Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch from Mercury Episode 23: All you need is FAMILY!

In the span of merely 25 minutes, we witnessed at least three climaxes.
One, is the clash between Guel vs Lauda.
Two, Suletta vs her sister Ericht and her mother, Prospera.
Three, the sudden debut of the ILTS, a giant interplanetary weapon under the guise of a power transmission system.

Not to mention Miorine’s gang to deal with the Quiet Zero, and some small developments from Belmeria, El5n,… That would be at least 4 major turning points in the story of G-Witch.
Four of them, in the span of 24 minutes and 53 seconds.

In the first case there, I can only assume that those that have the power to affect G-Witch’s story said to Okouchi: yo, we need to end Jeturk’s storyline at episode 23, but we still have to avoid Michaelis’s fate. You know, Schwarzette, it needs to be able to sell well, so make it flashy but just end it quickly. That was the only appropriate reason that made the story as we knew.

Out of the main three houses, Jeturk has to be the most likable one in terms of characters and plot-building around them. Schwarzette has to be one of the most surprising surprises. Its design is nothing less than a piece of art, a giant bulky Gundam that did not have an unbalance waist like any Gundam in IBO, with one of the most creative choices for its primary weapon, or shall I say, weapons:

+ Great Sword
+ Great sword split into GUND-Bit
+ Multi-barrel machine gun (Gatling)
+ Maneuverability booster from GUND-Bit
+ Diffuse beam cannon (bullet beam)
+ Built-in revolver (shotgun style)
+ Great sword converted to concentrated beam cannon
+ Katana beam blade as its core

That was how much possibilities that club-like blade held, in better circumstances, Schwarzette might become one of the best Gundam that came out from G-Witch, and that also applied when it fought Guel’s Dilanza as well.
Unfortunately, the pacing killed it, the hype that people once had was shattered. If not because the suit itself packed so many punches, Schwarzette would have suffered the same fate as Michaelis had.

The same could be said to the beef between Guel and Lauda.
The idea itself is great, but, seriously, why now?
Isn’t the Quiet Zero should be the main focused?
It did not help any characterization in both characters, and it wasted one third of the screentime for what should have been the main focus of this episode: Quiet Zero.
But to be honest, it was a victim as well. Caused by what we have discussed with each other for three weeks now, the pacing.

Quiet Zero, and anyone related to it too, was another victim.
We have some short conversations related to the old episodes, like El5n with Kenanji (again, best adult in G-Witch), Belmeria with Prospera, Miorine with Prospera, Suletta with Ericht (and Prospera through Ericht) or the backdoor made by Miorine’s mother, which was made with a certain code type from what we have seen in the previous episode. All of those were great details that were built up from the past but emotion-wise, it felt extremely so-so because we did not have any time to actually feel for them. We had Suletta struggling to stay alive while fighting her sister, at the same time we had Lauda went wild with his brother, and then El5N, Belmeria, Prospera…
Those did not exactly work to build up the others because everything just happened almost the same time. Make time for them, one at a time.

Last but not least, the laser cannon thing. Of all the time, why make a Unicorn reference now? G-Witch did make references to Unicorn before, but it was small details and was used to boost emotion for scenes. But not the laser cannon thing. It became the main antagonist just seconds after Quiet Zero was deactivated, not to mention it came from the Space Assembly League of all the factions that could muster it. Logically speaking, they were the most possible faction to have that, but that does not mean just popped it right into the episode and everything would work as Unicorn did.
Unicorn worked because it got the time, G-Witch had none of that.

And also, this episode pulled a Petra on us. Eri’s fate is now in the hands of the writer. After tanking the colony laser, the Aerial is all but totaled. However, in her desperate moment, Eri shielded Suletta along with QZ with her whole body. While Eri was mad at Suletta before, but as we’ve seen in Planet Cradle, Eri cherishes Suletta very much. Suletta is no doubt the living proof that Eri could have had a normal life if not for the harsh reality, and she is also her “flesh” and “blood” sister.

After many years stuck in Aerial, Eri surely understood the loss that she and her mother experienced. Her father, Dr. Nabo, and everyone else – Eri has lost so much, even her own body, so she definitely does not want to lose anymore. If that laser hits, not only Suletta but also her mother would be lost. And that is something she absolutely cannot allow. But Aerial hasn’t been destroyed “completely” yet, even though her head unit has gone off, there is always a possibility of a miracle – and who else is more capable to create one than a witch?

Eri’s bits – her genetic clones are still there – and I suspect they are still functional. And of course, they will no doubt combine with Caliburn for the “final” final showdown. But will it happen?

Last episode (period): What will the end be?
Just hope that Okouchi doesn’t make the situation worse.

>Reryuu<

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