Gundam 00 Season 2 Episode 8

Finally some time to catch up on last week's episode. Watching anime especially of the mecha genre have been one of my must have for the past 3 years.

For those who have no time to watch the video, you can read the summary of the episode from random curiosity which i have pasted below.

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Watch Gundam 00 S2 Episode 8 part 1/4 (Sub)



Watch Gundam 00 S2 Episode 8 part 2/4 (Sub)



Watch Gundam 00 S2 Episode 8 part 3/4 (Sub)



Watch Gundam 00 S2 Episode 8 part 4/4 (Sub)



Summary:

Regene Regetta telepathically explains to Tieria that with GN particles as a catalyst, they can directly link with Veda due to quantum brain waves, and their age is controlled via genetic manipulation and nanomachines. He claims that they are necessary to Aeolia Schenberg’s plan, and he laughs at how Tieria has been kept in the dark about all this. Since Tieria doesn’t know, Regene reveals that the first stage of the plan was to unite the world with Celestial Being’s interventions, the second stage is to unify mankind’s will with A-LAWS, and the third stage is to advance mankind in outer space. They who are adapted to the space environment will lead mankind to a new frontier. Meanwhile, back on the Ptolemaios, Ian isn’t happy with all the damage to the Arios and with how Allelujah brought back a girl. That latter part has Saji feeling a bit lonely, which he admits to one of the Haros as he stares at the ring around his neck. Tieria has returned back to the ship by this point, but the encounter with Regene sticks in his mind. Regene had claimed that a big wave of change is needed to lead mankind to the next stage, and he called Celestial Being an obstacle in the way of Aeolia’s plan. He explained that they were created for the plan, and their raison d’être is to carry out and complete it, so what Tieria is doing is denying his own existence.

Regene had then proposed guiding mankind together as Innovators, and he knew that he and Tieria would see each other again because they’re always connected. Unsure of what path he should take now, Tieria suddenly hears the old Lockon telling him to not cast himself in that way and to be hell-bent on what he feels. Lockon also points out that they were entrusted with the Gundams by Aeolia. Elsewhere on the Ptolemaios, Allelujah and Marie run into Feldt who still holds a grudge against Marie for what she did as Soma Peries. Feldt can still remember all the people they lost, including Lockon, and even though she knows that it wasn’t Marie’s fault, it doesn’t change the way she feels. Allelujah later goes to see Feldt privately, and he understands how she feels because they’re family. Over on the A-LAWS ship, Louise requests that Kati let her have Soma’s custom Ahead. Kati refuses, however Lindt thinks that it’s okay and then gives Louise a special mission. Lindt instructs her to take along Andrei as an escort, and when Kati objects to losing two pilots at a time like this, Lindt reveals that arrangements have been made for new pilots and a new mobile suit that surpasses the Ahead. Revive Revival is the pilot of this new unit, and with him arrives none other than Patrick Colasour. Patrick tells Kati that he volunteered for A-LAWS because he wants to protect her, and he’s not afraid of fighting the Gundams and dying because of how he’s fought them so much in the past that he’s earned the nickname “The Immortal Colasour.”

At around this same time, the Federation holds a press conference on the reorganization of the Middle East which includes plans to migrate certain factions involved in domestic conflicts to colonies. Sumeragi knows that the public will accept this because the Federation economy is good and living standards are improving. Setsuna, however, feels that this kind of world isn’t right when there are people who are arbitrarily losing their lives. The group then gets a call from Wang Liu Mei informing them that the higher-ups of A-LAWS will be attending a special party put on by the business community. Tieria insists on participating, so Setsuna volunteers to be backup, and since their identities might already be known, Sumeragi crafts a plan. What they don’t realize is that Regene Regetta was with Wang Liu Mei all along. While the others are preparing, Feldt goes to see Marie to apologize, and Marie understands how important everyone is to her. Ian meanwhile finishes with repairs and heads back up into space to work on two new support units and the Twin Drive. Included is something called the 0 Raizer which will allow the 00 Gundam to surpass any existing Gundam.

At the big party, Wang Liu Mei arrives and recognizes Tieria who came dressed as a woman. Tieria has already identified Homer Katagiri - who is accompanied by Billy - but he knows that someone else is actually in charge of everything. Upstairs at the party, Ribbons meets privately with Louise, and when she asks why she’s there, he points out that she’s the largest investor in A-LAWS as the head of the Halevy family. He notes that the people here endeavor for permanent peace in a unified world, so their cooperation is necessary, but Ribbons is okay with Louise leaving after greeting everyone. He also reveals that he’s arranged for her to get Soma’s Ahead. After meeting with Louise, Ribbons heads downstairs, introduces himself to the disguised Tieria, and they dance together. When Ribbons comments on how he didn’t think that Tieria would appear in such a way, Tieria explains that he’s only following his tactical forecaster’s instructions. Tieria then brings up Regene Regetta, and although Ribbons denies sending him, this does lead to him offering to give Tieria back access rights to Veda. Tieria takes this a sign that Ribbons has control over Veda, and once the dance ends, Ribbons leads Tieria back upstairs to talk about it.

