Escape (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Infobox Gundam Episode (MSG)


Title=Escape
episode_no=43
prod_code=
airdateJ

airdateUS= December 31, 2001
Episode -2=Cosmic Glow
Episode -1=Space Fortress A Baoa Qu
Current Episode=Escape
Episode +1=
Episode +2=

Escape is the 43rd and final episode [http://www.mahq.net/animation/gundam/series/msgep42.htm] of "Mobile Suit Gundam".

Plot summary

Amuro and Char continue to fight. Amuro asks Char why he forced Lalah to fight. Kai and Hayato land on A Baoa Qu's surface and engage enemy mobile suits. Amuro dodges one of the Zeong's wire-controlled mega particle cannon hands and blows off one of its arms. But at the same time Char blows away the Gundam's left arm and shield. Char escapes and Amuro chases after him. The Zeong flies nearby the fortress while Char dons a normal suit, wondering whether he can defeat Amuro, a Newtype.

A mega particle cannon blast destroys the "White Base's" port engine. Bright orders the ship to land on the fortress's surface. Several Rick Doms appear and start shooting at the remaining engine. Kai and Hayato return to defend the ship while Bright orders the crew to prepare for hand-to-hand combat.

Amuro destroys Rick Doms that are on his way while searchihg for Char. He finds the Zeong and shoots at its torso. Its head (where the cockpit is located) ejects and its mouth shoots a mega particle blast that destroys the Gundam's head.

Kycilia is informed that the Zeong has been destroyed. Kycilia wonders if Char is dead. She informs the command center's senior officer she will escape A Baoa Qu and to surrender fifteen minutes after she leaves, saying that retreating to Grenada is their last hope.

Amuro and a battered Gundam enter the deserted base along a passage. Using a backup camera, he wonders if Char is somewhere around. He bails out of the Gundam and pilots it telepathically. Amuro detects Char and the Gundam shoots at the Zeong's hovering head. At the same time the Zeong's mega particle blast destroys the Gundam's right arm and leg.

Char and Amuro meet deep inside the base. He asks Char why he made Lalah fight. Char says that if it weren’t for the war people like Lalah would not become Newtype. Char then tells Amuro he’ll kill him and start shooting at each other.

Hayato and Kai jump out of the Guntank and Guncannon respectively. Both mobile suits are damaged beyond repair. Sayla crash lands the G-Fighter near White Base, entering A Baoa Qu. She wants to find Char. Sayla finds Amuro and Char dueling with fencing swords and desperately asks them to stop. Amuro wounds Char’s face through his helmet and he pierces Amuro in the arm. Sayla convinces both that they are not the enemy but the Zabis are. Char realizes that he’s got some business to settle.

Char and Sayla are abruptly separated from Amuro by a nearby explosion. Char asks a dying soldier where Kycilia is escaping. He grabs the soldier’s helmet and bazooka and tells Sayla before departing to be a good woman and forget the war. Somewhere else, Amuro pulls out the piece of the sword Char stabbed him with.

Char finds the harbor where Kycilia’s ship is taking off. Kycilia is surprised to see Char still alive in front of her while he tells himself he’s reunitng her with Garma in the afterlife. Char fires the bazooka right at Kycilia, killing her, her crew, and consequently destroying the bridge. The flaming ship collapses into the harbor and explodes, setting a chain reaction.

The explosions continue and knock around a wounded Amuro somewhere close to the wreckage of the Gundam. He manually ejects the Core Fighter unit. Wondering what to do, he hears Lalah’s voice and tells him he cannot die yet. Amuro’s Newtype abilities awaken and sees the "White Base" crew in different parts of the fortress fighting Zeon soldiers. He sees Sayla and gives her directions on how to escape from the base. He next contacts Bright and Mirai, letting them know that if they don’t abandon ship soon everyone onboard will die. He also contacts Kai and Hayato, who are pinned down by enemy fire. Both agree that the Federation has already won the battle and it’s useless to keep fighting and fall back. Fraw is exchanging fire with Zeon soldiers when she too is contacted. Amuro tells her when she and the children escape to safety.

Sayla arrives just in time before the escape shuttles fly off. The "White Base" explodes shortly after abandoning it. Bright salutes the ship, saying that if it weren’t for Amuro’s foresight they would’ve died. He asks Sayla to contact Amuro but she doesn’t know how to do that. Kikka, Katz, and Letz can somehow communicate with Amuro and tell him how to escape. The Core Fighter emerges from A Baoa Qu with Amuro piloting it. Amuro tells Lalah he has too much to look forward to before he dies, and bails out of the drifting fighter to reunite with his comrades.

The war ends on January 1, UC 0080 with a treaty between the Earth Federation and the Republic of Zeon.

References

* [http://www.mahq.net/animation/gundam/series/msgep43.htm] episode 43 at MAHq.