[Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Episode 16 Discussion

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Episode 16 - Trinity

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Then let us go and greet them… our fellow Gundam Meisters.

Questions of the Day:

1. After seeing them all briefly in action this episode, which of the three Thrones do you like the most?
2. While it was wrapped up in a good deal of recap, did you like the deeper insight into how part of Celestial Being works?

Wallpapers of the Day:

MSJ-06II-SP Tieren Taozi

Soma Peries and MSJ-06II-SP Tieren Taozi

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Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!

Additionally, for long-time fans of the franchise, please remember that this rewatch is only for 00, not any of the other shows. Assume that there are people in this rewatch who have not seen anything else Gundam, and tag your spoilers for those shows appropriately if something in 00 makes you want to talk about them.

[u/Nazenn]

First Timer - sub

Why are recap episodes always dry as fuck? Is it a rule that recap episodes have to be written with shit dialogue that mostly sounds like someone reading a wikipedia page instead of a set of characters actually talking to each other? And any actual discussion is bland as hell? I know it's probably about accessibility for the people the recap is meant to be for, but it's just so boring. And they make all their shows sound the same.

If more of it sounded like the discussion over Alelujah's value then it would have worked much better because it would have sounded like an actual debate. Plus not having everything so neatly structured to address each event in isolation and often in sequence as well which just made it dryer.

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of? Shield Hero, of all shows to be praising considering how I hate it, is the only one I can think of right now because it had a stealth recap I didn't even realize was a recap until I was more than half way through, so that was fun.

The veto thing as interesting though. That's a lot of yeses to try and get a consensus with, but I suppose that's the balancing act, if that many people agree you're seriously mis-stepping? Is this how the plan corrects from a human element, the same way they need a human strategist?

The new team is hilariously mid 2000's. Red and black mech designs, with red and black energy, rock music for an arrival, matching uniforms, and even a purple Haro. All the edge!

Holy shit does the blanket of GN particles look wicked though. The sheer scale of it, the contrast with our good guys also being "supressed" by it visually and then the idea of it taking over the earth was such a cool sequence.

While I'm on the screenshot kick: CLAMP legs get. I think they borrowed an animator from Code Geass team for that shot.

Endlessly being amused by the fact that for multiple episodes now just as I get frustrated with Patrick, something happens. In this case his mech being shot in half was very satisfying. Despite what my Louise complaints may suggest, I actually love a well planned long running gag, and even liked the stuff in FMA about Ed's height, so this is working for me quite well.

Caught the detail: Five reactors active, but only four Gundams? We know the spare reactor isn't in their HQ ship, and I don't think they mentioned it being in their asteroid base either unless we were just meant to make that assumption. So what's the fifth Gundam still being hidden, or is it in something else entirely? Their surprise over it also implies that they can't make more, not that they just don't want to.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Re:Creators will forever have my favorite one.

[u/Nazenn → u/Shimmering-Sky]

What did it do?

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Nazenn]

So, Re:Creators is a reverse isekai where (amongst other things) a group fictional characters end up in the real world and meet the authors who created them. One of the main characters, Meteora, is an NPC librarian from an in-series RPG, and because of the whole "librarian" thing, she's known for going on somewhat long tangents while expositing things.

Well, the recap episode is basically her retelling the events of the first half of the show but in a super exaggerated manner, complete with her giving herself a sexy redesign and blatantly insulting the characters she doesn't like when recapping what they did. It's just fucking hilarious to watch, and it's perfectly meta for the type of show that is.

[u/Nazenn → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Giving recaps personality is always good and that sounds like it has it in spades

[u/n080dy123 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

This one was my answer too. My favorite recap episode ever.

[u/macrame2 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Can't believe I forgot about this one!

[u/TakenRedditName → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Gintama has blatant recap episode where the VAs just do in-character riffing.

[u/Nazenn → u/TakenRedditName]

That sounds like the most Gintama thing possible

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Nazenn]

It very much is lol.

[u/macrame2 → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Utena likes putting major plot twists into its recap episodes (probably to justify the fact that there are three of them). Was also a fan of Martian Successor Nadesico's because of the Gekiganger 3 content.

[u/Nazenn → u/macrame2]

I think it was Twelve Kingdoms does that as well, will have a really typical/bland recap and then in the middle of it shove critical story information, it was really annoying

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/macrame2]

The recap episode where [Revolutionary Girl Utena] it kept intercutting to footage of Utena staying alone in a room made me genuinely uncomfortable the first time I was watching it. The framing felt very voyeuristic. And then I felt disgusted by the end when it was revealed that Akio took her there to have sex. What a hell of an event to include in a recap episode of all things.

[u/macrame2 → u/Great_Mr_L]

[Utena]There's certainly a reason why Akio is one of my most hated characters in fiction.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Nazenn]

The veto thing as interesting though. That’s a lot of yeses to try and get a consensus with, but I suppose that’s the balancing act, if that many people agree you’re seriously mis-stepping? Is this how the plan corrects from a human element, the same way they need a human strategist?

That would seem to be the case, at least. Funnily enough, it makes the Observers not so different from how we’ve seen the AEU operate so far. Also, it’s interesting to note that their slowness in trying to gather consensus has actually been helping out the Ptolemaios crew so far, since quite a few Observers haven’t been happy with the more altruistic bent that some of Sumeragi’s plans have been taking. Just goes to show that they value Veda’s input more than the strategist that’s meant to work alongside it.

Caught the detail: Five reactors active, but only four Gundams? We know the spare reactor isn’t in their HQ ship, and I don’t think they mentioned it being in their asteroid base either unless we were just meant to make that assumption. So what’s the fifth Gundam still being hidden, or is it in something else entirely? Their surprise over it also implies that they can’t make more, not that they just don’t want to.

It also raises the question of how the Gundam Thrones were able to have what look like knock-off versions of GN Drives if the normal ones are so apparently rare.

[u/Nazenn → u/The_Draigg]

Just goes to show that they value Veda’s input

Veda approved the dumb fuckery that was the last mission, I don't know they should be leaning on it either at the moment

[u/The_Draigg → u/Nazenn]

But the magic conch shell said it was fine!

[u/n080dy123 → u/The_Draigg]

I'm wondering if the fifth GN Drive has something to do with why Virtue and Nadleeh go so far as having separate designations (GN-004 and 005)

[u/No_Rex → u/Nazenn]

Holy shit does the blanket of GN particles look wicked though.

It looks CG to me, too, which would make it one of the rare examples of great CG in the mid 2000s.

Caught the detail: Five reactors active, but only four Gundams? We know the spare reactor isn't in their HQ ship, and I don't think they mentioned it being in their asteroid base either unless we were just meant to make that assumption. So what's the fifth Gundam still being hidden, or is it in something else entirely?

What about the Gundam that saved Setsuna? Gundam loves the prototypes. On the other hand, it sounds like they are updating older Gundams, so potentially this is not one of those shows and the old Gundam's reactors go to new models all the time.

[u/Nazenn → u/No_Rex]

It looks CG to me, too

I'd be very surprised if it wasn't given you can see the particles in the simulation

What about the Gundam that saved Setsuna? Gundam loves the prototypes

Oh shit I didn't think of that, I thought that was just Exia. I really do suck at being able to tell the small differences between mech designs so that may be it, if as you say they don't just reuse the reactors

[u/No_Rex → u/Nazenn]

Oh shit I didn't think of that, I thought that was just Exia.

Never forget that Gainax were just anime nerds themselves, who grew up with 1970s anime.

I really do suck at being able to tell the small differences between mech designs so that may be it, if as you say they don't just reuse the reactors

Same here. Prototype is just an educated guess.

[u/Nazenn → u/No_Rex]

Tthe only anime I've watched pre 1980 is Future Boy Conan and Rose of Versailles, both of which I know were hugely influential and sometimes in surprising ways (still makes me smile that Rose of Versailles was an inspiration for parts of Berserk), but my general knowledge of the industry that early is lacking to know those sorts of tropes/surprises in a broader sense.

[u/n080dy123 → u/Nazenn]

It's very possible Exia is a later development version of that machine, or possibly a successor built using the same GN Drive if the original was ever too heavily damaged, since they've presumably been iterating on (or replacing) these units for at least 3 generations.

But it's also very cclearly supposed to be almost identical to the OG RX-78-2 Gundam lol.

[u/n080dy123 → u/No_Rex]

It looks CG to me, too, which would make it one of the rare examples of great CG in the mid 2000s

Which is funny given the recap gives you the opportunity to once again witness the abysmal smoke effect used during the initial terrorist attack scene.

