AnimeTX·1055

Gundam 00 — Episode 23

16 March 20082 min read98 comments

My exams are next week, so I don’t have time to say too much. Not that I have much to say anyway since episode 23 consists of twenty minutes of pretty explosions and ambiguous character deaths.

Pseudo Summary

Remember in the previous entry where I joked that Exia moves three times as fast with TRANS-AM because it turns red? Well, it turns out that it DOES move three times as fast. TRANS-AM boosts performance by releasing all GN particles stored on the Gundam at once, faster than the solar furnace can replenish them. Once TRANS-AM runs out of juice, the Gundam becomes underpowered until its GN drive can restore the particle count to normal level.

And GN-X has officially been downgraded to the cannon fodder units. They drop like flies in this episode.

Patrick’s cool streak is put to an end when he gets owned by a piece of flying space rock and spins off into the distance Team Rocket style. A few characters may or may not have died in this episode, but if they really do die, you can be sure that they will be resurrected in season two.

Also, lasers! Explosions! Green missile trails! Big guns! Non-stop action! And that’s about all I have to say about this episode.

Screencaps

Geometric isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism caused by the restriction of rotation about a double bond or a cyclo-compound and the presence of different functional groups bonded to each of the two carbon atoms involved. I hate chemistry.

98 responses

Kururu

16 Mar 2008

“23 consists of twenty minutes of pretty explosions and ambiguous character deaths.”

Those GN-X’s got defeated by the element of surprise AGAIN and Daryl charges towards Lockon like a suicide bomber. O well, at least, I think the GN-X’s have been doing pretty well as grunts(way better than those seed grunts). Really, it’s gundam after all, it’s all about fights, explosions and deaths.

Farewell, Lockon =(
BladeOfNether

16 Mar 2008

NOOOOO, LOCKON~~~~~
Damn i hope Ali dies here, but chances are he will surivive for Setsuna to finish off at season 2…
Giriath

16 Mar 2008

Nah, Lockon will be back. He had his hazard suit on, everything is fine. “No flame shall harm me! Or shower of shrapnel for that matter.” Really though, he’ll be “back”.

His twin brother will show up and Ptolemy’s crew will be all “Yay, where the fuck have you been?”. Then he’ll proceed to do all kinds of evil things (including raping Feldt, maybe even Tiera), thus stealing the title of “most wicked villain of Gundam 00” from Ali.
RmX

16 Mar 2008

This blog and its commenters leave me in despair.
ZeeTwentyFour

16 Mar 2008

I’m still waiting for the torrents to come back up. I’m left in the dark since episode 19
shaquille

16 Mar 2008

this episode was pretty good for an action episode but i dont even know if the evil red head is dead. it seems that they are just killing off characters.
shaquille

16 Mar 2008

nice ass explosions and boom and it was cool, i think the next to die is tieria because he looks so heart stroken by lockon dying that he might sacrfice himself.
PS

16 Mar 2008

And stereoisomerism is pretty much just that, well…some carbohydrates isomers are pretty annoying though, but save your hate for something better, like poly-variables differential equations or roommates that lock you out when you forget to bring your key when using the the toilet making you spend the weekend squatting at friend’s room because he bolted back to like Tampines…or poorly constructed sentences like this…
RmX

16 Mar 2008

@PS: What?
Duo

16 Mar 2008

“Patrick’s cool streak is put to an end when he gets owned by a piece of flying space rock and spins off into the distance Team Rocket style.”

i think it is not a space rock but a head part of a destroyed GN-X~
Guner

16 Mar 2008

Lockons suit had a hole in it. He should have died the moment he stepped into space. Nevermind that his helm was cracked, the question of how he aimed the big floating gun, or any of the dozen other problems with this ep.

Whatever. Im sure Kaio has a perfectly rational explanation for all of it.
shaquille

16 Mar 2008

Apparently tiera gets mad at setsuna in the next episode, i can only deduct that he blames setsuna for lockons death.
Frito

16 Mar 2008

the lockon shit is like the deja vu of trowa barton. the characters thought he died then he came back with amnesia. im pretty sure the creators will do something like that. imagine butt pirates from space retrieving lockon and making him into their butt captain or slave for that matter.
Guner

16 Mar 2008

Naw, its just a setup for his bro to take his place in the next season.

