WMG / Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom

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Guesses for Super Robot Wars

Pre-Release Speculation

The movie will be a tribute to Chiaki Morosawa.

The movie will be the conclusive chapter to the Cosmic Era universe, which had been shelved for nearly two decades because of Morosawa's declining health and nearly scrapped altogether following her passing.

Kira and Lacus are going to separate.

Temporarily or indefinitely for whatever reason are up in the air, but the first trailer featured a scene where Kira gifts Lacus a blue-colored Birdy/Torii, similar to how Athrun gifted Kira his green-colored one when they parted ways as children.

• Jossed. Their relationship briefly goes on the rocks during the movie and Kira does believe Lacus has betrayed Compass for a bit, but the two became together again in the last act before the two culminates in a Victory Sex at the end of the film.

The film will have numerous nods to Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

SEED and SEED Destiny contained a number of plot nods to Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam respectively. Now, just as Char's Counterattack returned to having Amuro Rey as the protagonist, SEED Freedom is returning to Kira as the protagonist. Ergo, we may see a number of references to Char's Counterattack in the same vein.

• Kira's Rising Freedom could be an analogue to the Re-GZ, both being lower-spec transformable versions of Gundams from prior anime.
• Confirmed. A Quess Expy appears, being Agnes in that they are both bratty characters who try to get romantically involved with the main character and eventually join the villains organization.

For a part of the film, Shinn will have a moment of being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad as the main character than Kira.

As an inverse of what happened in Gundam Seed Destiny, along with giving his character a more proper conclusion after the events of the show.

• Jossed for main character, confirmed for character development. Shinn is a main character but considered the third most relevant after Kira and Lacus. His character develops very well compared to SEED Destiny where he is at peace with himself by working hard in Compass.

Predictions for the "surprising machine" Shinn will pilot in the film.

There's been mentions of Shinn piloting a mobile suit that isn't what one would normally suspect, even if it might not be for the duration of the film.

• A mass-production unit: since he's only been seen piloting Gundams.
• A Freedom model (whether it's the Strike Freedom or something else): considering how these are normally associated with Kira.
• A Justice model: as these are heavily associated with Athrun.
  • Jossed. Shinn pilots the Immortal Justice at the start but that is not the surprise machine.

There’s the Destiny Impulse and the Destiny Impulse R, which is somewhere between the Impulse and Destiny in terms of power; remember, the Destiny Impulse doesn’t have the same power reactor in the Destiny, Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, or Legend. I could see Shinn and Luna each piloting the DImpulse, until Shinn upgrades to the true successor to the Destiny.

• Confirmed. Shinn pilots a successor to the Destiny which is the the Destiny Gundam Spec. II.

The original Freedom will return.

It would be a little remiss for the Gundam that was the reason for the name not to show up in Seed Freedom. Looking back at the footage would show that the Freedom was not completely destroyed, at least not anymore so than in the original Seed. While restoring it would take considerable resources, it's not inconceivable that Lacus wouldn't have had what was left recovered and reassembled.

• Doubtful. At the end of SEED Freedom still had it's entire main body and most importantly reactor and N Jammer Canceller fuselage intact. After Angel Down the only thing left was the head and cockpit block. They'd have to rebuild 90 percent of it from scratch including the reactor and NJC at which point they might as well make a new Gundam entirely. But it could potentially show up in a flashback I suppose.
  • Jossed. It does not return.

Design of the next Freedom Gundam

Since the title is Gundam SEED Freedom, it wouldn't be a surprise if Kira receives a new Freedom Gundam, which will be the successor unit of his current Strike Freedom, as his Mid-Movie Upgrade.

• More Beam Spam. It wouldn't be a member of the Freedom family tree without them.
• More physical-based weaponry. One common criticism regarding the Strike Freedom's design is that its arsenal has a possible case of Crippling Overspecialization, because majority of its weapons are ranged & beam-based ones. Thus, most of its arsenal can be countered by powerful anti-beam defenses. Giving the new Freedom Gundam additional physical-based weapons will make it more well-rounded and more effective against any kind of enemy defenses. This also extends to both Athrun and Shinn's new Gundams in the movie, since like the Strike Freedom, the Infinite Justice and Destiny are both equipped with mostly beam-based weaponry.
• Confirmed. The new Gundams all receive railgun-based weaponry to counter the Foundation's Mobile Suits which are immune to beam weaponry.
• More melee-type weapons, with reason same as above. This will make the new Freedom more effective in fighting any types of enemies, Close-Range Combatant-types included.
  • Confirmed. It gets a new physical blade.
• Platinum-colored joints/frame. To show that it is another level over the Strike Freedom, which has golden joints/frame.
  • Jossed. It's the same Strike Freedom, but with a Wave-Motion Gun instead.