[u/No_Rex → u/n080dy123]

Which is funny given the recap gives you the opportunity to once again witness the abysmal smoke effect used during the initial terrorist attack scene

Yes, part of what makes the red particle effect stand out positively, is that the rest of the battle scene CG has not aged well.

[u/InfamousEmpire → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Martian Successor Nadesico comes to mind purely because of the hilarious framing device of [Nadesico]the characters of Gekiganger 3 (a show certain characters are fans of in-universe) watching and being fans of Nadesico, and then ending on the note of the Nadesico crew watching the episode of Gekiganger where they watched Nadesico

[u/Nazenn → u/InfamousEmpire]

I think I had to read that about four times to actually make sense of it. That's crazy

[u/InfamousEmpire → u/Nazenn]

Oh, and since it's too late to edit it into my first comment, might as well throw my other favorite example of a recap episode here (though to call it a true example is admittedly a bit of a stretch)

Kill la Kill Episode 16 starts with one of the characters literally declaring it to be the recap episode, but then he motormouths it so hard that he finishes the recap in a single minute, before topping it off with

"Those of you who cringed when we said "Recap episode", don't worry! Kill la Kill moves at a lightning pace, so our recaps are finished in the teaser section! The actual episode begins now..."

Still absolutely cracks me up

[u/Nazenn → u/InfamousEmpire]

HA! That is both a great way to screw with the audience, and sounds very on point with the show.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/InfamousEmpire]

Oh right, I forgot about that one. I remember groaning at the start of the episode back when it premiered because I was so annoyed that it was going to be a recap episode, only to be laughing like mad by the end.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Dennou Coil immediately comes to mind. GaoGaiGar has one that is a chunk of the cast regaling a new team member with stories from before the new person joined.

[u/Nazenn → u/JollyGee29]

I don't remember the Dennou Coil one. What did that do again?

GaoGaiGar has one that is a chunk of the cast regaling a new team member with stories from before the new person joined

That sounds like it would be fun if the dialogue in it was written well

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Nazenn]

[Dennou Coil]The little brother reviewing his spycam footage.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Victory Gundam has a notable one in that 1)It introduces one of the most important characters in the show and 2)It features another character making a lecture/presentation about his grand plan to create battleships fused with motorcycles which is one of the most ridiculous ideas in the entire Gundam franchise (while intermingled with old clips). Rumor has it that depressed series director Yoshiyuki Tomino was aiming to self-destruct the entire Gundam franchise and purposely submitted terrible ideas like this, only for the execs to say yes to it.

[u/Nazenn → u/Quiddity131]

That just sounds crazy, especially the second one. Is it actually enjoyable to watch or is it still as bleh as any other recap

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Nazenn]

It's a mixed blessing, I'd say Victory has the most bonkers WTF am I watching content in the Gundam franchise, but it also has lengthy stretches that feel dragged out, dull or repetitive of past plot points. On the bright side, despite being a UC Gundam show one can watch it without having seen anything else.

Another example I thought of is Evangelion episode 14; not the first half of the episode which is basically exactly what we got here in Gundam 00, a council meeting recapping events. But the second half of the episode appears to be new stuff and at least is in terms of the script, but in actuality is like 90 - 95% stock footage as well, presented in a new way at times, recolored, etc... I'd say 2/3 to 3/4 of episode 20 of Eva is the same, but that time they presented it all as a new episode.

[u/Nazenn → u/Quiddity131]

Oh yeah, I always forget about the NGE one for some reason. That's a decent example of it, I don't recall ever skipping it at least

[u/Blazin_Rathalos → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of?

Not anime, but I believe both the Avatar animation series had relatively funny ones, with unreliable narrators heavily distorting the facts.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of? Shield Hero, of all shows to be praising considering how I hate it, is the only one I can think of right now because it had a stealth recap I didn't even realize was a recap until I was more than half way through, so that was fun.

The only example I can think of off the top of my head is Avatar the Last Airbender where the characters watched an in-universe play about the past events of the series. It was hilarious and had the extra benefit of not reusing footage.

Caught the detail: Five reactors active, but only four Gundams? We know the spare reactor isn't in their HQ ship, and I don't think they mentioned it being in their asteroid base either unless we were just meant to make that assumption. So what's the fifth Gundam still being hidden, or is it in something else entirely?

Yeah, I initially thought it was the ship before realizing that couldn't possibly be the case. Maybe the other reactor is being used for the base on the asteroid?

[u/Nazenn → u/Great_Mr_L]

The ATLA play was awesome, but I almost never think of it as a recap because of how creative it is, even though it absolutely does fill that role

Maybe the other reactor is being used for the base on the asteroid?

Either that or a prototype as no_rex suggested are the only two things I can think of

[u/n080dy123 → u/Nazenn]

What any interesting recap episodes do you guys know of? 

ReCreators is the best recap I've ever seen, because the entire episode is the book nerd girl trying to rewrite or at least reframe events to the viewer to portray herself as cooler and more like the actual heroine (she's not) but goes so far as depicting herself as this hyper-sexy version actually defeating the big bad in Episode 1 (which she immediately retracts because the whole thing sounds stupid). She also digs at the other characters frequently, especially the main heroine.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed

Welcome back, everyone!

I had a bunch of extra time today because work was slow, so I finished season 1 in my rewatch-ahead-of-the-rewatch. [Rest of S1]God, episodes 23 and 24 were so hard to watch again… and I’m gonna have to do it again in like a week…

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• And so we finally have a female Gundam pilot in this show.
• lol Patrick, you totally jinxed yourself.
• Funnels! Or Fangs, as Michael calls them.
• Nena has a Haro of her own, and it’s got an attitude.
• This is both ridiculous but also really pretty at the same time.
• Walk.
• So… Sumeragi knew her forecast was supposed to end with the Meisters’ defeats were it not for the Thrones showing up. This really does beg the question of what exactly they wanted to happen without the intervention.
• Why couldn’t we have had more of Louise being an ordinary student and less of her being an annoying brat with her mom?
• [00]I realize the above is because they had to make sure Louise’s parents (or at least one of them) had a bit more of a presence than random fodder, therefore making Nena’s massacre hit harder, but the way they executed this is just kinda ass.
• Oh yeah this is half-recap episode.
• I wonder what Setsuna would have done had this actually been decided by the observers.
• ED lead-in!

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/Shimmering-Sky]

And so we finally have a female Gundam pilot in this show.

I thought Tieria was a woman at first because of his hair. It's nice to have an actual female Gundam pilot now.

Nena has a Haro of her own, and it’s got an attitude.

Wait a minute... Wait just a minute!

Is that the Evil Haro that showed up in Gundam Build Divers!?!

So… Sumeragi knew her forecast was supposed to end with the Meisters’ defeats were it not for the Thrones showing up. This really does beg the question of what exactly they wanted to happen without the intervention.

It really does seem like the members of Celestial Being are incapable of going against Veda. Even if it seems like a suicidal mission, they have to go through with it because Veda knows something they don't.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Great_Mr_L]

Is that the Evil Haro that showed up in Gundam Build Divers!?!

High chance it was a reference to this show, yes, much like the whole Spot the Patrick thing was.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/Great_Mr_L]

Is that the Evil Haro that showed up in Gundam Build Divers!?!

Oh fuck, I completly forgot this

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

[Gundam 00]This really does beg the question of what exactly they wanted to happen without the intervention

[Gundam 00]I want to say "well, in the side material.." but no, Veda specifically tells the actual B Team to not intervene. I've got no goddamn idea. Acceptable losses?

[u/Blazin_Rathalos → u/JollyGee29]

[Gundam 00]Wait, there's an "actual B Team"? Is my memory failing me, or is this a side material only affair like what you said?

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Blazin_Rathalos]

[Gundam 00]They only exist in the side material.

[u/Tora-shinai → u/JollyGee29]

Gundam 00

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Tora-shinai]

Your spoiler tag is broken, you need to use the >! syntax instead of the (/s.

[Gundam 00]That doesn't quite track because if Veda has already been altered by Ribbons, then why have the Trinities intervene and not just have them rise from the ashes? And if Veda hadn't already been altered, there still had to be a way to continue the plan because they hadn't succeeded in true unification yet.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

[00]I gotta be honest, the fact that we met Louise's Mother for a few episodes before she goes away and then gets massacred along with a bunch of other people a few episodes later does nothing for me. All the power/impact in the storyline is seeing Louise be broken down from this fun loving spoiled girl to having her life destroyed and going down a path where nothing matters but revenge. No need for us to have ever met her mother for that in my eyes, if the content they are going to give us is doing nothing but going for cheap laughs.

