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Gundam Wing Ep. 3: 5 Gundams Confirmed

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Summary

Treize practices his shooting and tells Zechs over video that they’ve been forced into a stalemate. Zechs comments that it couldn’t be helped, and that if they’re going to take action, it should be in the Mediterranean Sea. Treize notes that an old Leo factory is located in the area, and that the Alliance is thinking of beefing up security. Zechs suggests sending the Aries units based in the Middle East, and Treize asks him if he wants to go. He then shoots at a bird and asks Zechs to take care of things for him. Zechs reflects on how even OZ’s latest underwater suit, the Pisces, was defeated by the Gundams. His subordinate Otto Richter asks what they should do, and Zechs answers that they need to study the Gundams and learn their objectives. He thinks to himself that the enemy has left the ocean and succeeded in a mission they thought was impossible. Elsewhere, Heero wakes up and finds himself strapped down in an Alliance military hospital. Major Sally Po gets a call that they can’t break the encryption on the disk found with Heero. Sally is amazed that Heero has so many injuries but shows no visible signs of them. Her subordinate suggests using truth serum, but she refuses and says it would poison someone as young as Heero. Outside, Duo makes a phone call and plans to break into the facility and grab Heero. Zechs views a printout following the course of Wufei’s Shenlong Gundam, which was spotted in the Yangtze River. Because of its slow movement, Zechs posits that flying isn’t its specialty. Zechs wonders if they might run into a Gundam at the Corsica Base and have a chance to destroy it. Wufei attacks the Indus Supply Base and notes the light defenses, saying they aren’t taking him seriously. Relena tries to visit Heero and meets Sally, who asks Relena to tell her about Heero. Duo appears on a monitor in Heero’s room without audio so that Heero can read his lips. Duo is surprised that Heero can be conscious without having raised his pulse. Sally comments that Heero seems to be wild, but Relena says he’s just an average young boy. In the observation room, Relena sees Heero tied down and asks Sally to release him, but Sally says they have to question him first. An explosion then rocks the room, and Duo runs in to rescue Heero. Heero cuts his hand while breaking one of the leather restraints and uses Duo’s knife to cut himself free. Duo then blasts a window open 50 stories up and jumps out with a beam rotor device. Heero plunges through the air and ignores Duo’s warning to open his parachute. He then opens the parachute after hearing Relena shout his name, but it’s too late for it to properly open. He ditches the parachute and rolls down the side of a hill before crashing into the beach. Duo lands and tells him that if he can’t kill himself that way, he should think of something else.

The news reports that Leo production will continue at the Corsica factory following a mysterious explosion. Mobile suits from the OZ Specials will be in place to provide extra security. Zechs’ SST lands at the base, and Alliance Commander Bonaparte decides to use a dirigible against the advice of his subordinates. He says this will make his intentions clear to the enemy and the Specials, who he doesn’t want to gather any acclaim. Bonaparte says that the Specials act as though war was an aristocratic game, so he intends to show them what a real battle is like. Zechs goes to meet with Bonaparte, but he isn’t there. A soldier named Walker reports that he has something for Zechs to see. Walker shows him a large mobile suit called Tallgeese that served as one of the original prototypes. It’s old and bigger than the standard Leo, but Walker claims that its specs are the only thing that can compare to the Gundams. Zechs asks if the Tallgeese could take on the Gundams if completed, and Walker tells him to take it. Bonaparte’s dirigible takes off, and he thinks that the enemy won’t come and challenge their security. However, Trowa appears in the Gundam Heavyarms and opens fire. The Aries from the Specials take off, and Trowa destroys Leos, fighter jets and tanks. Trowa comments that Bonaparte’s decision to surround and destroy him was correct, but that Bonaparte shouldn’t have attacked without knowing the Gundam’s potential. The Aries pull out in front to cover Bonaparte’s retreat. Otto tells Zechs that he wants to join the fight in a Leo, but Zechs says he needs help with the Tallgeese. The Aries unit makes a move when Trowa runs out of ammo, but they come under fire themselves from the Maganac Corps. Walker tries to attack the Gundam Sandrock, but Quatre cuts his Aries half with his heat shotels. After the smoke clears, Zechs takes off in his SST and Trowa attacks Quatre with his combat knife. The two Gundams grapple each other, but Quatre surrenders and exits his cockpit. Trowa exits his cockpit with his hands in the air, and Quatre reminds him that he surrendered first. Duo salvages the Wing Gundam and Gundam Deathscythe out of the ocean and watches in revulsion as Heero snaps a broken leg bone back into place.

Commentary

This episode starts off with Heero in a pretty sticky situation – inside an Alliance hospital. It’s clear he had his own ideas about escaping and dying, but that was affected by Duo and Relena. We’re also introduced to Sally Po, who is a rare competent officer inside the Alliance, which seems to be filled with a lot of grumpy old guys. We see here the conflict between the regular Alliance forces and the Specials, and stubborn guys like Bonaparte don’t want young people like Zechs and Treize to get battlefield glory. I have to wonder what point he intended to make by facing a Gundam with a dirigible, but obviously he didn’t get to make it. We’re also introduced to the Tallgeese, the mobile suit prototype that will give Zechs a chance to fight the Gundams on equal footing. The end of the episode features the first meeting between Trowa and Quatre, leaving Wufei as the only Gundam pilot who has yet to encounter one of his comrades.

Original Review: November 23, 2000

Overall Rating
3.5/5

Gundam Wing Info

Director(s):
Masashi Ikeda
Shinji Takamatsu

Writer(s):
Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Akemi Omode
Toshifumi Kawase
Masashi Ikeda
Katsuhiko Chiba

Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Hajime Katoki
Junya Ishigaki

Character Designer:
Shukou Murase

Musical Composer:
Ko Otani

Format:
49 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 04.07.1995 – 03.29.1996
U.S. 03.06.2000 – 05.11.2000

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