A new villain will wreck Kira's Strike Freedom in their first confrontation.

Just to show Kira is Not So Invincible After All, even with Strike Freedom.

• Confirmed. The Strike Freedom is mangled, until Lacus gets his new wings, and get Kira the upper hand. Even when the Strike Freedom get stolen in an unexplained incident, the Black Knights manage to easily defeat it.

If Destiny broke Shinn down, then Freedom could be about rebuilding and redeeming him.

What would it be like if Kira became a mentor to Shinn, since Athrun failed at it, allowing Shinn to be easily manipulated by Durandal? It could mirror the Amuro-Kamille relationship in Zeta Gundam.Also, Shinn would pilot a new Gundam, preferably a successor to Destiny.

• Confirmed. Shinn took to Kira's mentoring very well, and it showed in the final battle.

There could be references to Cross Ange, Fukuda’s previous work.

Gundam Seed got a shoutout from Cross Ange, among other things.

• Confirmed. Orphee is SEED's version of Embryo, and dies in a similar manner, with Kira and Lacus becoming a couple. The Proud Defender's cockpit is similar to the Para-Mails while the Mighty Strike Freedom's wings are reminiscent of the Villkiss.

Gundam SEED Freedom could reintroduce the Mobile Doll concept from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

With drone warfare becoming relevant in the past couple years, the film could introduce the Cosmic Era’s version of Mobile Dolls.

• Confirmed. The Black Knights use drones during their ambush, creating a False Flag Operation to bait Compass.

Whatever the nature of the military conflict, Kira will be the movie's primary villain — his own villain.

Dialogue from the second trailer indicates that Kira is dealing with his own demons from the previous two series — such as the possibility that Durandal was right — as well as the fact that there are characters telling Kira not to do something, or Lacus imploring someone to "stop Kira."

• Additionally, Kira seems to have red eyes in one part of the second teaser. Perhaps a Superpowered Evil Side tied to his Ultimate Coordinator physiology?

Going off above, if Kira needs to be stopped, the one to do it will be...

• Athrun. In a similar reenactment of their final fight in SEED, but with their upgraded machines.
• Shinn. Similar to the clash between the Freedom and Impulse, but this time both will go all out without any distractions.
  • Slightly Jossed. Kira did not need to be stopped in his Gundam but Athrun had to beat him out of his Heroic BSoD to stop him from giving up.

Gilbert Durandal will be a posthumous Greater-Scope Villain

The amount of dialogue in the second teaser implies that his efforts to enact the Destiny Plan have left a lasting impression on the Cosmic Era. Perhaps his words will haunt Kira throughout the movie, or the movie's antagonist would be trying to implement their own version of the Destiny Plan.

• Confirmed. Foundation tried to implement their own version of Durandal's Destiny Plan, but theirs has a more racist bend than Durandal's, with Aura and her Accords ruling on top. Also, Aura previously worked with Durandal and Ulen Hibiki.

Toyah Mashima is another clone of Al Da Flaga.

He's got the basic physical appearance of a Char Clone.

• Or alternately, he's a clone of Mu; compare him to this photo of young Mu with his father◊.
• Or he's a relation of Mu and Al who inherited the Flaga estate after Mu was disowned and Al died.

Agnes Giebenrath will not survive in the end.

Due to her being voiced by Houko Kuwashima, who is like Sean Bean's Distaff Counterpart in Japanese voice acting industry.

• The staff might also foreshadow this with Agnes being lamb, as in Sacrificial Lamb. If anything, Shinn and Agnes will have feelings for each other, before Agnes dies too, sending Shinn and Luna into a rage.
  • Her killers are likely either Shura or Griffin, both of whom are archenemies against Shinn, before Shinn eventually overpowers either of them.
  • Jossed. Agnes is not only the mole, but she's the Sole Survivor in the Black Knights' side.

Mu's warning to Kira heavily implies that either he's under the influence of his new MS' Superpowered Evil Side or he's about to do something dangerously reckless.

