Episode 11 – Allelujah
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I will cut this nightmarish chain of events. And this time, it'll be by my own will!
Questions of the Day:
1) How do you feel about Allelujah & Hallelujah after the events of this episode?
2) What's the worst thing you've ever had to do on your birthday?
Wallpapers of the Day:
Allelujah Haptism and GN-003 Gundam Kyrios
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
Additionally, for long-time fans of the franchise, please remember that this rewatch is only for 00, not any of the other shows. Assume that there are people in this rewatch who have not seen anything else Gundam, and tag your spoilers for those shows appropriately if something in 00 makes you want to talk about them.
by Shimmering-Sky
16 Comments
**Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed**
[Welcome back, everyone!](#michaelwink)
—
– [He said the thing!](https://i.imgur.com/QFW1Cmi.png) [](#gintamathispleasesme)
– [Tieria pls.](https://i.imgur.com/if82v0l.png) [](#kyonfacepalm)
– [At least Sergei’s higher-ups don’t blame him for the complete failure of the mission.](https://i.imgur.com/vZgXlfg.png)
– [Welp…](https://i.imgur.com/rmKdCH0.png) [](#emiliaohdear)
– [Oh, Allelujah…](https://i.imgur.com/BjrKeQT.png) [](#therethere)
– [Man, knowing that Alejandro is *part* of Celestial Being makes this so much crueler than it would be otherwise.](https://i.imgur.com/HJDbJ6g.png)
– [He’s going for it…](https://i.imgur.com/53JosOh.png)
– [That’s a nice little worldbuilding detail.](https://i.imgur.com/rK1aPib.png) Of course, Celestial Being doesn’t care about this.
– [Poor Allelujah…](https://i.imgur.com/kQ77wyi.png) His screams as he *does* pull the trigger hurt my soul. [](#shatteredsaten)
– [Sumeragi “sore demo”!](https://files.catbox.moe/dbf1u8.mp4)
– [How convenient.](https://i.imgur.com/TRKAGRW.png) [](#kukuku)
– [ED lead-in!](#delighted)
**First-Timer**
**On today’s episode of Gundam:** In the War Crimes Olympics that is Gundam, Allelujah makes a come-from-behind push to compete with the many others who have come before him!
– Naturally Tieria deflects all possible responsibility from himself, claiming extenuating circumstances. Nobody else gets that same benefit of the doubt. Their mistakes were obviously avoidable and totally their fault. [](#whowouldathunkit)
– Lockon has Tieria all figured out. While Tieria acts logical and calculating, he’s just as emotional and prone to outbursts as the others.
– So the HRL and the Union have been working together in secret against Celestial Being. I guess that means we’ll see Graham and his team in action next.
– Oh wow, that is some institutional corruption right there! The HRL scientist was able to deduce Allelujah’s identity, but is trying to cover it up because Allelujah should have been disposed of.
– Oh shit! Hallelujah was the one who killed the other kids in Allelujah’s flashback. [](#ohfuck)
– Very different priorities for Allelujah and Hallelujah. Allelujah wants to save the people in the genetic engineering program while Hallelujah wants to go in and destroy everything. There’s no point saving the other genetically engineered children because they are only ever going to be fighters.
– This is a very personal struggle for Allelujah. He needs to believe that he isn’t just a fighter. He needs to have hope that some other life is possible.
– Alejandro just oozes sleaze. He feels like a slimeball from the beginning. [](#hanasakueurgh)
– [Sumeragi is reminding me of another alcohol loving strategist.](https://imgur.com/VDEEyi5)
– Saji is going to end up as a househusband like Shirou Emiya. [](#shirouthumbsup)
– Tieria is flying around in dataspace and listening to conversations in other rooms, thinking about how foolish humans are? Definitely a robot. [](#heartbot)
– That’s a pretty neat detail. That man’s ancestor vanished 200 years ago, when Aeolia was starting his project. It makes sense that people who disappeared back then may be connected to Celestial Being. [](#csikon)
– I wasn’t expecting to see space colonies in this series. I didn’t think space travel was that far along yet in this setting.
– Neat detail that fighting is prohibited inside colonies. I guess these people must have learned from watching the UC Gundam entries.
– Naturally Allelujah would hesitate to shoot while Hallelujah eggs him on.
– [Oh fuck…](#forgotkeys) I’m used to Gundam having war crimes but… holy shit. A protagonist killing a large number of children like that is seriously fucked up.
– That is a pretty depressing first drink of alcohol. I hope it doesn’t start a bad habit for Allelujah. [](#heavydrinker)
Damn, this was a depressing episode. It did provide some more of a look into Allelujah and his own personal struggle. Allelujah was created to be a super soldier in that genetic engineering program. That is what he was designed for. The question that vexes Allelujah is whether he can choose his own destiny or if he is trapped in the destiny that others chose for him. This is one of the key divisions between Hallelujah and Allelujah. Hallelujah embraces the idea that he is nothing but a monster created for combat. Rather than run from fighting, he revels in it. He uses combat as a way to assert his own control, holding the lives of others in his hands.
