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I have created a monster! Rilina (not named after Relena) watches episode 1... and episodes 2-3.
I never get tired of linking Yoon's screenshots of disc one.
I had been worried about the direction the series was taking after the last disc, which had some good bits but was overall disappointing. I needn’t have. This disc was chock full of awesome from beginning to end. It is killing me that if Yoon and I continue our re-watch at the current pace, it will be seven more weeks before I can get screencaps of it. But it will be worth the wait!
Incidentally, yesterday I saw freeway exit graffiti reading EPYON SMITE. Indeed, this disc contained many instances of Epyon smiting.
Due to events in this disc, Oyce and I have revised our theory of the 100-points of craziness shared between the Gundam pilots. That is, I am pretty sure the system holds up to a certain point in the series, but after that, new events bring in a sort of ancillary system that must be taken into account. However, its nature is spoilery, so I will put it behind a cut.
This disc featured Trowa, Heero, and Wu Fei all being insane simultaneously, each in their own way, so much so that even if Duo and Quatre were functioning with zero crazy points (and I don’t believe that Quatre ever has zero), there are clearly not enough to share between the other three.
However, Oyce pointed out that the Zero system clearly adds on additional crazy, allotted to its pilots only while piloting and not shared with others, above and beyond the basic shared crazy. We calculate it at 30 points for Wing Zero and 50 for Epyon. If that is correct, then for much of this disc, Duo has 0, Quatre has 5, Wu Fei has 25, Trowa has 40, and Heero in Epyon has 80. Or something like that. I have to say, except for Duo and Quatre, that seems a bit on the low side. Perhaps Epyon adds 60 points. And Heero was doing so well before he got in the Crazy-Making Gundam, too.
ETA: Wait, that can't be right, because Wing Zero temporarily made Duo crazy; Duo probably had less than 10 points of his own when he climbed inside, but he was pushing 50 while piloting; and Epyon is clearly much worse. I think we radically underestimated the points added by the Zero system. It must be closer to 50 for Wing Zero and 70 for Epyon.
Quatre takes Sandrock back from the Maguanacs “to protect Sanc.” Really, I think he just wanted Sandrock back. I recall how early on I thought the Gundam boys were all nuts for talking to their Gundams, but now I find it quite natural, and am not surprised when the Gundams talk back.
Despite valiant efforts by Noin, Quatre, and Heero, Sanc is blown up and Relena surrenders to Romefeller. Heero, in Epyon, goes insane. His eyes bulge out and turn yellow, and he begins talking like a computer. It is quite dramatic! Zechs, also insane and piloting Wing Zero with a helmet over his bird mask, shows up way too late to save Sanc, and is promptly attacked by Heero in Epyon.
They proceed to have the most pointless and yet totally awesome Gundam duel ever. Their eyes whirl around and change color, their AT Fields merge, a screen of Matrix-like numbers flashes, and finally there is a huge burst of light and Wing Zero topples over a cliff. Heero falls out of Epyon and bounces off his head. Again.
I really don’t feel like I’m doing justice to that scene at all, by the way.
They sit down and talk afterward, now sounding much less crazy. Mostly.
Heero: “Epyon told me you were my enemy.”
Zechs. “Yeah, Wing Zero said the same thing to me.”
Heero offers to trade Gundams. Unlike Trowa’s touching offer of Heavyarms earlier in the series, this seems motivated less by feelings of love and intimacy than by Heero sensibly wanting to get the hell away from Epyon.
Elsewhere, Noin proposes to Quatre that they go to outer space and round up the other pilots. Quatre is unsurprisingly thrilled. (I was quite startled in this disc every time someone other than Quatre proposed going to outer space or Earth. Maybe he psychically influenced her to suggest it)
In a colony, Duo is being his usual awesome and shockingly sane self. (I have to say, while Heero is scarily reminiscent of myself as a teenager, Duo’s death-grip on sanity despite the odds is something I identify very much with now.) He goes to a circus (“A Circus” is painted over its doors) and is startled to find Trowa performing as a clown. He discovers that Trowa is amnesiac, has regressed to childhood, and is having a complete mental breakdown.
His sister Catherine shoos Duo away, insisting that Trowa has lost his memories because they were too painful to face. I think she’s probably right. Apart from whatever organic damage occurred from being in the Gundam battle and then drifting in space on low oxygen for however long, I suspect that the real cause of the amnesia is that he just did not want to remember that Quatre went crazy and tried to kill him.
Quatre meets up with Duo, in a completely adorable scene. Duo philosophizes about war and peace for a few sentences, then pauses and says, "...That was really out of character." I love Duo. Quatre too. Though I was a bit alarmed by Quatre consistently referring to his having gone insane, blown up a colony, nearly killed Trowa and Heero, and killed a bunch of innocent people as “a mistake.”
Quatre then goes to meet Trowa, who is feeding the lions and doesn’t recognize him… but when Quatre runs off to fight when some faction attacks! The circus animals, lions and tigers and all, run amok in the streets! But when Quatre gets in trouble in space, Trowa, due to an apparent empathic link, realizes that he needs to save him, and jacks a shuttle to go rescue him! Even though he’s still amnesiac!