If Kira is piloting the CE equivalent of the Unicorn Gundam or Wing Gundam Zero, and/or he's finally fed up with wars, then this might be the case.

• Confirmed. Kira gets mind controlled by Orphee into seeing hallucinations where he unintentionally breaks treaties by crossing the border, giving the Black Knights permission to stop Kira by force.

The Archangel will finally be sunk.

This would be long coming as the Archangel has developed a rep as an unsinkable warship and being a constant obstacle for ZAFT. This movie is meant to be the final installment of the Cosmic Era, so now would be as good a time as any for the vessel to have a final sendoff. The second trailer also seems to hint at this as it shows a brief shot of the Archangel sustaining critical damage.

• Confirmed, interestingly. The Black Knights successfully blow up the Archangel despite all expectations.

Kira will cheat death again (and in a controversial way too in real life) before getting his new Freedom Gundam, or a differently named Mid-Movie Upgrade.

This already happened to him twice, in both series before obtaining his upgrades, so for him, it was Tuesday if it happens to him again in the movie.

• Confirmed for Mid-Season Upgrade, Jossed for survival. The chances of him living from an attack was extremely slim but this time it was shown on screen to show how he survived.

The movie will finally provide an explanation and background on the SEED factor.

Despite the many bearers of the Superior Evolutionary Element Destined-factor in the series, the "SEED" is still a relatively unknown and scarcely mentioned scientific phenomenon and has so far only been regulated as merely a Super Mode for certain characters. The film will finally provide details on the its supposed link to the evolution of humanity and its purpose beyond granting heightened senses and awareness in combat situations. Technology that revolves around the SEED Factor might be developed, such as Super Mode MS systems that activates if the pilot uses his/her SEED Mode a la Biosensor or Awakened NT-D, or anti-SEED Factor countermeasures (similar to the initial version of the NT-D System).

T.M.Revolution (or at least his latest song by the film's release) will appear in Gundam SEED Freedom.

It’s not Gundam SEED without TM Revolution. He’ll have a cameo as an unknown character (or even a fictional version of himself). Also, expect him to release a new song to promote the film.

• Confirmed. The singer is now performing under his real name, Takanori Nishikawa. The song is titled "Freedom" where he performs alongside Tetsuya Komuro.

While we’re there, Nana Mizuki could also appear as well, in what would also be a shoutout to Cross Ange, especially that her co-star and fellow voice actor (since their Nanoha days), Yukari Tamura, has just been announced as among of the cast in late September 2023.

• Jossed. Nana Mizuki does not cameo in the movie but there are plenty of Cross Ange references throughout the film.

The little girl and her two bodyguards are from the Kingdom of Scandinavia.

The nation has been namedropped during both SEED (being the birthplace of Lacus' father, Siegel Clyne) and SEED Destiny (where they let the Archangel crew hide), but have strangely never been properly explored in any Cosmic Era material. Now would be as good a time as any for the staff to expand on them.

• Could the girl be the Mineva/Mariemaia Expy, not to mention that she could also be Kira and Flay's lost daughter?
• Jossed. Aura, Shura, and Orphee are from a new nation called the Foundation.

Murrue and Mu are going have a baby.

Why not? This will be the final chapter of the Cosmic Era and Murrue and Mu have been one of the more emotionally-stable relationships in the series. They were shown happily living together at the conclusion of Destiny and most released movie material so far show them still acting as team parents for the younger pilots.

Meyrin has taken asylum in Orb.

Despite the seemingly return to ZAFT in Destiny's Final Plus ending, Meyrin had still willingly chosen to desert and would not be able to remain in the PLANTs without being court-martialed. Her official character sheet also noticeably features her in only civilian clothes.

Aura will be the final villain.

She's a blonde in red who is of royal descent. Naturally, a Char clone being the final boss is fitting.

• Additionally, she'll likely pilot a Mobile Armor based on two factors:
  • They have yet to include a Cosmic Era Zeong, so it would be fitting if it ends up being the final boss of AU that mimics the UC timeline.
  • Given Aura's role seems similar to Mineva/Puru, her MA could be a CE Quin Mantha, an MA that would fit given it can also be called Queen Mansa, an MA fitting her background.
  • Alternatively it could be a Nightingale/Sazabi Expy.
  • Or, in reference to her name and title, her mech is an Expy of the Ragnamails/Ryuu-Shin-Ki's of Cross Ange, given Fukuda wrote both Seed and Cross Ange.
  • Confirmed. She and Orphee work together as the main villains, united on the same goals.

