By Miorine tells Suletta that she has to win this duel, for both their sakes. Suletta responds that she had a list of things she wanted to do when coming to school, including making friends, calling them nicknames, studying in the library, eating lunch on the roof and going on dates. Miorine calls her sex-crazed, and Suletta explains that she can’t go on dates if she’s married because that’s cheating. Miorine explains that it wouldn’t happen immediately because she has to turn 17 before being legally permitted to marry. Miorine still intends to escape the school and travel to Earth, so she only needs Suletta to play along as her groom until then. She then holds out her pinky finger and asks Suletta to make a pinky promise. Elsewhere, an engineer asks Guel what he thinks of the Darilbalde, and Guel angrily demands to know what they did to the suit. The engineer explains that it has a beta fifth generation Decision Making Extension AI, and Guel demands to know if he’s not good enough to win. Vim then slaps him across the face and says he gathered these staff members and the Darilbalde to ensure Guel’s victory, so there’s no room for childish pride. Vim tells Guel that if he wants to be treated like an adult, he needs to win the duel and reclaim his title as Holder. Suletta talks to Prospera over a video call and asks what a Gundam is, saying that people from the Benerit Group called Aerial one and referred to her as a witch. Prospera says that she knows about Gundams and the past incident, but Suletta and the Aerial are her precious daughters and nothing like that. Prospera promises to vouch for Suletta and wishes her good luck. Suletta walks through the halls and hears everyone gossiping about her. Nika approaches Suletta in the hallways and comments on how her duel was amazing, and she starts peppering Suletta with technical questions about the Aerial. Guel calls out Suletta as a Mercurian witch, so she panics and hides behind Nika. Guel states that their duel has been voided and will be fought again, and she angers him by saying she’s relieved to fight him again since she already beat him before. Prospera meets with Vim and thanks him for helping with the inquiry, and he notes that his “help” was the result of blackmail. He asks how she knew about the assassination attempt, and she vaguely answers that it’s a trade secret. Zarius calls Shaddiq and wonders why Delling didn’t object to Shin Sei’s request, but he’s also bothered by Vim defending the company. Looking over Prospera’s official record, Shaddiq wonders how she got funding and infrastructure for mobile suit development at a backwater planet like Mercury, and he notes that there’s no record of her being registered as an MS engineer. Zarius wonders who built the Aerial and asks Shaddiq to investigate Suletta. Elsewhere, Suletta brings fertilizer to Miorine’s garden, but their conversation is interrupted when Elan invites Suletta to a Dueling Committee meeting. Elan asks Suletta to exchange contact info, and she mentions this is something she can cross off her school list. Elan comments that he hopes she can fulfill many items on her list. He escorts her to the Dueling Committee lounge, where she’s greeted by Shaddiq. Suletta panics when she sees Guel, and Shaddiq says it’s time for the duel oath. Elan outlines the parameters of the duel and asks Suletta what her stake is. Shaddiq explains that every duel needs a stake, and she states that if she wins, Guel has to apologize to Miorine. Guel wants the same stake as last time, and Elan approves the duel. A student named Secelia Dote mocks Guel by noting that having powerful parents means you can void duel results, and she adds that Guel has no excuses if he loses again. She jokes that she doesn’t want Guel’s market value to drop any further, unless it’s already bottomed out. An angry Guel moves toward Secelia, and Suletta interrupts by saying it’s wrong to make fun of someone who doesn’t run away. In the elevator, Guel asks Suletta why she said what she did, so she explains Prospera’s principles about gaining one from running and two from moving forward. Guel insists that he would’ve won if he hadn’t let his guard down, and Suletta notes that’s just another way of saying he lost. Suletta mentions that Prospera taught her this philosophy and is always strong and kind. Guel wistfully comments on a good parent and walks away while Suletta is still talking. Lauda receives an email from Vim with orders regarding the duel. Petra and Felsi cheer Guel on and tell him to beat the country bumpkin, and Lauda notes the stakes of the duel and asks Guel if he’s still intent on being the ace pilot of Dominicus. Guel vows to win at any cost.