Outside, Louise is about to leave the party but she experiences a certain reaction and then notices Setsuna waiting by one of the cars. She still remembers who he is, and when she asks him why he’s here, he claims that it’s for work related to the orbital elevator. Louise also asks about how Saji is doing, so Setsuna reveals that he had met Saji again by chance and that Saji was working at a colony. Hearing that Saji is in space, Louise realizes that he fulfilled his dream, and she plays with the ring on her left hand. Setsuna notices that her exposed left arm has some scar-like markings on them, and he remembers what Saji had said about the person he loved being hurt. He decides to tell Louise that he had felt that Saji still loved her, but before he can finish his sentence, she experiences a painful headache. Billy happens to be nearby and comes running to help, but when he hears Setsuna’s voice, he realizes who Setsuna is and calls the guards. Tieria meanwhile is questioning Ribbons about controlling Veda, but Ribbons thinks that Tieria should remember. This causes Tieria to realize that Ribbons was the one who had turned off the Trial System during the fight with the Gundam Thrones and was also the one who gave the pseudo-GN drives to the United Nations.

Ribbons explains that the annihilation of Celestial Being was part of the plan, so they should have been destroyed four years ago. Tieria refuses to believe this because he knows that they were entrusted with the Gundams, the GN Drives, and the Trans Am system by Aeolia Schenberg. He decides that Ribbons and the Innovators are mistaken, and he declares that he’ll follow the path that he believes in. This prompts Ribbons to comment on how Tieria is influenced by humans and trusted Lockon too much. All of this infuriates Tieria, and he pulls out his hidden gun, but it gets shot out of his hand by the Innovator named Hilling Care. This leaves Tieria no choice but to jump out of the window to escape. Watching all this from a distance is Regene Regetta, and he notes that although Aeolia Schenberg developed a three-stage plan, he was fixated on the war eradication of the first stage. Both Regene Regetta and Wang Liu Mei feel that, regardless if this is Ribbons’ plan or Celestial Being’s idea, the world will change. Setsuna and Tieria meanwhile both escape the site in their Gundams, and Setsuna apologizes for his mistake. Tieria, however, feels that he’s now found the distortion of the world, and he vows to destroy it with the Gundams. All this is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Ali Al Saachez in his red Gundam, and he’s ready to fight.

Well, all this focus on Aeolia Schenberg’s plan wasn’t what I had in mind when I thought they were going to examine Tieria’s backstory, but it works. If Regene Regetta is to be believed, Aeolia Schenberg had some lofty and perhaps noble goals, but he didn’t plan things out perfectly and had some faults. I’m not sure I entirely trust Regene Regetta’s assessment though, and with the way he was talking, part of me suspects that he could end up being the “final boss” character instead of Ribbons. Regardless, it looks like for the time being that this will be a struggle between the Innovators wanting to change the world so that they can complete Aeolia Schenberg’s plan versus the Gundams trying to stop them and A-LAWS. The question I have is what the cost of that will be since, as Sumeragi noted, the majority of people seem to be fairly happy with the current system, and toppling A-LAWS will likely change that. Plus, the basic goal of advancing further into space isn’t such a bad one.

The other story this week was Louise and her involvement in all this. It appears that she was the one funding the mobile suit development after all (not Wang Liu Mei as I originally suspected), though you’d think that with that kind of money, she’d be able to secure her own custom mobile suit instead of taking Soma’s old one. She also seems to experience the same things that the super-soldiers did - the headaches and the Newtype-style senses - and some treatment related to the super-soldier program is probably how she got her left arm back. Speaking of which, she’s apparently still wearing the ring, and hearing about Saji likely starts the path to getting them reunited. It’s not clear however if Setsuna figured out that she’s in A-LAWS.

Patrick and Ali Al Saachez also showed up this week, though only briefly. The former’s nickname made me wonder what the odds are of him surviving another series worth of facing off against Gundams, and the latter I hope will stick around longer this time than he did a few episodes ago. Fortunately, the preview indicates that there’ll at least be a Gundam fight with him next week. Oh and as for Tieria, I would say that him thinking of Lockon all the time and then dressing up as a girl means something, but I’ll leave that to the fanfic writers and fan artists. :)