On the other hand, Allelujah wants to escape from the destiny that’s been decreed for him. Allelujah is afraid of Hallelujah, not just because of Hallelujah’s bloodlust but because of what Hallelujah represents. If Allelujah enjoys fighting and enjoys killing, then that means he really is nothing but a monster that the HRL created in a lab. He can’t choose to be his own person. Allelujah is terrified that he might be unable to do anything but be a fighter.
The divide between Allelujah and Hallelujah is so interesting to me because it is a contest about the question of free will. Does Allelujah have the free will to choose his own future or is he fated to be Hallelujah?
It’s interesting that Allelujah chooses to fire on the children this episode. That is a hell of an act to make one of the main protagonists choose to do. It’s definitely crossing a line. Allelujah chose to take an action that makes him much more like Hallelujah. It’s especially important that Allelujah killed people like him. He killed other genetically engineered children. It’s Allelujah tacitly accepting that Hallelujah was right about what should be done in this situation. It’s Allelujah accepting that these children (and there Allelujah himself) were nothing but dangerous fighters created for war. I fear this is the beginning of a dark road for Allelujah. He has always seemed uncomfortable with fighting and taking lives. This feels like a major threshold to cross that leads to him being more comfortable with killing in the future.
**QOTD**
1) They sure have a hell of a dynamic. I think I went into my thoughts on them plenty up above.
2) My worst birthday I can remember is probably the one where I was in the process of moving away from home to my new job. I had to move on extremely short notice and it was in the middle of the pandemic, so a lot of places were shut down. Needless to say, I had to have a small celebration a bit early that was also a goodbye to my family. I wasn’t able to see them again for quite a while. That’s probably my worst one.
**Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister**
[Lockon doing his best to maintain some level of peace.](https://i.imgur.com/oJhQeHE.jpeg)
[So true.](https://i.imgur.com/9zfPbhM.jpeg)
[Kinda amusing that he specifies the machines and not the pilots.](https://i.imgur.com/oStpbWx.jpeg) Mechs are expensive, pilots are cheap.
[Hallelujah does occasioanlly use logic.](https://i.imgur.com/9XPVbde.jpeg)
[Stupendously non-plussed.](https://i.imgur.com/jv15w5D.jpeg)
[How much of the budget are we thinking is spent on Sumeragi’s scotch supply?](https://i.imgur.com/EjNJ4Ko.jpeg) 25-year scotch tends to start around $60, and that’s for the *really* cheap stuff.
I’ve also never noticed the lid on her rocks glass before. Makes sense for zero-G situations.
[Kinue is a proper journalist.](https://i.imgur.com/uowLZ8Z.jpeg)
[Identifying a shape by looking at the areas that it is not.](https://i.imgur.com/aj3K0CN.jpeg)
[Telepathy is a kinda shitty power when you can’t turn it off.](https://i.imgur.com/wtfB0Pf.jpeg)
[“Interrogated.”](https://i.imgur.com/lQaKfwE.jpeg)
[Unlike Setsuna, Sumeragi has a killer sense of humor.](https://i.imgur.com/Rb5RbvG.jpeg)
[Gundam 00]>!The funniest thing [here](https://i.imgur.com/JPaH3Rq.jpeg) is that there are actually five GN Drives and the limiting factor is that there are (technically…) only four Third Generation Gundams to put them in.!<
**Rewatcher, First Time Sub**
Ok so we finally get some information on Allelujah’s backstory. It seems there was a secret lab hidden even to the top brass of the military (not all) where they conduct the super soldier experiments. Hallelujah’s Influence makes Allelujah ask for Veda to allow an intervention into the lab which is granted.
When Allelujah arrives at theab him and Hallelujah kind of have a conscious debate as to whether they should pull the trigger and destroy it. Allelujah tries to find ways to not do it while Hallelujah counters them, particularly when he asks to “take over” and do the things that Allelujah doesn’t want to do. All the while the scene is interspliced with shots from Allelujah’s backstory and how he was able to escape before finally Allelujah pulls the trigger and destroys the lab. It’s an interesting look at the dichotomy between Allelujah/Hallelujah and the characterization that’s set up for them so far. One detail I like is Hallelujah congratulating Allelujah for destroying the lab but with the shot of tears in his face (whether Hal or Al’s). In the end Allelujah asks Sumeragi for a drink which he had previously derided all the while Sumeragi muses that he’ll understand why she continuously drinks herself.
In the meantime Marina finally gets some aid for her country by Alejandro Corner and the UN which immediately means there is an agenda at play despite claims to the contrary. Saji’s sister makes headways into her investigation of Aeolia and Saji himself tries to continue impressing his future mother in law.
