By The White Base joins a EFF fleet and docks with a Columbus class ship to receive supplies. Bright takes a shuttle over to the command Magellan ship to meet with the fleet’s commander, Wakkein. Wakkein notes that Bright has become more commanding since the last time they met. He shows Bright the plan to attack Solomon and says he has confidence in him. Bright notes that all his pilots are overworked, especially Amuro, and Wakkein responds that Amuro is talented and is different from normal people. Job delivers dinner to Amuro, but Amuro imagines that he sees Fraw. At Solomon, Dozle isn’t happy that Gihren sent him the incomplete mobile armor Big-Zam instead of more Rick Doms. He wants to know where the Tianem Fleet is, but his men say the Minovsky particle density is too high. At Side 6, Char and Lalah meet with Cameron, and Cameron says he never wants Char to come back to Side 6. Char says he shouldn’t make threats like that because Zeon allows Side 6 to exist as a convenience. Cameron sees Lalah and asks who she is, and Char simply responds that she’s like a sister. Wakkein gives orders to all the ships in the fleet, and they move toward Solomon from Side 4’s shoal zone. Wakkein tells everyone they have to hold out for only 15 minutes before the EFF can use its new weapon. Amuro wonders what that weapon could be. The Solomon forces deploy their mobile suits and begin firing their beam cannons at the Tianem Fleet. The White Base launches all its mobile suits and G-Fighters, and the other ships launch their GMs and Balls. Public class assault ships move in first, and Amuro thinks about how it is a real battlefield.
The Public ships fire missiles at Solomon, and upon impact they create a beam interference field that deflects beam weapons fired from Solomon’s cannons. Kai destroys some Zakus and is saved from attacking Rick Doms by Sayla. Within the fortress, Dozle tells his wife Zenna to prepare to evacuate with their baby daughter, Mineva. She’s worried about the battle, but he assures her that it’s only a precaution. In the ruins of Side 1, the Tianem Fleet guards the EFFs secret weapon: the Solar System. It consists of many solar panels that reflect sunlight and create intense heat. The Zeon detect its location and send asteroid missiles to destroy it. The solar panels all align correctly, and the Solar System is fired at Solomon. Amuro gets out of the way after destroying a Musai, and the incredible light destroys many ships and blasts a hole into the side of the fortress. Hayato is wounded and returns to the ship, where Fraw gives him a blood transfusion. He says he’s weak and is the only one wounded among the pilots. She says he’ll be ok, and he complains that now he’ll never achieve his goal of being a better pilot than Amuro. Fraw tells him he’s a good pilot and that Amuro is simply different from them. Amuro is followed by a squad of GMs as he approaches Solomon. Kai helps him and blasts a hole in the rock so that Amuro can penetrate the fortress. Amuro breaks through the metal wall and enters Solomon. As Char is about to leave Side 6 in the Zanzibar, he’s given orders to head for Solomon and help out. A shuttle launches for Granada carrying Zenna and Mineva. In another part of Solomon, Dozle tells his men to prepare their Rick Doms and Zakus for EFF invasion forces. He heads for the completed Big-Zam and vows to win the battle.
Here we get to see one of the best parts of the series, the Battle of Solomon. The EFF are finally striking back, and this time they have the GMs and the Solar System. I like that this episode ends with a cliffhanger, which will spread this battle across two episodes. I think that works out better than the Battle of Odessa, which was crammed into half of one episode. Here we get some brief cameos by Char, Lalah and Cameron. Char and Cameron have an exchange of harsh words, which was not seen in movie 3. From here on, Cameron is never seen again until he crosses paths again with Char in Char’s Counterattack, which is about 14 years after the One Year War. Speaking of cameos, I was surprised to see Wakkein, who had previously been in episode 4. At least this time he’s nicer and isn’t babbling about EFF secrets. Also, though Newtypes haven’t been mentioned yet, both Wakkein and Fraw make references to them, specifically when speaking of Amuro.
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