The following will contain spoilers for the season 1 finale of Gundam the Witch from Mercury.
I’m currently swamped at work so it may take me until the weekend to write a review for the first season of Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury, but I do want to express my unsolicited thoughts on the last episode of the season — “Keep Marching on Instead of Running Off.” It is quite a shocking ending for the new fans and old fans (myself included) alike as we collectively say, “Welcome to Gundam!”
Episode 12 continues the series of events that lead to Dawn of Fold’s siege of Plant Quetta to assassinate Delling Rembran. Bascially all of our characters are stuck there and caught in what I consider as the least subtle assassination attempt, where their goal is basically to kill Delling and not let anyone escape to tell the story.
And for most Gundam fans, this is where we enter classic Gundam as we finally get space battles with multiple mobile suits, pink explosions, and chaos all over. Don’t get me wrong, the duels from the “school arc” look great, but they don’t have the scale or threat unsanctioned combat has. They were also able to insert more world-building in this finale, like how the Antidote to sever GUND-Format links only work to Permet Score 3, and how there’s a treaty banning use of ballistic weapons in space because of pollution.
We also have key characters experience the “necessary” trauma to drive their motivation in the next season. We have Nika and her connections to the Earthian group getting uncovered, Guel (or Bob) unknowingly and tragically killing his father, and of course Miorine and Suletta where the latter has gone to unknown territories resulting in that infamous post credits scene where the red stuff aren’t from tomatoes. That said, we do get a sigh of relief when no one from the Earth House was killed in this episode as we’d probably see some deaths at the same point in older series.
There are many ways they can pick up these plot points when the series returns for its sophomore season in Spring, but I don’t think we’ll return to the fine and dandy school setting the series opened with. Most, if not all, of the characters we follow have been involved in this life and death experience that will surely change their lives moving forward. Maybe we’ll get a time skip where GUND-Arm Inc. is eventually taken over by Shaddiq and Grassley. Or maybe GUND-Arm Inc folds and everything escalates into an Earthian-Spacian war.
The key figure for me at the moment is Lady Prospera and whatever her plans are. She is clearly working with Delling for that Quiet Zero project which is yet to be revealed and has no problems in manipulating (or brainwashing) Suletta to do her bidding. Speaking of Suletta, there’s the whole deal with all the theories surrounding her existence, and her connections to Aerial.
And speaking of Aerial, we finally got to see its upgraded form in action as the uncreatively named Gundam Aerial Rebuild. I’m not sure if it’s going into overpowered territory though for a mobile suit that’s supposedly not meant for combat, it easily beats those meant for combat. I’ve already posted my thoughts regarding this design, and you can check it out right here.
So yes, it was indeed quite the finale, and if you’re one of the newer fans of the franchise thanks to this series, then let me add to the greetings and say, Welcome to Gundam!