Aura will make a reference to Lyrical Nanoha.

Given her voice actor is Yukari Tamura, and she's up against Kira who design wise, is the OG male version of Nanoha Takamachi, making a call back seems likely.

• Not to mention, G-Witch referenced Lyrical Nanoha by giving the Gundam Calibarn an energy ring around the barrel of it's cannon, like how a magic ring forms around Nanoha's Raising Heart.

Astray Staff will do an appearance or cameo in Movie.

Orphee will be the true Big Bad of the film.

He's listed right after the main 5 of Kira, Lacus, Athrun, Cagalli, and Shinn in the cast list for the 3rd and 4th trailers, and his VA, Hiro Shimono, was present at the recent event alongside Soichiro Hoshi, Rie Tanaka, Kenichi Suzumura, Akira Ishida, Takanori Nishikawa, and Nami Tamaki.

• Confirmed. Well, it's more of a Big Bad Duumvirate, but he is The Heavy of the group, alongside Shura.

Alexei is a Coordinator.

He wears a white Compass uniform with a black collar like Kira (who was with ZAFT at the end of SEED Destiny) as opposed to a red collar like Murrue.

Alexei will captain a Minerva-class ship.

He wears a captain's hat, and the Rising Freedom was seen launching in space from a ship that looks vaguely like the Minerva. It might even be the same Minerva from SEED Destiny (maybe with some modifications).

• Jossed. The new ship Alexei is in charge of is called the Millennium and is a very different design. Minerva's status or any successors to it is unknown, though much like how Compass doesn't seem to have a new Destiny in it's lineup it's probable they don't want something that was a strong symbol of the Durandal regime as part of their peacekeeping force primarily staffed by people who openly defied him.
  • Confirmed on being a Minerva-class, albeit officially considered a Super Minerva-class and is considered a successor to the original Minerva. Compass ends up having a new Destiny Gundam in their possession too. Alexei is the captain but later voluntarily becomes XO to give Murrue the position of captain.

Lacus is going to propose to Kira.

When Kira confronts Durandal at the end of Destiny, Kira proclaims that no matter what tragedies or wars that humans will inevitably make going forward, he will always stand and fight for a better future. In the 4th trailer during the scene where Kira gives Lacus Blue, she says that she wishes to keep fighting by his side.

• The trailer also showed one shot of Lacus apparently in a kitchen with a more domestic-looking appearance. Perhaps a Time Skip epilogue scene where she and Kira finally settle down.

Someone from the Foundation is a SEED-bearer.

Most likely candidates are Aura, Orphee, or Shura.

Ingrid will pull a Heel–Face Turn.

From the way Ingrid is unsure about Lacus and Orphee's propositions/discussions, Ingrid will eventually consider betraying the Foundation for Compass.

• Jossed. She chooses to die with Orphee, even when given a Last-Second Chance.

Redelard will die in combat, and Ingrid will try and seek revenge against Compass.

Just the way Ingrid is portrayed as a one-note, bored Genki Girl indicates that she will get cocky, underestimate the situation and die. Ingrid, the formerly level-headed sister, will be so angry, she will be out for blood by piloting an MS to avenge Redelard.

• Jossed, Ingrid is busy teaming up with Orphee, and barely reacts to Red's demise. Confirmed that Redelard dies.

Griffin is a smug Jerkass who will die easily.

Look at the way he does his Psychotic Smirk in Trailer 4 - he will get too cocky, and get killed assuming he doesn't have a secret sinister agenda that can give Orphee or Shura a run for their money.

• This is further supported by his pre-release voice clip, in which he claims that either Kira or Shinn^note Without it being written down, it's hard to tell if he's saying "Freedom Kira" or the "Freedom Killer," referring how Shinn defeated Kira during SEED Destiny isn't anything special. As these two have been established as some of the best pilots in the Cosmic Era timeline, Griffin is pretty much asking to receive a reality check the hard way.
  • Confirmed, though it's not just him - practically everybody on their team shares this attitude.

Albert Heinlein is the Foundation's mole that betrays Compass.

