Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Episode Eighteen: Our Empty Selves
Written by: Ichirō Ōkouchi and Kō Yoneyama
Directed by: Kohei Kuratomi, Yūshi Ibe and Kōsuke Shimotori
Storyboarded by: Tomoki Kyoda, Hiromitsu Kanazawa and Hiroshi Kobayashi
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Episode Eighteen: Our Empty Selves (空っぽな私たち; Karappo na Watashitachi)
In the wake of losing Aerial, the rank of the Holder, and her engagement to Miorine, Suletta has thrown herself into her school life while feigning an upbeat attitude, to the concern of her friends in Earth House.
At Benerit HQ, Guel struggles to adjust to the dealings of a corporate president, being rejected by executives who find his performance lacking, with no proven track record. Meeting with Miorine and Prospera (the latter via video on a Haro-controlled robot monitor), Prospera suggests announcing a newly developed Jeturk mobile suit, the Schwarzette - a Gundam, to Miorine's distress. Miorine attempts to call Prospera out for going behind her back, only to be rebuffed as it was a secret project started with Vim Jeturk long before the creation of GUND-ARM Inc.. Prospera reiterates her suggestion of announcing the Schwarzette as a joint venture between Jeturk and GUND-ARM to demonstrate both their acumen and upcoming union; Miorine rejects the idea, steadfast in her intent to only develop the medical side of GUND technology. Miorine then learns that Prospera has been simultaneously meeting with Shaddiq at Grassley.
In a Benerit hangar, Belmeria is overseeing the repair of Aerial following the duel, questioning Godoy about a new development, MS-type GUND-Bits to expand Aerial's data storm, "Gundnodes". In Grassley's wing, Shaddiq requests Prospera's cooperation with his intent to make Gundams a core part of the Benerit Group's business moving forward. Prospera questions why he can't just get what he needs from the Lfriths - despite his claims of them self-destructing following the Open Campus attack, she points out the salvage would be better than nothing, musing on some other reason he can't claim to have recovered them. Before their talks can go any further, they're interrupted by Miorine and Guel. Shaddiq tells them of his own intentions for the presidency, revealing that while they were caught up in dueling still, he'd been garnering support for his bid, mockingly congratulating them on their re-engagement.
Back at Asticassia, Suletta continues to tend to Miorine's greenhouse. While Chuchu vents her own frustrations about Miorine's behavior, Suletta expresses none, believing everything to have been her own fault, even down to thinking she could be a match for Miorine at all. Lauda then appears with Felsi and Petra, further disparaging Suletta and reinforcing her low self-esteem. Before Chuchu can attack him in retaliation, he suddenly thanks her for saving his life during the Rumble Ring, throwing her off. Frustrated by Suletta agreeing with Lauda, Chuchu resolves to take her to confront Miorine directly. Gathering the rest of Earth House, they depart for Benerit HQ, leaving Martin behind to watch over the dorm.
Still hiding away in Grassley House, Elan #5 attempts to strike up a conversation with Norea, who rebuffs him. Nika then questions if he's really Elan, confused by his change in mannerisms, leading him to reveal he isn't, in fact, the Elan she knew previously. He tells her how Peil Technologies chooses its leadership based on the evaluation of an AI (the "Peil Grade") and that the real Elan is its top-ranked candidate. Enhanced Persons like him were originally guinea pigs for Peil's Gundam developments, but after the marriage game was announced, they were co-opted into serving as Elan's body doubles, allowing for field testing while compensating for the real Elan's lacking piloting skills. Continuing to antagonize Norea, Elan #5 eventually gets her to attack him again, though he manages to keep her at bay.
Meeting with Grassley executives, Shaddiq uses his new power in the company to discretely sell off assets on Earth under the guise of gathering resources to find Sarius, beginning his plan to break up the Benerit Group. Guel, Miorine and Prospera meet to discuss the lead Shaddiq has over them in the presidential race, with Prospera once again raising a suggestion. Bringing up news reports concerning anti-Spacian riots on Earth, she inspires Miorine to try going to Earth to meet peacefully with the rioters, quelling the dissidence to prove themselves to investors. Learning of their intentions, Sabina reports back to Shaddiq.
Wandering through Jeturk House, Lauda overhears some classmates praising Guel, indirectly insulting him in the process. In a confessional-styled counseling room, Martin confesses his reporting Nika and the guilt he feels over it; Secelia reveals herself as the counselor, taunting him as a double-crossing rat. In the halls of Benerit's hangar facilities, Belmeria is cornered by Jun and Guston as part of their investigation into Shin Sei. Miorine and Guel meet with Rajan to inform him of their plan to leave for Earth, who insists on sending Kenanji with them as security.
