A Flash of Sorrow
We're almost to the end of the first arc now, and in typical Gundam fashion, we finish out with a dose of tragedy.
But before we get to that, some explanation is once again needed. I’m partly behind once again, considering that episode 15 just broadcast a few days ago. However, they were really slow in getting the English subs up, so I actually have only seen the episode raw. So, I’ll get caught up with 14 and do 15 later and then it’ll be time for my Gundam AGE half-time report… even though this is supposed to be the first third of this series…
In any case, on with the show! As I said, episode 14 delivers a tragedy that we saw coming from at least the previous couple of episodes. Some said Yurin was doomed the second she appeared on screen, and I guess they were right. The set-up is that the battle against the UE continues, and Flit has a Newtype moment (no X-Rounders here!) and goes off from the main battle. Here he runs into none other than Desil Galette, everyone’s favorite pocket-sized psychopath. Now, I gotta take a moment here and talk about Desil. When he first appeared all the way back in episode 5, I really hated this kid, mostly because he was this annoying little kid. But now I hate him for a whole different reason: he’s completely certifiable! This kid is the kind of kid that fries ants with a magnifying glass and enjoys it. No, that’s not quite right. This is the kind of kid that has deep and complex mental problems that result in him flaying the family cat alive. Desil is in the battle with Flit purely to have fun, blow things up and prove he’s better than Flit. And his secret weapon turns out to be none other than Yurin in her own customized pink mecha. ‘Cause, girls would totally pilot pink mobile suits… ‘cause they’re pink… and pink is for girls. Riiiiiigggghhhhhtttt.
Anyway, the Farsia is kind of neat because it’s the first AG mobiles suit we’ve seen with bits/funnels. And they do remind me somewhat of George DeSand’s rose bits from Mobile Fighter G Gundam. The kicker here is that either Yurin has no control over the Farsia or she does but is getting constantly overridden by Desil. The only reason she’s here is because apparently when two AG Newtypes are close to each other, their powers resonate. So basically she’s just a 1-Up mushroom for Desil. The fight itself is actually pretty well done, with Flit getting kicked around some but just when Desil is about to get the drop on him, Yurin breaks control and puts the Farsia between the two and gets her suit stabbed through the torso.
We then get to have a Flit/Yurin Newtype moment, but thankfully they do something fairly unique instead of weird naked Newtype space. Considering its Flit and Yurin, that’d be pretty pedo. What we get is Flit and Yurin in a forest, which gradually fades away as Yurin dies. Not too shabby, I would say. We shift back to reality where Yurin has a last line and then her helmet visor cracks and the Farsia ‘splodes. This of course, was Desil’s Big Mistake, and bragging about it doesn’t help as Flit goes into Gundam RAGE mode and absolutely decimates him. Remember future villains; don’t EVER kill the protagonist’s Newtype girlfriend.
Here, Desil’s childishness is reemphasized as he starts to lose, he begins to have a serious freak out, especially when the Age-1 does its glowing-eyes-rape-face-look. But instead of killing Desil, Flit tosses him off into space. I really don’t know why he did that besides the obvious answer to have Desil come back in the next arc.
All in all, even though the Newtype girlfriend death is one of the oldest tropes in Gundam, AGE manages to make it still tug at your heartstrings, especially when you consider that Flit has been ignoring Emily for quite a few episodes now. Really makes you wonder how their relationship in the next arc is going to be, but I’ll talk more about that in my “half-time show.” Also, even though this was the main focus of the episode, you still get some more moments with other characters here. Wuulf and Largan still cheat death even though I was kind of expecting at least Largan to die at this point. The Titus armor for the Gundam Age-1 makes a return appearance and gets trashed just like the Sparrow armor but at least it gets to awesomely ‘splode UE mechas and pulls a Superman.
The Diva has landed and the crew, led by the fearless DAT BEARD/Cool Hand Grodek, prepares to charge into battle, which may or may not be a good idea. And at the last, Yark Dole or whatever-the-crap-his-name-is, boards a monstrous looking mobile suit called the Defurze or something, which was apparently made for combat on Earth. Guess it’s time for the last hurrah.
