hontou ni sou omou?

Lunamaria Hawke: I am now modelling bandages a la Rei Ayanami. And my motherly instinct is showing - although I’m the only pilot who has to audition for The Mummy Returns Again, I was more worried about Athrun being hurt given how badly Saviour was damaged. And that Shinn is losing respect for Athrun. The former thinks that the latter’s mojo is not what’s been made out to be. I don’t like people dissing Athrun’s mojo. Then Shinn’s mojo runs amok and he sends our prisoner of war and live (but not for much longer) Extended laboratory rat specimen Stellar back to the Earth Alliance. What a brat! I’m sure Captain Gladys will give him a good spanking when he gets back.

Zyl: There’s the obvious parallel with GS when Kira returned Lacus to Athrun though Kira seemed a lot nobler about it. In other news, the Orb pilots who have defected to the Archangel acknowledge Kira’s mojo and Zenness when he stiffens Cagalli’s political spine and clarifies their motivations. They start using the “-sama” honorific when addressing him.

Lunamaria Hawke: Orb Attacks Again. Archangel et al arrive again. Lots of fighting. Impulse manages to dodge Freedom’s attack and later destroys Abyss. My Zaku Warrior gets totalled by missiles from the Orb Murasames and I get knocked out. This sucks.

Zyl: For a moment, I genuinely feared for her life but looks like Lunamaria’s been spared by Sunrise for now. In other news, Freedom totals Saviour. The Minerva is seriously damaged but also seriously damages the Orb flagship, Takemikazuchi which is then finished off by Sword Silhouette Impulse.

I think Shinn is too angry now but as and when he finally wises up, he’s going to have some serious issues arising from killing Todaka who was a benefactor to him - the Orb officer brought Shinn to safety after his family was killed and then got him the recommendation to migrate to PLANT.

Todaka’s deliberate blunder of bringing the Takemikazuchi (name trivia, relation to Kagutsuchi) forward without the protection of screening ships was a strategic coup on his part. Without Takemikazuchi, the Orb carrier-borne assets (M1 Astrays and Murasames) then either have to land with the EA carrier or Archangel. But given the situation, most will probably opt for the latter, strengthening Orb’s vessel of hope. The destruction of most of the Orb fleet will also make it easier for Orb to refuse further EA requests for military assistance against ZAFT and may even serve as a pretext to withdraw from the EA treaty. But most importantly, it makes clear to Cagalli that she must return to Orb to take back her authority and put her country back on the right path.

A tranquil scene rather than the usual background of battle debris in yet another ED (ending sequence). The dead people are still hanging around though. Meyrin chasing Lunamaria? A friendly sisterly game of catch probably. Yuri is good. But sis con yuri is a completely different ball game. There’s Shinn holding Mayu’s hand and looking happier than he’s been in the series so far.

Actually I didn’t find Fllay looking on Kira and Lacus to be creepy at all. It was actually seems that death has made her realise an unconditional love for Kira and it actually seems to me like a benediction from her to the series’ White Couple.

It’s quite obvious at this stage that Shinn is totally head over heels about Stellar i.e. more Stellar flashbacks than Mayu flashbacks or little pink mobile phone replays. But what worries me about this screencap is the implication that Lunamaria has been transferred from Athrun to Shinn’s harem! If anyone is looking for me, I’ll just be in that little room labelled “Denial” until new information batters itself into the storyline. In any case, it is interesting to note that Shinn is the only character to address her as “Luna” rather than “Lunamaria”.

See? Only Cagalli (Island Princess edition) and Meer Campbell aka Fake Lacus are part of Athrun’s harem as seen in the evening light. Anyway I really don’t see how they can pull of a reasonable Basis of Attraction (tm - Stripey) between Shinn and Lunamaria without some kind of background history episode. - Zyl