And yah, Setsuna is directly responsible for it. He has had plenty of chances to finish Ali.
MSP

16 Mar 2008

@Guner: Skip to 17:40, you can see a little patch on his right arm. I’m pretty sure that’s for the ripped portion. Only real problem I saw was why Dynames didn’t activate it’s Trans-Am system and how Ali managed to get hit with the GN Arms cannon when you can clearly see him dodging it at first :l
Myssa Rei

16 Mar 2008

Guner: That honestly sounds like a setup from Space Battleship Yamato, the ‘twin brother takes over’ thing…
Haro

16 Mar 2008

Was Throne Zwei destroyed? http://haro00.livejournal.com/1128.html
Unanswered questions… http://haro00.livejournal.com/910.html
paradigmshifter

16 Mar 2008

guner: yeah..i agree that it’s one of those ‘twin brother takes up the mantle’ plot devices…
btw…i don’t think that Ali got finished off that easily…maybe Lockon did hit him but only the lower part of the MS…missing the cockpit and so on…and since it doesn’t appear to be a direct hit, anyway…i guess it’s safe to bet that Ali would be back next season…

i found this episode disappointing…i mean…it had alot of plot holes and inconsistencies..anyway, i hope the season ender would put some sense to this..but based on the short ‘preview’ after the episode..i think it would only be 20 something minutes of mourning a lost comrad…

for all it’s worth… Lockon Stratos’ cool disposition would be missed…(the other three Gundam Meisters are totally boring without their mobile suits…)
ritchan

16 Mar 2008

I loved it. Sure, they didn’t have to scream that loud considering that they didn’t get to bond together too much, but I loved this ep. The Cowboy Bebop reference make it even better, don’t know where you got the Eva one.

Also, nano > vi > emacs > gedit.
Tiny Red Man

16 Mar 2008

shouldn’t it be “the Gundam becomes underpowered..” and not “the Gundam because underpowered”..
Crusader

16 Mar 2008

Nuts I guess that Trans-Am does bring us back to square one again… grunts in Gundam never get a break and Patrick gets kicked around again. Kamen Lockon confirmed.

As for Lafiel, sorry Darkmirage but we both know that any one who stands on the other side of the “good” Gundams is bound to lose and fail no matter how smart or tactically adept they are. Leave Kaite alone you evil man, just because she’s only one of two non idiot women doesn’t mean she sucks just cause Abh aren’t around…

Gundams pwn all in the end not even Spoor could prevail against the Gundams since they always win in end. Heck even Treize could not beat the Gundams and Zeon often ended up on the losing side. In the event of a tie in Gundam power it is the side that comes up with the three-ship alliance that wins. Even then its a freaking armsitice hardly worth the paper it was written on. The best Char ever got was a tie too…though IIRC Char’s escape ball gets caught and it ends in a double suicide.
gigastorm

16 Mar 2008

lockon can us the trans-am system to why he diddnt i dont know i think they just like to kill people off which is great most other gundam series get more into drama then killing
Frito

16 Mar 2008

i forgot which episode that was. but man that twin looks evil. oh no waht if it was ali al sarshes doing creepy shit that day. im pretty sure he’s dead or will become a butt pirate. i am still uncertain about who that person. i have a strong feeling that he is not his twin, but ali. during the flashback in this episode they showed his sister not. not his brother. and he never mentioned that he has a brother. i am just speculating
Lsio

16 Mar 2008

Shock!! Lockon die… Well, probably his twin brother is gonna pilot dynames in season 2.
Blahhead

16 Mar 2008

A total of 12 GN-Xes were destroyed, mahing a total of 15.
this could still mean 5 left for each powers(4 left for union cause they modded the flag).
Also the hole in Lockon’s suit repaired itself later.
Haro

16 Mar 2008

In episode 21, why didn’t Lockon use the two beam sabers that were equipped with Dynames to block the attack from Patrick’s GN-X beam saber?

Why didn’t Setuna go all the way to get rid of Ali Al Sarshes once and for all when Exia’s Trans-Am system was activated at the end of the last episode?

Why was Ali Al Sarshes able to find some spare parts of the Zwei’s Fangs when he was onboard with Sergei in the UN transport ship?

Why were Setuna and Lasse so far behind to reach to Ptolemaios, whereas Ali Al Sarshes could get there to do the attack sooner? Wasn’t the GN Arms equipped with another “green” GN Drive which is “Trans-Am system capable”?