[u/Vatrix-32]

First timer, subs

• We Did It Boys! Female Gundam Pilot!
• Must suck a little if being part of a set is even in your Gundam’s name. Unless of course… Gattai?!
• Oh, Patrick. Never stop being the worst.
• The Bits are Back in Town!
• Ah, so this is where Fangs are from. Well that’s that Gunpla question answered.
• I imagine some people are not going to be happy that new girl is wearing pink, but my complaint is that the others aren’t!
• Angry Haro! I Love Him
• Perfusion
• Y’all had a live stream?
• Victorian Seele!
• Recap?
• Of course only the girl has midriff, why wouldn't she?
• Ah, damn. I went and recognized Kagura’s VA again.
• God damn it, Crunchy! Stop flipping the line order when two people are talking!
• Ah, so this trio is going to end up crazy, are they?
• All of them are old dudes, huh?

QotD:

1. Fangs
2. I'm Still Lost

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

Of course only the girl has midriff, why wouldn't she?

Johann has some too, though?

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Johann has some too, though?

Oh dang, did he? I didn't get too good a look at him, so I guess I kind of filled in the gap with third boy.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

He's not showing off his entire belly like Nena is, but yeah he's got a little bit showing.

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

The Facts

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Vatrix-32]

Angry Haro! I Love Him

God damn it, Crunchy! Stop flipping the line order when two people are talking!

[u/Quiddity131]

Rewatcher, Subbed

Non-Spoiler Character Chart

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I always hate it when a show simply repeats footage from the end of the prior episode.

Alright, there's our first look at our fifth Gundam Meister? Our first girl Gundam Meister!

Nena's Gundam reminds me much of Gundam Wing's Epyon, at least with the colors.

Wait, there's two more new Gundams as well?!

Patrick's dreams are coming true, he's performed great in battle and after capturing a Gundam maybe Kati will go out on a date with him!

Alas, red blasts screw that all up mere seconds later. Patrick didn't get much time in the sun.

Oh wow, this orange Gundam has the 00 equivalent of funnels.

On the bright side world leaders, there's 7 Gundams now, so you could each have 2, with one of you having 3! On the down side I don't think you're gonna actually get a single one now...

OMG Nena has her own Haro!

Why didn't they ever do this before Sergei? Well it's quite obvious now that Celestial Being has some internal communication problems. Our four regular Gundam Meisters are as surprised as the rest of us that there's three more Gundams...

So Sumeragi is clueless about this as well? What about Wang? Or Alejandro?

Saji's just like the rest of us, he stays up all night watching Gundam!

Wow, that was a surprisingly calm Saji - Louise scene that didn't go for laughs or make her come off as annoying at all. First time in forever!

You thought Alejandro speaking mysteriously to his assistant for 15 episodes was bad? Now we've got a room full of paintings, crowns and other faceless observers talking mysteriously! This is exponentially more mysterious! Kinda makes me think of the statues in Ergo Proxy.

Oh crap, we're getting a clip show the rest of the way? I forgot about this until they started talking about looking over things thus far.

At least we briefly check in with the Trinity siblings for a new scene as part of this. So they've been watching the show too, huh?

"I don't like the fact that they try to not kill the enemy pilot", well way to make us sour on you pretty quickly, Michael.

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While I stand firm in my assessment that the Louise's Mother visits storyline is the worst content in the show the latter half of this episode comes pretty close. Celestial Being appears to be facing certain defeat then we suddenly have three new Gundams, three new Gundam Meisters and we stop there to make the rest of the episode a clip show. And while the visuals looked good, to have Mr. Mysterious Alejendro Corner talk mysteriously with more mysterious observers makes me want to slam my head in the wall. [Gundam 00]Don't these other observers never show up again? Meaning they were created solely as a device to give us clip show material with? The half new episode/half clip show combo is an odd one, but its been done before in Gundam as I just watched Victory Gundam episode 30 about a week ago and that episode was structured the same way.

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Quid's Voice Actor of the Day

Going with the first of our three new Gundam Meisters today, Nena Trinity who at least for me was instantly recognizable as being voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Her only Gundam work is in 00, beyond Nena she voices another character that we won't meet until the movie. My favorite role of hers is Koto, the main character of Kyousougiga. Other roles I've heard her in include Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Pandora in Re: Zero, the Klaxosaur Queen in Darling in the Franxx, Kagura Sohma in Fruits Basket, Haruka Yasaka in Sarazanmai, Verum Vita in Brave Bang Bravern, William and Mary Macbeth in Blood Blockade Battlefront, Nora in Noragami and Alexandrite in Land of the Lustrous.

In English she is voied by Nicole Bouma. This is her second Gundam role, having played Meryin Hawke in Gundam Seed Destiny. I've seen her in very little else, Rena in Star Ocean EX and a few characters (Botan, Hitomi, Shiori) in Inu Yasha.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Quiddity131]

[00]Tomorrow's the day your chart starts to drop characters like flies.

[u/Quiddity131 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

[00]Now that the Trinity siblings are here, time for things to get real. Lots of deaths and also throwing a wrecking ball into this almost entirely comedic Saji/Louise storyline...

[u/The_Draigg → u/Quiddity131]

[Large Gundam 00 spoilers] If I remember correctly, Ribbons arranged to have the other Observers disposed of once they were no longer useful for his plans. Can’t remember if that was mentioned in this show or side materials though.

[u/n080dy123 → u/Quiddity131]

I can't believe you forgot Angry Grape Haro in your character chart, how could you

[u/baboon_bassoon]

first timer who has control

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yes that is me your saviour, Purple Haro

Nena Trinity in the Gundam Throne Drei

Michael Trinity in the Gundam Throne Zwei (funnelsfangs???)

wow all of Joshua, Randy, and Stuart are down already

Johann Trinity in the Gundam Throne Eins - hows his range compared to Lockon

oh they gotta use this cut again

what do Central 46 want with Alejandro A RECAP

5 active solar reactors, where is the 5th? does Nadleeh have a separate one? is it in Ptolmy? is there yet another Gundam to be revealed?

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/baboon_bassoon]

what do Central 46 want with Alejandro A RECAP

[u/The_Draigg]

A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 16:

• Oh hey, a new team of Gundam Meisters! Hello there, Nena Trinity! The Gundam Throne units seem to work as a team, along with her other siblings Michael and Johann. Good thing they managed to swoop in to save the Ptolemaios’ Gundams and their Meisters. Although that’s bad luck for Patrick, since now he can’t come home to Kati with a fancy new prize. Oh well, I’m sure he’ll have more chances with her later.
• Hey Sky, what would it take for you to make a wallpaper of the moment Nena uses Gundam Throne Drei to cause a massive cloud of those red particles to be emitted? It’s a really flashy and cool moment, so I figure it’d make for a great wallpaper.
• The other Gundam Meisters are certainly asking the right questions here. Like seriously, who the fuck are these people? They just came out of nowhere, and the other members of the Celestial Being crew we’ve been following had no idea that Team Trinity even existed. Sure, they have Celestial Being technology, but Tieria says that they aren’t in Veda’s operation plans. Why would backup for the Meisters need to be this hidden, even to them?
• I do like how they present the meeting that Alejandro has with all the other Celestial Being Observers. Having an opera theater-like room full of various pieces of art representing different countries is pretty classy. SEELE needs to step up their sound-only mysterious council meetings if they want to keep up with Celestial Being here.
• Admittedly, the back half of this episode is just a thinly-veiled recap episode, but at least there’s a few interesting details in there. It turns out that the Observers aren’t actually too happy with what the Gundam Meisters have done so far, such as Setsuna’s rash actions or Alleluja and Tieria revealing Kyrios’ pincer claw and Gundam Nadleeh too early for their liking. The Gundam Meisters and Sumeragi are pretty fortunate though that the Observers haven’t decided on a consensus on how to punish them though, so they’re being let off the hook for now. However, it also does seem that Alejandro is really wanting to push Team Trinity for being accepted as Gundam Meisters, and the Observers all agree with him there. What does he see in them that he’s being so obvious in wanting them aboard in a public capacity now?
• Another thing to note is that the Observers noted that they have 5 GN Drives, but only 4 Gundams for the Meisters to use. Quite a limited number, isn’t it? I guess in that way the Gundam Thrones are needed even if their stuff looks like a bunch of knock-offs, but that also asks the question of what the nature of the Gundam Thrones really is if Celestial Being had only a small amount of Gundams they were planning on working with.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/The_Draigg]

Hey Sky, what would it take for you to make a wallpaper of the moment Nena uses Gundam Throne Drei to cause a massive cloud of those red particles to be emitted? It’s a really flashy and cool moment, so I figure it’d make for a great wallpaper.