**First Timer**
Welcome to Allelujah’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
[](#therethere)
It’s cool Seeing other characters trying to interpret what Celestail Being’s “true” goal is, first with Saji’s sister and now with the professor, his idea, that it’s a way to stop humanity from moving their wars into space is an interesting one, although it doesn’t seem aligned with what the Meisters think?
Admittedly, as discussed last episode, the Meisters might not actually represent Celestial Being’s true ideals in the first place.
[](#rengethink)
[Lockon agrees with my interpretation of Tieria](https://imgur.com/a/YN4auoY), he’s mostly projecting because he doesn’t feel worthy himself, with that being said, even with this charitable take on his personality it’s hard not to want to see him get punched in the face for being an asshole.
[](#punch)
Looks like Union and HRL are [cooking up a plan together against Celestial Being](https://imgur.com/a/vUdnHKN)? I guess the factions aren’t content with letting Celestial Being do as it pleases and are willing to cooperate for that, this seems to be entirely within the aims of Celestial Being though, to unite the warring factions of the world against them instead of each other.
“[I agree with that opinion](https://imgur.com/a/JRDG3tC)” says person literally conducting human experiments.
[](#bruh)
At least he gets his comeuppance by the end of the episode.
It’s really interesting to see how the Celestial Being members can essentially use its “mission statement” [to justify interventions of their choosing](https://imgur.com/a/GHUtb32), now obviously the last two times this happened it was completely legitimate for them to act but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a dangerous slippery slope to give this kind of power to a group of mentally unstable people.
I mean, I guess Veda also has to approve it but it could potentially be manipulated to get Celestial Being into (someone’s personal) conflict that was perhaps preventable.
[](#harukathink)
[This sounds like exactly the kind of thing someone with non true sentiments would say](https://imgur.com/a/89bptmR), I’m with Shirin on this one, seems mighty suspicious even if I can’t tell to what purpose he’s doing this.
~~[me_irl](https://imgur.com/a/08iUNJa)~~
[](#rum)
Seriously though, that’s not a very healthy mindset to live by.
[Tieria is like…connected to Veda or something](https://imgur.com/a/h2OyyTs)? he also has this[ really weird line](https://imgur.com/a/H4fzS4l), that makes it sound like he isn’t human himself…
[](#hardthink)
[Loads of talk on what it means to be a Gundam Meister this episode](https://imgur.com/a/1avOUnT), again more about that idea behind what Celestial Being is actually supposed to be, Allelujah certainly takes it to mean he should be doing good whereas Tieria takes it to mean being able to detach yourself from your emotions and past for the sake of Celestial Being’s goals.
Hallelujah is trying really hard to gaslight Allelujah into being accepting of killing and it seems to be working.
Quite like that entire scene, you really feel Allelujah’s emotional distress through all of it, helped along by fantastic voice acting, [love this frame](https://imgur.com/a/ZN9uFRF).
[Happy Birthday](https://imgur.com/a/iMHLBe4)?
[**Being Gundam is suffering**](#happycake)
**First timer, subs**
* No, [Flag](https://myanimelist.net/anime/1299/Flag) is the *other* 2007 mecha show.
* Oh, that’s a lot of repair babies.
* You’re going to tell your comrades about this change in status, right?
* He seems like a good boss. We all know the type how blames suburbanites for failures beyond their control.
* The League helms can fold up. They are less stupid than I was expecting.
* [Institutional Corruption](#scrumptiouslymoe)
* Going off on your own? Some people are not going to be happy about this.
* Well, there goes my last hope this place was a Caucasus stand in.
* [Being Honest?!](#kotourashock) That’s not allowed for brooding edgy boys!
* This is the wildest C plot. How is this going to meaning interact with the other plots? When do we get there? I think I might honestly prefer it doing this mom thing for now to what we had before.
* [Lagrange Point?](#concealedexcitement)
* What the hell is this room? We had it in episode 1, I think, but I didn’t know enough at the time to really question it. Is he re-uploading his mind?
* Anyone here know about their great-grandparents?
* I’m sure CB stating fighting in a colony won’t later be used as justification as to why other countries can too.
* Boss, you just killed a child. However…
* [Making Us **Look Bad**](#modabuse)
* “Not those laws, *broadcasting* laws.
*A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 11:*
– What do you guys think about Professor Eifman’s theorizing about Aeolia Schenberg? Because the elimination of war really is a seemingly impossible goal for such a brilliant man to believe in. Maybe this really has been his plan for a wake up call for mankind, for them to clean up their act and change for the better before they bring their faults and sins with them into space.
– Shut up Tieria, you ain’t shit in all this. You let yourself down out there too, it can’t all be shoved off onto Sumeragi.
– Interesting that the HRL is willing to pursue secret negotiations with the Union over how to handle the Gundams. As it stands, the HRL attempt to capture a Gundam went badly, but maybe a secret alliance can help? If so, then this would be a good step for the hypothetical goal of Celestial Being achieving peace by uniting everyone against them.
