The start of Episode 7, while a moment of awesome for the Minerva for managing to shatter the remains of Junius Seven, still subjects us to helplessly watch the destruction of many recognizable cities and landmarks caused by its fragments: London, Athens, the Great Wall... and we know it's impossible everyone got away from them in time. Made even worse when Durandal starts listing off even more hit areas.
"Fields Of Hope", the insert song played during Operation Break The World is sad enough to be a Tear Jerker in itself. The fact that it is played during what is already one of the saddest scenes in the entire franchise just makes it all an even bigger Tear Jerker.
When Shinn unknowingly killed Captain Todaka, the man who rescued him after his (Shinn) family's tragic death. The fact that they showed how he rescued Shinn in a flashback after his death was just as tear-jerking.
Cagalli is told what the pilots said about Patrick Zala being right, considering that she had been there with Athrun when he had died, and had even helped hold him. She knows more than anyone else just how poisonous Patrick Zala's hatred was, as well as how it affected Athrun and she can't do a damn thing to help him.
Cagalli herself throughout most of the show proves to be a kid who is in way over head in terms of being Uzumi's heir, and it's very clear from the start that she has far less power and authority, and the conviction and personality expected of such. She's still a firebrand, but without her father, or even any of his allies who could properly support her in his stead, and her friends needing to live their peaceful lives away from politics, it becomes clear how out of her depth she is. And throughout the first arc, she's just getting broken down bit by bit, from Shinn's own justified-and-yet-Irrational Hatred of her, her family, and ORB, to the Seiran's easy maneuvering around her, and Yuna's emotional manipulation, and even Athrun's abandonment of her to deal with his own issues. And the fact that the only way to save her from being the Seirans' trophy puppet was for the Archangel crew to drag her away from her country, now handed to Blue Cosmos on a silver platter, little wonder her spirit is just as broken completely. The worst part is, both Shinn and the Seirans are right about her, so as much as we want to be angry with especially the latter, they're right that her ideals or her father's aren't going to do any good at the moment, especially when she herself doesn't have the steel to put her critics in place. While many aren't fond of this Chikification of her, the thing is that this was always there even in the last series. She just had a massive safety net in the form of her father. But now, without said net, why wouldn't she break now that she was left on her own?
Stella dies in the arms of her beloved Shinn, who had promised to protect her. And we also have her last words: "... Shinn... I love you..." WAH! ;-;
Shinn actually succeeds in Defusing The Tykebomb, and Stella has a momentary fantasy of being reunited with him, and she looks so happy. Knowing what's coming makes that moment absolutely devastating.
The scene is interspersed with Shinn having a flashback to his family's death two years prior. Kira really tore open an old wound, and even he's not happy about having to bring down the Destroy, owing to the mass destruction it could bring despite it being necessary.
The beginning of the following episode is also a real Tear Jerker, when Shinn carries Stella's dead body in his arms and gently drops her into the depths of the snowy lake while uttering the words "Good night".
This moment also serves as a tear jerker in another way. Shinn, having wanted nothing more than to be a hero that could save people in need and having failed to protect the one who he cared about despite that he promised her that he would, is now being wrecked by guilt and despair. And all this being the final straw that anchors his decent into madness. What's worse is that, Shinn isn't the only Gundam protagonist to suffer this sort of loss. Kamille, Judau, even Kira suffered the same pain, but they had people who cared about them to provide support. All Shinn had were Rey and Durandal, who used the poor kid.
The worst part is what started the chain of events leading to Stella's death. In episode 25 she overhears Neo being informed of the Lodonia Extended lab being compromised. When Stella asks what the lab is, Sting says it was their home before they were deployed. This causes Auel to flashback to a kind-hearted nurse that he saw as his mother. But since "mother" is his Trigger Phrase, Auel breaks down worrying that "mother could die", unknowingly triggering Stella into a rampage to "protect mother." Just an innocent question.
A Tragedy of Impulsiveness, though a Meaningful Name, does not begin to cover the following circumstances. Defeating her when she sorties in the Gaia, Shinn impulsively brings her to the Minerva's med bay, getting him in very big trouble with Talia. And then, when he finds out she could be taken to the PLAN Ts to be a guinea pig, in one of his many dark parallels to Kira, he gets into bigger trouble by taking her from the ship to return her to her original side, though in this case, he and Rey assault some officers to do so. And when he does meet with Neo, he simply pleads to Neo to promise to not use her in battle again, without even thinking that Neo could just be metaphorically crossing his fingers behind his back. He's seen how Blue Cosmos operates, but doesn't think that they wouldn't just use her again. Shinn wanted to save her life, and technically, he might have had he done nothing, but in doing so, he ultimately sends her to her doom.
