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The conclusion of the space battle… and big steps in several directions… pretty dangerous ones.

Spoilers below…

Ok first off, nice conclusion for the three-way-battle.

• Julieta continues to be the stereotypical ruthless and sociopath gundam pilot… nice that this time it’s not the protagonist in this role.
• Also, the Reginlaze kicks ass: heavily customized for super-close combat, apparently much stronger than the old Grazes, and with several tricks up its sleeve. The ablative armor was very nice.
• Relatedly… the Sniper Regingraze is super spiffy!
• …and deadpan comedian Mika just makes fun of its pilot’s marksmanship in the middle of the battle :-D Apparently Iok is the “looks over skill” character in this series (he sure looks good! ^__^)
• As it’s becoming customary in this show, the secondary characters show a surprising amount of personality… I will never be able to remember everyone’s name, but the Gjallarhorn pilot of the Schwalbe Graze proved to be a worthy combatant. And quick in making tactical decisions too. He ambushes one of the pirate bodyguards with the Hugo, and also runs interference with Julieta.
• …and again Mika makes fun of him “I wasn’t counting on you dude…”
• But the beef of the episode comes after the battle!

Tekkadan is moving up in the ranks of Teiwaz.

For the moment I suspect the old Godfather is mostly using them as red flags to wave at the other factiions: at least they know where the next attack will come, since Tekkadan is pissing off everyone. Then again, they got a ginormous mine of precious half-metal! Another direction where they need to grow now, and fast.

Nice excuse to bring about two new gundams… or rather a gundam (and Shino can’t wait) and December Release’s big mobile armor.

So it will be a Big War era giant MA, and it will be Tekkadan’s? I didn’t expect that.

The elephant in the room, and the highest point of the episode, is probably the mafia-style move by Orga and Mika. Holy crap they are not joking around. The authors clearly don’t want us to forget these two young men were basically suicide soldiers until the previous year.

The clear implication that this kind of actions will earn them big and more powerful enemies was in the air… and also the perfectly juxtaposed with Kudelia thinking about the big picture, about ending the cycle of violence. She’s sure grown a lot.

I don’t know if her dreams will come to pass though: they are juggling with knives. On fire, and balancing on a rope atop a volcano.

And closing the episode… McGillis’ offer and the new alliance.

Again, Tekkadan is basically intent on pissing off every single faction. Now, the Fareed family is powerful, and McGillis is a master schemer (and the kids know a bit of it), so it’s a huge gamble that might pay off even bigger. Might.

Chocolate Man is leaving again, but I’m sure there will be a reckoning against master Rustal’s secret backer, mister “helmet-head” (especially if he truly is Gaelio).

Boy howdy this show is dense. I love that they manage to have quiet moments and still pack a ton of events in one short 25 minutes episode.