situation, so she orders him to wipe out the Alliance forces. The Tauruses easily destroy the Leos, but when Une orders them to destroy the shuttle, Doctor J intervenes. Quatre broadcasts a message to the other Gundam pilots, and the engineers agree to build a suit in exchange for Quatre’s life.

The Alliance commander boards the shuttle and is surprised to see that Quatre is just a kid. The Tauruses approach the shuttle, and Une gives Nichol orders to blow it up. A Leo is hit by the shuttle before it escapes. The Tauruses open fire on the shuttle, which is actually piloted by the Alliance commander. The shuttle explodes as the damaged Leo drifts away with Quatre in the cockpit. The OZ officers aboard the ship evacuate to leave Zechs alone in his fight against the Alliance pilots. Alliance transport planes begin dropping Aries units while several subs launch Cancers. Both squads open fire on the ship, destroying it. Zechs takes off and begins shooting down Aries suits with ease. He then fires down into the water and destroys several Cancers. Two Aries grapple onto him to force missiles to hit him, but he manages to survive the explosion and falls into the water. The Tallgeese takes damage from several torpedoes, and Zechs’ mask starts to crack. He declares his friendship with Treize will last until the day his mask breaks. Zechs grabs onto a surfacing submarine and destroys it with him beam saber. His mask then completely breaks apart, so he declares he can no longer be Treize’s friend. Elsewhere, Duo hides in an asteroid with the Gundam Deathscythe still inside the HLV. Heero gives an introductory speech at a school posing as Duo and says that the colonies are just an imitation of Earth. Wufei and Trowa hide with their Gundams. Heero says that humans have wasted their time in space with false pacifism because space is a breeding ground for more battles. He says that people have never stopped fighting, and the teacher finally cuts him off for giving an inappropriate speech. Heero wonders why people fight, and if the meaning of existence is found in fighting. On Earth, Zechs passes out on along the shore of an uninhabited island.