Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Episode Five: Reflection in an Icy Eye
Written by: Ichirō Ōkouchi
Directed by: Kiyoshi Egami
Storyboarded by: Hiroshi Kobayashi, Shinya Watada and Kiyoshi Egami
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Episode Five: Reflection in an Icy Eye (氷の瞳に映るのは, Kōri no Hitomi ni Utsuru no wa) is the fifth episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
In a dueling arena, three mobile suits are pitted against Elan Ceres of Peil House; watching the battle, the Dueling Committee remark on how unusual it is for Elan to accept a duel, while Ojelo of Earth House cheers on the opposing trio, having bet on Elan losing the battle. Despite being outnumbered, Elan easily defeats his opponents. Reviewing the battle, the CEOs of Peil Technologies discuss Suletta not suffering a data storm when piloting Aerial, wondering whether it is the machine or the pilot which has overcome the known issues with Gundams. Deciding to investigate closer, they plan to have Elan, referred to as Enhanced Person #4, uncover the truth.
As the day ends, the mechanics of Earth House marvel at Aerial's sophisticated hardware and software, while Martin questions where the money for it came from. Below, Suletta has her fortune read by Aliya, telling her a little of her past. Suddenly, Suletta gets a call from Elan, who requests an outing with her. By nightfall, the others learn of Suletta going out with Elan, with Lilique wondering if she turned Guel down because she was interested in Elan. Aliya notes Elan's reputation as an "Ice Prince," and how unusual it is for him to reach out to someone. Suletta also calls her mother about her "date" with Elan, who encourages her on progressing through her list. After the call ends, Prospera's assistant Godoy informs her that Peil Technologies is making their move.
At Peil, Elan reviews footage of the second duel between Suletta and Guel along with his handler and the CEOs' advisor, Belmeria Winston. Observing how organic and reactive Aerial's movements are, she concludes it must be a Gundam, having perfected the GUND-Format man-machine interface. Given the strain of such performance would normally instantly kill the pilot, they theorize that Suletta is an "Enhanced Person" like Elan - a cyborg specifically designed with numerous GUND implants to handle the strain of piloting a Gundam. First thinking Elan is venting about his circumstances, Belmeria realizes he's actually happy at the possibility of meeting a kindred spirit after he questions if Suletta is also "borrowing another's face." Before he leaves with the physical done, Belmeria asks Elan to arrange another duel so they can test "Pharact" ahead of challenging Aerial.
The next day, Suletta prepares to meet with Elan, loading up Aerial to take with her at his request. Before they can depart, Miorine bursts in on a motor scooter, having to be restrained as she angrily calls Suletta out for going along with a person from one of the top three branches. Hastily taking her leave, Suletta meets with Elan, their subsequent departure witnessed by numerous students, the oddity of Elan going out with someone quickly spreading gossip through the school, resulting in Petra and Felsi informing Guel of the date. Arriving at an empty test sector, Elan claims he'd like Suletta's help with inspecting the area, taking the opportunity to question Suletta about herself and Aerial. Elan then asks to test out Aerial himself, which Suletta agrees to. Leaving her behind, believing she may have offended him by trying to ask after his birthday, Elan takes Aerial to an isolated spot, increasing her Permet Score to two. Confirming that Aerial is definitely a Gundam, Elan finds that he experiences no discomfort or increased strain on his GUND augments, realizing that Aerial has "broken the curse", and that Suletta is not an Enhanced Person like him. Returning to her, Suletta continues trying to reach out to Elan after he disembarks, but he coldly brushes her off. Guel suddenly barges in on them and, seeing Suletta tearing up, makes ready to challenge Elan to a duel, only for Elan to preempt him to complete his mission.
With Shaddiq overseeing the duel, Guel demands that Elan stay away from Suletta should he win, despite her objections and noting the hypocrisy of him trying to justify it as Elan belonging to one of the three branches. Elan meanwhile says that should he win, he intends to challenge Suletta to a duel next, which she accepts. Lacking a mobile suit after the Darlibalde was taken back, Guel commandeers his brother's Dilanza, despite Lauda protesting that their father has forbidden Guel from dueling. At Earth House, the boys wonder why Elan and Guel are dueling, with Lilique suggesting it's obviously a love triangle, while Miorine hopes they wind up destroying each other out, which even Chuchu finds mean. Lauda tries to have the duel aborted, but Secelia and Shaddiq refuse. Elan joins Guel in the arena, piloting Peil's black Gundam, the FP/A-77 Pharact.
At first evenly matched with the low gravity setting of the arena letting Guel's Dilanza keep up with the Pharact's high mobility, the tide turns when Elan increases its Permet Score, deploying a swarm of bits which fire stun lasers that disable whatever crosses their path. While Guel tries to brute force his way through the laser web, both the onlookers and Elan realize that the regolith kicked up by his violent fighting style is charged with static electricity, which the Pharact's beams overcharge, causing the mineral build-up to harden and the Dilanza's joints to seize, opening it up to be rendered completely helpless by the stun lasers. Observing the GUND-Bits in action, Prospera is confronted by Belmeria, Peil's own "Witch", who greets her as her senior. With Guel completely paralyzed, Elan ruthlessly destroys his stolen Dilanza. Following this brutal victory, Elan calls Suletta, coldly telling her that if he defeats her, he will claim her Gundam.
