Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Ep. 18: Our Empty Selves

Suletta engages in class and passes target practice in a Demi Trainer. Nuno and Ojelo talk at lunch about how surprisingly upbeat she is after her loss to Guel, but Aliya interjects that Suletta isn’t okay, especially since she also lost the Aerial Rebuild. Lilique thinks Suletta must be in pain, especially with Miorine gone. Suletta sits down with a massive plate of noodles and comments that she can cross several items off her checklist, including asking a question in a cool way and eating lunch with friends. Guel pleads with financiers to support Jeturk, but they grill him on a subsidiary merger plan and abruptly end the video call. Vim tells Miorine that they must not want to invest because he has no track record, and over video Prospera mentions that the company has an unannounced mobile suit in development. Guel shows Miorine the incomplete Gundam Schwarzette, and she yells at Prospera through the Haro terminal about sharing GUND-ARM technology without permission. She also criticizes Guel for not telling her, but he explains that he just found out too. Prospera chimes in that this project started before GUND-ARM acquired Shin Sei, and she suggests announcing the suit as a joint development project between Jeturk and GUND-ARM. She thinks it would also help them promote their union to the Group, but Miorine rejects the idea because GUND-ARM doesn’t do mobile suit development. Prospera reminds Miorine that if she wants to win the election as Group president, she’ll also need to demonstrate a track record. Miorine grumbles and becomes even angrier when Prospera reveals that she’s talking to people at Grassley. Godoy asks Belmeria about her progress in adjusting the Aerial Rebuild’s programming, and she asks him about a file for the Gundnode, a GUND-BIT in mobile suit form that will expand the Aerial’s data storm network. Shaddiq tells Prospera that he wants to make Gundams a part of the Group’s core business, and she notes that his company was previously quite anti-Gundam. He answers that if they want to restore their credibility they can’t be picky about how they do it. Prospera asks about the Gundams from the Open Campus attack, and he tells her that they couldn’t recover them due to built-in self-destruct systems. Prospera notes that if he wanted to develop a Gundam he’d want to get one even if it was damaged, but she also says that perhaps recovering them would be inconvenient for him. Miorine and Guel interrupt the meeting and Guel asks what Shaddiq is doing talking to Prospera without Miorine’s permission. He answers that he’s just canvassing and trying to build support for his election bid. Miorine didn’t know he was running too, and he reminds her that their engagement didn’t work out. He congratulates Miorine and Guel on their engagement and boasts that while they were dueling, he lined up Peil’s support. He states that they’re now up against two of three main branches, so he looks forward to the election in two weeks. Suletta works in the greenhouse, and Chuchu asks her if she’s mad at Miorine since she succeeded Delling and tossed her aside for Guel. Suletta takes the blame and says it was her fault for breaking her promise, and for thinking she was a match for Miorine. Lauda, Felsi and Petra approach, with Lauda asking how long they’re going to hang around now that Miorine and the Holder title belong to Guel again. He says that nobody needs Suletta anymore and disparagingly calls her an empty Mercurian wench. Chuchu grabs him by the shirt and tells him to watch his mouth, but he responds that he doesn’t want to fight Chuchu since she saved his life at the Open Campus. He thanks Chuchu as he walks away, as does Felsi. Suletta holds back tears and says that Lauda is right, because she had nothing and held on to the title of Holder and being Miorine’s groom. Chuchu counters that this isn’t true and grabs Suletta so they can go see Miorine.