– I don’t think anyone is too surprised that the scientist handling the super-soldier project is up to some shady shit. It turns out that, as many people here guessed, Allelujiah was also a product of the HRL’s mad science, and that his alternate personality developed due to the sheer trauma of what he was turned into by them. Although I guess the file saying that he was disposed of afterwards was inaccurate, since we know that he’s still alive. Regardless of knowing all this though, the researcher lies to Colonel Sergei and posits that Allelujah could be another country’s attempt at making a super-soldier. It really just goes to show that for all of the HRL’s talk of changing humanity to live into space, it’s more interested in creating human weapons that it can use first, even to the point of hiding it from their own people. But given the rather dubious morals they’d need to have to create a person from scratch to become a weapon, should we be really surprised that they’re hypocrites and liars?
– It’s interesting that Allelujah is arguing with Hallelujah on what to do now that super-soldiers are in the mix. Because this shows that, on some level, Allelujah thinks that there is no future for people like him, and that the best he can do is just kill everyone involved. While you can understand Allelujah’s hesitation to kill everyone involved, Hallelujah probably also has a point that they’re probably at the point where fighting and killing is all they live for. It’s not an easy thing to stomach, trying to figure out the moral lines on how to handle people raised to be living weapons.
– I guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch even if it’s still for a good reason. Alejandro makes it pretty clear that the UN just wants to make Azadistan their model project, to show that they can make a peaceful Middle Eastern nation. It does get Azadistan the help it needs with converting over to solar energy, but given Alejandro’s ties to Celestial Being, maybe there’s something more to it? He did invoke them as a reason to want to make the Middle East more stabilized, after all.
– You know, maybe Eifman was onto something earlier. If the Human Reform League already put their super-soldier research institute in a space colony, then they’re already well on their way to bringing war and mankind’s mistakes to space with them. We’re already on our way to a divided Earth Sphere, not just Earth itself anymore.
– As many of you have guessed already, Aeolia Schenberg was already putting in the effort to form Celestial Being in his lifetime a few centuries ago. Like in the case of that guy Kinue interviewed, plenty of the best and brightest several generations ago all vanished to apparently join Aeolia in forming Celestial Being. It has a little bit of an Atlas Shrugged (bleh!) feeling to things there, in addition to also feeling a bit like Foundation too.
– I think Tieria offering to handle the grunts so that Allelujiah can get closure on his past is probably the nicest thing he’s done for anyone so far. Even if he says that it’s for the sake of purifying himself to make him a real Gundam Meister, he did seem to actually show sympathy towards him once he watched that security footage of Allelujah and Sumeragi talking. I suppose even jerks can feel bad for children created and raised solely to become weapons.
– It sucks, but Allelujah killing all of those super-soldier children along with the researchers was probably the only realistic option. Like Hallelujah said, they have no way to take anyone into custody, and no way to take care of any of those children. Besides, all of those children have already been so brainwashed and tormented that all they can do is either fully commit to being a living weapon or psychically scream in agony. It sucks to say, but they have no realistic chance at living a normal life now, not after that those HRL bastards did to them. It’s why Allelujah killed all of them, because he knew that Hallelujah was correct there, and that letting him take over to do it would only make him a hypocrite for pushing for this goal only to shove the responsibility onto someone else, like killing all those other kids when he was younger. Man, Allelujah has it fucking rough.
– Well, at least some good came out of all this, even if it was also horrific. Allelujah has made steps in resolving his past trauma, and Colonel Sergei has used his authority to completely shut down the super-soldier project and arrest the scientist who hid everything from him. Overall, it’s like the drink that Sumeragi and Allelujah share to celebrate his 21st birthday: taking it in is bitter, but you’ll understand why people do it one day.
**Rewatcher having flashbacks to [a rather questionable drama CD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNddIQXKuqQ)**
-—————————————————————————————
[Victory is never decided by Mobile Suit performance alone,](https://i.imgur.com/OTH38ev.png) [nor by the skill of the pilot alone!](https://i.imgur.com/u04imvq.png)
[I love reading random onscreen English in anime.](https://i.imgur.com/nbmn7wz.png) BLUE IS A COLOUR. GREEN IS A COLOR. Hey, at least they managed to copypaste something at least tangentially relevant into there and not just instructions on how to install Photoshop or something.
[It’s](https://i.imgur.com/4saL0l3.png) [just something](https://i.imgur.com/b1ZqzFU.png) [that happens to old physicists.](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-03-21) Tragic, really.
[It looks like an absolute pain in the ass to retrieve and reattach every last piece of the Nadleeh’s armor.](https://i.imgur.com/Ew2TWJp.png) This is why they gave up on making the Virtue Physical a secondary armor set.
Aaaaand Tieria is taking it out on everyone else because of course he is.
They’re calling the Union for help, huh. Well, if a couple of Tierens could get that close to capturing two Gundams with some good tactics, then the Flags should do better, right?
