By Murdoch tells Murrue that Athrun is inside the Infinite Justice, and Murrue tells Murdoch to stop Athrun because he’s in no condition to fight. Lacus comes up to the bridge and tells Murrue to let Athrun do as he wishes. On the ground, the DOM Troopers continue to fight off ZAKU Warriors. At headquarters, Cagalli is frustrated at their inability to locate Djibril. Neo damages the Minerva with a missile attack, but the Sky Grasper is hit by one of the Minerva‘s cannons. As Neo comes in for a landing, he remembers landing on the Archangel during the Battle of Alaska. Kira dodges fire from Rey’s DRAGOONs and thinks about how similar the Legend Gundam is to the Providence Gundam. Shinn tries to attack with his palm beam cannon, but Kira kicks him away. Rey fires all his DRAGOONs and knocks Kira out of the air. Just as Shinn is about to fire his cannon for the kill, Athrun throws beam boomerangs and slams into Shinn with the Infinite Justice. Athrun tells Shinn that he mustn’t attack Orb, and Shinn can’t believe that Athrun is alive. Athrun asks Shinn if he really knows what he’s fighting for. He asks Shinn if attacking his homeland will really destroy Logos and bring an end to the war. Rey steps in and attacks, saying that Athrun is a traitor who refuses to die and spouts nonsense. Yuna complains that he doesn’t want to go into a shelter, and he runs away from his guards when they’re distracted by a Murasame and GOUF Ignited. As Yuna runs away, the damaged GOUF Ignited crashes and crushes him to death. Athrun tells Shinn that it’s wrong to fight without knowing the reason for your anger, and Shinn says that Athrun is just a traitor who doesn’t know anything. He tosses both of his boomerangs at Athrun, but Athrun dodges them both. Kira and Rey attack each other with beam sabers. Elsewhere, Djibril sits in a shuttle waiting for Unato and Yuna. Murrue orders the ship to submerge, and Talia has the Minerva ascend just as the Archangel fires.
Djibril says he can’t wait any longer and orders the shuttle to take off. Shinn thinks about Stella and his awards and goes into SEED mode. He knocks away Athrun, and Athrun goes into SEED mode as well. Shinn attacks with his anti-ship sword, but Athrun uses his double-sided beam saber to destroy the sword and Shinn’s right hand. Talia contacts the submarine Saint Helens and asks the fleet commander to fall back. He says they can’t do that, and his ship is destroyed by the Archangel. Djibril launches in the Seiran private shuttle and heads for the upper atmosphere. Talia orders Lunamaria to take off and shoot down the shuttle if necessary. Cagalli orders Kisaka to send some Murasames after the shuttle. Lunamaria launches in the Core Splendor and forms up to the Force Impulse. She overtakes the Murasames and fires at the shuttle, but it speeds up and escapes into space. Talia takes command of the ZAFT fleet and orders a withdrawal. Arthur says that would go against Durandal’s orders, and Talia says their orders are to find Djibril, not fight Orb. After Shinn and Rey leave, Athrun passes out and falls through the sky. Kira catches the Infinite Justice and takes it back to the Archangel. He opens Athrun’s normal suit and sees that he’s bleeding from all his wounds. Talia speaks to Durandal, and he assesses that not only did they not find Djibril, but they were defeated by Orb. Talia says that the interference of the Archangel turned the battle against them. Durandal tells Talia that her decision to pull back was wise. Murrue joins Neo on one of the observation decks. He says he’s supposed to be Neo Roanoke of the Alliance, but he says he’s starting to doubt that. Neo tells Murrue that he knows her and that’s why he couldn’t fly away. He knows she’s in pain, but he says it’s the same for him. He asks if he can stay with her and hugs her when she answers yes. Meyrin asks Athrun if he’s okay, and Kira jokes that she shouldn’t ask that because Athrun will always say he’s fine. Kira turns on the TV to watch Cagalli’s press conference. Cagalli addresses Durandal directly and begins to address his charges about Orb and Djibril, but Meer breaks in with her own broadcast. Meer says she can’t understand why Orb would shelter a horrible man like Djibril. Kira and Lacus launch in the Strike Freedom and head to the defense headquarters. Lacus breaks into Meer’s broadcast and announces that Meer is an impostor. Durandal is shocked and wonders why Lacus is in Orb.
This episode is more of the same for the most part. Shinn and Rey double team Kira, and Athrun steps in and confuses Shinn. Of course, as in episode 37, Rey steps in to keep Shinn firmly on course. It’s interesting to note that this is the first time Athrun goes into SEED mode in this series, which is pretty late. It’s about time he finally used his real skills. Without a doubt, the highlight of this episode was seeing Yuna get crushed by a GOUF Ignited. For constantly being such an idiot, a lame death such as that is befitting of him. On another front, Djibril escapes again, so the series has now become a game of “Where’s Djibril?” There’s a bit more on the Neo-Murrue story, with Neo deciding to stick around on the Archangel. Before, he used to completely reject the idea that he was Mu, but now he’s starting to doubt that he’s Neo. Finally, Cagalli starts up a press conference and is interrupted by Meer. However, Lacus finally steps forward and reveals herself. It looks like there were some variables Durandal didn’t calculate in his perfect strategy.
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