Lacus Clyne emerges from the life pod in the Archangel's hanger, accompanied by a Haro, a small spherical robotic toy. Lacus and the crew members stare at each other for a long moment before Lacus observes in a cheerful tone that this must not be a ZAFT ship. Natarle facepalms at her attitude. The ship's senior officers question her in a bunk room. Most of the Heliopolis recruits attempt to eavesdrop with their ears against the door, but their bickering alerts Natarle, who sends them packing. Lacus introduces herself (and Haro) in a friendly tone, apparently undisturbed by her situation. Mu observes that her last name is the same as the ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman. Lacus excitedly confirms that Siegel Clyne is her father, and asks if Mu knows him. Mu facepalms. Murrue asks her what she was doing in the debris belt; Lacus tells her that her ship was visiting the Junius 7 wreckage for the first anniversary of the Bloody Valentine tragedy, but they encountered an Earth Alliance vessel, which boarded them to inspect the ship.Hostilities quickly escalated, and the crew ejected Lacus in a life pod to protect her.
At a military base in the PLANTs, Athrun is dragged out of the shower by a phone call. He is told that the Vesalius is leaving earlier than planned, and he must be aboard before it departs. After acknowledging the message, he turns on the TV, and hears a news report that the Silverwind, the ship bringing Lacus to Junius 7, has dropped out of contact. As Athrun boards the Vesalius, he encounters Rau and his father. They tell him that the Vesalius is heading out to search for Lacus; when Athrun asks why a warship is being sent on a search-and-rescue for a civilian vessel that hasn't even been confirmed to be in trouble, his father tells him that although it hasn't been made public knowledge, a reconnaissance GINN searching for the Silverwind has also gone missing. He explains that since Athrun and Lacus' engagement is public knowledge, and Lacus is a well-loved public figure in her own right, Athrun must participate in the search for her.
The Archangel departs the debris belt, having completed their resupply. Lacus sits alone in the same room where she was questioned earlier, talking to Haro. Kira is thinking about the GINN he was forced to destroy, when he hears Flay arguing with Miriallia. Miri wants Flay to take a tray of food to Lacus, but Flay refuses to have anything to do with her, saying she's too afraid to get near a Coordinator and insisting that she's with ZAFT and potentially dangerous. They're interrupted by Lacus appearing in the doorway and very politely asking them who they're talking about. Lacus explains that she left her room to look for something to eat after no one came after she called out. She also corrects Flay, saying that she's not with ZAFT, as ZAFT is the military arm of the PLANTs, and she's just a civilian. Flay yells at her, saying that she doesn't want to be friends with a Coordinator. Upset by this, Kira takes Lacus back to her room, with the food that Flay was arguing about to begin with. After they leave, Kuzzey asks Flay if she's a member of Blue Cosmos. Flay angrily insists that she's not, but says that she doesn't completely disagree with them either — she believes that anyone who uses LEGO Genetics to enhance their abilities rather than just fixing genetic disorders is going against the natural order of things.
In Lacus' room, she asks Kira if she really has to stay there again. He says that it would be better if she did. She complains about having to eat alone, saying that she'd much rather eat in the dining room where she could talk to everyone. Kira says that she should remember that she's on an Earth Alliance ship, and many of the people on board don't like Coordinators, because the two sides are enemies. Lacus says that she thinks that's a shame, but thanks Kira for being kind to her anyway. Kira tells her that it's because he's also a Coordinator.
Mu and Murrue discuss the situation, coming to the conclusion that they have no choice to bring Lacus with them to the Atlantic Federation's lunar HQ. Murrue says she wishes they didn't have to involve a civilian girl in the war like this, but Natarle points out that they've already involved all the Heliopolis recruits, and that Lacus isn't just a normal civilian — she's the daughter of ZAFT's leader. Some time later, the Archangel detects a coded signal from the Earth Alliance's 8th Fleet. Decrypting the message, they realize it's from a force under an Admiral Halberton. This news causes the bridge crew to celebrate, looking forward to meeting up with reinforcements.
As Kira leaves Lacus' room, Sai finds him, telling him not to worry about what happened and that he'll talk to Flay about it. Inside her room, Lacus begins singing to herself. The scene flashes back to Kira's earlier conversation with Lacus. He says he's being nice to her because they're both Coordinators, but she says it's just him being himself. Listening to the singing, Sai comments on how beautiful her voice is and wonders whether it's part of her genetic enhancement as a Coordinator, which bothers Kira. Back in the dining room, Kuzzey and Flay are sitting at opposite ends of the table. Kuzzey stands to leave, but before he does, he reminds Flay that Kira is also a Coordinator, which lets him do things like pilot the Strike.
On the Vesalius, Ades reports that they've detected Earth Alliance vessels. Rau points out that they're positioned along the path that the Archangel would take while traveling from Artemis to their lunar HQ. Ades speculates that they may be resupply ships or escort vessels. Rau orders him to shadow the enemy ships without letting themselves be detected (while continuing to look for Lacus, naturally). He tells Ades that an opportunity like this one is more important than one girl.
On the Archangel, the refugees are looking forward to meeting up with the allied fleet and being able to leave the ship. Sai tells Flay that her father is with the advance fleet, and that he should learn that she's aboard the Archangel soon, since they just forwarded a list of passengers and crew to them. In the hanger, Kira apologizes to Murdoch, the chief mechanic, for being late. Murdoch says that it's no big deal, since Kira probably won't ever have to pilot the Strike again anyway. In her room, Lacus talks to Haro, asking it if it knows where the ship is headed. Haro, as always, a lot to say, but none of it useful.
Tropes used in this episode:
- Cute Machines: Haro, who is also a Series Mascot for Gundam as a whole.
- Facepalm: Lacus' behavior seems to inspire this reaction in people. As we later find out, she's clearly doing it on purpose to make sure people nobody thinks much of her.
- Fantastic Racism: Flay displays some against Coordinators.
- Homage Shot: Lacus's exit from her escape pod at the beginning of this episode was a nod to Lalah Sune's exit from Char Aznable's shuttle
in episode 34 of Mobile Suit Gundam. - The Ingenue: Lacus certainly acts this way.
- Lonely Together: Kira and Lacus definitely have this vibe; each is isolated (Lacus by her association with ZAFT, Kira by his responsibilities for protecting the Archangel), and can only really unburden themselves to the other. Being the only two Coordinators on the ship doesn't hurt either.