As the Aerial is loaded into its transport container, Miorine calls Suletta and reminds her about their pinky promise. Lauda tells Vim that only students are allowed to watch duels, but he ignores that and asks if Lauda made the arrangements he asked for. Lauda answers that he did, but notes that Guel doesn’t need tricks like that to win. Both suits arrive at the Tactical Testing Sector, and Elan declares that he’s the observer for this duel. He asks her to recite the duel oath, which she stumbles through and Guel helps her finish. The battlefield is set to a forest hologram, and Suletta rushes forward to fire at Guel from above. He presumes that her attack is a diversion and that her bits will attack from another direction. He rushes forward and tosses his beam javelin, which she blocks with her shield. The javelin turns around in midair and attacks again on its own, but she barely dodges. Suletta fires her beam rifle at Guel, but he blocks the attack with his shield. Vim declares that an outdated Gundam is no match for the latest Jeturk suit. Suletta realizes that Guel is using a different suit, and Miorine notes this means they’re serious about the fight. Guel attacks with his javelin and uses his shields as defensive bits when Suletta maneuvers behind him. Guel lets go of the control sticks and is disappointed to see that they’re still moving on their own. Water begins pouring into the battlefield, which causes Suletta’s beam rifle shots to dissipate before hitting Guel. A loudspeaker announcement states that emergency water cooling is in effect due to the detection of abnormal heat. Another of Suletta’s beams dissipates, and Vim boasts about how his plan is working. The Darilbalde attacks and cuts off the Aerial’s right forearm. Miorine realizes that the Jeturk House is cheating and asks Elan to stop the duel until the anomaly is corrected. He declines and notes that duels aren’t held on equal terms. He says that which mobile suits and support staff that students can access depends on their patrons. He adds that even if this accident happened deliberately, it’s still part of Guel’s strength. Miorine steals a mobile craft and tells Suletta to hold on until she can deal with the water problem. She awkwardly pilots the mobile craft through an underground corridor and latches onto a transport train carrying students. Suletta blocks an attack and cuts off the Darilbalde’s hand, but she slips and drops her beam saber. Miorine crashes into a train car that Felsi and Petra are inside of, and she forces them to turn off the water system. Suletta deploys her bits and fires, which forces the Darilbalde onto the defensive. It blocks the attack but is damaged in the process, and Vim yells at Guel to finish the fight. Guel asks Vim if he thinks he can’t win fighting fairly, and Vim yells that only results matter. Guel angrily punches a cockpit display, which disables the AI. Now in full control, he blocks Suletta’s beam saber and declares that this fight is only his. He uses his wired feet to swing Suletta around, but she breaks free and slams into the Darilbalde, slicing off its antenna in the process. Suletta is declared the winner and gets a flood of congratulatory messages from other students. Miorine is happy that they’re both safe now, and Suletta calls her Mio-Mio, which she doesn’t like. Suletta gets out of her cockpit when she sees Guel exit his, and she apologizes for underestimating him. She holds out her hand and comments that he was strong, which surprises him. Guel takes her hands, gets on his knees and asks her to marry him.
There are definitely a lot of developments leading up to and following the rematch between Suletta and Guel. As if it weren’t obvious before, this episode explicitly shows that Prospera is Suletta’s mother and therefore really Elnora. Prospera refers to the events of the prologue as if she weren’t involved, and I wonder if Suletta has blocked out those memories…or had them blocked out by Prospera. Little bits of this episode show the extent of how sheltered Suletta’s life has been on Mercury. She’s surprised by the appearance of water, which suggests she’s never seen it in that quantity before. She also has a totally normal and boring list of school goals to accomplish, which says she wasn’t able to do any of that on Mercury. She’s also still very awkward in social interactions, but I feel that’s going to change each time she “gains two.” Despite her social awkwardness, Suletta is an incredibly earnest and good-hearted person. This is far from my first rodeo with Gundam, so I wonder what terrible things lie on her path and how they’ll affect her. Guel comes across somewhat more sympathetically in this episode, and it seems that all his bravado is a cover for how he chafes at his father controlling him the same way Miorine’s does. However, the way he treated Miorine in episode 1 was unacceptable, so he’s got a long way to go before actually becoming likeable. The way he comments about Suletta having a good parent (and all of Vim’s behavior) makes it clear he doesn’t have a good parent in his life. Vim’s actions also show these duels to be a farce, since the rich and powerful can cheat and just buy their way to victory. I don’t doubt that factored in somehow to Guel’s previous victories. Since Suletta doesn’t care about his fancy family name and sees him as a strong duelist, it’s no surprise that he would impulsively propose to her as an act of defiance against his father. That’s a development that’s sure to displease daddy.
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