[They found him!](https://i.imgur.com/zaMsrAS.png) He’s one of theirs after all!
[Allelujah can’t escape from his past.](https://i.imgur.com/YjFo9xX.png) For as much trauma as Setsuna and Lockon have, all they have are bad memories, and with some therapy they could live totally normal lives. But Allelujah is a super soldier. War and violence are baked into his mind and body. He’s going to end up fighting no matter what. May as well have it be as a Gundam Meister.
[Flash drives sure got longer in the last 300 years](https://i.imgur.com/wDnDLQi.png)
[gottem](https://i.imgur.com/Wj5Skl3.png)
[As good of an idea taking down the super soldier research facility is, Allelujah probably has a bit too personal of a connection to it to take on the mission itself.](https://i.imgur.com/XhmTEq5.png) Plus, there’s the effect that being around other super soldiers can have on him. But on the other hand, if he does put an end to this by his own hands, it might be the closure he needs to keep his personal feelings out of the way of future missions.
Of course, security was terrible 200 years ago, and that goes both ways. Aeolia Schenberg may have covered his own tracks, but what of everyone else who formed Celestial Being with him? There’s got to be something that was missed.
[Hooray for war crimes](https://i.imgur.com/LXqLHCM.png)
[Honestly, death is probably a mercy to them.](https://i.imgur.com/KuEku9P.png) It’s not like they can just load up the Kyrios with a couple hundred kids and ship them all off to loving foster homes. No matter what happens, nothing good is waiting for those kids in the future. Simply treating them as enemy troops/weapons and putting an end to things now before it becomes a problem for either party is the most they can do. It’s fucked up, but blame the world for being fucked up.
And the leak too! The HRL’s gonna have a hell of a time cleaning *that* up. [But at least it starts with getting this guy!](https://i.imgur.com/uhP1GVV.png)
[Happy birthday Allelujah!](https://i.imgur.com/9ERub65.png) Because underage drinking is a far more serious crime than terrorism. Hey, why is Japan’s legal drinking age the one observed in space, anyways? Only a handful of countries have it set to 20, with 18 and 21 being a lot more common. Did the Ptolemaios drift a little too close to a specifically Japan-owned space colony, or what?
-—————————————————————————————
Questions of the day:
*
*
first timer who [has control](https://imgur.com/nFf4eA6)
___
[Tieria taking no responsibility for being a shit fighter?](https://imgur.com/vx11oZd)
[jumpscare](https://imgur.com/qrH4a4V)
[chainsaw man manga part 2]>!you can tell Allelujah and Hallelujah apart by Hallelujah’s cake!<
will Allelujah make it to season 2 [probably not](#mugiwait)
[theres 0 chance she made this](https://imgur.com/m75vrSv)
im still not sure how i feel about the ability to sortie anywhere
Tieria being understanding, what demons does he have [](#mugiwait)
“dont they know theres a treaty” they are literally terrorists
[the visual of Hallelujah fading in and out sells this v well](https://imgur.com/dtOpimq)
[damn](https://imgur.com/DDbSk5y)
[poor baby didnt actually exorcise his demons](https://imgur.com/DZdfpnX)
[new demons](https://imgur.com/nWO6cDB)
[once again, terrorists](https://imgur.com/1i1MX4w)
**First Timer – sub**
After the start of the episode with Graham I thought we’d be getting a lot more into the broader reactions and consequences from the Leagues attempt, including both political fallout, CB striking back, and more information wars. In that sense this episode feeling a lot like an episode that could have come later, or even earlier, was a let down. Even the Alelujah stuff didn’t feel like it had to come off the back of yesterday’s split for him, and as it tried to carry that emotional high through into a different tone rather than letting it sit and build tension for this climax, it was perhaps was the worse for it. It was far from a bad episode, but it was just more typical than I expected off the back of the last two as it didn’t fully lean into the broader consequences or dedicated character stuff and instead tried to juggle both.
Before I get into the Alelujah stuff, the other things I did like from the episode was getting to see more of the professors research, and coming to understand more of not only what a genius Aeolia may have been, but also how apart from the world he was as well. A lonely genius is the trope, but it seems to be more then that from the info we get here. The world was plagued by wars because of an energy crisis, and here’s someone researching particles 200 years ago that still provide more energy than anything they have now, and yet still focusing on the long term forethought of what it would be used for after solving the immediate crisis. It’s interesting to see this as not just the start of the Gundams but perhaps CB and its broader goals, whatever they are (I am glad they stopped with the heavy dialogue about that by the way, it’s good)
Also quick moment of shock that Sergei’s superior is a downright reasonable commander? Upset about the outcome, but rather than placing blame simply acknowledges the impossible hurdles that he had to face and owns up to the reality of the situation. Fucking what! Since when does that happen? And this isn’t even a genre thing, I feel like superiors in media are almost never this level headed unless they are one of our main characters, or a real world crime show.
