Since Suletta has joined Earth House, it looks like we’ll be seeing her hang around the folks there going forward. After seeing Suletta struggle to make friends the past four episodes, it sure is nice to see her with company for a change. Funnily enough, Miorine is also hanging out around Earth House. I guess between them and Jeturk House, the choice is very obvious. Kind of strange to have Earth House welcome her so easily but I guess being Suletta’s friend/fiancée helps.
The plot of this episode involves Elan, who the show reveals to be Peil Technologies’ Enhanced Person Number 4, a human who has been genetically modified to handle the strain of the GUND-Format. This consequently reveals that Peil has been secretly developing Gundams on their own. I really dig this bit of worldbuilding. Like, of course one of the biggest corporations was going to disobey the ban on Gundams. The technology is too tempting to pass on. It’s also interesting to see someone else come up with a solution to circumvent the drawback of GUND-Format. I am a little mixed on how the reveal is handled though. Like, the show reveals Elan’s codename and ability around the beginning of the episode and pretty casually in dialogue to boot. It does make it easier to understand Elan’s actions throughout the episode but I would argue that’d it’d be cooler and more shocking if it was saved for the climax.
Peil orders Elan to investigate Suletta and the Aerial. Elan is keen on fulfilling the task anyway as he’s curious if Suletta is enhanced like him and therefore a kindred spirit. Having already befriended Suletta beforehand, Elan asks Suletta out on a date in which they’ll be testing the Aerial together in a routine check-up. Suletta agrees to the date, which is very funny considering that she’s engaged to Miorine and she just rejected Guel not too long. And of course, Guel finds out about it and gets pissed at the possible double standard. In another show, this would be comedy gold.
During the “date”, Suletta tries to grow closer to Elan. At one point, she asks him in a panic when his birthday is. I would call it random but it does seem a bit intentional on the show’s part after the prologue made such a big deal about Eri’s birthday. Elan however gets right down to the business by asking to pilot the Aerial as part of the check-up. This ought to be a red flag but I guess Suletta is too smitten or anxious not to notice it. While using the Aerial, Elan confirms that it is indeed a Gundam but he notices that its technology doesn’t strain him. This leads him to conclude that Suletta is not an enhanced human and the Aerial is using a perfected version of the GUND Format. It’s likely an accurate assessment but knowing Eri’s high aptitude with the GUND Format, I suspect Elan is wrong in assuming that there isn’t anything special about Suletta.
Based on his conclusion, Elan becomes completely disinterested in Suletta and he acts cold towards her. Guel arrives just as Elan hurts Suletta’s feelings, prompting him to angrily challenge Elan to a duel. If Guel wins, Elan must leave Suletta alone. If Elan wins, he gets to challenge Suletta. Kind of rich for Guel to make his demand when he hasn’t exactly been nice to Suletta either. Even Suletta calls him out on being a little hypocritical. And yet, I am oddly more inclined to root for Guel to win because he is at least angry on Suletta’s behalf. I also have to give Guel points for making the gutsy decision to duel despite his father banning him from doing so after his second loss to Suletta.
While Guel takes one of Jeturk’s regular Mobile Suits, Elan unveils a new mech, the Gundam Pharact. This is why I kind of wish the episode kept Elan being an enhanced human a secret. It’s a shock to see him break out the big guns but it’d be even bigger if he revealed right here that he has a Gundam and he can handle its tech. Guel puts up a good fight but given his track record with Gundams so far, I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that Elan wipes the floor on him. Honestly, I feel pretty bad for the kid. Aside from wanting to help Suletta, the poor guy was hyped up as the first major rival in the show and he has since lost every major duel the show pits him in. Seriously, is this guy ever going to win? What also stands out is Elan’s behavior during this duel. The dude fights very violently against Guel and even flaunts a bit of superiority as a Gundam pilot, which is surprising given his usual taciturnity.
Since he wins the duel, Elan immediately exercises his new right to challenge Suletta to a duel and he tells her the wager will be ownership of the Aerial. It’s a pretty clever plan on Elan’s part. Not only would he get a shot against another Gundam pilot, he could potentially get the coveted Mobile Suit for Peil. I highly doubt Elan will win simply on the basis that the Aerial is, you know, the main mobile suit that Suletta has to use for the entire show but I am curious to see how the duel will unfold. In his duel against Guel, Elan uses some special electromagnetic tech to temporarily disable parts of a mobile suit. I’m curious how Suletta and the Aerial could counter that. There’s also Elan’s assumption that Suletta isn’t anything special. I expect he’s in for a rude awakening on that regard.
Watch Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury on Crunchyroll
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