Arriving at Benerit HQ, Earth House struggles to secure a meeting with Miorine. Learning of Suletta's arrival, Prospera and Aerial lure her into the hangar where Aerial is kept by faking a request from Miorine. Boarding Aerial, Suletta flies outside the Front with her, expressing her happiness at being reunited, before venting about being unable to enjoy her time at school without Miorine. Drawn into Aerial's data storm, Suletta experiences a vision of a deconstructed Lfrith, Ericht appearing and revealing her identity as Aerial to her by reminiscing about a childhood memory they share. "Everyone" then appears to her, the "Children of the Coven" who serve as Eri's extended consciousness, explaining that Suletta was the "Key" who served as an external body to control Aerial while they developed her Permet Network. Over Suletta's protests, they proclaim they no longer need her, Eri using her data storm to painfully awaken an infantile memory in Suletta of the day she "died" and became the Gundam, claiming that having reached Score 8, she no longer needs a pilot.
Telling Suletta she can't cling to her or Prospera anymore, Aerial ejects her into space, where she is rescued by Prospera, who confirms everything Eri told her. Leaving Suletta with a beacon and telling her to return to school, Prospera boards Aerial, departing to rendezvous with Miorine's shuttle en-route to Earth. Suletta, abandoned and without purpose, cries alone into the void.
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Our Empty Selves provides examples of:
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: The final memory Ericht shows Suletta depicts the physical death of the now 8 year old Ericht as well as her newborn clone Suletta.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: Much like Miorine in the previous episode, Eri reveals both Aerial and Suletta's own origins to her, before coldly casting her out, claiming she has no need for her anymore. And just like Miorine, a conversation with Prospera implies she did this so Suletta could be free, not wishing to involve her in what's to come.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Guel, having long aspired to be an ace of the Dominicus Corps, finally gets to meet former-ace and current commander Kenanji Avery, and is comically taken aback by both the man's opulence and light-hearted mannerisms.
- Less amusingly, Suletta has her dependence upon her sister/Gundam and her mother totally shattered, with the two explaining Suletta's origin and role in their plan, and then discarding her as now unnecessary.
- Clones Are People, Too: Suletta learns the purpose of her entire life was to be an accessory to her predecessor Eri's development as the Aerial. What's more, she isn't even the first of Eri's "repli-child" clones — every single one of Aerial's bit-staves houses the mind of another of her clone-sisters, the Children of the Coven. However, Suletta expresses no angst over being a clone, she's purely upset that the purpose she was created for is at its end.
- Didn't Think This Through: After adamantly going forward with their plan in the previous episode to reinstate their Marriage of Convenience to respectively keep Suletta safe and begin rebuilding Jeturk Heavy Machinery, Miorine and Guel almost immediately run up against several walls. To begin with, Jeturk's executives aren't eager to throw money at an unproven former-pilot turned-CEO, and despite her promise of financial aid, Miorine isn't keen on investing in mobile suit development, severely limiting their options. On top of this, they failed to account for what other presidential candidates might be doing while working out their bargain, and are thus blindsided when Shaddiq informs them that not only is he in the running, he's already secured Peil's support; by the time they even began seriously thinking about the election, he was already polling 81% of the vote, meaning they have to completely shift their plan into overdrive and fast or it will be All for Nothing.
- Downer Ending: Twice in a row. After having been betrayed by Miorine and stripped of everything she'd valued in the previous episode, Suletta is once more reduced to tears, this time by Aerial and Prospera revealing the truth of her origins to her before abandoning her in space.
- Everyone Has Standards: Felsi and Petra are notably not their usual Girl Posse selves when they accompany Lauda, to the point the two actually look very uncomfortable when Lauda rubs in Suletta's loss and don't say a word to join in, implying even they see it as a low blow. For his part, Lauda, in addition to Felsi, also take the time to genuinely thank Chuchu for saving them during the Rumble Ring and promise that any problems between Jeturk House and Earth house are in the past.
- Evolving Credits: The opening changes to give Guel his new haircut, and where he previously walked away from the camera in his worker's attire, he now walks towards the camera in his school uniform as a reflection of his return to prominence.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: It's only visible in two frames, but after Felsi thanks Chuchu for saving her, she keeps looking back at her and her nervous expression turns into a small smile as she turns to leave.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Elan#5 claims to be tight-lipped and good at keeping secrets, before immediately revealing himself to be a stand-in for the real Elan when Nika asks if he's really Elan.
- Internal Reveal:
- Elan #5 informs Nika and Norea of the Enhanced Persons, and how he's not the real Elan Ceres.
- Suletta finds out about her true origins and Eri, and is, once again, left a sobbing wreck in the aftermath.
- Irony:
- Miorine achieves her original goal of going to Earth, but only in the pursuit of taking over her father's business, which she wanted to go to Earth to avoid in the first place.
- Suletta goes to Aerial for comfort after her rejection by Miorine, only to be rejected by Aerial too.