—
And now for the big stuff. I did like the deeper look at Alelujah today. After two episodes of teasing the exact depth of his mental state and history, now it feels all out in the open just in time for it to blow him open even further.
The line that stood out to me was Hallelujah saying “Do you think they’re miserable now?” while showing the images of all those emotionless children in the facility. Hallelujah seems to only be able to focus on the negative emotions, not just feel the negative ones. I do like that his origin is from the experiments themselves, and not just from the trauma of being trapped in space, but the split it’s caused in them seems to be more than just good personality and bad personality, instead more of a split between humanity and experiment, and the life that was forced on them as a result. Also I’m just swapping to initials because this is too hard to type those names over and over.
“I’ll face my past, and do it alone”. A and H may be two personalities, but I’m not sure if this is to imply that A does see them as the same person, which I’d say he does so far, or if that was determination even to Sumeragi that he would be the one that carries it out, not leaving it to H. It wasn’t just about revenge or confronting his past, it’s about the will he has to do it himself and make the choice to take action despite his desire for peace, which may precisely be why he ended up in CB in the first place. He doesn’t leave all the combat to H when they go on missions, he does it himself, and I’m wondering if that determination is how Veda picks the pilots. Setsuna’s focus on embodying the importance of the Gundam, Tiernia’s inquisitor nature, A’s willpower despite his fractured mind, and Lockons dedication to people even in the face of their apathy. They all share a strong sense of conviction in their own way that goes beyond just the CB ideology.
Visuals get a thumbs up for me this episode, two in a row now. While a little heavy handed, the flip from A watching H shoot that kid in his memories to he himself being on the other side was a great way to do it, though I’ve seen very similar sequences in other shows benefit from more visual nuance. I also liked they [gave H such a different stance](https://imgur.com/fNypcmf) but not one that’s openly antagonistic to A. A stands at the window looking out over space trying to escape it all, while H stands in the doorway not letting him get away but also trapping them together, always. It’s nice framing. The other thing that caught my eye was the visual distortion when A was connecting to the other children being a good design, not too hard on the eyes and not so typical that I just saw it as the usual effect, but also striking in a subtle way.
The last little thing I liked from it was that A is the one that shoots, it was his choice and his mission, but he transforms the plane into its non humanoid shape (fitting for how he feels now) and leaves H to fly them away even as A continues to cry. This is where I think it’s good, and key, that H isn’t just some violent monster that only kills when unleashed. He didn’t go on a rampage or attack the rest of the colony, he just took A away from what they set out to achieve, a goal he agreed with. If this whole character arc was merely A fighting to control H it would be very poor for the overall balance of the show, and also the blending of it into the broader themes of control and balance happening in other areas.
I think the last thing that’s not been addressed is why H killed the other kids. Unless they’re going to walk it back it won’t be just because H wanted to kill them, but I’m not sure if there’s yet more to be uncovered with this backstory or if the implication from today is just that like todays mission it was a twisted “mercy” killing.
—
Quick other thoughts:
– Haro repair bots are awesome, and I love the little fleet of them wehad at the start of the episode
– I skipped the scene with Louise the moment it popped up and I hold no shame about it.
– Sergi being awesome once again and saying the world would be too twisted if it had two of those super solider programs.
– Tiernia being in some sort of tech chamber with his eyes going again was a nice little tease. So it’s not just Nadleeh he connects with, could it be all tech? Is that why he was able to pull along the machines that were tying him down and not just raw power of Virtues thrusters? That would be a clever little misdirect, but makes me wonder if part of the reason he is so against the other Meisters is because he can also connect to their mechs and feels like he has to protect them from people who would use them for bad reasons like he was used (total backstory speculation), just like he’s protecting the plan from the failings of people, and perhaps Veda from Sumeragi given his comment today. What the hell did they do to him is my big question now.
– I did like Tiernia’s comment about Alelujah being tainted by his past and having to purify himself with his own hands. Again, it felt very inquisitor-ish, but it does show that Tiernia is not just outright against people, only people who are a risk to CB.
– It’s always going to be wicked seeing Virtue shoot it’s canons and just wipe out everything with a huge beam isn’t it
– Sumeragi’s level of self pity being revealed to be because she was drunk was kind of funny for me, if only because I wasn’t expecting the show to take her to outright drunk and not just a drink. I hope we get more of a dedicated focus on her soon because I feel like she could turn into quite the interesting character if allowed.
– Sumeragi sending Alelujah off to battle the worlds military forces, but saying no alcohol because of an age technicality:
[](#pointandlaugh)
I mean I do also get it, different lines to cross with different consequences and all that, but what a funny thing to get caught up on.