Overall, there was no way Stella was going to have a decent fate. She would be killed on the Destroy or become a guinea pig for the PLAN Ts to study the Extended. The girl's fate was fucked either way.
It's only a Clip Show, but Episode 29, "Fate". Durandal and Rau Le Creuset's ghost arguing over the human experience while we flashback over every, single one of Seed's most depressing deaths is bad enough, but it's only made worse because Le Creuset is narrating for most of it, and we're treated to the flashbacks from the end of Durandal and Captain Gladys' relationship. The episode is absolutely emotionally draining to watch, as it shows you just how far gone Le Creuset was, and actually leaves you rooting for the Chairman, while giving you a lot of insight into how he got to be that way. The incredibly sad music does not help, nor does Durandal's obvious depression.
Episode 33 has Mu meeting Murrue again, after he'd been captured in the previous episode. Once he wakes up and see's her standing over him she immediately begins crying, causing him to tease her and ask if she's falling for him, similar to the playful banter the two shared back in the original series. Naturally, this causes her to cry even harder and run out of the room.
Episode 34 ends on a horrifed Athrun screaming Kira's name in anguish having just witnessed the destruction of the Freedom and the apparent death of his best friend at the hands of Shinn. It's a reaction as if the idea of Kira losing to Shinn was something that never even remotely crossed his mind as even being possible. It immediately comes down to a violent boil in the opening of episode 35 where sorrow turns to rage as he points out to Shinn that Kira wasn't even trying to kill him, and when Shinn counters by asking if Athrun would have rather that he died out there instead Athrun's answer is to slug him as hard as he can.
The final confrontation. Rey is moved by Kira's ideals that every individual can improve and betrays Durandal who he had been following since an early age. Although Durandal is still happy since Talia is besides him, Rey breaks out crying. As the ship where the three are falls, and Talia hugs Rey who in his last moments calls Talia "mother."
Shinn went through a sad fate during the final fight against the Archangel but it did not get as bad as Rey's. After losing his mind fighting Athrun, Shinn is defeated and wakes up besides Lunamaria. The two embrace sad when they see Messiah falling and are rescued by Athrun. It's in the final minutes where we finally see Shinn meeting Kira again and accepting to work together for a better ending that we get a happy ending.
Kira's entire character in Destiny is rather depressing. It's pretty clear that the previous war did the biggest number on the poor kid, and the world just wants to keep opening his barely-healed scars. Some have criticized his poor decisions and his lack of visible emotion when not in the heat of battle, but consider everything that's happened to him before, most of which kept trying to dehumanize him and punish him for just trying to do what's right, you begin to realize how fortunate everyone is that Lacus is that devoted to keeping him as stable as she can be. His worst decisions are easily during the time she is apart from him and thus is unable to guide or console him in that period. He probably needed her most during the Destroy incident. Kira's actions in SEED are of someone too traumatized and dehumanized to not be cynical towards people starting another war for almost the same reasons, and in turn, he causes problems for the opposing cast.
Hoshi Souichiro, Kira's Japanese VA commented in a more recent interview that while he still likes Kira and is happy to play him he didn't have nearly as much fun playing Kira in Destiny because of how emotionally dead and morose he is, not even really emoting in battle much outside of a few rare scenes (such as when Shinn nearly kills him) and by far preferred playing Kira in Seed as a more cheerful and emotional young man especially as Kira's portrayal in Destiny is pretty much his standard personality in nearly all material such as video games and such making it the majority of his work as him for the last decade. But he says it makes sense after all Kira went through for him to act that way now and while he'd love to get to play Kira as he was in Seed again "That version of Kira is gone now".
In episode 10, after surviving the Junius Seven drop (which still destroyed hundreds of cities as fragments), he sadly looks on the Alliance's failed attempt to nuke the PLANTs, once more, as he probably remembers Rau's words (or more specifically, the face we viewers see when he says them) in the final battle:
Rau:Earth will burn! And the ensuing cries of the victims will trigger battle anew!
