SYNOPSIS

The Solo Ship continues to come under attack from more forward units of Doba's armada. The Ideon units are briefly disabled by a squad of Gandal Rou fighters, but escape back to the ship. Bes realises they are up against too many enemies, and orders the ship into Null Space. The leader of the Buff Clan squadron, Dron Galdabra, sets out to follow them. The course takes them back to Ajian, where the Solo Ship plans to land and resupply. The Ajian colonists fire on them initially, and the planet's leader, Commodore, refuses them permission to land. However, his transmission is cut off, and the Solo Ship is allowed to make a landing. Little do they know Commodore is working with Dron, who has promised aid if Ajian will help them trap the Solo Ship. Bes meets with Commodore, asking for materials to make repairs, and permission to leave the civilians on Ajian. Bes and Gije explain to Karala and Sheryl that they don't want them to die, which is why they'll be left on Ajian while the soldiers onboard continue their journey. The civilians are placed in an amphitheatre while repairs are carried out, but the Ajian military locks them in. Commodore arrives and tells them they're his hostages.

At the Solo Ship, the Ajian workers helping have disappeared. Bes realises something's up, and orders the ship to launch immediately. Dron notices this and springs his trap, hidden Buff Clan mecha coming out to attack. Commodore contacts Bes and tells him to hand over the Solo Ship and Ideon to the Buff Clan, or he'll kill the hostages. To show he's serious, he has his men shoot Lin. This causes the Ideon Gauge to rise, allowing Cosmo and Kasha to form Ideon, but they stay on the Solo Ship to avoid endangering the hostages. However, Bes, Gije, Joliver, Tekuno and some of the other soldiers slip out from the Solo Ship to free the hostages. Gije's team go in through the roof, while Bes' squad sneaks into the arena where the hostages are being held. He tries to reason with Commodore, but finds it impossible. Gije and his troop open fire, taking out the Ajian guards, while a distressed Sheryl grabs Bes' pistol and guns down Commodore. Gije lets Hatari know the hostages are safe, then finishes off Commodore. Cosmo, enraged by Lin's death, destroys the escaping Buff Clan squadron with the Ideon Gun. The colonists all return to the Solo Ship. Doba's fleet now has them encircled, and he orders his commanders to stop attacking the Solo Ship independently.

NOTES

Lin Formosa: Lin deserves some sort of paragraph to herself, what with her dying and all, but I'm damned if I can find anything at all to say about her.

Sheryl Formosa : Sheryl's actually a decent shot, hitting Commodore with the pistol from a fair distance... Despite what's generally been shown in the series so far, she would seem to care for Lin a lot.

Ajian: The planet's population was reduced to 100,000 by the Sublight missile attack in episode 18.

Commodore: No idea whether that's a name or a rank. Commodore survived the first missile attack, and was the highest ranking person to do so. He wasn't seen in "Betrayal on Ajian", though.

The Solo Ship: Finally, a glimpse of the civilians onboard. There are easily three hundred in the first long shots, so God knows how everyone fitted in the Krap (which struggled with 'over a hundred') last episode. The second long shot (as Dron accuses Commodore of betraying him) shows a more believable 60-70, but by the time he contacts Bes there are hundreds again. Sheryl, Karala, Lotta, Deck, Ashura, Fard and Lin are among the civilian population - I can't see Rapoh, but then she might be a military nurse.

The Buff Clan: Among Doba's fleet, a (presumably intentionally) miscoloured Gundam can be seen.

REVIEW:

Another splendid, tight episode, despite a few minor flaws. Even though how exactly the Dron knows where the Solo Ship is going and can beat them there when Hatari inputs random co-ordinates is fudged, it's a great idea to have the colonists revisit somewhere. I'd maybe argue that Commodore is vilified a bit too easily considering the Solo refugees really did cause a lot of problems for Ajian, but it makes for a tense episode.

Lin's death is well done, coming from out of the blue in a stupid, inconsequential way - though if you were being harsh, you could say Sheryl's affection for her is equally surprising, seeing as their onscreen interaction largely consists of Sheryl very stiffly telling Lin off. And when will people learn that you do not fuck with Bes? Commodore effectively committed suicide the moment he took Karala hostage...

Despite a few rushed moments, however, this one is carried by some real emotion from the characters - Sheryl's distress over Lin's death, Cosmo's anger and the sombre funeral procession through the ruined Ajian.