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Summary:
With the battle over, everyone on the Minerva is resting. Lunamaria finds Shinn at the firing range, but she quickly leaves, with Athrun and Meyrin on her mind. Shinn chases after her, but she tells him not to worry. Meanwhile, the ArchAngel arrives at Copernicus. Before they depart for the city, Athrun tells Kira about Shinn being the pilot of Destiny Gundam. At a resort, Meer is growing increasingly uneasy, which is compounded by the fact that her bodyguard keeps reaffirming that Meer is Lacus. Kira, Lacus, Meyrin, and Athrun have some fun shopping, and Lacus even tries on some clothes. Their fun is interrupted when Meer’s red Haro tracks them down and gives them a message telling them to save her. The group agrees that it may be a trap, but Lacus decides to go anyway. Meer, waiting at an outdoor theater, is astonished to see Athrun, but he, being very cautious, points a gun at her. When Meer and Lacus finally meet face to face, Meer starts to insist that she’s the real Lacus, even pointing a gun at them, though Athrun immediately shoots it out of her hand. Lacus responds that they are different people, even if they look the same, and says that Meer’s dreams are Meer’s. Torii swoops down just as Athrun and Lacus are about to be fired up, warning Athrun to get them out of the way. A firefight ensues where Athrun uses his ground combat skills to take out all of the would-be assassins. The battle is already over when Neo/Mwu arrives in the Akatsuki to bail them out. However, as Meer and Lacus are about to climb onto the Akatsuki’s hand, Meer spots her bodyguard struggling to fire one more shot. Reacting quickly, Meer takes the bullet and collapses on the floor. Briefly back in battle mode, Athrun kills the bodyguard. In her final breaths, Meer hands Lacus a picture of what she used to look like, and then apologizes before dying in Lacus’ arms.
Pretty good episode, though nothing really great or astonishing. Athrun’s got some pretty hefty skills with a gun and good footwork too with all the running and jumping around that he did. It was fun to see some non-MS battles again, and this particular firefight reminds me of the one from episode 36 of the original SEED (where Athrun and Lacus are ambushed in the theater). Still, my favorite scenes this episode were the more lighthearted ones: Neo/Mwu taking Murrue by the waist and Lacus scolding Kira for saying that everything looked fine on her. And I definitely flinched at the engrish of Meer’s Haro.
Of course, Meer is the main focus this week. Honestly though, during the firefight I was more worried about Lacus getting hurt than Meer. Which isn’t to say that her death isn’t a dramatic scene or that she’s a despicable character; she just makes some bad decisions, choosing to insist on being Lacus until the real Lacus talks some sense into her. So I didn’t feel that much sympathy when she took the bullet, though that act in itself is noteworthy. Ultimately, I’ll reserve judgment about her until after I see next episode (or maybe until after the end), which from the preview looks to be introspection into Meer’s character. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be a recap, though I doubt it will be this close to the end.
Closing Thoughts: Is it just me or does the shot of the Akatsuki behind Kira (Screen 47) while Meer is dying seem a bit gratuitous?
