I have the weekends open for retroactive coverage so fingers crossed I can finally finish this damn season. Not that I really have a set deadline but I do feel overdue at this point.
Episode 6 opens with a confrontation between Prospera and Belmeria Winston (Ayumu Tsunematsu), Elan’s caretaker and apparently an old colleague of Prospera’s in Vanadis. Belmeria tells Prospera not to seek revenge for the Vanadis massacre, let alone use her own daughter for said agenda, though Prospera brushes her off. The weird thing about this encounter is that Belmeria didn’t appear in the prologue so her and Prospera being acquainted with each other is established retroactively. I imagine there were Vanadis personnel who survived the massacre offscreen but you’d think the staff would have the foresight to include someone like Belmeria in the prologue if they’re going to appear in the main show. That said, this is a pretty good scene that highlights Prospera’s desire for revenge and what she’s willing to do to accomplish it.
After his duel with Elan, we see Guel get kicked out of Jeturk, both the school house and the company. Other than tuition, which Vim is still willing to cover, Guel is out of his own. This is best demonstrated by an admittedly hilarious scene where Guel is living in a tent on Asticassia’s campus. I kind of saw this coming. Guel was on super thin ice with Vim and a third loss in a row was bound to be the last straw. But man, this boy has the worst luck out of anyone in this show. Am I going to see him beg for change next?
Per the conditions of the last duel, Elan challenges Suletta to a duel. If Elan wins, he gets ownership of the Aerial. Suletta isn’t sure what she should wager though fortunately for her, Shaddiq tells her that she has until the day of the duel to decide. It is also decided that the duel will take place in outer space. This creates another issue for Suletta as the Aerial lacks a thruster pack. To help Suletta out, Earth House scrounges some parts so that Nika can build some thrusters for the Gundam. Frankly, it’s really dumb that such tech wasn’t provided by Shin Sei beforehand but I suppose this setback lets us see Suletta’s affinity with Earth House pay off. This also creates an additional stake as Suletta not only has to defeat Elan for the sake of the Aerial but also her friends at Earth House.
At Peil House, Belmeria informs Elan that his body can only handle the strain caused by the GUND-Format for one more battle. The two are then visited by the real Elan (Natsuki Hanae), which in turn reveals that the Elan we’ve following this entire time is a clone of sorts, hence the whole “Enhanced Person Number 4” label. I’m guessing that Peil wouldn’t want its heir to be used as experiment and at the same time, having someone capable of using a Gundam would look good for the company, so they have duplicates of Elan to check both of those boxes. It certainly explains why Elan-04 is such a downer; he’s well-aware that he’s not the real Elan and he’s just a pawn for Peil.
Sensing that Suletta is still glum about how Elan’s recent change in tone, Miorine encourages her to confront the problem head-on. I can only imagine the amount of willpower Miorine had to manifest to let Suletta run off to someone else. Joking aside, I do like seeing Miorine helping Suletta in her time of need. Even more interesting is Miorine using Suletta’s whole “move forward, gain two” saying right back at her. I still think Miorine wouldn’t admit it but she definitely knows and cares about Suletta more than she thinks.
Suletta then pays Peil House a visit to try and talk things out with Elan-04. Since Elan has confined himself to his room, Suletta wants to use Peil’s loudspeakers so that Elan will hear her no matter what. For some reason, the students in charge of that system are willing to humor her. It’s a very awkward and embarrassing attempt on Suletta’s part but to be fair, this is exactly the kind of thing she would do. What ends up getting Elan’s attention, even if for a little bit, is when Suletta sings, “Happy Birthday to You”. It’s both a callback to Eri’s birthday at the end of the prologue and Suletta asking Elan about his birthday last episode. Elan insists that he doesn’t have a birthday but that only prompts Suletta to suggest one for him. I’m kind of baffled at how hung up Suletta over this but again, that seems characteristic of her. Plus, this does pay off big time at the end of the episode.
At long last, we get to the duel between Suletta and Elan. While it’s kind of obvious that Suletta wins this one it does feel like for once that the Aerial has met its match (and the animation does a darn good job conveying that). It makes sense as this is the first Gundam versus Gundam fight. Something that I really like about the fight is how well it defines the procs and cons of each fighter. The Pharact is faster than the Aerial and it has a very overpowered EMP ability but Suletta is much better than Elan in piloting a Gundam and all of its gadgetry, not to mention she can fight unimpaired from the GUND-Format. Also neat is how the makeshift thrusters on the Aerial does play a key role in the fight. It holds Suletta back from keeping up with Pharact and the second she loses it, she’s a sitting duck. What perplexes me about this fight is the ending. Just as it seems like Elan has Suletta cornered, the Aerial somehow acts on its own and uses the GUND-Format to seemingly shut down the Pharact, giving Suletta the opening she needs to win. I don’t really get what’s going on here but to be fair, it appears that this is on purpose.
There’s some really good drama between the two characters here. Suletta wagers for Elan to tell her about herself, should she win the duel. Elan explains that truly irks him is how Suletta has friends and family while he has nothing by comparison. At the end of the duel, Suletta brings up the whole birthday thing again by saying that she would celebrate Elan’s birthday with him. In other words, she cares about him and that therefore makes Elan wrong about having nothing. Finally convinced by Suletta, Elan opens up again and he agrees to tell her about himself, as per the conditions of the duel. It’s a really satisfying ending to these past two episodes…at least until you get to the ending.
The following day, Suletta waits for Elan to meet up with her. Meanwhile, Elan is trapped in a room while Belmeria pleads on his behalf. We then see Peil execute Elan in secret for failing to secure the Aerial (and by execute, I mean incinerate him until there’s nothing left to him). I was kind of warned ahead of time by a friend who really loves this show that something big happens halfway through Season 1 but damn, I was not expecting this.
Watching Belmeria try to save Elan from execution falls a little flat for me. It’s kind of implied that she is one of the few people who cares about Elan, with a very brief flashback suggesting that she used to celebrate his birthday with him. But with so little to work with, I can’t exactly feel sorry for Belmeria as her attempt fails. That said, everything else about this scene is a punch to the gut. Like, Elan has finally found a friend in Suletta; for him to die now is such a tragic way to go. I suppose Elan wouldn’t have much time left after the duel but what gets me then is that he ultimately isn’t allowed to enjoy his final moments in peace. I imagine Suletta will eventually find out what happens to Elan but that probably won’t be for a while and the time where she’s oblivious to his fate is going to be aggravating. Last but not least, there’s the two characters singing “Happy Birthday To You” in parallel to each other. The two singing it separately conveys their hangout going unfilled and in Elan’s case, it feels like he’s clinging onto the one bright spot in his life or the only connection he made with Suletta before he dies. As silly as this whole birthday thing is, it ultimately manages to hit like a truck.
Watch Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury on Crunchyroll
Xenodude Scribbles 