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Gundam Wing Ep. 37: Zero VS. Epyon

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Summary

Wing Zero begins atmospheric re-entry as Zechs heads for the Sanc Kingdom. On the surface, Heero continues to destroy Virgos under the influence of the Epyon System and wonders where his enemy is. A Romefeller commander on a transport plane demands to know where his reinforcements are, and a lackey explains that their forces are fighting a Gundam on the ground. Heero then jumps into the air and destroys the transport. Zechs flies above the ocean and wonders how well he can fight with Wing Zero. Heero picks up Wing Zero on his radar and decides to destroy it. Zechs spots the Gundam Epyon and pulls out his beam saber to fight at close range. He realizes that Heero is his opponent and asks him what he’s doing, but Heero only answers that Zechs made a mistake in choosing Wing Zero. Zechs asks Heero if he’s an enemy, and Heero tells him to ask the Zero System. Zechs then asks what happened to the Sanc Kingdom and wonders if it has collapsed. He realizes that he’s too late, and Heero wraps his heat rod around the Gundam Epyon’s leg. Zechs fires his twin buster rifle at Heero and asks what the point of this fight is. He then interprets a message from the Zero System as meaning that he should kill those who try to kill him. Zechs decides to go along with that and end his fateful battle with Heero. A Romefeller commander aboard a large sea carrier is told they’ve lost contact with one of their mobile doll groups, so he orders the deployment of more Virgos. Elsewhere, Dermail meets with Relena at Romefeller headquarters and asks her to try some of his local tea, but she says she doesn’t need hospitality. Dermail tells Relena that she’s not there as a prisoner, but for protection. Dermail claims that he’s always supported Relena’s ideals, but that OZ dissidents gathered around her and disrespected her ideals. He says that they have rescued her to save her beliefs, which is how the public interprets the invasion of the Sanc Kingdom. Relena says that no one will believe Dermail’s trash, but he says they will after he makes Relena the chief representative of Romefeller. He tells Relena that she’ll reign over the entire world as a queen, but she refuses. Dermail tells Relena that he wants a world without war just like her, but he uses different methods. Dermail tells her that the longer she delays in making a decision, the more people will die in the fight for peace.

Heero and Zechs continue to fight, but Heero feels that the Gundam Epyon is reacting too slowly to Zechs. Heero and Zechs are both overwhelmed by their combat systems and stop fighting. Heero falls out of the Gundam Epyon’s cockpit as it topples over, and Wing Zero falls off the side of a seaside cliff. Zechs tries to stand and collapses to his feet. In space, Tubarov is informed by an officer named Sedici that the battleship is nearly complete. Tubarov decides to return to the Lunar Base and leaves Sedici in charge. Tubarov asks a soldier why he has manned escorts when those men could be working on construction, and the soldier tells him they need manpower for their rebellion. The soldier pulls out a gun and says they’re former Treize Faction, but now they consider themselves colonial revolutionaries. Another soldier signals that the Artemis Revolution can now commence, and a man named Quinze seizes control of the base. Quinze addresses the colonies on behalf of his group, the White Fang, and says that the time has come for the colonies to stand up to Earth. Duo watches the broadcast and comments that the colonies will jump into a war now. Tubarov asks his captors why they don’t kill him, and they explain that he’s worth more alive so that he can declare defeat to the media and later be executed. Tubarov then breaks free of his captors and is wounded in the shoulder before locking himself into a room. He uses a computer to access the mobile doll system. Virgos begin launching and attacking White Fang mobile suits on the Moon’s surface. The Virgos are then destroyed by Wufei’s Altron Gundam, along with White Fang’s Tauruses. Tubarov madly declares that his mobile dolls will never be defeated, and he laughs as the room explodes around him. Wufei declares that he’ll be true to his sense of justice and leaves. Sedici hears a report about the battle, but he doesn’t think it will affect their plans. On Earth, Zechs tells Heero that they were both toyed with by their machines, and Heero says that the Epyon System considers Zechs an obstacle. As Romefeller forces arrive, Heero decides to take Wing Zero and says Zechs should use the Gundam Epyon because Treize built it. Several Virgos fire at Wing Zero, but Heero destroys them all with his beam saber and takes off. Zechs then boards the Gundam Epyon and rushes in to attack several Virgos. Relena asks a servant to tell Dermail that she’s accepting his offer to become Romefeller’s representative.

Commentary

The fall of the Sanc Kingdom segues into a sudden flash of political upheaval. Dermail offers to make Relena the public face of Romefeller, making her a stand-in for Treize’s role. He certainly is a master of spitting out a bunch of nonsense and believing it. In the end, he sells it well enough to convince her to do it. Even though the Sanc Kingdom has surrendered, Heero is overcome by the Epyon System and continues to fight waves of mobile dolls, although I’m a bit tired of seeing the same stock footage repeatedly. Zechs arrives too late to help the effort and gets pulled into a fight with Heero, which eventually ends in a draw due to their combat systems overwhelming them. They end up switching Gundams, which finally puts Wing Zero in Heero’s control as his mid-series upgrade. Up in space, the colonial revolutionaries make their move under the banner of White Fang, seizing control of the battleship and killing Tubarov in the process. I know this guy was absolutely in love with his mobile dolls, but he seemed to go too mad too quickly before his death. The story on Earth is wrapping up, which means it’s time to head to space again.

Original Review: February 5, 2001

Overall Rating
4/5

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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