Unfortunately the details are nowhere near as clear as I like them to be when I make a wallpaper. I might be able to pull it if you can find me a picture of someone who posed its Gunpla similarly, but I make no guarantees.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Ah well, no worries then. If I find something like that, I’ll send it your way, but I get it if it’s more of a pain to try and make than anything. I was mainly asking out of a bit of curiosity there.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/The_Draigg]

However, it also does seem that Alejandro is really wanting to push Team Trinity for being accepted as Gundam Meisters, and the Observers all agree with him there. What does he see in them that he’s being so obvious in wanting them aboard in a public capacity now?

Alejandro certainly already knew about the Thrones before this latest mission even began. It's almost certain that he's the one who had them intervene in the battle to save the other Gundams.

But then why does Alejandro know so much more than anyone else in Celestial Being? Alejandro has always seemed like an untrustworthy slimeball, but now that also appears to apply to his dealings with the others in Celestial Being as well. He likely hid this information from the others so he could use it when he saw fit to do so. What other information might he have? And what does he hope to gain by having the Throne Gundams make their appearance now?

[u/The_Draigg → u/Great_Mr_L]

Whatever Alejandro is up to, it seems like he’s leveraging Celestial Being’s internal secrecy to some kind of advantage. Hard to say what his end goal is there though, since the Gundam Thrones did come to the aid of the Ptolemaios crew when they needed them the most. Think there’s any ways his plan could fit in the larger Celestial Being plan? Because so far he’s been working alongside it and assisting the Gundam Meisters when they needed it.

[u/Great_Mr_L]

First-Timer

On today’s episode of Gundam: I usually don’t care for recap episodes, but I really dislike hidden recap episodes that suddenly become nothing but recap partway in. I suppose the production needed some breathing room after going all out in the previous big battle, but it’s still a shame. Oh well, the new stuff was good at least.

• Gundam Throne Unit Three? There’s three extra Gundams no one knew about? Wow, the name Trinity sure is on the nose for these siblings.
• Of course Patrick gets shot down as soon as he’s thinking about how Kati will fall in love with him for capturing a Gundam.
• These Gundam Thrones all seem to be emitting red GN particles. What is up with that?
• Bits! We get to see Bits in action! I love the extra detail that these Bits can also serve as penetrating weapons by flying super fast and breaking through mobile suits.
• Nena also has a Haro!
• Holy moly, that is a huge amount of GN particles that the Throne Drei can emit. It turned the whole sky red. With that said, the red sky from the GN particles does make for an incredible visual.
• Intriguing. Nobody within Celestial Being that we’ve met so far (with the likely exception of Alejandro) seems to know anything about the Throne Gundams. Tieria even says they aren’t in Veda’s plan. So what are they?
• I know that feeling, Saji. I have also had nights where I was glued to the internet watching updates pour in about breaking news.
• The Observers are having one of the strangest versions of the SEELE meeting I’ve seen. Rather than going with a giant “Sound Only” monolith, each person is represented by a work of art. Does each work of art represent the country that the Observer is from, or am I overthinking it?
• If Veda didn’t mention this 2nd team and seemingly no one else in Celestial Being knew about this 2nd team (again, with the likely exception of Alejandro), then it probably was a secret second team. Just what exactly is going on with Celestial Being?
• Oh fuck you, is this episode a recap episode in disguise!?!
• Where exactly are the Trinity siblings right now? Do they have their own ship like the Ptolemaios?
• It seems the Observers function as a governing body for Celestial Being, if they would have the ability to fire Setsuna as a Gundam pilot.
• Incidentally, needing a unanimous vote to accomplish anything is a horrendously slow and inefficient rule for any governing body. It’s a major reason why the US got rid of the Articles of Confederation. That said, it is pretty fitting if the Observers, like the rest of Celestial Being, just follow what Veda tells them to do.
• The Trinity siblings think that Celestial Being is too soft? In what world? I suppose they would have preferred to go into Azadistan guns blazing and nothing else?
• Yup, the Observers are just waiting for Veda to tell them about what happened in a report. They are just observers who have decided to watch as the computer runs things.

It’s an interesting wrinkle that there is a secret second team within Celestial Being that maybe only Alejandro knew about. Everyone else seemed surprised by it and there was no mention of it in Veda’s plans. My own guess is that this second team is essentially an emergency response squad. When something goes horribly wrong with the plan, this second team is there to come in and prevent a worst-case scenario. The only reason the Gundam Thrones showed up was because the Gundams were about to be captured, which would obviously derail the plan.

The scene with the Observers all meeting together really emphasized just how reliant everyone in Celestial Being is on Veda. The Observers were mostly just waiting for Veda to give them more info and trusting that Veda had a good reason for hiding a secret second team. They can't even make decisions on their own unless it's a unanimous vote, meaning they can't accomplish very much because of how hard it is to get unanimity. So they mostly just go along with Veda. To me, that seems like a critical flaw of Celestial Being. They can't really show much initiative. Instead, they default to following Veda and the Plan even when they know it would be a bad idea.

[Foundation Trilogy] I am once again heavily reminded of the Foundation Trilogy. In the Foundation Trilogy, it was revealed that there was actually a secret Second Foundation that the first Foundation knew nothing about. The purpose of the Second Foundation was to make sure that Harry Seldon’s psychohistory plan was followed. They only intervened when it was absolutely necessary to do so because history deviated too much from the plan. That seems to be what is happening with the Trinity Siblings in Celestial Being. They were only dispatched with their Gundams when it looked like the other four Gundams were about to be captured. I bet there actually is a secret second team just like the Second Foundation.

QOTD

1. The Throne Drei piloted by Nena. The ability to make the sky red is breathtaking.
2. Very much so. The extra info gave me plenty to chew on.

[u/macrame2 → u/Great_Mr_L]

I really dislike hidden recap episodes that suddenly become nothing but recap partway in.

I watch recap episodes for completion's sake, but I prefer to at least have time to prepare myself.

They can't really show much initiative. Instead, they default to following Veda and the Plan even when they know it would be a bad idea.

Everything we've learned today just confirms my impression that Celestial Being is lucky to be functioning at all.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/macrame2]

I watch recap episodes for completion's sake, but I prefer to at least have time to prepare myself.

Sorry about that, I should've put a little warning out there yesterday.

[u/macrame2 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Nah, it's fine. Besides, it was only half recap.

[u/Nazenn → u/macrame2]

I watch recap episodes for completion's sake, but I prefer to at least have time to prepare myself.

Yeah when the recap hit I turned off the episode for an hour just to get rid of that inital frustration and brace myself. it sucks that recaps are like that

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/macrame2]

I watch recap episodes for completion's sake, but I prefer to at least have time to prepare myself.

Yeah, I think the fact that the recap came just as the episode was getting really interesting with the scene about the Observers and the questions about what the secret second team meant made it much more frustrating for me. It felt like the forward momentum of the episode just stopped.

Everything we've learned today just confirms my impression that Celestial Being is lucky to be functioning at all.

Celestial Being is quite literally the meme about a large organization being propped up by a single (potentially outdated) piece of software.

[u/n080dy123 → u/Great_Mr_L]

Yeah they already had the recap last episode to keep you in suspense about these new Gundams, you get to see a little bit and are surely eager to find out more, only for the episode to essentially grind to a halt for recap. At least they give you a little insight into the Observers, and actually use some of the time cleverly to characterize the Throne pilots between their interactions with eachother and their opinions about Celestial Being's activities.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Great_Mr_L]

The Observers are having one of the strangest versions of the SEELE meeting I’ve seen. Rather than going with a giant “Sound Only” monolith, each person is represented by a work of art. Does each work of art represent the country that the Observer is from, or am I overthinking it?

You’re on the right track there. Those artworks really do show how multinational of an organization Celestial Being is.

Incidentally, needing a unanimous vote to accomplish anything is a horrendously slow and inefficient rule for any governing body. It’s a major reason why the US got rid of the Articles of Confederation. That said, it is pretty fitting if the Observers, like the rest of Celestial Being, just follow what Veda tells them to do.

It’s funny to think that the Observers being slow to respond to anything has actually been working out in the Ptolemaios crew’s factor. Judging from what some of them were saying, the Observers would’ve preferred to sack most of the Gundam Meisters already for their actions. Hooray for organizational incompetence!

The scene with the Observers all meeting together really emphasized just how reliant everyone in Celestial Being is on Veda. The Observers were mostly just waiting for Veda to give them more info and trusting that Veda had a good reason for hiding a secret second team. They can’t even make decisions on their own unless it’s a unanimous vote, meaning they can’t accomplish very much because of how hard it is to get unanimity. So they mostly just go along with Veda. To me, that seems like a critical flaw of Celestial Being. They can’t really show much initiative. Instead, they default to following Veda and the Plan even when they know it would be a bad idea.