Why wasn’t Dynames’ Trans-Am system activated at all in this entire episode?

Why didn’t Lockon take the shot at Ali Al Sarshes when he could shoot him from behind?
Ryuko_Hikaru

16 Mar 2008

Great my computer keeps having pagefaults that I am so annoyed. Can’t even watch this episode in peace.

I think Lockon did really die. Otherwise why would Sunrise give him a twin?
info600

16 Mar 2008

Wow…so many questions popping up in one episode…
but all I want to know is…WHEN IS DYNAMES’ GN-ARMS GOING TO COME OUT?!?

Seriously, only the model kits’ going to benefit from this episode.
Kaioshin Sama

16 Mar 2008

Not Explosions! In an Action Series?! The Horror, how unthinkable!
Asch

16 Mar 2008

Lockon dead, I never saw that one coming *not*. but will his twim become a Gundam Meister.
mecha fan

16 Mar 2008

Lockon is dead but what about Ali? Also what is that huge thing tha Aleajandro is piloting? And if Ali is dead does that mean Saji becomes Setsunas rival in the 2nd part?
adamJ

16 Mar 2008

I wouldn’t want to confirm that Lockon is dead. Remember Mwu from Gundam SEED, he protected Murrue from Dominion’s Lohengrin cannon and the whole Strike blasted into pieces. Well, he did make a come back in SEED Destiny though.

I’m not saying that the SEED errors will come back but there is a possibility that Lockon might survive since he wasn’t standing on the GN Arms when it exploded. So is Ali. I hate him a lot, but I won’t admit that he’s dead because the GN Arms only destroyed the lower body of the gundam, not where the pilot sits.

About Lockon’s twin… maybe he doesn’t even have one. When they showed his past, it looks like his family only consists of his mother, father, sister and himself. Maybe Veda created another clone of him. I was just guessing. Who knows? Even the vedabots like Tieria, Livonze and Gundam Meister 874 were all created by Veda.

I am curious to know where would Nena go after she flew off in her Drei.
DarkMirage

16 Mar 2008

Kaioshin, your next comment will determine whether you get banned.

I didn’t say that I have anything against explosions. I said that that’s about all this episode has. Stop being so over-zealous. It’s only anime.
rayman

16 Mar 2008

The GN arms/ container doesnt have its own GN drive, back in episode 22 feldt confirmed the attachment of Exias GN drive to the container so no trans-am for them. There are only 6 “real GN drives” in existence as told in episode 18 or 19. 4 are in the Gundams and two are attached to the butt of the ptolemaios. But maybe theres a trans-am for Ptolemaios… Wordd…
Dazzer

16 Mar 2008

I just watched Mai Hime/Otome and … OMG Soma looks EXACTLY like Natsuki!

Natsuki is cuter though.
Punisher

16 Mar 2008

“Geometric isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism caused by the restriction of rotation about a double bond or a cyclo-compound and the presence of different functional groups bonded to each of the two carbon atoms involved”

Sounds more like Biology
LG

16 Mar 2008

@Rayman:

The Ptolemy doesn’t have GN Drives, otherwise they wouldn’t have to use the Gundam to charge.
Der Mann

16 Mar 2008

So did Ali go down with Lockon or not? Lol why did jokers like Patrick have to survive I wonder?

Yea physical chemistry is a pain. Organic’s more interesting. Thanks for the screenshots and good luck for your exam!
random hero

16 Mar 2008

rayman, the CB ship does not have it’s own GN drive, it relies on the gundams to keep it charged, those two thrusters would be GN verniers more than anything

plus your forgetting about the second generation gundams which preceeded the main four, not too mention the gundam 0, so theres really 7-8 real GN drives thus far, but CB doesn’t want anyone else to know that

oh i do believe i’m repeating myself when i say please stop with the ‘lockons twin being a meister’ comments, thats crazy talk,

and i wouldn’t write him off as dead so hastily, the character appearing to die but not really yet has a bad case of amnesia is a theme that has been used before a couple of times in the gundam franchise

theres a motto in gundam (well i think it should be one) “no one is dead until you see and touch their corpse”
Kaioshin Sama

17 Mar 2008

@DM: Well it really wasn’t all the episode was, if people don’t mind spoilers I can talk about it more, but there were some pretty major character exits from the center stage, ones that have been with us for a while. There was also quite a bit of emotional outpouring over one of the deaths as friends and comrades had to say goodbye.

