Episode 13, "Space Fortress Ambat"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: With the Diva armed with a AGE System-created beam weapon, the crew prepares for battle. Grodek commands the fleet from the bridge. The mobile suit forces launch. The fleet approaches Ambat at fires, but at first there's no response. Suddenly, a massive ship emerges from behind a forcefield. The Diva transforms into more of a battleship. Combat ensues, but the UE outnumber the rebels. Flit draws the enemy towards himself and takes out many of them. The Diva nears the base and fires it's beam weapon at the ship, which is heavily damaged. Ract tries to sacrifice himself to stop the remaining part, but before he can, other friendly forces arrive to assist them.
Comments:
Wow, this was an excellent episode!
First of all, let me get this out of the way: what the hell is up with everyone's normal suit? The Diva crew dress like they're in their pajamas. The Zalam normal suits look like Zakus. The Euba MS normal suits are probably the best looking. It's hard to take the Diva crew seriously with such ridiculous suits. Get some normal normal suits, guys! This isn't a sleepover.
Speaking of the Diva (and we're getting to the good parts now), it's transformation is pretty cool. It's transformed state looks like the Albion from Gundam 0083. Before, it looked a bit like the Ptolemaios from Gundam 00.
Considering how predictable this show has been, I was really pleasantly surprised by a the cliche-avoiding scene in this episode where Ract tries a suicide run but is stopped by Flit. Ract is unable to make himself a human missile like Don Boyage. The little talking-to he gets from Flit is a great moment. It feels like the kind of thing you'd see in FMA (though in FMA, it would be a big speech about not throwing your life away).
Emily's really got her shit together now. She's in full support of Flit's decision to continue fighting in the Gundam. For a while, I thought she was going to go crazy or something.
There was some good action in this episode. I especially enjoyed when Flit drew a bunch of UE suits to himself, and then took them all out himself. That was pretty badass, especially the way he did it. It's probably the best action scene in the show thus far.
This episode was a lot more compelling than the show has been overall. I only hope the episodes that follow can live up to it.
Overall Score:
4.5 out of 5
