Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Ep. 19: Not the Best Way

The Trans-Earth Line shuttle docks at the Orbital Permet Lift Relay Station, and Guel asks Miorine if she’s happy to finally see Earth, but she answers that now’s not the time for that. Kenanji comments that he hates Earth because its gravity is tough on him given his weight. He leaves, and Miorine asks Guel if he doesn’t hate more, but he answers that he wants to check out the situation again. He adds that he also has to come along because he can’t trust Miorine to handle the negotiations alone, which upsets her. Godoy calls Prospera and tells her that he’s sending her verified coordinates. He adds that he thinks the Space Assembly League is onto them, and she tells him to proceed with the preparations. Having returned to Asticassia, Suletta confines herself to her room and has been skipping classes and refusing to eat. Chuchu is angry that things turned out this way, and Till wonders where Martin is because the stables are dirty. Elsewhere, Martin is forced to paint Secelia’s toenails because she’s blackmailing him with the info he revealed to Haro in counseling. Secelia jokingly suggests that Nika might come after Martin for revenge and laughs, which causes Martin to yell at her that Earthians are underdogs and an elite like her would never understand. He cries and says that he didn’t want Earth House’s position to get any worse. Secelia responds that Martin gave up on listening to Nika and ratted her out, which is why he can’t tell the others. Martin admits that she’s right and that he failed as House leader, but he really thought turning her in was the best way to protect everyone. Secelia tells him to just say that and that it’s annoying to see an underdog be so stubborn. After landing in Quinharbor, Miorine is annoyed that her limo is being escorted by Benerit Group mobile suits, but Kenanji notes that the protestors won’t cooperate so reasonably. Prospera flies above them in the Aerial Rebuild, and Kenanji comments that it looks intimidating even unarmed. Nugen comments on the start of Miorine’s negotiations, and the real Elan thinks that if they crush the opposition with the Gundam, more people might end up supporting Miorine. Shaddiq disagrees and says that Miorine would never allow that. Sitting at a table full of sweets, Belmeria tells Feng that she’s just an engineer and doesn’t know anything important that the League would want. Feng explains that the League’s high council is planning to forcibly suppress the Benerit Group. Feng warns Belmeria that she’ll be scapegoated for violating the Cathedra Agreement if the Benerit Group loses its position. Belmeria gets up and says this has nothing to do with her, but Guston blocks her path. Miorine and Guel are greeted by a large group of angry protesters, and Kenanji wonders how the protesters knew they were there. A boy comes up to Guel to panhandle, and Guel recognizes him as Sedo. He tells Miorine to handle the negotiations herself because he has somewhere to be, and he wanders off into the crowd without another word. Miorine enters the negotiation venue and receives a frosty reception from the representative, who refuses to shake hands. She explains that the Benerit Group plans to build a new development facility in Quinharbor that could cause a 30 percent increase in local employment. The Earthian representative interrupts her and notes that 1,529 Earthians are missing or dead following the Plant Quetta Incident, as a result of the Benerit Group’s search for the perpetrators. Another man notes that the Group arrested people for no reason and detained them, with some being tortured. Miorine protests that they didn’t give any orders to do that, and the representative counters that she merely wasn’t informed. He notes that Spacians have monopolized Permet and forced Earthians into proxy wars through war partitioning, but if they also intend to make them suffer by going outside the law, then Earthians will do the same. The representative demands that all Spacians leave Earth.