The fact that he is not mentioned in any trailers, has absolutely next to no information about his character, gets top billing as Jun Fukuyama (known to play schemers and charismatic characters), and has a stoic face, says a lot about how too good to be true it is.

• Unlike Alexei Konoe (who comes off as a tired, cynical captain and Beleaguered Assistant) among the Compass ranks, Albert Heinlein's official position is unknown, and he isn't even occupied with captaining a vessel.
  • Jossed, surprisingly. He's innocent. It's Agnes who's the mole, funnily enough.

Kira's Mid-Season Upgrade will be the titular SEED Freedom.

This would be the true successor to the Strike Freedom, and keeping with the trend of the mascot Gundam of the show being referred within the series' title (e.g. Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 etc.).

• Jossed. The new Freedom is called "Mighty Strike Freedom."

Shura will be defeated by Shinn and or Yzak.

Shura is just as smug as Griffin and Shenqiang, and is set up as Shinn's archnemesis during the movie. If Shinn doesn't take him out, Yzak will easily fold him over.

• Jossed. Athrun defeats him, while Shinn takes care of the cannon fodder with Hilda. Yzak is busy eliminating the Requiem's defenses with Dearka.

The movie will also reveal the existence of Carbon Humans

The Carbon Humans were never mentioned in both anime series and only present in the Astray manga series, but the movie will potentially reveal any of the characters present as a Carbon Human. Also, most of the Black Knights Squad are possibly Carbon Humans.

• Jossed. They were never mentioned. Instead, the Black Knights themselves are Accords, even more perfect versions of Kira himself, with the ability to brainwash and mind control their targets.

Kira will die in a Heroic Sacrifice

Freedom is more or less the Char's Counterattack of the Cosmic Era in how it seems to be presented as the conclusion to Kira's story. Given how much CE has paralleled the Universal Century already, it wouldn't be surprising if Kira ends up sacrificing himself to save the Earth Sphere and his friends much like Amuro did. The ending theme by See-Saw also has a rather sad if still hopeful tone to it, suggesting that Kira and Lacus' story may end on a bittersweet note.

• Jossed. Kira still wins with no sacrifices, which is expected.

The ending will have Kira and Lacus fake their deaths.

With their being presumed dead, the two can finally be free to retire and live a quiet, peaceful life away from war and politics. The epilogue will have Athrun, Cagalli and the others learning that their friends are alive and well, as well as serve as a definitive passing of the torch from Kira to Shinn with the latter carrying on the fight for peaceful co-existence between Naturals and Coordinators in Kira's stead.

• Jossed. It's a happy ending.

Post-Release Speculation

The eventual English dub will reuse the cast in the HD Remaster dub of the two series... but with a twist.

It will be a cross-regional dub, a la Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, where cast members from Los Angeles and Vancouver will join forces. The HD Remaster cast will be retained for the movie, while the newcomers will be voiced by their original counterparts (that is, if they're still active).

• Jossed. It's still the NYAV Post dub, and no one from the Ocean dub reprised a single role.

There's going to be a Gundam SEED Freedom Astray manga released sometime in the future.

In the tradition of SEED/SEED Destiny/CE 73 Delta Astray, there’s going to be a Gundam SEED Freedom Astray spinoff that will show what the Junk Guild did before or during the events of SEED Freedom.

Athrun's mental thought of a naked Cagalli isn't his imagination; it's a memory.

Unlike Kira and Lacus throughout SEED and Destiny, Athrun and Cagalli had no issue with being more openly intimate (they have had several onscreen kisses). At one point they may have gotten the opportunity to consummate their relationship.

Athrun's position in the Orb military.

Given that he already has the Infinite Justice Type II with him and it was more than likely upgraded alonside the other Mobile Suits given by Cagalli to Compass before the final battle at Orb under Erica Simmons. Athrun's rank must be high enough to be trusted with that powerful machine.

The follow-up will be called “Gundam SEED Justice”, and would be focused on Athrun and Cagalli.

Based on the thematically titled SEED Destiny and SEED Freedom, the next title would be Gundam SEED Justice. Not only will be focused on Athrun and Cagalli, but Meyrin, Yzak, Dearka, Miriallia, Sai, and other key characters who hasn’t gotten enough screentime in Freedom would make appearances as well. Shinn and Luna would make cameos.

It may appear that Kira and Lacus would be mentioned as well, despite their story being complete at the end of Freedom.