hontou ni sou omou?

Lunamaria Hawke: Before the battle, I told Shinn that I don’t blame Meyrin or Athrun. That it was really Logos’ fault. I didn’t say it but I think he knew I didn’t really blame him. After having comforted me, it was my turn to comfort him. And we kissed. He promised to protect Impulse always. We launch after Heaven’s Base caught us off guard with a pre-emptive missile strike, launching five X1-Destroys and then destroying our orbital drop reinforcements with an anti-air radiation weapon. Shinn told us that the Destroys’ weakness was against melee and we destroyed them, leading to the surrender of Heaven’s Base.

Zyl: Obviously, as a Lunamaria fanboy, the Big News of this episode for me was Shinn x Lunamaria (OP newtype moment, the Kiss, the Protection Promise). Omni has speculated that Lunamaria might be turning into Fllay (i.e. manipulating the ace to get protection and revenge) though he hopes not. This is not beyond the bounds of possibility. Afterall, she never does verbally absolve him of downing Meyrin and Athrun. Given what Lunamaria knew about the fake Lacus troubling Athrun, I wonder if she really does believe that Athrun was a traitor or was, in fact, himself betrayed and that she was used towards that latter end.

The Shinn-Lunamaria relationship isn’t very popular, going from fellow fan reactions of vehemently against to eventual acquiescence. I’ve gradually moved from the former to the latter camp, given mental preparation since the GSD 25 OP. The major arguments against, in my mind, are (1) no chemistry and (2) too sudden. It could be argued that it is the suddenness of the events of GSD 36 and 37 with the entailing shock and loss that creates the opportunity. Now both have two losses in common - a sister (Mayu & Meyrin) and a love interest (Stellar & Athrun). Since they were already friends, this sudden loss maybe the impetus for them to take things a step further. Yeah, except I still can’t believe that Lunamaria can’t see Shinn and associate him with her loss of Meyrin. But if she’s not pulling a Fllay then I’ll have to admit that she’s got a really big heart.

Public relationship? So far no one else has witnessed their coupledom yet. I wonder how everyone else will react. Will they behave like a couple in public or try to keep things to themselves?

Lunamaria, Ace. Her piloting track record hasn’t been that good. Getting owned by Abyss (GSD 16) and Murasames (GSD 28). Ok, as a fanboy, I’ll offer the mitigation that Abyss is specifically designed for underwater combat while a ZAKU is not. In the Murasame case, her ZAKU was playing static defence. Her two space battles with Gaia (GSD 04 and 06) were really stalemates but I’d also like to point out that she was piloting a mass production ZAKU while the Gaia was a special prototype GUNDAM, Stellar’s body count with Gaia is also high, including Heine Westinfluss, another Red and FAITH member. Lunamaria’s adoption of Impulse wasn’t exactly that smooth, requiring intervention from Shinn. But overall, she grew into it very well and reminded us why she wears red.

Shinn vs Rey. There is a scene in the OP (see Fencedude) with Rey facing Shinn against the background of the Destroy. Previously, Rey’s place was held by Stellar and Kira, both of whom he met and defeated in combat. Conflict with Rey is definitely a possibility if Shinn discovers and disagrees with whatever Dullindal and Rey are plotting. About that, why did Dullindal have the data on the Destroy before it was deployed? What does he need to have Lacus killed? What rule was it that prevented Talia from having a child with him and thus leading to her refusing to marry him? I think most of Dullindal’s motivations can be traced to not being able to have Talia Gladys’ love but I can’t see how the pieces fit together.

Mwu returns to the Archangel team. Also from the OP, Mwu is seen in an Orb uniform and part of the Archangel team. I wonder if he gradually gets his memory back or there’s some magic trick to it.