Lauda yells at a technician about the presence of the Gundam Schwarzette and is told that it’s some joint project with GUND-ARM. Norea gets angry after breaking her pencil and tosses aside her sketchbook, which Elan starts looking at. He’s impressed by her nature drawings, but she becomes enraged and attacks him to get the book back. He holds her at a distance as she writhes and screams that she wants to kill all Spacians. She eventually starts crying and asks why Sophie had to die and leave her alone. Nika asks what just happened, and Elan answers that she’ll never understand. Miorine takes a break and watches the GUND-ARM promotional video with Suletta. She then returns to the negotiations and shows them GUND-ARM’s prosthetic limbs, which she explains were created by Earthian students at Asticassia. A man accuses the weapon merchants of wanting to sell them medical products too, and Miorine notes that their demand for all Spacians to leave Earth would also necessitate all Earthians leaving space. She rejects that notion and says she doesn’t want to lose the Earthians who are valuable partners. Miorine says that she can’t pretend to understand their struggles, but she still wants a chance at dialogue. The representative asks how they can trust her when she’s not the final decider, but she reveals that she’s running for Benerit Group president. The representative decides to hold off all protests for 10 days until the Benerit election is over. He then says he’d rather talk about the prosthetic limbs because he’s a doctor and shakes Miorine’s hand this time when offered. Suletta feels hungry and tries to grab some food in a supply room when she’s found by Chuchu, who drags her out to eat breakfast with everyone else. Suletta cries after drinking goat milk and sits down to eat. Martin arrives and tells everyone about how he reported Nika. Suletta speaks up and explains that Nika was trying to stop Sophie and Norea, not destroy the school. Till says that only Nika can tell them the truth, and he failed to notice that Martin was struggling. Lilique comments that even if you know it’s not the best way, sometimes there’s only one thing you can do. Guel and Kenanji talk to Sedo in an alley, and he mentions hearing about what happened to Seethia. Kenanji asks if any Dawn of Fold people are around, and Sedo answers there aren’t and that he’s an official refugee now. Sedo pleads with Guel to send him to Benerit’s school for Earthians, and Kenanji presumes he means the Academy, which is run by Grassley and takes in war orphans. He notes that Shaddiq and the five other pilots at Asticassia were all taken in by the Academy. Guel answers that he can’t help because he’s not part of Grassley, and Sedo says he wants to become like the Prince, who graduated from the Academy and now aids Earthians. Kenanji forcefully grabs Sedo and demands to know how he knows the name “Prince.” Sedo says that all the adults knew about it, and Kenanji tells Guel that “Prince” was Shaddiq’s nickname at the Academy, and that his real name is Jeru Ogul. Shaddiq earned the “Prince” nickname due to his remarkable performance, but they’ve never heard that name used before now aside from Sedo, who was living with Dawn of Fold members. Guel urgently calls Miorine and tells her that Shaddiq is responsible for Plant Quetta and the Open Campus. He wants Shaddiq to be arrested but has no proof, so Miorine recommends going back to Asticassia and finding Sarius as evidence. She thinks that Shaddiq must be keeping him close at Grassley House. Prospera activates the bits, which were secretly stored in a nearby container and uses them to create an override field. She then takes control of an Earthian tank and has it fire on her to create an excuse to retaliate. She then recalls the bits and says she’s evacuating due to being unarmed. Feng asks Belmeria why Miorine and Guel really went to Quinharbor. Prospera retrieves the beam rifle and blasts her way into a secret factory full of Gundam Lfrith Pre-Production Models. Feng tells Belmeria that the Gundams that attacked the Open Campus came from Ochs Earth, which is secretly supported by the League’s high council to fight the Benerit Group. Prospera connects the bits to the beam rifle and comments that Ochs Earth tarnished the ideals of GUND and is now trying to interfere with Eri’s future. She then opens fire and destroys all the Gundams. At Quinharbor, the Earthians start attacking the Benerit Group’s mobile suits. Feng admits to Belmeria that she was using her, but she does also want to avoid an armed conflict. A Heindree Sturm pilot panics and returns fire on the Earthians, despite being ordered not to, causing multiple explosions as a result. The representative asks Miorine if she tricked them and leaves. Belmeria tells Feng that at Plant Quetta she can find a component of Quiet Zero, which is Prospera’s obsession. Godoy appears and shoots Feng with a silenced pistol, but she’s able to push Belmeria into the next room before Godoy kills her. In Quinharbor, an abandoned child cries amidst the devastation. The real Elan laughs at the news and tells Nugen that it all went exactly as he said. Henao tells Shaddiq that she’s called for a ship, and he sees that Prospera was onto them. Everyone in Earth House is shocked by the news reports of fighting in Quinharbor and Miorine’s involvement. Suletta recalls Eri’s words about not clinging to the Aerial and Prospera and she says she understands now. She says the Aerial knew that this is what Prospera would do, and even if it wasn’t the best way, the Aerial did the only thing it could for Suletta. She realizes that she didn’t understand anything. Miorine looks down in shock at the devastation in Quinharbor and realizes that it’s all her fault.