And if you take your blogging to heart then just say so and I won’t poke fun anymore.
Chronolapse

17 Mar 2008

I’m just irritated by how often and mysteriously fangs of Zwei gets replaced <.< with or without the technology. EP21 it was pretty clear the GN-X shot down most of the fangs and the trio escaped. Then when they were living on cans, obviously low on supplies, the GN-X attack again and once again there were fangs flying around. So if they replaced fangs why cant they recharge their suits? Now from the screenshot once again we see that Ali replaced fangs too. Weird, unless you’re telling me the fangs are biologically reproduced by the gundam itself
Dan

17 Mar 2008

Ok summary i guess, seemed to have missed what feel were some pretty powerful moments and what was going on.
RmX

17 Mar 2008

@DM: If you would take a little bit more time and effort into doing these blog entries like you did on the outset of this series, Kaioshin wouldn’t need to make snarky comments to tell you to try harder, and I wouldn’t despair over the really negative impression you’re giving. I once liked reading these entries, but they’ve since degenerated into more of the same bashing that you used to be above.
shaquille

17 Mar 2008

Not trying to be evil but i hope ali lives and lockon dies, because the series will finally have a true rivaly just like amuro and char. because in the U.C. series character deaths and emotions made the story better. if they put a love story in gundam 00 and a rivaly ten the show will become much better than it is now. but now gundam 00 is missing something and it is charactization, it is so hard it is dificult to know if setsuna is the main character. nwell atleast this show is way better than gindam seed because of better animation and a fresh and brand new story.
LG

17 Mar 2008

@random hero:

Actually, like the Surveyors said, there are only FIVE GN Drives operational. Even though the second generation Gundams are still running around, they all use the same GN Drive, which is swapped between each other whenever one of them needs to use it (from Gundam 00F). Thus:

4 Gn Drives (Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, Virtue)
And another for Fereshte.

Also, while that may be true for Gundam as a whole… remember that so far Gundam 00 has managed to avoid or modify most of the cliches that other Gundams have, and in the case of dead people everybody in 00 that are supposedly dead ARE dead. (like Kinue, whom many said might live because she wasn’t shown dead in 20… only for them to show the body an episode later).
paradigmshifter

17 Mar 2008

i think the Surveyors’ report that there are 5 active GN drives is accurate…because if a Gundam Meister gets into trouble,and the secret of the GN Drive is compromised…they would use a self-destruct mechanism…wouldn’t they? (ok…im just speculating…but when one thinks logically, then it isn’t far from being canon…) so the Gundam Meisters in the past probably self destructed their mobile suits…MAYBE…

OR Celestial Being only ‘recycles’ GN Drives…who knows? I’m more interested in knowing how people get in Celestial Being…and why they are so dedicated to the cause…i guess that’s what this anime lacks…it’s cool and fast paced…but the plot development is still a bit lacking (i hope we could get more about Celestial Being in the following seasons…)
Dragoon

17 Mar 2008

@PS… i have to agree a little, there isn’t much in the way or how or even why CB came into effect or how you go about joining them though its made clear a few times that many members are there because there family were there.

As for the deaths, i never believe anyone in these shows is dead until they actually show a dead body or you physically see the character in the throws of death itself. Gundam shows have the uncanny ability to bring back those characters we think are dead when we least expect it.

Few things i noticed about this episode… many deaths, many GN-X destroyed, lots of explosions! Its pretty much a mid show attention grabber as they build up to stopping for a while so we are left wondering what happened to the characters.

Few things i found odd in the preview, looks like there is at least another addition of a new mobile suit piloted by the guy who took over Veda. He appears to be in a cockpit with lashings of gold about the place… he has a serious fetish there! Not to mention the closing part of the preview which showed a Dynames type Gundam firing at a GN-X…. so i’m confused.
Kaioshin Sama

17 Mar 2008

Well let’s see, who are the characters that we can kind of say have “come back to life” over the course of the franchise:

08th MS Team: (1)

Shiro Amada: Depends on whether you believe that it’s really him and not a ghost in Episode 13, or that he even should have died.