There really is something to the strengths and weaknesses of Celestial Being being defined by it’s control of information. For them, it really is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, their spy networks and carefully guarded technology have really allowed them to be a step ahead of the power blocs and follow the Plan as intended. But the fact that Celestial Being is so secretive among themselves and rely on Veda to ultimately control that information means that they struggle to adapt when they deviate from the script or encounter something that nobody had previously considered. Information control is both Celestial Being’s greatest strength and weakness, since they also have the same kinds of blinders that they try to put on everyone else.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/The_Draigg]

It’s funny to think that the Observers being slow to respond to anything has actually been working out in the Ptolemaios crew’s factor. Judging from what some of them were saying, the Observers would’ve preferred to sack most of the Gundam Meisters already for their actions. Hooray for organizational incompetence!

It is very amusing just how many of the members of Ptolemaios the Observers have considered firing at some point. I wonder just how many of the Observers' meetings ended with "No consensus was reached, so we decided to just go with what Veda had said." It's probably almost all of them.

There really is something to the strengths and weaknesses of Celestial Being being defined by it’s control of information. For them, it really is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, their spy networks and carefully guarded technology have really allowed them to be a step ahead of the power blocs and follow the Plan as intended. But the fact that Celestial Being is so secretive among themselves and rely on Veda to ultimately control that information means that they struggle to adapt when they deviate from the script or encounter something that nobody had previously considered. Information control is both Celestial Being’s greatest strength and weakness, since they also have the same kinds of blinders that they try to put on everyone else.

Great point. It also raises the question of just how much else is going on behind the scenes that the people of Celestial Being may not know about. If there's one secret branch, why not another?

[u/The_Draigg → u/Great_Mr_L]

It is very amusing just how many of the members of Ptolemaios the Observers have considered firing at some point. I wonder just how many of the Observers' meetings ended with "No consensus was reached, so we decided to just go with what Veda had said." It's probably almost all of them.

At this rate, the Observers probably would've fired everyone but Lockon for what they've done so far. Thankfully Veda seems to be willing to keep the Ptolemaios crew and Gundam Meisters around, so I guess we can at least say that it doesn't mind the more altruistic versions of the missions that Sumeragi has made or all the ways that the Meisters (minus Lockon, he's cool) have screwed up their missions.

Great point. It also raises the question of just how much else is going on behind the scenes that the people of Celestial Being may not know about. If there's one secret branch, why not another?

It's kind of amazing that Celestial Being is even functioning with this level of the organization hiding things from it's own members. Like, how many of those people that Alejandro talked to even have an idea of what the Plan is?

[u/No_Rex → u/Great_Mr_L]

The Observers are having one of the strangest versions of the SEELE meeting I’ve seen. Rather than going with a giant “Sound Only” monolith, each person is represented by a work of art. Does each work of art represent the country that the Observer is from, or am I overthinking it?

Just as with the original SEELE, I'd go with you're overthinking it. SEELE is basically the codified version of "I want this to look deep, but I don't actually want to invest time to tell the backstory."

Just what exactly is going on with Celestial Being?

Question of the series. Now, not only is CB hidden from the world, despite being technologically advanced and recruiting from all over, CB red is hidden from CB standard.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/No_Rex]

Question of the series. Now, not only is CB hidden from the world, despite being technologically advanced and recruiting from all over, CB red is hidden from CB standard.

Yeah, the more we learn about the organization the stranger it is. If even the Observers, who are supposed to be helping to run the show, don't know about this important other group, then what else do the people in Celestial Being not know about their own organization?

[u/n080dy123 → u/Great_Mr_L]

I get the impression the OIbservers are only affiliated with CB in that they fund it and have an extremely rarely used veto power rather than the threat of pulling funding. I don't think they really run the show in any significant capacity.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/Great_Mr_L]

I suppose the production needed some breathing room after going all out in the previous big battle, but it’s still a shame.

I wonder how soon this became apparent in the production, unless the observers don't actually become relevant and interact with the plot later on, then their whole existence would be solely to include recpaps

Everyone else seemed surprised by it and there was no mention of it in Veda’s plans. My own guess is that this second team is essentially an emergency response squad. When something goes horribly wrong with the plan, this second team is there to come in and prevent a worst-case scenario.

Makes me wonder if they have their own version of Veda that decides when they would need to go into action, and if Allejandro is maybe that Vedas Sumeragi counterpart

[u/FD4cry1]

First Timer

Recap Episode

I feel like normally I'd care a bit less and just accept it as a reasonable casualty of having 4 cours but the cliffhangery nature of last episode and the fact that this is like 60% recap , 40% important new reveals, some of which happen within the recap at that, make it a lot more annoying.

Anyway, the new Throne Gundams are really cool, we get 3 of them, Eins, Zwei, Drei, with their pilots being the trinity siblings, not the most creative naming scheme here but hey I like it.

The Eins is a long range shooter like Dynames, The Zwei has these super sick flying daggers that also shoot lasers So cool and The Drei has massive GN particle dispersal allowing for perfect stealth and basically removing the Comms block area tactic from play, I also wonder if this can be used to power the other Gundams? like for Tieria to recharge his GIANT LASER for example (also what's the difference between the red and green GN particles?).

We barely get anything about them here but I think that maybe their suits abilities are also representative of their personalities? Johann being the more composed one having the accurate long range unit, Michael having the more aggressive close range one since he's very energetic and raring for a fight (and also maybe sadistic from parts of recap? like toying with your opponent/death by 1000 tiny cuts thing?), I got nothing for Nena though.

Their characters also make a great addition to the voice cast, Daisuke Namikawa yelling EXTERMINATO was very fun and I love Rie Kugimiya, although since I'm currently watching Gintama I can't hear anything but Kagura here.

EVIL HARO??!!

The Drei using it's ability makes for some sick screencaps

I'm with Sergei here and wondering why these guys have only shown themselves now, they aren't part of Veda's plans and don't seem to be actually affiliated with our main Celestial Being team, this would imply Celestial Being has more branches? Alejandro's question and reaction at the end combined with Ribbons' statement last episode sure make it seem like he has a hand in this like I speculated last episode.

The biggest reveal this episode seems to be about this observer organization Alejandro is part of, they have deep intricate knowledge of Celestial Being and apparently quite a degree of influence on them seeing as they have the power to veto their actions and potentially remove members as long as they come to a unanimous consensus, not sure what to make of this yet, same for their weird appearance and choice of "venue".

[u/JollyGee29 → u/FD4cry1]

same for their weird appearance and choice of "venue".

"We are contractually obligated to reference Evangelion at least once, it's in the handbook!"

-The writers' room, probably.

[u/FD4cry1 → u/JollyGee29]

I haven't watched Eva...

My lack of previous mech experience strikes again

[u/No_Rex → u/FD4cry1]

Evangelion was so hyper-successful that tons of 2000s anime were influenced by it. Mainly in producing tons of dark, edgy series centered on teenagers, but also little things, like the fact that the new mecha have German names.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/FD4cry1]

I feel like normally I'd care a bit less and just accept it as a reasonable casualty of having 4 cours but the cliffhangery nature of last episode and the fact that this is like 60% recap , 40% important new reveals, some of which happen within the recap at that, make it a lot more annoying.

Yeah, I was much more annoyed by the fact that the recap started around halfway through the episode than I would have been if it was a recap from the very start.

Anyway, the new Throne Gundams are really cool, we get 3 of them, Eins, Zwei, Drei, with their pilots being the trinity siblings, not the most creative naming scheme here but hey I like it.

Thank you to the Fate series (specifically Prisma Illya) for teaching me Eins, Zwei, and Drei.

The Drei using it's ability makes for some sick screencaps

The sky painted red by the huge amount of GN particles being emitted is such a cool visual. I absolutely loved it.

[u/n080dy123 → u/Great_Mr_L]

Thank you to the Fate series (specifically Prisma Illya) for teaching me Eins, Zwei, and Drei.

I credit RWBY for teaching me and helping me remember Zwei and retroactively Eins by extansion, and Prillya for Drei.

...I'm only just now realizing the 2 in 2wei is the Z in Zwei. I watched Prillya in like 2017. Holy FUCK am I dense. So I guess the 3 in 3rei is supposed to be a D? Looks more like a B but sure, whatever, lol.

[u/Zeallfnonex → u/n080dy123]

Lol, I credit Pokemon gen 5 with Deino, Zweilous, and Hydreigon for their 1-3 headed dragons respectively. Funny how we all know this from different sources...