**First Timer**
If you couldn’t tell from the title, today was very much Allelujah’s episode, though his character development was more on the negative side than positive. We get explicit confirmation that he was a former HRL test subject who was “disposed of” after Hallelujah emerged (which the show seems to imply happened as a direct result of the quantum wave exposure and not whatever trauma he suffered). Hence today’s plan … which seemed like a bad idea to me from the start, but Tieria’s approval really sealed the deal. Personally, if Tieria agreed with my actions, that would be my cue to immediately turn around and do the exact opposite.
In any case, Allelujah’s mission today seems to be less about aiding Celestial Being’s goals or even his hatred of the HRL lab and more about his own negative self-evaluation. Not only was he a human test subject, he was a *failed* human test subject and thus could not fulfill the role the HRL gave him. It’s telling that Hallelujah believes that his fellow super soldiers aren’t unhappy with their treatment and that, as a failure, he is the only exception to that rule. However, he can’t be happy as Allelujah, either, with the sense that he’s incapable of living a normal life and that his morality (yet another thing preventing him from succeeding as a weapon of war) is a hypocritical sham. I don’t believe Allelujah went into battle intending to kill the HRL test subjects, despite what he tells Sumeragi. I think that, seeing himself in them, he wanted to believe that he could save them and in the process prove that he could be saved, but his own self-loathing won out.
Meanwhile, Tieria is back to his old ways (the teased connection with Veda is interesting), while Kinue continues to investigate Aeolia Schenberg. I’m thinking it’s going to be a while before we get answers on that front.
**I am rewatcher**
Tieria is a really difficult coworker.
Union and League are holding secret negotiations? AEU could be in trouble if they’re not involved [](#sakurathink)
Young Allelujah looks adorable [](#jibrilaww)
Of course the research guy is going to hide his corruption/incompetence despite sharing the truth would be more helpful.
Shirin continues to be doubtful of Corner and to be honest who can blame her? Alejandro Conner just screams don’t trust this guy.
Good for Allelujah for going through proper channels to get rid of the research facility instead of trying to destroy it himself. The last one is definitely something you’d expect.
[Scenes with **Louise’s mum**](#gabdisgust)
Looks like Sumeragi knows Allelujah has a second personality.
First time we’re seeing a space colony, another franchise staple.
Hearing the kids scream must be difficult for Allelujah. [](#sadholo)
If there was any doubt Allelujah wouldn’t destroy the facility.
It’s clever of CB to also leak the information to the media.
Another good episode
**Rewatcher**
Not the first time it’s happened but it’s really cool that each power bloc is keeping tabs on what the other two are doing. That damage estimate might be a tad under though, considering Virtue’s penchant for fully vaporising its targets…
When faced with difficulty, Tieria retreats to the only thing in his life that he knows to be infallible. Unfortunately it feels like he’ll need to lose a little bit more to get some sense knocked into him.
[00 Spoilers] >!Or rather, he’ll need to lose some*one*.!<
It’s *so* nice to have most people being reasonable about their expectations.
Meanwhile, finally confirmation that Allelujah is exactly the same kind of Super-Soldier as Soma is. But it looks like their creators aren’t willing to air their dirty laundry.
Never noticed that Sumeragi’s tumblers only have a small hole in the top. Well, it is a zero-G environment.
This is the first time a true space colony has been shown in the show. Sure, the space elevators have had a major role, but they’re still inextricably linked to Earth. It’s pretty conspicuous that true space habitation is so uncommon in a Gundam series.
Another minor note, the Gundams use the linear catapult without using a jumping motion, they simply commence self-powered flight once the catapult reaches the end of its track. Also pretty uncommon for a Gundam series.
Oh hey, it’s [Dynames’s box art](http://dalong.net/reviews/mg/m207/p/m207.jpg).
Allelujah, he, well, yeah.
[Next Episode Preview] >!Ah, Setsuna returns to his homeland. I’m sure *nothing bad* will happen.!<
###First Timer!
[Tieria has been my least favourite of the Gundam Meisters so far.](https://i.imgur.com/7OqGfPM.png) Like, I can understand why he’d be upset at Sumeragi but the dude needs to chill the fuck out out. They all messed up that day including him for revealing Nadleeh too early to the enemies. I really hope he improves as a character in the future.
[That glimpse of Allelujah’s backstory seems brutal.](https://i.imgur.com/vqKOlL8.jpeg) From what was shown, I’m guessing that part of their super soldier training is that they were commanded to kill each other until only one survives. And because Allelujah couldn’t do it, Hallelujah awakened.
[Marina is definitely being played here](https://i.imgur.com/DjYtTcs.png) but I feel like she’s just too naive to see what her assistant is seeing. I know Alejandro has been shown as someone who backs Celestial Being [but there’s just something about him I don’t trust.](https://i.imgur.com/DC99w1c.png)
[And back to more family drama with Louise, Saji, and Louise’s mother.](https://i.imgur.com/DC99w1c.png) I really hope this side story about them will have some sort of payoff in the future.