Enami Katsumi’s (end card illustrator)’s official Twitter
Reflection in an Icy Eye provides examples of:
- Badass Boast: While he slowly rips off Dilanza’s horn, Elan states that only a Gundam can defeat a Gundam.Elan Ceres: The only way to defeat a Gundam...is with a Gundam.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Elan, having won his duel with Guel, coldly ringing up Suletta to tell her that he'll duel her and will take her Gundam if he wins.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Once Elan activates the GUND Format on his Gundam Pharact, he uses its Bits to easily destroy Guel's machine in under a minute.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Despite his crushing defeat, Guel kept up with Elan's Gundam in a fairly standard mobile suit with minimal ranged capabilities. Once he learned the trick of Elan's electromagnetic beams he was able to avoid being disabled by using his axe to shield himself, even from multiple directions at once, and was ultimately defeated due to his own overly-aggressive tactics rather than the Pharact's superior specs.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode is mostly focused on Elan and gives the audience insight on his status as an Enhanced Person, his combat skills and his new hatred towards Suletta.
- Doesn't Know Their Own Birthday: Suletta asked Elan about his birthday because she was interested in seeing his fortune. He initially doesn’t answer but when he does, he reveals he’s never had one.Elan Ceres: That’s something...I've never had.
- Driven by Envy: Elan starts growing colder to Suletta upon discovering that the Aerial is a Gundam and Suletta doesn't feel any side effects of piloting her.
- First-Name Basis: Notably, Nika no longer refers to Suletta as “Suletta-san”.
- History Repeats: As in his first duel with Suletta, Guel's duel with Elan sees his mobile suit carved to pieces by a Gundam and its Bits.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Guel spelled his doom by charging through the static electricity dust cloud. It completely immobilizes the Dilanza.
- Imaginary Love Triangle: Lilique believes this is the source of the conflict between Suletta, Elan and Guel. It is much more serious than this.
- Kick the Dog: It appears Elan does a 180 in personality, especially concerning what he found out about Aerial...
- Elan was unnecessarily cruel towards Suletta once he emerged from Aerial's cockpit. After confirming that Aerial is a Gundam, he coldly retorts to Suletta that having a mobile suit as family is ridiculous.
- Guel and his Dilanza are immobilized by Pharact's Bits and completely at his mercy. You'd think Elan would just mercifully shoot off the head crest and end the duel, right? Wrong. He needlessly shoots off all of the Dilanza's limbs and then coldly rips off its head crest with the Pharact's bare hands, all while Guel yells at him to stop and everyone watches on in horror.Guel: Stop...
Elan: [Pharact grabs the Dilanza's fin and begins yanking on it] The only way to defeat a Gundam...
Guel: I SAID STOOOOOOOOOOOPP!!!!!!!
Elan: ...is with a Gundam. [Pharact rips off the fin]
- Kick Them While They Are Down: The Gundam Pharact's Bits have already immobilised the Dilanza, but Elan opts to shoot off all of the losing machine's limbs and then rip off the head crest with his machine's bare hands.
- Long-Range Fighter: This is the Gundam Pharact's specialty. Its primary weapon is a Sniper Rifle and it utilizes drones like the Aerial.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Many of the characters shown watching the duel between Guel and Elan look on in concern and/or horror as Elan easily dominates Guel with his Gundam and dismembers the loser's Dilanza. Lauda winces at the unfolding massacre — this is his machine. Even Guel is horrified, yelling at Elan to stop.
- Mood Whiplash: The atmosphere from Elan's Pharact brutally shooting off each of the Dilanza's limbs before slowly ripping off its horn is interrupted by Nuno's joy at having won the bet and Ojelo's dissatisfaction.
- Mythology Gag:
- In the opening duel, Elan gains altitude with his Zowort before rocketing down towards his opponents to avoid their attacks, just like Graham Aker pulling off his signature Graham Special.
- Elan is referred to as "Enhanced Person Number Four", which calls to mind the Titan's Cyber-Newtypes and Four Murasame being one of them (although the original Japanese term means "Enhanced Human").
- When operating the Aerial to see if it's actually a Gundam, Elan activates its GUND Format and stretches its hands forward in a similar manner to the Gundam Bael stretching its own arms forward when McGillis Fareed activates it for the first time.
- The Gundam Pharact's first sortie against Guel in his brother's Dilanza seems to take a page from Carris and the Bertigo owning Garrod and his Gundam X, from the drone deployment of the new machine to the losing mobile suit kneeling to everyone watching in horror as the losing fighter gets wrecked further, topped by the winner making a Badass Boast to declare superiority over the loser.
- Not So Similar: Elan could once relate to Suletta due to both handling a Gundam over the course of the previous few episodes, but upon discovering she, unlike Elan, can pilot the Gundam Aerial with no pain or need for cybernetic enhancements...
- Not So Stoic: Elan loses his cool for the first time in the series in Aerial's cockpit once he learns the truth about her and Suletta.
- One-Man Army: The opening fight shows Elan facing off three guys from the Daigo House. Elan and his Zowort easily defeat all three combatants.
- Pet the Dog: When Guel hears Suletta's on a date with Elan, he realizes he's up to no good and races there as fast as he can. And when he sees the look on her face, having just been coldly insulted by Elan, the only reason he doesn't challenge Elan to a duel is that Elan preempts him with a challenge of his own.
- Rule of Symbolism: While inside a cloud of dust and turned upside down, the Pharact's GUND format indicators resemble a skull.
- There Is Another: Twofold. There is another Gundam at Asticassia, and there is another "witch" who truly pilots it.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Well, no one dies here, but the Pharact shoots off all of Guel's stolen Dilanza's limbs despite already having incapacitated the machine. And then Elan tops it off by slowly ripping off his opponent's head crest with the Pharact's hands.
