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September 01, 2005
Gundam Seed Destiny episode 45 (review) - "Prelude to Change"
I've decided to change up formats, based on some recommendations and some thoughts I've had. I'm not comfortable telling everything that happens in an episode, but I realize some people are reading because they cannot see the episodes. So I'll try not to give away too many plot surprises in the future while keeping a comprehensive review. Thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts.
Summary for this week:
We open the episode with ZAFT forces moving into position for an assault on Requiem's reflectors, while PLANT's damaged stations are being evacuated (You know, I have to ask... they show all those cars driving like its an evacuation... but... it's a space station. Where are they evacuating to in their cars??). We get a small bit of lecturing from the Chairman on how they can't negotiate with terrorists while the EA fleet moves to defend Requiem's critical first deflector. Cue the opening credits.
After the opening, we get some discussion by Athrun and Kira (with Meyrin looking on) about the state of affairs. It seems like the writers are trying to fill in for the problems last week in Archangel ignoring the Requiem by stating (as I suspected) that they knew ZAFT would handle it. Still seems a bit odd, but I'm willing to overlook it. The Minerva trio gets ready with a secret plan to engage Requiem while the ZAFT main fleet engages the EA fleet at the deflector (although if I were the EA, and certainly, if I were Djibril, and I didn't see the Minerva at the battle at the deflector, I would definitely wonder where they were). Requiem gets ready to fire as it recharges. Meanwhile, ZAFT and the EA go at it, full tilt. We get our obligatory Dearka and Yzak scenes (how the mighty have fallen).
The Minerva trio has a discussion on Djibril and Requiem and discuss their plan. Luna blames herself for Djibril's escape, Rey encourages them to look forward to this battle. From here, we intermix more battle, more recharge discussion, and more Shinn-Luna heartfelt discussion and hugging. Once again, Shinn promises to protect Luna and the ship no matter what - looks they're still setting that up as his Achilles heel. Impulse launches to engage as the EA detects Minerva near the Requiem. It was good to see that the EA actually has shield ships to guard the gun, but I was disturbed to see how ineffective they were when Destiny and Legend launch to distract the forces there. The EA launches some more Destroys, which last the obligatory 30 seconds before they're annihilated. I continue to wonder why the EA bothers with them. They probably spend millions to billions of dollars on each Destroy, and they're taken down faster than I can blink.
Meanwhile, the Emperor... I mean the Chairman sits in his Palpatine like seat aboard the Death Star... I mean Messiah... listening on.
I don't want to ruin for you the "plan" for the battle and who wins, but suffice it to say that if you think the main characters will go down 5 episodes before the end, then you're smoking some good crack. I will say this though... Sayonara Djibril!
Up to the end of the episode, we get more much needed speech between Kira and Athrun about the state of affairs, and Archangel prepares to launch. Cagalli lends Akatsuki to Mwu/Neo to use in space. As the rumors were swirling about what would happen between Athrun and Cagalli, I found it to be unsatisfying. I realize that they seem to be hinting at a "If you love someone, you have to let them go, and if they come back, it was meant to be", but I feel sorry for the character of Meyrin, who seems to slide back and forth between "friend" and "something more" to Athrun. I'm glad to see they didn't make Cagalli toss aside her duties to go with AA into space, and they have an interesting Cagalli-Meyrin discussion. The character development is excellent at times: Cagalli, Athrun, and Meyrin have become more than they were at the start of the series and that is a good thing.
Archangel launches to head to Copernicus Station on the Moon, and the episode ends. From the preview, it seems we'll get to resolve some of the issues with Meer next week. I can't wait.
Posted by Drylnn at September 1, 2005 12:56 AM