[When they showed us the facility is in a space colony](https://i.imgur.com/Qou4mvz.jpeg), I thought Allelujah and Tieria would destroy the entire colony. It looks like the target [is only that one building inside.](https://i.imgur.com/jAqsTvx.jpeg) I mean it doesn’t really make things any better considering Allelujah had to kill not just the scientists [but the innocent test subjects as well.](https://i.imgur.com/zIhNGI4.jpeg) Damn.
At least we won’t have any more super soldiers like Soma. Since [Sergei has now closed the entire operation down](https://i.imgur.com/04vfrOf.png) and the HGL’s super soldier experiments have [now been leaked to the media.](https://i.imgur.com/1yQsKns.png) That makes it all better, right?
[Old enough to kill and barely old enough to drink.](https://i.imgur.com/CjWozgL.png) There’s definitely political commentary here that I am too dumb to make but that final scene does hit the mark on how fucked all of this are.
**Rewatcher – Gundam 00 Ep11:**
Allelujah is the center character of today’s episode. The moment when Allelujah fully dons what the path of a Gundam Meister entails.
I think it is quite telling that everything he/either of him says about the supersoldier kids is also a reflection of himself. As a supersoldier child himself, Allelujah sees that he has no other purpose other than fighting. We don’t know what everyone’s plans are after this whole deal, but Allelujah certainly isn’t expecting a peaceful lay to rest.
The moment of Allelujah firing upon the institute is another core memory for me. The moment where he literally resolves to pull the trigger himself (on himself too). Quite the sinister feel too because it ain’t great watching our guy kill kids. [The Gundam is not framed heroically](https://i.imgur.com/pXtRMqi.png) right now. I think the other reason why I remember it is for the Wow, cool missile pods combined with the Wow, uh oh, child murder.
It is hard to make out the eye colour, but it is [Hallelujah’s eye side that he is crying out of.](https://i.imgur.com/IBMsiPN.png)
[Happy February 27th!](https://i.imgur.com/6jaIdrx.png)
[](#happycake)
The big reason to have Allelujah have the worst birthday ever is that this is his moment of stepping into adulthood. His big 20 coming-of-age day. Becoming an adult in Gundam means becoming part of the world that sucks to be in. Usually involving murder and crestfallenly accepting that you’re a murderer.
Other points:
* I became suddenly endeared to [this random HRL soldier.](https://i.imgur.com/jOb7i4a.png) We see a bit of their face so they immediately clocking in as an actual person.
* A specific moment during Marina’s meeting with the UN. I found the specific word choice of [“*your* god”](https://i.imgur.com/k8pODCs.png) in [their exchange](https://i.imgur.com/CQWdzd2.png) interesting. That’s something wrapped up in what characters believe and put faith in. With UN representative here, we know he is tied to CB so whatever he believes in is wrapped up with CB’s mission. (Also, could Marina on the shortlist of Gundam characters we could pin a religion with?)
* The supersoldier scientist was another point I liked about the episode. How he tried to hide stuff away because it means sweeping his personal mistakes and responsibilities away. Makes him even more scummy. He is already doing inhumane child experiments so he is already at the bottom of the barrel.
* [Soma looks so small.](https://i.imgur.com/AETidJy.png) Look at her, [she is so tiny.](https://i.imgur.com/PtoddxQ.png)
* I also liked how Tieria softens up on Allelujah (even a little bit) after learning and starting to understand who he is.
**Episode 11 (first timer)**
* That spectrum analysis computer screen is a decent piece of work. Somebody took the time to design a nice looking UI and also fill it with somewhat related text. Look like they predicted people pausing here.
[](#teehee)
* Tieria blaming Sumeragi? Talk about throwing stones in a glasshouse.
* “That is so cute …” – more like, annoying.
* Sergei is screwed over by CYA behavior – unavoidable side-effect of any bureaucracy.
* Allelujah is having a vivid discussion with Hallelujah – you might want to do this in a private place next time, or your colleagues will start asking questions soon.
* Shirin questions the UN’s motives directly – I doubt that Corner’s answer convinced her.
* Doing research by shadowing the secret service? Dangerous work.
* Lagrange point 4? That is a *long* way away from Earth for the Sun-Earth system. They are probably talking about Earth-Moon?
* Tieria can spy into other rooms now? Is this magic, or hacking? And could he do it before, or is it related to the new Gundam?
* Floor 6 of the elevator is labeled “Information” and “Acceptance” – I guess quite a few characters should come and visit.
* A barrel space colony! – Gundam staple.
* “I won’t hesitate” – hesitates.
* Allelujah destroys the research facility and switches to Hallelujah – What triggers those switches? Sumeragi clearly knew about Hallelujah, and as a mission planner, she should be extremely interested in knowing this.
* CYA failed.
* Really Sumeragi, you are not swayed by being terrorists but fold immediately after Allelujah points out that he can legally drink now? – plot points brought to you by the Japanese media authorities.
Mostly character development for Allelujah, but Sumeragi, Sergei, and Tieria also get a few moments.