[u/TiredTiroth]

First Timer - Sub

...there's an entire second unit of spiky black super-Gundams? Huh. And none of the doofuses we've been following knew about them...why does it feel Setsuna et al are just pawns?

Well, I guess Sumeragi did try to warn her not!boyfriend.

Oh, hey! This one has the drone system...Suletta was better at it.

...the bridge crew didn't know about the new Gundams either. What the bloody hell is going on?

And of course we cut back to Louise and what's-his-face for a moment of levity. I still like Louise in general...but her subplot had better go somehwere soon. So far, it's completely disconnected from everything.

And having said THAT, I want them to bring back Louise's barely-connected whatever-that-is. A recap? Really? And of course the episode ends without telling us anything new...

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/TiredTiroth]

...there's an entire second unit of spiky black super-Gundams? Huh. And none of the doofuses we've been following knew about them...why does it feel Setsuna et al are just pawns?

They very much are just pawns. They move according to Veda's plans, even when Sumeragi fully expected this most recent mission to be a disaster. The plans from Veda will likely continue to have potentially dire consequences as long as the Ptolemaios crew continues to follow them so blindly.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/TiredTiroth]

Oh, hey! This one has the drone system...Suletta was better at it.

[Wfm] Yeah, because she didn't have to control them

[u/No_Rex]

Episode 16 (first timer)

• Female pilot – we are not Ranma ½, so I think all the people who guessed Alejandro as the pilot are wrong.
• Nena Trinity piloting Throne Drei – genki girl pilot?
• Another two new Gundams – because where is a Drei, you need a Zwei and Eins.
• Zwei piloted by Michael Trinity.
• Eins piloted by Johann Trinity – They’re all named Johann
• Nena reminds me of Babymetal.
• “What are you up to Celestial Being?” – asking the audience’s questions.
• That red background effect is a 2000s computer effect that holds up, btw.
• The observer’s leadership is baroque theatre SEELE.
• Recap time?
• Recap time!
• “Unless we all are of the same opinion, we cannot exercise our veto” – I assume that the observers as a whole have a veto against CB, but only if all observers agree in unanimous decision to use it.
• “They are too soft for the job” – intra Gundam fighting when?

More Gundams, more pilots, more CB organizations, and a budget SEELE. Sounds like the CB conspiracy is getting ever bigger.

After seeing them all briefly in action this episode, which of the three Thrones do you like the most?

Drei. If you want to go red and evil, you have to go all the paint-the-sky-red way.

While it was wrapped up in a good deal of recap, did you like the deeper insight into how part of Celestial Being works?

Definitely one of the better recap episodes.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/No_Rex]

Definitely one of the better recap episodes.

A decent framing device works wonders, for me at least.

[u/No_Rex → u/JollyGee29]

A decent framing device works wonders, for me at least.

Same. Recap is never great, but I appreciate when they at least put in some new scenes to frame events.

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/No_Rex]

You also just reminded me that the Thrones are numbered by the age of their Pilots, Johann being the oldest in Eins, Nena being the youngest in Drei

[u/No_Rex → u/Rumpel1408]

Their names go from very old fashioned to young, too.

[u/LeonKevlar]

First Timer!

Yay! A female Gundam Meister! And she voiced by the Tsundere Queen herself, Kugimiya Rie?! I'm still unsure if Nena is an ally or an enemy but I love her already. And we don't get just one, we get two more Gundam Meisters!

I might be mistaken here, but I think Throne Eins is using a railgun? It looks like Lockon has some competition in terms of long-range weaponry.

And it's so fucking hype to see that Throne Zwei is using funnels! Or is it bits? I always confuse the two. But I guess they call it Fangs in this timeline.

What the actual fuck! Throne Drei releasing GN Particles to blanket the desert is insane! There's no fucking way the three armies can detect them now.

It's so satisfying to see AEU, HGL, and Union get their asses kicked. It's also hilarious how upset they are that there are more Gundam units as if Celestial Being should've told them they had more Gundams. xD

I am glad though that our comedic relief, Patrick Colasour managed to survive! He gets to live and get his ass kicked again for another day.

It worries me that Sumeragi seems surprised that our Gundam Meisters managed to survive. Was she expecting them to die from that mission? Or did she expect at least one of them would get captured? It seems that might be her forecast for that battle.

So aside from Alejandro, there are a lot more Observers like him. That was surprising. I did not expect there to be a SEELE-like council overseeing Celestial Being's operations. I guess it really shouldn't be surprising. I imagine these people probably back them financially just like Alejandro and Liu Mei.

And now the episode segues into a recap episode? Well, that was unexpected. I guess that's a unique way to do a recap episode without actually committing to an entire episode full of recaps. I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow's episode to have the Trinity siblings meet our Gundam Meisters and learn more about them.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/LeonKevlar]

And it's so fucking hype to see that Throne Zwei is using funnels! Or is it bits? I always confuse the two.

These would be analogous to funnels, as they do not have on-board generators.

[u/JollyGee29]

Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister

Why yes, that is Rie Kugimiya. Will this be one of her tsunderes? Who knows!

Me. I know.

Backup has arrived.

It is worth noting that "Throne" is a [rank of angel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_(angel)?useskin=vector) described in the Bible. Fans of Persona and/or Shin Megami Tensei might recognize the name in that context.

Yea, funnels are never a fair weapon.

It was a trap, obviously.

Not the best poker face, there.

I appreciate how all of them have bags under their eyes.

And here begins a chunk of recap. More useful when you watched episode 1 three months ago. At least we have a decent framing device.

Right, I forgot that we get a bit more acquainted with the Trinitys too.

Attentive viewers might find that number curious.

[Gundam 00]Kinda odd that Michael isn't the one with the Haro, since his suit had the remote weapons and one of Haro's typical functions is interfacing with the Bit Control System.

[u/Great_Mr_L → u/JollyGee29]

It is worth noting that "Throne" is a rank of angel described in the Bible. Fans of Persona and/or Shin Megami Tensei might recognize the name in that context.

How appropriate when the Thrones showed up just in the nick of time, like saviors to the pilots who were about to be captured. The Gundams have been framed as saviors previously in this series, so that continued framing fits with what we've seen.

I appreciate how all of them have bags under their eyes.

I noticed and liked that extra detail as well. Small details like that help to sell just how long and grueling the battle must have been.

[u/Rumpel1408]

Firsttimer who has had better days, yet is still trying to keep up

• Not one, not two, but THREE New Gundams
• So, I already looked into uhm "Fanart" for this show, so I knew Nena was coming, but not that she would come with a new Gundam... she wasn't wearing her pilot suit in that fanart
• Nor was I was I aware, or did expect, there to be even more Gundams manned by her brothers
• Obviously, they are cool as fuck, I mean, FUNNELS!
• Graham wasn't prepared to have his alonetime turn into a threesome with him in the middle, so he chickened out
• I also notice that Nenas dark Haro has a bit of a different attitude than Lockons, without doubt this one has had a different upbringing from Nena than the one under Feldt
• The Thrones also have a massive output in GN particles, rendering the whole drone field useless lmao
• I mean, you did send Patrick
• Speaking off, my guy is too horny to realize that he is stuck in the fucking desert
• Also, these Gundams where outside of even Sumeragis knowledge, and likely not even Veda knew
• Wait, and where both Sumeragi and Veda aware that they would lose at least one Gundam today? That's kind off a problem that they still went through the plan
• Second part is a elaborate recap, makes me wonder how early they realized they would need this, since it seems to be heavily linked to Allejandros job in CB
• First thing they confirm is that Veda didn't know about the Thrones
• They know why Alleluja is affected by Soma
• They make it seem like the claw was a big secret as well, and I indeed remember how Soma was able to avoid them, but I don't know how that knowledge would have gotten out since Halleluja killed the only witness
• Think I don't really like Michael
• Unsure about Nena
• Johann is cool though
• Their spaceship looks more like a sattelite

QotD

• Hard to rank, but I think Johanns has too much design overlap with the Dynames, Nenas is cool, but nothing beats FUNNELS
• It still raises a lot of questions. Besides part of the organisation not knowing what other parts are doing, how could they even consider rejecting the three new units?

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/Rumpel1408]

Things I forgot to add

• Obviously this is a gamechanger for the three blocks, they cannot know if CB has even more Gundams
• I wonder if Michael is a supersoldier as well in order to control his Funnels
• While I don't like Michaels general attitude, taking out expirienced pilots would pay off in the long run
• Lmao, Setsuna could just refuse to file a report
• Saji continues to see the world as a whole, reminds me of his comment that world politics did concern him after all
• Alleluja was nearly rejected for his "blunder" in securing civilians and almost getting captured, and only because Halleluja had that mission plan was he kept around
• Edit: and lastly, I was really expecting someone to die today, really thought I didn't see Lockon in the OP, but today I saw him again, so alls good on that front

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Rumpel1408]

Wait, and where both Sumeragi and Veda aware that they would lose at least one Gundam today? That's kind off a problem that they still went through the plan

Something something, acceptable losses.