Oyce points out that Trowa is the first person ever to run away from the circus.
Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Noin all join up, after several excellent space battles including one in which Trowa (still amnesiac) pilots a Taurus suit and, though able to fight via muscle memory, runs out of ammo like he always does, and so Quatre uses an explosion to propel himself closer in his non-functioning-in-space Gundam to save Trowa! At some point in this, we get a Picasso-like expressionist rendering of Trowa’s amnesiac pain. Great stuff, I tell you.
Since neither Duo nor Quatre nor battle itself has managed to spark Trowa’s memory, clearly that requires something with whom he has the most profound bond of all. No, not Heero; I think at this point Trowa is equally attached to Quatre. I refer, of course, to the long-missing Heavyarms.
Meanwhile, Wu Fei is zipping around in space, ranting incoherently and fighting people at random. He ends up getting his new Gundam blown up.
Also meanwhile, the remnants of the Treize faction form another faction. Some other faction
becomes the White Fangs and fights them. Some guy (maybe the one who shot Une) goes totally crazy and bwa-ha-has as his office explodes. I can’t tell if Dorothy is a criminal mastermind, or just crazy. Her eyebrows project past her face, by the way. I think she is a mutant, or perhaps an alien.
Back on Earth, Zechs gets maudlin drunk in a bar and walks in an emo manner through the snow. Some guys offer him a job. They turn out to be White Fang. Presumably since he has nothing better to do, Zechs accepts.
Relena becomes the titular head of Romefeller and dissolves the nations of Earth. (I actually missed that she was doing that, because I was too busy laughing at Duo's gobsmacked expression when he sees Heero's crazy stalker on TV, but luckily the pompous narrator went over the scene later.)
Heero decides to kill Relena, and sneaks into the balcony with a gun when she’s giving a speech. She psychically senses him and implores him to finish her off, but he finks out at the last moment. What a shame.
Gundam count: Zechs has Epyon! Heero has Wing Zero. Quatre has Sandrock, Duo has Deathscythe. Heavyarms and Shenlong are still MIA. Wu Fei's new Gundam blew up.
Suicide attempts:
Heero: None. Still totally crazy.
Wu Fei: Ditto.
Trowa: Still amnesiac, but by the end of the disc, no longer breaking down and regressed to childhood. No suicide attempts.
Relena: One attempt at suicide-by-Heero. I have to say, he's gotten lots of requests, and has so far failed to fulfill a single one. He's off my list if I ever need suicide assistance.
I never get tired of linking Yoon's screenshots of disc one.
I had been worried about the direction the series was taking after the last disc, which had some good bits but was overall disappointing. I needn’t have. This disc was chock full of awesome from beginning to end. It is killing me that if Yoon and I continue our re-watch at the current pace, it will be seven more weeks before I can get screencaps of it. But it will be worth the wait!
Incidentally, yesterday I saw freeway exit graffiti reading EPYON SMITE. Indeed, this disc contained many instances of Epyon smiting.
Due to events in this disc, Oyce and I have revised our theory of the 100-points of craziness shared between the Gundam pilots. That is, I am pretty sure the system holds up to a certain point in the series, but after that, new events bring in a sort of ancillary system that must be taken into account. However, its nature is spoilery, so I will put it behind a cut.
This disc featured Trowa, Heero, and Wu Fei all being insane simultaneously, each in their own way, so much so that even if Duo and Quatre were functioning with zero crazy points (and I don’t believe that Quatre ever has zero), there are clearly not enough to share between the other three.
However, Oyce pointed out that the Zero system clearly adds on additional crazy, allotted to its pilots only while piloting and not shared with others, above and beyond the basic shared crazy. We calculate it at 30 points for Wing Zero and 50 for Epyon. If that is correct, then for much of this disc, Duo has 0, Quatre has 5, Wu Fei has 25, Trowa has 40, and Heero in Epyon has 80. Or something like that. I have to say, except for Duo and Quatre, that seems a bit on the low side. Perhaps Epyon adds 60 points. And Heero was doing so well before he got in the Crazy-Making Gundam, too.
ETA: Wait, that can't be right, because Wing Zero temporarily made Duo crazy; Duo probably had less than 10 points of his own when he climbed inside, but he was pushing 50 while piloting; and Epyon is clearly much worse. I think we radically underestimated the points added by the Zero system. It must be closer to 50 for Wing Zero and 70 for Epyon.
Quatre takes Sandrock back from the Maguanacs “to protect Sanc.” Really, I think he just wanted Sandrock back. I recall how early on I thought the Gundam boys were all nuts for talking to their Gundams, but now I find it quite natural, and am not surprised when the Gundams talk back.
Despite valiant efforts by Noin, Quatre, and Heero, Sanc is blown up and Relena surrenders to Romefeller. Heero, in Epyon, goes insane. His eyes bulge out and turn yellow, and he begins talking like a computer. It is quite dramatic! Zechs, also insane and piloting Wing Zero with a helmet over his bird mask, shows up way too late to save Sanc, and is promptly attacked by Heero in Epyon.
