Gundam AGE ep45: the one-eyed dragon.

[Gundam AGE ep44]

This was pretty straightforward episode.  I’m pretty sure there were at least ten minutes of lasers firing, recycled animation and close ups of Zeheart’s pretty, but unfortunately helmeted face.  I’m sure they saved a fortune on this episode.  But that doesn’t mean that I still wasn’t entertained.  It was a welcome change of pace from the Asuno family conflicts, Ezelcant’s babble of perfect humans and an Earthly Eden, and the usual crap about bits, funnels and the sort. Just a lot of action and joy of seeing Zeheart struggle for once.

While I was full of fears that this may be Asemu’s last episode, I’m glad to find out that I was just being paranoid on that front.  We finally get to see what happened to Asemu all those years ago when he lost contact with the Federation and was picked up by the pirates.  It looked like Asemu really was on a simple recon mission that day, and he met with some 80’s action movie-style bad luck.  The day before retirement and he gets blown away by a bunch of big ass guns.  I was pretty amazed too.  Asemu had become a pretty beastly by that time as a pilot, but EXA-DB guard dog SID took care of him in mere seconds.  That explains the death flag he brought up by calling his son and telling him to watch after Flit.  He genuinely wasn’t sure he’d be coming back from this endeavor.

As for his bestest buddy, Zeheart, he was genuinely getting tossed around by that robotic monstrosity.  And it was fun to watch for awhile.  But he was making no damn progress.  It really felt like I was watching an episode of Dragonball Z or some other shounen battle anime for a time.  Thankfully, and gracefully though things didn’t have to be resolved merely through the power of someone’s resolve. Asemu’s assistance and non-linear thinking are what helped him quell the beast.  Though I was slightly disappointed that it took just a well placed pair of beam saber stabs to take it down.  For a beast like SID, I was hoping it would end up being more than some giant automated keep-away system.

With SID out of the way, and the location of EXA-DB (these damn names, I swear) finally revealed it became a quick scuffle for the right to claim or destroy the “cursed treasure”.  Asemu wins this time though with some more of that quick thinking, having already planned to destroy the asteroid with artillery.  With the threat of EXA-DB destroyed and Asemu alive I guess for now we can all rest assured knowing that neither Zeheart nor Flit will be able to pull off their genocidal plans with the help of that technology….

Or can we?  Looks like the asteroid was destroyed, but the capsule housing EXA-DB still floats through space with the main unit remnant of SID clinging to it.  This is going to lead to big problems.

My guess is that Flit will be the one to get his hands on that cursed tech.  And that will be when things get ugly.  As for the star of this episode, Zeheart, he’s begun to turn.  As I’ve said over and over again, AGE is not a subtle show.  And Zeheart’s crazed devotion to his dead leaders dreams and goals, along with the high of finally mastering the Legilis, may have pushed him over the edge.  It’s very clear to me that the means justify the results in Zeheart’s head right now.  He’s gone, and so are any hopes of him going the more calm, moral route of Athrun Zala; as opposed to the traditional crazed, “by any means necessary” leader that somewhat made Char Aznable what he was by Char’s Counterattack (I don’t think Zeheart’s disgust or passion is nearly of Char’s level).

Further Reading:

• Bendy Beam Hell: Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 45 is a Video Game Episode with an Epic Boss Battle (also, The Gundam Legilis Has Abs WAT)

• Gundam AGE pic on Mobypicture –http://www.mobypicture.com/group/gundamage