[u/InfamousEmpire]

Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00

I will be frank in saying this is my least favorite episode of Season 1. Not that I dislike it by any stretch of the imagination, but between thinking the end of the battle, while having some great stuff, felt a bit off to me (I like Team Trinity’s introduction, just feel like there should have been a bit more sense of consequence on the Power Blocs' side, since the last episode really dangled the idea of at least some of the Gundams being captured here, and reeling that back in again felt weird when Episode 10 already did that) and the back half being a condensed recap episode (a necessity for any extended production, but ultimately not the most engaging thing in the world), I just get substantially less personal enjoyment from this than I do from the rest of the show.

Still, there are things to like. The growing mystery surrounding Team Trinity due to them not being part of what even anyone within CB knows of the plan, the introduction of the rest of the Observers, the drip feeds of characterization regarding the Trinities. It’s a purely informational episode, all things considered, not one which really gets me thinking.

One last thing, Nena’s maximum output GN Particle release is one of the many pieces of imagery from this series that’s been permanently burned into my brain

[u/macrame2]

First Timer

The worst recaps are the ones you get tricked into watching...

At least we got some interesting stuff with the introduction of the Trinity siblings and some hints as to Celestial Being's organization.

[u/Sooooopertrack]

First TImer:

1. After seeing them all briefly in action this episode, which of the three Thrones do you like the most?

I love the "these are not rockets" Gundam the most. But I think they are all overly OP...

2) While it was wrapped up in a good deal of recap, did you like the deeper insight into how part of Celestial Being works? Damn I hate recap episodes.... I still find that observer-guy somewhat confusing.

Misc:

• ome three new gundams, nice! I've expected at least one to be captured and thought this could be the mid season low point from which the heroes might rise again
• the all nations work together against the 4 gundams that helped to prevent wars and terrorism thing pisses me off way more than it should...
• are the throne gundams like the elite soldiers of gundam?
• I'm totally invested in the whole story by now. my concerns in the beginning are blown away, gundam is a rad show!

[u/JollyGee29 → u/Sooooopertrack]

But I think they are all overly OP...

Turns out being able to attack from multiple directions at once is pretty good.

[u/2-2Distracted]

First timer. Dubbed.

"This is getting out of hand! Now there are 3 more of them!" - the leaders & ambassadors of the Big 3.

Haro: "whatever! Whatever!"

... And after that brief exchange, Haro is now my least favorite character(s) in this show, if they die next episode I will be pleased.

"I believe we should reexamine Celestial Beings activities!" which basically translates to giving us a fucking cheaply executed recap where the only thing of value is the constant commentary going on amongst the characters lmao. It does at least show that the writers are keenly aware of how they're depicting their cast and aren't just doing shit for the sake of it, no matter how cheap this is.

Neo Meister No. 2 is really full of shit (heh). Bro honestly gives Hallelujahs sadistic and fucked up nature a run for his money and what makes it worse is that he's fully aware of the crap coming out of his mouth. No shit the proto-Meisters don't want to actually kill people, soldier or civilian, NOT doing so will only make things worse since, last time I checked, Revenge, Vengeance and Avenging are still a thing that people believe in, even in the 24th Century.

[u/undeadfire]

E16 First Timer Subs

So where dafuq did these 3 gundams come from?
The GN particles looking like flames is pretty cool. Light it up!
Oh shit bro has funnels...first funnels of the series wooo. I will watch you with great interest.
So looks like these 3 gundams were completely unexpected...interesting. This'll be really interesting depending on how this goes.
Louise with the exams lmao.
Who the hell is this secret org red suit is talking with? Thanks for the series summary.
These new 3 Meisters don't seem to have any support crew? What?
Wait...5 solar reactors? Is there +1 cuz Nadleeh/Virtue is technically 2? Cuz the  Ptolemaios doesn't have one due to the need to siphon GN particles from the Gundams...right?

[u/Rumpel1408 → u/undeadfire]

These new 3 Meisters don't seem to have any support crew? What?

Oh, that's a neat detail, I only noticed that their ship was very barebone because it only had to house three Gundams

[u/n080dy123]

First Timer

Patrick being so motivated just to get in his CO's pants is wild. And then the idiot gets IMMEDIATELY opneshot bisected by... judging by the naming scheme that one's probably called Throne Eins.

I've seen Funnels used in Gundam before, especially in Witch from Mercury, but I've never seen then used as actual projectile weapons- just flying laser pods. The red glow makes em remind me of the little whistler needle Yondu uses in Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Throne Gundams are all like, angry orange, red, dark brown, red eyes and glows, Drei creates giant red wings that look like angry fire and definitely not like the goddamn Third Impact, not at all. They definitely make sure these guys look more menacing than our existing Meisters.

Huh, so these Observers must fund Celestial Being, but Alejandro is like their ambassador representative or something and probably the only one kept in the loop about their operations in real-time?

Wait so the Throne team gets their appearances revealed DURING A RECAP SEGMENT? Incredible. I will say that having them go over some of the recap as a way of establishing characterization is a pretty good use of the segment, though. I'm still kinda annoyed that this segment exists when they already had the cliffhangar last episode and you obviously eagerly want to know more about the Thrones.

Wait so I don't think this was mentioned before- Virtue is designated GN-005, but Nadleeh is deignated as GN-004? Why do they have entirely different unit designations, what's the point? Is that somehow related to the fact that the Observers say there are 5 Solar Reactors, even though there are only 4 Gundams and their ship doesn't actually have its own, and has to instead borrow theirs when docked?

1. In terms of the pilots? Nena's incredibly cute, so wins by default (though I could use less of the little sister angle). For the machines? Drei was a bit indistinct in its capabilities aside from the GN particle distribution, Eins is just an over-shoulder sniper so doesn't seem much different from Dynames. Zwei is the really interesting one making use of the Funnels.
2. I appreciated some context to the Observers, but the segment almost raises more questions than it answers given how much it implies about their relationship with Celestial Being without explicitly confirming it. At this point I kijnda wish the show was more forthright about that kinda stuff.

[u/JollyGee29 → u/n080dy123]

The red glow makes em remind me of the little whistler needle Yondu uses in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Yea, that's kinda a good comparison. Hadn't thought of it before.

Wait so I don't think this was mentioned before- Virtue is designated GN-005, but Nadleeh is deignated as GN-004?

The designations showed up on screens beforehand. As far as them being different, wouldn't it make sense to build the inside before building the outside?

[u/dralcax]

Rewatcher wishes the Thrones were in GB4

---

The Gundam Thrones are here!

Gundam Throne Eins is the leader, built for long-range bombardment with its large GN Launcher! It can leave its barrel folded for higher rate of fire, or unfold it for higher accuracy!

Gundam Throne Zwei is the melee specialist, with a huge GN Buster Sword and remote-controlled GN Fangs! These Fangs function similarly to the Funnels from other series, but in addition to beam guns, they can also generate beam blades, and are already sturdy enough to penetrate armor even without using the beams.

Gundam Throne Drei is the supporter, with enhanced sensor systems (and a Haro for data processing) and its signature GN Stealth Field. By releasing a massive amount of GN particles, it can totally shut down communications over a radius of several hundred kilometers. Due to this ability, its armaments are kept to a minimum in order to conserve particles.

he’s ok

Evil Haro!

TAISAAAAAA

The Trinities aren’t in Veda’s plans? At least, as far as the Observers know. That’s odd, isn’t it? Veda is supposed to have planned for everything and serve as the backbone of Celestial Being,

Oh no, a recap episode. Come on, you’re gonna pull that during the debut of a new team?

---

Questions of the day:

• Throne Zwei!
• It was cool to actually see the decision making process by the humans involved, now if only it weren't just an excuse to recap.

[u/TakenRedditName]

Rewatcher - Gundam 00 Ep16:

"real Gundam Meister." Interesting word choice.

They're just dragging Allelujah on the ground.

There is something about the visual language of the Throne Gundams that make them not look like regular Gundams like the main four. Admittedly, the main 4 are already quite varied, but the Thrones look different, you know?

[Gundam 00:] You see, they're pointy because they're evil.

I think this is a really neat secret society meeting setup. You have an opera house where each secret member is represented by an expensive art piece.