They proceed to have the most pointless and yet totally awesome Gundam duel ever. Their eyes whirl around and change color, their AT Fields merge, a screen of Matrix-like numbers flashes, and finally there is a huge burst of light and Wing Zero topples over a cliff. Heero falls out of Epyon and bounces off his head. Again.
I really don’t feel like I’m doing justice to that scene at all, by the way.
They sit down and talk afterward, now sounding much less crazy. Mostly.
Heero: “Epyon told me you were my enemy.”
Zechs. “Yeah, Wing Zero said the same thing to me.”
Heero offers to trade Gundams. Unlike Trowa’s touching offer of Heavyarms earlier in the series, this seems motivated less by feelings of love and intimacy than by Heero sensibly wanting to get the hell away from Epyon.
Elsewhere, Noin proposes to Quatre that they go to outer space and round up the other pilots. Quatre is unsurprisingly thrilled. (I was quite startled in this disc every time someone other than Quatre proposed going to outer space or Earth. Maybe he psychically influenced her to suggest it)
In a colony, Duo is being his usual awesome and shockingly sane self. (I have to say, while Heero is scarily reminiscent of myself as a teenager, Duo’s death-grip on sanity despite the odds is something I identify very much with now.) He goes to a circus (“A Circus” is painted over its doors) and is startled to find Trowa performing as a clown. He discovers that Trowa is amnesiac, has regressed to childhood, and is having a complete mental breakdown.
His sister Catherine shoos Duo away, insisting that Trowa has lost his memories because they were too painful to face. I think she’s probably right. Apart from whatever organic damage occurred from being in the Gundam battle and then drifting in space on low oxygen for however long, I suspect that the real cause of the amnesia is that he just did not want to remember that Quatre went crazy and tried to kill him.
Quatre meets up with Duo, in a completely adorable scene. Duo philosophizes about war and peace for a few sentences, then pauses and says, "...That was really out of character." I love Duo. Quatre too. Though I was a bit alarmed by Quatre consistently referring to his having gone insane, blown up a colony, nearly killed Trowa and Heero, and killed a bunch of innocent people as “a mistake.”
Quatre then goes to meet Trowa, who is feeding the lions and doesn’t recognize him… but when Quatre runs off to fight when some faction attacks! The circus animals, lions and tigers and all, run amok in the streets! But when Quatre gets in trouble in space, Trowa, due to an apparent empathic link, realizes that he needs to save him, and jacks a shuttle to go rescue him! Even though he’s still amnesiac!
Oyce points out that Trowa is the first person ever to run away from the circus.
Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Noin all join up, after several excellent space battles including one in which Trowa (still amnesiac) pilots a Taurus suit and, though able to fight via muscle memory, runs out of ammo like he always does, and so Quatre uses an explosion to propel himself closer in his non-functioning-in-space Gundam to save Trowa! At some point in this, we get a Picasso-like expressionist rendering of Trowa’s amnesiac pain. Great stuff, I tell you.
Since neither Duo nor Quatre nor battle itself has managed to spark Trowa’s memory, clearly that requires something with whom he has the most profound bond of all. No, not Heero; I think at this point Trowa is equally attached to Quatre. I refer, of course, to the long-missing Heavyarms.
Meanwhile, Wu Fei is zipping around in space, ranting incoherently and fighting people at random. He ends up getting his new Gundam blown up.
Also meanwhile, the remnants of the Treize faction form another faction. Some other faction
becomes the White Fangs and fights them. Some guy (maybe the one who shot Une) goes totally crazy and bwa-ha-has as his office explodes. I can’t tell if Dorothy is a criminal mastermind, or just crazy. Her eyebrows project past her face, by the way. I think she is a mutant, or perhaps an alien.
Back on Earth, Zechs gets maudlin drunk in a bar and walks in an emo manner through the snow. Some guys offer him a job. They turn out to be White Fang. Presumably since he has nothing better to do, Zechs accepts.
Relena becomes the titular head of Romefeller and dissolves the nations of Earth. (I actually missed that she was doing that, because I was too busy laughing at Duo's gobsmacked expression when he sees Heero's crazy stalker on TV, but luckily the pompous narrator went over the scene later.)
Heero decides to kill Relena, and sneaks into the balcony with a gun when she’s giving a speech. She psychically senses him and implores him to finish her off, but he finks out at the last moment. What a shame.
Gundam count: Zechs has Epyon! Heero has Wing Zero. Quatre has Sandrock, Duo has Deathscythe. Heavyarms and Shenlong are still MIA. Wu Fei's new Gundam blew up.
Suicide attempts:
Heero: None. Still totally crazy.
Wu Fei: Ditto.
Trowa: Still amnesiac, but by the end of the disc, no longer breaking down and regressed to childhood. No suicide attempts.
Relena: One attempt at suicide-by-Heero. I have to say, he's gotten lots of requests, and has so far failed to fulfill a single one. He's off my list if I ever need suicide assistance.
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