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Gundam Wing Ep. 33: The Lonely Battlefield

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Summary

Noin congratulates Quatre on his piano skills, but comments that the tune he was playing was very melancholy. She tells him he can’t keep blaming himself for what happened, and he answers that if he’d been stronger, nothing would’ve happened to Trowa. He asks for news about OZ, and she tells him that Romefeller doesn’t know where Treize is. Battles are still spreading, but human pilots can’t compete with the mobile dolls. Quatre says he’s learned that there are limits to what pilots can do. Several OZ mobile doll carriers are destroyed by the Tallgeese in a surprise attack during atmospheric re-entry. One of the carriers launches its Virgos, but Zechs destroys them as well and finishes off the last carrier. Howard congratulates Zechs from the spaceship Peacemillion, and Zechs asks him to tune up the Tallgeese because it’s responding slowly. Howard explains that Zechs’ skills are starting to exceed the Tallgeese’s abilities. In a video call, Tubarov reports to Dermail about Zechs’ activities. Dermail expresses frustration at how many countries are starting to embrace total pacifism, as are some members of Romefeller. Tubarov doesn’t understand that because he thinks Romefeller is invincible with its mobile dolls, but Dermail points out that Zechs is destroying the mobile dolls. Tubarov vows that Zechs won’t get his way again with the upcoming attack on the Luxembourg Base. Dermail says to himself that this might be the right time to destroy the Sanc Kingdom. Relena sits next to Heero in a park and asks him why he stayed in the country when in the past he would’ve run off. She comments that the intensity in Heero’s eyes hasn’t changed since the day they met. Dorothy interrupts them to deliver an invitation from Romefeller. Dermail’s letter states that since the world is coming close to total peace, they’d like to hear about Relena’s pacifist policies at their annual conference in Bremen, Germany. Relena prepares to leave for Bremen and leaves with Dorothy over Noin’s objection. She calls out to Heero and asks him not to leave the country without telling her first. Quatre asks if Heero’s going to let her leave since Romefeller could do something. Heero heads to the underground hangar and tells Quatre that a large number of mobile dolls is heading for Luxembourg to destroy the Treize Faction base. Afterward, they’ll be spread to other conflicts around the world. Quatre asks to come along and help, but Heero tells him that he can’t afford to die right now. The Wing Gundam takes off, and Quatre tells Noin that Heero is fighting a battle with the least chance of survival.

A massive number of mobile doll carriers approach Earth with Virgos as escorts. On the Peacemillion, Howard notes that it seems like a lot of mobile dolls just to destroy one base. Zechs launches in the Tallgeese and notes the irony of how in the past he fought to take Luxembourg from the Alliance, but now he’s going to defend it from OZ. Zechs begins his attack and destroys several carriers, which Tubarov expected. Relena arrives in Bremen and meets with senior Romefeller members, including Dermail. Relena explains that the Sanc Kingdom spreads its pacifist initiatives with help from Romefeller, but at the same time OZ is spreading battles across the world. She tells them that if world peace is their objective they should use the Sanc Kingdom as a model, but no one seems to listen. Dermail applauds Relena and says he’d like to point out her hypocrisies, mainly Zechs and his appearance in space as Milliardo Peacecraft. He says that Zechs is an enemy of OZ and has caused considerable damage. Zechs continues to fight the mobile dolls and notices that the Tallgeese is reacting too slowly. Dermail says the Sanc Kingdom must have hostile intent toward Romefeller, but Relena says that if the Tallgeese’s pilot doesn’t call himself Milliardo, it’s not her brother. Dermail asks if she cares what happens to him, and she responds that he has nothing to do with the Sanc Kingdom. Dermail says he must’ve had some mistaken assumptions and thanks Relena for her assistance. Relena leaves the conference and finds Pagan waiting for her. Zechs destroys all the Virgos, but Tubarov points out to an underling that enough carriers escaped to destroy Luxembourg. The Virgos begin dropping over Luxembourg and attack the Treize Faction when Heero shows up. Noin gets an anonymous tip that Relena’s car will be attacked by Virgos conducting a fake combat simulation. Pagan notices an OZ transport plane in his rear view mirror, and several Virgos begin attacking the car. The car crashes into a tree, but Noin and Quatre arrive and destroy the Virgos. An ambulance arrives to take Pagan away, and Relena says she can’t do anything to save even one person. She wonders if pacifism is nonsense, but Quatre tells her she has to stick to the path she believes in. Quatre believes that one day Relena will achieve total peace, which is what everyone is fighting for. Heero continues to fight Virgos, but the Wing Gundam’s right leg is damaged. Several Virgos surround Heero, but Treize tells him over the radio that he can’t die yet.

Commentary

Sanc Kingdom is definitely becoming a thorn in Romefeller’s side, as illustrated by the assassination attempt on Relena. Zechs hasn’t shown up in a while, so it’s good to see him again. He’s ditched the Milliardo name and taken up his old Zechs persona again, complete with his old mask. This allows Relena to disown him when Dermail points out how much damage Zechs is causing to OZ. The old Tallgeese is starting to show its limits against the Virgos, which in Gundam tradition means Zechs is due for a new suit. This episode also marks the introduction of the massive spaceship Peacemillion, which will be sticking around for the rest of the show. Heero heads off to fight Romefeller and has the Wing Gundam damaged, which means the same is in store for him. We also see a brief appearance from Treize, who not counting the clip show hasn’t been around for a while. He’s strangely been absent the whole time that the Treize Faction has been fighting against OZ.

Original Review: February 2, 2001

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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