SYNOPSIS

An Earth Union squadron led by Inspector General Frendali Limitter meets with the Solo Ship on the moon, demanding they hand over the ship and the Ideon, and naming the use of Gloria as their excuse. They are told if they don't comply within five minutes, the Union ships will open fire. Elsewhere, Daram reports to Sir Gindoro Jimnu, the head of the Ome Foundation, while Harulu confers with her father on Buff. Doba has opted to send a force led by Rukuku Kil to help Daram capture or destroy the Ideon. He continues to plan his coup, with the co-operation of Gindoro. Back on the moon, Sheryl heads towards the Union ships to take the blame for using Gloria, and Bes sends Cosmo to retrieve her. However, she lands on the Union flagship, planning to buy the others time to escape from the moon -though Cosmo believes she's defecting. Limitter tells her the data from Gloria was retrieved by Earth, and the military want the Ideon for their own use. Just then, Daram arrives and prepares another attack on the moon. The Earth Union ships move to intercept, ignoring Bes' warnings about the advanced nature of the enemy. Limitter's force takes heavy losses, immediately losing two cruisers in quick succession. The Ideon units then arrive, while Daram also brings the Gerowa Zan into battle, taking on Limitter's flagship directly.

The Ideon is formed, but attacked by the Galbo Jick. A Union cruiser saves them, while Cosmo remembers the strange Ideon gun the colonists found onboard the ship a few days' previously. Despite it being untested, Bes agrees to send the huge weapon out. However, Limitter's flagship Musashi gets in the way of the Ideon, preventing it from firing the Ideon Gun at the Galbo Jick. However, the Buff Clan mecha destroys the final Earth cruiser, while the Gerowa Zan shoots down the Musashi. This crashes, with Sheryl still onboard. Cosmo is finally able to get a clear shot with the Ideon Gun, wiping the Galbo Jick out easily. The massive blast also destroys the Gerowa Zan, though Daram again escapes. Even the Ideon crew are taken aback by the power of their new weapon. Meanwhile, an injured and deranged Limitter orders his crippled flagship to fire on the Solo Ship. Bes refuses to fire back, so the Ideon flies over and crushes the ship's cannon, before rescuing Sheryl from the burning wreck. She admits it was initially her plan to go back to Earth, but she now realises she belongs on the Solo Ship. Meanwhile, Gije has stolen a spacesuit and sneaks onboard the Solo Ship with a group of Moonland survivors.

NOTES

Rukuku Kil: Rukuku is still loyal to Emperor Zuou, but is unaware of Doba's plans.

Doba Ajiba: Doba is only in one scene, which adds little new apart from putting the name to a face - however, as the end of a long wait to see someone referred to since the opening episode, it's worth a mention.

Earth Union: Two types of large spacecraft are seen here - the battleship Musashi (named after the real-life sister ship of the World War 2 battleship Yamato, and thus serving as both a historical reference and a nod to classic mid-1970s anime series Space Battleship Yamato ) and four cruisers, one of which is named Yukikaze (meaning 'snow wind'; the name was likely inspired by a distinguished World War 2 destroyer and, coincidentally, was used for a 1987 Japanese-exclusive Transformers character ). Both the terminology and naming practice seems to show that the Earth Union's space fleet has a naval structure, something which transfers to the dialogue - a destroyed spaceship is generally referred to as 'sunk' by both the Earth Union and the Solo colonists.

The Ideon Gun: Also referred to as the titular Wave Leader Gun (though rarely in the dialogue), this was found by the crew in the depths of the Solo Ship, having previously been mistaken for part of the engine. It channels Ide energy from the Ideon into a hugely powerful beam, and has its' own propulsion system. It's unclear whether the special launching system was already on the ship, or built in the intervening few days by the colonists. I love the way it's got a safety catch as well. Just in case you're pissing about with your hundred metre super robot and blow a hole in the universe or something. Incidentally, the Ideon Gun has been featured in the title sequence for the whole series (albeit modelled on an early design, the same one that was used for the Tomy DX action figure), and in the eyecatch since last episode.

REVIEW:

The episode suffers from a major structural floor, as it feels like a complete cheat that Cosmo remembers the Ideon Gun being discovered in flashback in mid-battle... while the time scale isn't solid, that must also cover the last two episodes, so why it wasn't used the first couple of times the Galbo Jick had the Ideon on the ropes I don't know... Even it being found at the start of this episode wouldn't have been so bad - one of the benefits of the Ide is being able to use it for what would otherwise be plot contrivances, while Sheryl's research with Gloria could also have been used to introduce the thing more naturally.

This irritation mars an otherwise excellent episode - there's a tangible feeling of alienation towards the Solo Ship crew, Sheryl continues to become more sympathetic as she's put through the wringer once again, and the huge battle scene taking up around half the episode is wonderfully guiltless (and mindless) fun.

It also fits the tone when both sides are equally shaken by the terrifying Ideon Gun.