- It's All My Fault: Suletta is shown to not blame Miorine or Guel for the previous episode's events, but instead herself for "breaking her promise" to Miorine to not lose any duels. She also remarks that she never really deserved the honor of being Miorine's groom anyway.
- Nervous Tics: Miorine has picked up Suletta's habit of fidgeting with her thumbs when she's anxious.
- Oh, Crap!: Martin finishes airing his guilt to a Haro over being The Stool Pigeon over Nika's ties to Dawn of Fold, only to unexpectedly learn Secilia was on the other side of the wall, having heard everything he said. He ends up yelping in shock over her hearing his "confession".Secilia: You... You're a double-crossing little rat, aren't you?
- The Pen Is Mightier: Norea once again tries to slash and stab Elan with her pencil, only for Elan to prove himself to be a capable hand-to-hand combatant and fend her off.
- Pet the Dog:
- Despite having emotionally manipulated Suletta throughout the series and shown a willingness to disregard her feelings if they help her achieve her goals, Prospera does show a more caring side during her interactions with Suletta in this episode. When she hears that Suletta has arrived at the station she is shown to be surprised and concerned by her presence. Notably it is Eri who decides to break the news of Suletta's origins to her with Prospera merely gently confirming them before telling Suletta to return to school and live out her life. Finally, Prospera somberly agrees with Eri that, after everything she's gone through, Suletta deserves to live freely.
- At one point, Eri shows Suletta a memory of when she was younger, where Prospera calmed her down after losing a game by giving her hot chocolate. It's the first time in the series we've seen Prospera treat Suletta with real motherly love and kindness. It also doubles as one for Eri, serving to establish that she truly does love her sister.
- While it immediately follows him cruelly rubbing in Suletta's loss, Lauda does take the time to properly thank Chuchu for saving his life during the Rumble Ring, with Felsi also following suit.
- The Reveal:
- While most of what happens in the episode is an Internal Reveal or clarification of things already shown to the audience, there is one new major plot point; that Suletta herself is in-fact a direct genetic clone of Ericht Samaya.
- Jeturk Heavy Machinery is revealed to have nearly completed a Gundam of their own, behind the scenes in collaboration with Shin Sei: Gundam Schwarzette.
- Rule of Symbolism: At the end of the episode, Suletta is essentially ejected from a body (Aerial), and is last seen crying in a fetal position with the SOS beacon attached to her like an umbilical cord. In other words, a newborn infant that has left the comfort and safety of her mother’s womb and into the world.
- Sentient Vehicle: Having achieved Permet Score 8, Aerial's awareness has reached her maximum potential, to the point where she no longer even needs a pilot to move. Unfortunately, this means Suletta is now surplus to requirements.
- Shoo the Dog: While talking within the data storm, Eri tells Suletta that she was nothing more than the key necessary for Aerial to reach Permet Score 8 and, now that she's reached it, Eri doesn't need Suletta to pilot her anymore. After telling her this Eri coldly tells Suletta to stop clinging to her and Prospera, before ejecting her out into space. However, during a private conversation with Prospera, Eri indicates that, much like Miorine, she wants Suletta to live a normal life free from the pain of Gundams, with Prospera somberly agreeing that Suletta deserves to be free.
- Stepford Smiler: Suletta copes with her loss in the previous episode by projecting a cheery facade and throwing herself into her school life. Her friends in Earth House aren't fooled one bit.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Guel's return was met with cheers and seen as Rightful King Returns by his classmates in Jeturk House... but the actual financial backers behind Jeturk Heavy Machinery do not share in that opinion. After all, Guel is primarily a pilot and has little to no business experience, meaning they don't exactly have high expectations of him actually being able to run the company. This also means Jeturk's situation hasn't improved at all, as most of their potential financiers aren't exactly willing to do business with a company that's already in the red and is now under the control of a borderline unqualified CEO.
- Miorine's plans to use Jeturk as her main backer for her presidency hits a major snag when she discovers that not only is Shaddiq running as well, but he's already secured the support of Peil while she was setting up the whole situation with Guel. Jeturk may be one of the three major companies of the Benerit Group, but not only are they on the downturn, Shaddiq now has the backing of the other two and has much more experience than Miorine. It's bad enough the polls show that she only has 19% of the vote compared to Shaddiq's 81%, giving her a severe uphill battle to somehow garner enough support to actually win.
- Wham Episode: Suletta learns her origins, discovering she's one of the "Children of the Coven", "Repli-Children" made from Eri's genes to expand her consciousness, with Suletta's purpose being the "Key" to focus and control her growth. And now having reached Permet Score 8, Eri says she no longer needs Suletta and casts her out. After getting ejected from Aerial, Lady Prospera appears to confirm everything she was just told, before likewise abandoning Suletta, leaving her with only a distress beacon as company in the emptiness of space.