Chuchu and Aliya tell Martin that they plan to go see Miorine, and since they need to crew the ship, he has to stay behind to watch over Earth House. Suletta tells everyone that she’s fine, but Chuchu flicks her on the forehead and says it’s wrong to pretend she’s fine, and she has to tell Miorine how she feels. Till comments that Chuchu has changed, and Aliya elaborates that Chuchu would usually choose fighting over talking, so she wonders what happened. Chuchu explains that she thought about what Nika would do and said that when the Jeturk people thanked her, she finally understood how Nika felt. Norea draws in a sketchbook but doesn’t want to tell Elan what she’s drawing. He tells her that he’s not a threat and hasn’t revealed anything about the connection between Grassley and Dawn of Fold. Nika asks Elan why he seems so different from before, and he explains that he’s literally a different person from the one she knew. Elsewhere, the real Elan tells Nugen that they should’ve nominated him for president, but she answers that the Peil Grade AI decided he wasn’t ready yet. The fake Elan explains to Nika that the Peil Grade AI is used to pick the company’s leaders, and the one who scored best was the real Elan. When the game of having Miorine as a bride began, the real Elan needed a backup to serve as a mobile suit pilot and be a guinea pig for Gundam technology. The fake Elan explains that he is one of the Enhanced Persons, who have been altered to handle data storms. He tells her that anyone who pilots a Gundam will die, with the exception of Suletta. Elan wonders what she is and asks Norea if she has any reason to pilot a Gundam now, to which she answers that she doesn’t. He comments that she’s hollow inside and tells herself it’s for the sake of Earthians, and she gets mad and tries to stab him with a pencil. He grabs her arms and stops her, and she shouts that she wants to kill every Spacian. Shaddiq tells senior employees that he wants to sell off Earth companies to raise money for rescuing Sarius. Guel looks at a computer screen indicating that Shaddiq has built up for more support for his presidential bid than Miorine has. Miorine didn’t expect Shaddiq to team up with Peil, and Prospera turns on the TV news to show a report about escalating tensions in the Earth city Quinharbor, where armed Earthian groups are attacking Benerit Group facilities. The fighting has also led to protests, and Miorine suggests they go down to Earth and stop the violence as a way to gain support within the Benerit Group. Prospera cautions Miorine that if she doesn’t make a show of force she can’t negotiate on even terms. Miorine wants to use the Aerial Rebuild for a show of force to prevent another Plant Quetta incident. She wants to show that GUND-ARM can save people without fighting. Shaddiq hears the news from Sabina. Belmeria is intercepted by Feng, who pretends to be lost but then reveals that she’s an investigator with the Space Assembly League. Martin visits a counseling room and tells a Haro that he ratted out Nika because he wanted to protect Earth House. The screen then opens and reveals that Secelia was listening to everything he said. Rajan wants to send some men to protect Miorine and picks Kenanji. The Earth House students arrive at the head office plant but are told they need an appointment to see Miorine. Prospera hears that Suletta is there and gets a flash in her mask from Eri. Suletta travels through a darkened hangar and sees the Aerial Rebuild with its cockpit open. She flies out into open space and comments that she thought she’d never see the Aerial again because Miorine said she didn’t need her anymore. Suletta says that she moved forward like Prospera always says, but she doesn’t know what to do. Even though she can study and have lunch with her friends, it hurts to not see Miorine. She feels that right now she can’t believe in Prospera’s motto, and the Aerial Rebuild starts to glow white. Suletta sees a bright flash and sees a vision of the past, with a version of Eri commenting about how young Suletta was mad about losing a game and wanting a rematch. Eri continues to talk about Prospera giving her hot chocolate, and Suletta realizes she’s talking to the Aerial. More Eris appear and say that they don’t need the key anymore now that the door is open. They tell Suletta that she’s the key and filled in for Eri, who can only live inside the data storm. They say that they are the Children of the Coven and that Suletta served as an extension of Eri and acted as her physical body. Suletta doesn’t understand, and the first Eri explains that they are all repli-children created from her genes. The Children say that everything will be fine because Quiet Zero will create a world where Eri can live, so they don’t need Suletta. She then starts to feel pain from Permet inside her body and sees a vision of Elnora crying over Eri’s body. Eri tells Suletta that at Permet score eight she can move on her own and doesn’t need a pilot anymore, so Suletta can’t keep clinging to her or Prospera. Eri then opens the Aerial Rebuild’s cockpit and ejects Suletta into open space, where she’s caught by Prospera. Suletta asks if something is wrong with the Aerial, but Prospera answers that there isn’t. She activates a light beacon and pushes Suletta away as she floats toward the cockpit. She tells Suletta to go back to school because it has everything she needs to fill her heart. Prospera then flies away and loads the Aerial Rebuild onto Miorine’s shuttle. Prospera tells Eri that Suletta could’ve come with her, but she gets a response from Eri that Suletta deserves to live freely. Suletta cries uncontrollably as she floats alone in space.