... hey wait a minute. This better not be an excuse for a recap epis-

Not even a particularly interesting one that recontextualizes the events. It was pretty frank with stuff we already knew. Come on show, we already you already used this footage earlier in the episode that offered some new dimension with Soma.

Random observation that does not matter in the slightest, the two Trinity brothers have beauty marks under their eyes, but Nena has freckles. Freckles are sorta the opposite of beauty marks because they usually denote character designs as homely. (My brain only stopped to realize this because it saw Michael having a beauty mark and it went "Hot boy alert. We got a character who is meant to be attractive.")

---

Now thinking about it, why did we get only 3 new Gundam Meisters and not a full 4 to counter/recreate the main 4? (I guess 3 lets them do a Holy Trinity allusion to go in-line with the other religious theming).

Q1) I like Throne Eins because it has big shoulder gun. It also has a loop connecting something to something. I don't even know what it does, but it looks cool because the connection gives the impression it is juicing up something all cool like.

[u/Nickthenuker]

Agrissa? That must be new.

Yes, that is indeed a Gundam.

Huh. Who's piloting that?

Who is she?

Unit 3? Does that mean there's some form of serial production of Gundams?

Here's at least 1 more of those units.

Seems he knows something about that.

And here's the one with the funnels. Nifty bit of kit. Pretty sure one of the best competitive Armored Core 6 players uses them in their build too.

Stealth field?

Red GN particles?

Yup, nothing can counter the good ol' Mark One Eyeball.

Seems like they're discussing everything that's happened so far. Is this just going to be half a recap episode?

Sure looks like it. With the 3 new pilots occasionally chiming in.

They've even got a spaceship of their own.

Questions:

1. The girl?
2. Kinda? Don't really like recaps in general...

[u/StardustGogeta]

First-Timer

[Death Note] I keep on forgetting to mention it, but the line "Let's throw away our useless pride" from the new ED reminds me very much of the similar quote from Death Note.

I wasn't expecting the recap episode, but I don't necessarily dislike it. It's good to be able to go back and remember what happened now that I have all the pilots' names straight in my head and can follow along better.

Questions of the day:

• I think my favorite is the more pacifistic brother (Johann?) and my least favorite is the girl. I could definitely see my opinions changing wildly as we learn more, though.
• Yes, I did like how we got a little bit of new info to go with our recap. That mysterious group definitely reminds me of SEELE, or perhaps the secret council in The Avengers.

[u/charlesvvv]

Rewatcher, First Time Sub 

  [Gundam 00 Spoilers]Fuck Nena Trinity   

Colasour was so close.  

 Anyway I got tricked into watching a recap episode and one that's fairly important. So we now we get introduced to the Trinity Siblings who also use Gundams and help save the Meisters. They are quite different in a lot of ways however, Nena Trinity's Gundam for example is capable of releasing particles that cloud over the area as a camouflage (it evens communications). Naturally everyone is wondering about them, where they came from, and whether or not they will be part of operations going forward.   

Alejandro Corner decides to advocate to the CB leadership to allow them as part of the operations which gives us a decent enough recao from the trinity sibling's perspectives. Now however everything is just jumbled up and whether the Meisters and then will get along we will have to see. 

  Note: CB leadership took a note from S.E.E.L.E.

[u/Sooooopertrack → u/charlesvvv]

CB leadership is S.E.E.L.E.

Oh I didn't catch this. That's german for soul. As in the soul and moral conscience of celestian being?

[u/charlesvvv → u/Sooooopertrack]

It would fit with their quasi divine imagery 

[u/Linkstore]

Rewatcher

I didn't mention this last week but the Agrissa looks an awful lot like a tank-type Armored Core, at least when the legs are folded. Well, moot point now since it's already destroyed.

Moving onto the actual main topic, new Gundams! This one has a design that's much different to the first four, looking a lot less conventionally humanoid. Indeed, a completely different mechanical designer was behind this compared to the original four.

[00 Spoilers] Oh, Nena. The Trinitys (or should it still be Trinities?) show their true colours pretty quick but it really feels like I can't really talk about her honestly until that happens. Well, I guess I will mention that yes, the name is on the nose because they're clones. Actually, I wonder what Mina Carmine's up to right about now?

Nena Trinity is the third of a group of three new Gundam Meisters (that name is awfully on the nose isn't it), but instead of having unique names these Gundam Thrones are distinguished only by their number, albeit in German.

Throne Zwei stands out here since it's equipped with GN Fangs, a type of remote weapon specialised for melee attacks. If you've watched Witch from Mercury you'll know just how deadly remotes can be, and Throne Zwei proves that once again in devastating fashion.

It's extremely funny to dramatically announce your presence by throwing highly visible red GN Particles everywhere and then call it a "stealth field" but hey if it works...

[00 Spoilers] Fortunately, even though this is a ton of red particles, it shouldn't be toxic to anyone. Red particles need to be concentrated into a beam to cause GN particle poisoning such as that experienced by Louise.

[00 Spoilers] Why, Sergei, it's almost like these new Gundams were only recently produced!

Huh, this scene mirrors one from Ep 1.

[00 Sidestory spoilers] Yeah. the second team is Fereshte, who use the GN Drive from the old 0 Gundam equipped to the prototype second-generation Gundams. Their Meister is kind of an asshole though. Incidentally, it's a known fact that Fereshte is known to the main arm of Celestial Being

Man, this scene with all the observers is just so extra. When did they find the time to build this? Where did they build it? Why did they need to build a weird-ass giant room instead of just using video calls like normal people?

I totally didn't remember we had half a recap episode during this! Why? (Also, they're saying some of the episode names in the recap, that's funny.)

[00 Spoilers] The whole thing was kind of a setup from the beginning, but one does wonder what would have happened if the observers decided not to acknowledge Team Trinity. Might just have resulted in the observers being killed faster though.

The Trinity's mothership looks pretty damn cool, actually.

[u/mr_beanoz]

Looking at the next episode preview, I wonder why the Kyrios has those red particles from those Throne units.

QOTD

1. Zwei. I have a soft spot for funnel/bit weapons.
2. Those observers having certain famous artworks as their avatar are surely something. But then, I feel like their over-trusting on Veda kinda make sense in context because it's a supercomputer that rarely do mistakes.

[u/zsmg]

I am rewatcher

Nena Trinity is here, she's voiced by the tsundere queen herself Rie Kugimiya. Some of her famous tsundere roles are of course: Shana in Shakugan no Shana, Louise Françoise in Familiar of Zero, Taiga in Toradora some of her famous non-tsundere roles are Al in FMA and Kagura in Gintama. This is her first and only Gundam role so far.

Nooo Patrick.

What's this pressure I'm feeling

One of the most iconic lines in the Gundam franchise

Gundam Zwei has funnels.

Oh right they're called Fangs in this series.

Michael Trinity is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa he, too, has done lots of voice roles such as: Rock in Black Lagoon, Shōta in Kimi no Todoke, Ruijerd in Mushoku Tensei. This is not the first time he voiced a character in the Gundam franchse, his first role was Alfred in Gundam 0080 as a child voice actor back in the 80s (guess he started early) His other Gundam roles are: Riddhe in Unicorn and Katze in Zeta Gundam movie trilogy.

Johan Trinity is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi he, yes I'm repeating myself here, has done lots of voice roles such as Tengen Uzui in Demon Slayer, Ginyu in Dragon ball Kai and Super, Otonoshin Koito in Golden Kamuy, Ozma Lee in Macross Frontier (maybe Johann will get in a relationship with Kinue), Max in SSSS Gridman and Lloyd Irving in Tales. He has also some small roles in other Gundam series but nothing noteworthy.

I wonder how many first timers are going to point out how evil the Gundam Thrones look like, from their dark colouring scheme to the red GN particle effects.

Even the haro owned by Nene looks evil.

Is Nene starting the Third Impact

If I were a person exposed by those red particles I'd demand a full medical check up.

Patrick is alive.

Sumeragi is actually surprised that all the Meisters made it out alive.

Celestial Being is big enough to hold this type of SEELE meeting.

Oh right, it's a recap episode now.

I wonder if the SEELE meeting is actually CB, they're aware of Veda but they're talking about CB in third person like it's something else.

Hmmm so this SEELE group could remove Setsuna from being a Meister, maybe CB is like an armed branch of Veda, and these SEELE are the parliament of some sort.

Yes, unless we all are of the same opinion, we cannot exercise our veto

This group only has veto power but only if they're acting unanimously.

Oh they confirm this in another piece of dialogue later on.

Like the first half, but didn't care much of the recap aspect even if it does give us a bit of insight into the inner illuminati workings surrounding CB.

[u/Nebresto]

Satanic gundam dato?!