Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Ep. 15: Father and Child

On Earth, Dawn of Fold members run a refugee camp and work on their Prodoros mobile suits. Olcott walks by a bathroom where two kids named Sedo and Seethia are watching over prisoner Guel, who refuses to eat and mumbles about wanting his dad to forgive him. Because Guel hasn’t eaten in three days, Olcott force feeds him and says he can’t escape by dying. Naji assembles group members for a meeting and explains that they have to evacuate because they’ve heard from Norea that the Benerit Group is onto them. The members don’t want to leave their family behind, and Naji vows that they’ll find a safe place for the refugees. He orders everyone to begin transporting the refugees and cargo to the western airfield. At Asticassia, Norea holds Nika captive and beats her for trying to rat them out and putting the group in danger. Nika says that hating Spacians is no reason for Norea to go on a rampage, and it’ll only result in people not listening to Earthians. Norea responds by kicking Nika in the head and then repeatedly when she assumes a fetal position. Sabina steps in to stop the beating, saying that Nika can’t die and reminding Norea that her freedom is in Grassley House’s hands. Norea calls Sabina a traitor and argues that dozens or hundreds will die because of Nika, so who is causing more suffering? Shaddiq tells Sarius that he can do anything at the school, whether it’s kidnapping him or impersonating guards. Sarius notes that if Shaddiq wanted to inherit Grassley he had plenty of chances and asks if he’s trying to become president of the Benerit Group. Shaddiq states that he has his own goal and explains that they covertly finance the massive costs of space development through war partitioning. Shaddiq’s goal is to break this system, but Sarius thinks that’s ridiculous because the vested-interest structure of war partitioning is untouchable. Shaddiq knows that if he breaks the system it will lead to the Earth being consumed by proxy wars and corporations scrambling for a piece of the smaller pie. Shaddiq wants to sell the Benerit Group’s assets to Earth and says they can use the friction between Earth and corporations as deterrence. In such a situation, there wouldn’t be any need to start wars on Earth. Sarius asks Shaddiq if he has a grudge against Spacians since he’s half-Earthian, but Shaddiq answers that grudges don’t fill empty stomachs. He does note that it’s not possible to do anything without power as long as Spacians control everything. The Benerit Group deploys its Earth garrison on Tickbalang sub-flight systems to attack Dawn of Fold, which causes Kenanji to wonder why Dominicus isn’t running the operation. Over radio, Rajan explains that because the attack on Asticassia made the news, the board doesn’t want to owe anything to Cathedra. Kenanji wonders if this is something corporations should handle and says he has a bad feeling about this. Rajan ends the call when Miorine arrives to speak to him. Miorine asks Rajan what Quiet Zero is. On Earth, Dawn of Fold member Jalil Li Naranja wants to pilot a suit in the upcoming battle, but he’s told he’s too inexperienced. From a nearby building, Olcott and Naji watch as kids gather up stuffed animals to create a grave for Sophie. Olcott thinks there’s no time for this during an evacuation, but Naji responds that the kids don’t want to forget because they’ll be overwhelmed by the fear of dying next. Naji is informed that a place has been found for the refugees, so he orders his people to begin the evacuation. Olcott says that the mobile suit pilots will stay behind in case anything happens, and when Naji asks about Guel, Olcott suggests they could use him as a bargaining chip if necessary. As the Prodoros suits deploy, the pilots are ordered to not engage the enemy first. After night fall, Olcott surveys the area with binoculars and spots Sedo and Seethia sneaking around. Olcott stops Seethia from stabbing Guel, and she cries about how her father died at the plant but they brought back Guel instead. Guel wonders why he lived instead of Vim and starts crying. Olcott uncuffs Guel to bring him along, and Sedo asks what the point of that is when Jeturk is about to go bankrupt. Guel grabs Olcott by the shirt and desperately asks if that’s true. Jalil spots the incoming Benerit Group suits and opens fire against orders. Jalil keeps firing and destroys one of the Tickbalangs, forcing a Zowort Heavy to descend. It fires several missiles that hit the building where Guel and Olcott are.

Naji calls Olcott and gets no response, so he tells everyone to keep distracting the enemy. Olcott wakes up and flashes back to a similar incident that resulted in his son dying. Olcott moves a large piece of rubble and finds bloodied Seethia underneath. He tells Sedo to go alone to the evacuation because there’s nothing they can do for her now. Olcott leaves and wonders if Guel was crushed in the rubble. A Heindree Sturm blasts Jalil through the cockpit and kills him, and pilot Phillip Koo attacks it in anger. Machei Gao fires a cannon on a technical at a Zowort Heavy, and he jumps off the technical just before it’s destroyed. Olcott launches in his Prodoros and stabs the Heindree Sturm through the cockpit. Naji calls Olcott and tells him that the last vehicle is about to depart. Guel carries Seethia on his back and runs out to the road when he hears a vehicle. She asks him what he wants, but he answers that he doesn’t know. A Heindree Sturm targets a technical, so Phillip jumps in the way to take the shot. The technical fires missiles at the Heindree Sturm, with the resulting explosion killing both combatants. Bessie Enrique tells Olcott that he’s out of ammo and switches to a heat lance. He’s immediately taken out and his Prodoros crashes near Guel and Seethia. Guel opens the cockpit and vomits when he sees Bessie’s bloodied body inside. Kenanji looks through the list of suspects and recognizes Olcott by his real name, Ridrick Kruger. He explains that Kruger was a former Dominicus member who had a strong sense of justice, but in the end he was attacked by Earthians and lost his family as collateral damage. Guel boosts into the air with the Prodoros to find help for Seethia. His appearance distracts a Zowort Heavy pilot, which causes him to fall victim to Olcott. A Heindree Sturm then attacks Olcott, but he gets in close and slices it in half. The battle is over, but Guel sees that Seethia died in his arms. Olcott calls Naji and says he’ll join up with them later because he needs time to think. Guel buries Seethia next to Sophie’s grave and said he heard her calling for her father, which again reminds Olcott of his son’s death. Guel wonders what to do next, and Olcott tells him he has to figure it out for himself. Guel asks how to get to the Permet orbital lift because he doesn’t want to lose any of the things that bind him to his father. Rajan serves tea and tells Miorine that Quiet Zero started modestly because Notrette, a botanical engineer, thought that various plant survival strategies could be applied to humanity. Although it was a wild dream, Delling supported her vision. Miorine comments that she always assumed Delling married Notrette as a marriage of convenience, but Rajan explains that he couldn’t afford things like that as a soldier. Rajan says that the battlefields were full of chaos because people abandoned their own will and let their weapons make decisions. Miorine asks if this was when the Gundam hunts began, and Rajan answers that their goal was to restore human nature. Rajan laments that although Delling was able to control conflict through war partitioning, he was never able to achieve order. Notrette’s vision became a source of hope for Delling until she died in an accident, and Miorine is upset that Delling never expressed his emotions about her death. Miorine realizes that Delling set up the marriage game to marry her to someone powerful and serve as cover for Quiet Zero. Rajan states that Delling intends to fulfill his vow to Notrette, even if he has to use the Gundams he buried in the past. However, Rajan tells Miorine that her life is her own and she needs to follow her heart.