Zeta Gundam: (3)

Char Aznable: Twice, but both were planned all along. One was in MSG where only in Encounters in Space do we see him leaving for Axis and the other is at the end of Zeta where the Hyaku Shiki’s cockpit is seen empty after his loss to Haman.

Four Murusame: The last time we see her before the Kilimanjaro arc she’s in the Sudri which is sinking and exploding, bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to the chest and just not in very good shape. Then she runs into Kamille in the Kilimanjaro base looking perfectly fine and like nothing had ever happened. Very odd.

Jerid Mesa: He’s left in a derelict Gabthley in space with nobody around to rescue him and then shows up at Kilimanjaro too. Whether the base is in fact purgatory is up for debate.

Gundam ZZ (1):

Puru: Clones really…..

Char’s Counterattack (1):

Quess Paraya: Leaps from the cockpit of her Jagd Doga, WITHOUT ANY SORT OF SPACE HELMET OR SUIT, and somersaults into the cockpit of Char’s Sazabi without suffering any ill effect.

Gundam F91/Crossbone Gundam (10:

Kinkeido Nao: Falls to earth and then comes back with an upgraded Crossbone X1.

V Gundam (2):

Fuala Griffon: Ejected into space with a limited oxygen tank only to be saved by Tashiro later on and pops up again near the end with a new and deadly MS.

Katejina Loos: Looks dead in the destruction of the Angel Halo, but pops up again blinded (there’s symbolism in this, but you’d have to watch the series).

G Gundam (?):

Many: Devil Gundam cells, but it’s a deliberate part of the plot.

Gundam Wing (The series basically just doesn’t give a damn I found) (5):

Heero Yuy: Self destructs the Wing Gundam while standing on the edge of it’s cockpit door, is flung countless feet and spends 6 months or so in a coma

Trowa Barton: Vayeate blows up and he gets amnesia

Zechs Merquise: Looks like he dies at the end of Gundam Wing in the Libra only to come back in Gundam Wing Endless Waltz where nobody can comprehend how he’s still alive.

Mariemaia Khushrenada: Shot point blank, ends up in a wheelchair.

Lady Une: Shot in space point blank and comes back later on (Symbolic of her evil side dying, but come on!)

Gundam Seed (Gives even less of a damn then Wing) (7):

Kira (twice): Once when the Aegis blows up directly in front of him and the next time in Destiny when the Impulse does all but the same.

Andrew Bartfeld: LaGowe blows up, comes back

Rau Le Creuset: Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean he can’t be cloned.

Mu La Fraga: Probably the most infamous ressurection in anime history. Blocks a positron cannon from a ship point blank, utterly disentagrating the Strike Gundam and then he’s all but fine in Gundam Seed Destiny albeit with amnesia.

Athrun Zala: Saviour is disabled over the ocean and then he’s still fine somehow.

Sting Oakley: Chaos Gundam is obliterated by grunts and then comes back to life in a Destroy Gundam kind of looking like he’s braindead to get killed by Shinn (This I’m assuming because Fukuda/Morosawa couldn’t stand that had just done the unthinkable and actually allowed a Gundam to be taken down by anything other than another Gundam)

That’s about all I can recall. The thing I’ve noticed is that the more unusual the seeming death, the more the characters seem to make it out okay. For this reason I can entertain Lockon potentially being okay in the 2nd season, although highly doubtful, but not characters like Kinue, Lagna Michael, Darryl, Howard and Johan who all died in a very clear cut manner. Hell they even have a gravestone for Howard so he’s definitely gone.
Aubin Magnus

17 Mar 2008

Go Fangs! I shall throw my babies at you!
unknown

17 Mar 2008

GUNDAM 00 EPISODE 25 SUMMARY
-Lockon and Ali Al Sarshes are confirmed dead.
-Saji hijacks exia and kills setsuna.
-CB ship is completly destroyed by Saji, killing all of cb members and remaining gundam meisters.
-But, Saji accidently activates the trans-am and dies because he coudn’t handle the g’s.
-Alajandro’s plan to bring kira yamato from the future works.
-Alajandro knows kira cannot be killed.
-So Kira uses strike-freedom invincible custom to destroy all the worlds millitary powers.
-Kira betrays and kills Alajandro and creates a machine that produces pink haired larged-jugged girls who crap gundams.
-Thus the cosmic era begins.

Gundam 00 — Episode 23

Pseudo Summary

Screencaps

98 responses

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