By The Peacemillion hides inside of a destroyed colony while the crew conducts repairs. Duo finishes repairs to the Deathscythe Hell and notices that Quatre is removing the Zero System from the Sandrock Custom. Quatre explains to Duo and Heero that he doesn’t need it anymore and can still fight. Duo cautions Heero that although he can control the Zero System now, it’s still dangerous to use. Howard then yells at them that they should be resting while the mechanics work on the Gundams. Noin and Sally examine a map of the Earth Sphere and the natural resource satellite MO-II in Earth orbit, which the World Nation is now using as a frontline base. On Earth, Treize receives a report that most of their forces have been transferred to space, and shuttles from around the world are heading to MO-II. Treize addresses some of his soldiers and tells them that eliminating White Fang will bring peace to Earth and space. Libra sits in orbit of the Moon, and Hilde sneaks aboard the battleship by piloting a transport shuttle. She knows Duo is going to be mad at her, but she intends to fight her own way. Quinze reports to Zechs that repairs are complete, and Zechs decides to let the crew rest before Treize’s forces launch from MO-II. Quinze asks what to do about the Gundams, and Zechs says to leave them be since the Peacemillion took heavy damage. Quinze thinks they should be destroyed because the Gundam Epyon is White Fang’s Gundam symbol, so he’s sent mobile dolls to attack. Dorothy takes Relena on a tour of the mobile doll hangar, and Hilde copies information about Libra onto a disk and sneaks over to where Dorothy and Relena are standing. Relena asks why Zechs would start a war with a former friend, and Dorothy answers that it’s what they both want to do. Dorothy then shows Relena the Mercurius and Vayeate, which have been reconstructed as mobile dolls and loaded with the combat data from Heero and Trowa. Dorothy wonders who would win between the doll and the Gundam, and Relena declares that Heero won’t lose. After Dorothy leaves, Hilde approaches Relena and asks her if she knows a Gundam pilot. Quinze is informed that the mobile dolls are nearly at the Peacemillion, and Dorothy tells him that mobile dolls can’t beat the Gundams. Hilde speaks to Relena in her room and offers to take Relena with her, but Relena declines.
Hilde blasts out of Libra in a Taurus Cruiser, and Dorothy points out to Quinze that it’s heading directly for the Peacemillion. Quinze wants to send Virgo IIs in pursuit, but Dorothy suggests sending Mercurius and Vayeate instead to attract the Gundams. The Gundam pilots sit around while Duo and Trowa play chess. Wufei steps in to make Duo’s next move and states that offense is the best defense. Quatre asks Heero why he’s being silent, but they’re interrupted by a battle alert. The five Gundams launch to face the incoming Virgo IIs, and Howard cautions them to be careful since the ship’s engine was just fixed. The Gundams work together as they destroy the mobile dolls. Elsewhere, the Mercurius and Vayeate catch up to Hilde and open fire, forcing her to eject the Taurus from the Cruiser. Hilde turns and returns fire, but the Mercurius blocks her attack with its planet defensers while the Vayeate attacks. Duo destroys a Virgo II and picks up the distorted distress signal from Hilde. Quatre tells him to rescue her and says they’ll take care of the rest. The Mercurius continues to fire on the Taurus, and Hilde is injured by an explosion in the cockpit. The Vayeate fires its beam cannon at the Taurus, but Duo deflects the shot before it can connect. Duo attacks both suits and is surprised to see that they don’t react like typical mobile dolls. Hilde tells him that those dolls have been programmed with the combat data from Gundam pilots. Duo then examines their attack patterns and realizes they move like Heero and Trowa. Duo is thrilled by the idea of fighting them and takes a shot from the Vayeate while attacking the Mercurius. He slices into the Vayeate and comments that while they’re good copies, they’re still just copies. He then destroys several planet defensers and slices the Mercurius in half. Duo asks Hilde why she came out here, and she tells him she brought data on Libra. He asks her why she risked her life, and she answers that she just wanted to. Quinze is shocked that the mobile dolls lost, and Dorothy reminds him that she said they would lose. Hilde is taken to the ship for treatment, and Duo passes along to Heero that Relena is on Libra.
As this episode’s title implies, there are signs of the final battle, but it hasn’t started yet. Instead, we’ve got more smashing of waves of mobile dolls. Hilde returns after being absent for a few episodes and pulls a James Bond routine to get data on Libra. Unfortunately, her escape is rather poorly thought out. Since she was able to sneak in undetected on a shuttle, why not use the same method to escape, rather than blasting out of the ship and drawing so much attention? The Mercurius and Vayeate return as mobile dolls, and it’s supposed to be a big deal that they have Gundam pilot data, yet Duo easily dispatches both by himself. Quinze probably feels like a fool, since both Zechs and Dorothy told him his plan wouldn’t work, and he did it anyway. It’s clear he’s not such a great leader, so it’s better for White Fang that he handed things over to Zechs. While pieces are in motion to set up the final battle, this episode itself wasn’t terribly interesting.
Original Review: February 10, 2001
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