As the White Base continues on its way to join Operation Odessa, it attacks several of M’Quve’s mining installations. Amuro and Hayato are attacked by a Gouf and are having a hard time fighting it. The Gouf destroys the Gundam‘s bazooka, and Amuro destroys the Gouf’s monoeye. He then chases it and destroys it with his beam saber after it destroys his shield. Bright seems delirious and orders Amuro and Hayato to return to the ship. He then collapses and Mirai runs to him, but Sayla notes they are still in battle. Mirai asks Job to take Bright to the infirmary. Elsewhere, M’Quve isn’t happy about the White Base destroying his mines. He orders his double agent Judock to tell Gen. Elran to slow down EFF activity in Europe for as long as he can. He decides that he’ll have to deal with the White Base himself. Mirai leaves the bridge to visit Bright and learns he’s in serious condition with a high fever. Amuro and Hayato want to ask Bright about some parts, but they’re told by Fraw that he collapsed. The kids make fun of Amuro and Hayato because they smell bad, and Fraw agrees. Amuro visits Bright in the infirmary, but he doesn’t ask about the parts. Nearby, a group of Zeon soldiers use jetpacks to plant bombs on the White Base‘s port side. The bombs explode, and Mirai returns to the bridge. She’s told that the bombs have damaged their Minovsky particle emitters, which allows them to cloud enemy radar and hide. The operators don’t know why they still have radar, and Sayla says it isn’t their fault. Mirai says she’s aware of that and orders a battle alert. Twenty Dopps approach, and she orders Amuro and Hayato to intercept them with the Core Fighters.
Amuro and Hayato launch in their Core Fighters and they both detect another Dopp formation approaching. They both agree that two Core Fighters are no match for the Dopp squadrons. The Dopps attack the ship, and Sayla orders them to cover it. They are severely outnumbered, and it gets worse when several Goufs appear on Dodai YS craft. Bright tries to get to the bridge, but he is still delirious and orders Ryu to go out in the Guncannon to attack the enemy. Mirai wants Amuro to form the Gundam, and Sayla is shocked that she wants Amuro to do that in the middle of a battle. Mirai wants to correct her earlier mistake, so she orders Amuro to combine with the Gundam modules in midair, and she wants Hayato to return to the ship and combine with the Guncannon modules. Once this is done, Amuro and Hayato fight off the massive amounts of Goufs that attack them. As Mirai plots a course away from the battle, M’Quve watches from nearby. He allowed them to keep their radar so they would follow it directly into his trap. Amuro tries to help Hayato fight off the Goufs, but he runs out of ammo and uses his beam saber. When his beam saber runs out of energy, he rips the Gouf apart. They return to the ship to resupply, and the Dopps break off. Sayla thinks they shout break away immediately and chase the Dopps before they get trapped. A mega particle cannon fires at the ship and blasts right through the port side. Amuro uses his beam rifle to destroy the cannon. Job tells Mirai the engines might explode, and the ship crashes on the ground. Mirai cracks from the pressure and is unable to command. She thinks it’s all over, so Sayla takes command. The ship sets off smoke bombs to make it look more damaged than it really is. Mirai asks Sayla to send a message to Revil asking for help. Amuro asks what the ship’s status is, and Sayla tells him she thinks they won’t make it in time for Odessa Day.
This is a great episode, but it was unfortunately cut from movie 2. What I enjoy about it is that we get to see how much of an effect Ryu’s death has on the crew. Bright usually seems harsh and strong, but he collapses and is unable to deal with what’s happening. Mirai, who also seems strong, breaks down as well from the pressures of command. Also, Sayla inexplicably has a really bad attitude in this episode. The endless battles and many deaths seem to be catching up on all the crew and impairing their ability to fight. It’s definitely the wrong time for that, because they walk right into M’Quve’s well-planned trap. He certainly is a devious man. He lets Ramba die trying to destroy the ship, and he later moves in with his sneaky tactics. He also seems to have a traitor working for him in the EFF, and we’ll have to see how that pans out.
Mobile Suit Gundam Info
Director(s):
Yoshiyuki Tomino
Ryoji Fujiwara (movie 1)
Writer(s):
Yoshiyuki Tomino
Masaru Yamamoto
Kenichi Matsuzaki
Yoshihisa Araki
Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Mechanical Designer(s):
Kunio Okawara
Yoshiyuki Tomino
Character Designer:
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Musical Composer(s):
Yuji Matsuyama
Takeo Watanabe
Format:
43 episodes; 3 compilation movies
Airdates:
Japan 04.07.1979 – 01.26.1980
U.S. 07.23.2001 – 09.12.2001
Theatrical Release:
Japan 03.14.1981 – 03.13.1982
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