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Gundam Wing Ep. 44: Go Forth, Gundam Team

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Summary

Relena is brought to Libra‘s bridge, and Zechs tells her the Earth only looks beautiful because they can see it from space. She asks if he means for everyone to come to space, and he answers that not everyone has to, but he won’t ignore the forces on Earth that obstruct peace. Relena thinks that Earth and space should discard their weapons, but Zechs counters that it isn’t the right time for her total pacifism. Zechs hugs Relena and tells her that she’s grown up strong, but that strength is no longer needed. He says he wants her to remain kind, and she responds that she can’t tell if she’s being held by her kind brother Milliardo, or the blood-stained Zechs. He offers to help set her up wherever she wants to live, but she insists on staying with him until he changes his mind. On the Peacemillion, Howard asks everyone what their next move should be, and Wufei suggests they destroy Libra. Sally asks if that’ll end the war, and Quatre answers that it won’t because Treize is preparing to send his forces to space. Duo agrees with destroying Libra, but Trowa wonders if they can. Heero then comments that Zechs is their enemy, and he views them as his enemy. Several White Fang mobile suit carriers approach the ship, and Howard tells Wufei and Trowa that their Gundams have been repaired. Duo tells Heero they should get ready, but Heero says he has to take care of something and won’t be fighting. The carriers deploy a large number of Virgo II units against the four Gundams and Noin’s Taurus. The Gundam pilots begin to break off and fight, and Noin points out that they’re at a disadvantage fighting so many mobile dolls individually. She then realizes there’s no point because the Gundam pilots always fight alone. The Virgo IIs use tactics like fighting in groups of three with planet defensers for protection, and Noin realizes they’ve been loaded with strategic programs. Howard sees that the Gundams are struggling and wonders what Heero is up to. Quatre asks Noin if it’s possible to control the mobile dolls so precisely, and she believes that Zechs must have created some new system. Elsewhere, Dorothy gives Relena a gun to stop Zechs, but Relena refuses to take it. She states that true peace can’t come from assassination, so Dorothy locks her in the room. Zechs isn’t surprised that the mobile dolls were destroyed and tells Quinze that he’s fighting a war of attrition against the Gundam pilots to wear them down. Zechs decides to head for Earth once repairs are finished. The Gundam pilots are exhausted from a long battle, and Heero examines several disks from the Zero System.

In the Peacemillion‘s mess hall, Quatre tells the other pilots that they can’t keep fighting that way and need to come up with a plan. Trowa adds that even more mobile dolls will be guarding Libra and will separate them. Quatre thinks to himself that they don’t have a chance and wonders what their options are. Howard tells Heero that they have the people and resources to repair the Gundams for now, but they can’t keep it up forever. Heero gives Howard Zero System disks and asks him to install them on the Sandrock Custom. Zechs has Dorothy examine a new combat system and says he’ll be relying on her while he fights Wing Zero. Quinze reports that the Peacemillion is heading toward them. As the Gundam pilots prepare to launch, Heero tells Quatre that the Zero System has been installed in the Sandrock Custom. He says it’s a good system for leading troops into battle, but Quatre counters that he can’t handle it. He thinks Heero should lead them with Wing Zero, but Heero explains that he’ll be busy fighting Zechs, and they need a plan to survive. Heero says that Quatre should take command to pay back the people of space. The five Gundams launch along with Noin’s Taurus, and Heero immediately breaks off to face the Gundam Epyon. Duo, Trowa and Wufei break off again, and Quatre tries to tell them they need a strategy. The mobile dolls begin to attack with coordination under Dorothy’s control. Heero attacks Zechs and asks why he’s starting these battles, so Zechs answers that he wants to end all battles. The mobile dolls press their attack, and Quatre says they need to get in formation to fight back. Noin saves Quatre from an attacking Virgo II and comments that it’s just like the attack on the Sanc Kingdom. With no other options, Quatre activates the Zero System and starts issuing orders. Quatre fights to control the Zero System, and Dorothy doesn’t understand how the Gundams can predict her moves. Quatre realizes that someone is manually controlling the mobile dolls, and Dorothy wonders who she’s fighting against. Dorothy and Quatre call out each other’s names, and she tells Quinze to fire the main cannon at the Gundams. Libra turns to open fire on the Peacemillion, and the massive ship won’t be able to avoid Libra‘s firing line. Quatre tells everyone to fall back, and one of the Peacemillion‘s engines explodes as it tries to get out of the firing line. The cannon fires and grazes the Peacemillion, but Libra suffers damage from firing while moving at high speed. Zechs retreats and realizes he gave Dorothy too much responsibility. Heero says to himself that according to the Zero System, Zechs has no future, so he wonders if Zechs saw something different with the Epyon System.

Commentary

There’s not all that much going on in this episode. Relena tries to convince Zechs to stop what he’s doing and fails again. Zechs puts Dorothy in control of the mobile dolls with a Zero System variant, but she’s overcome by Quatre’s own use of the Zero System. The biggest development here is that Quatre steps forward as the leader of the Gundam Team, which is necessitated by everyone’s stubbornness and refusal to cooperate. After the tough battle early in the episode, you’d think they would learn their lesson, but in the second battle they start doing the same nonsense until Quatre takes control. In the end, not much was accomplished as the mobile dolls were destroyed and Zechs retreated from his battle with Heero.

Original Review: February 10, 2001

Overall Rating
3/5

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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