Love Reign O'er Us

May 12, 2000

Series Gundam Wing

Episode 49: The Final Victors (series finale)

Airing Date 2000-05-11

Sci-fi Bits Heero burns through Earth's atmosphere to destroy Libra.

Juicy Bits Quatre miraculously recovers from his sword injury.

Featuring Mark Hildereth as Heero Yuy Scott McNeil as Duo Maxwell Brian Drummond as Zechs Merquise David Kaye as Treize Khushrenada Ted Cole as Chang Wufei Brad Swaile as Quatre Raebe Winner Saffron Henderson as Lucrezia Noin Lisa Ann Beley as Releena Peacecraft

When all is said and done, everyone in the Gundam Wing universe is willing to give their life for peace. What's odd is that war is the only common currency between the Gundam boys, the space colonies and the global Earth nation. You'd think that with such a strong, universal desire for pacifism that all the battles that rage on wouldn't be necessary. Then again, if that were the case, this would be one boring series. As it turns out, everyone desires peace but only after one heckuva good brawl. "The Final Victors" allows everyone to get their ya-yas out on the battlefield before settling down for an eternity of pleasant conversation.

Zechs and Heero are finally allowed to go toe to toe without restraint. In between knock-out punches, they debate their personal paths to a life without war. Surprise -- they disagree. After much verbiage, Heero's the victor by unanimous decision. Before he can thrust his giant robotic hand in the air, though, he rushes off to prevent the Libra from crashing into Earth. In the most exciting sequence from the entire series, Heero zooms through the Earth's atmosphere, risking cooking himself in the Wing Zero. He zips ahead of a big chunk of the Libra and struggles to get a lock with his Buster rifle. Moments before they both crash, Heero fires and the Libra chunk disintegrates into millions of lucrative space souvenirs. This is what Sci-Fi anime is all about and we love it.

The rest of the episode neatly ties every loose end up in a nice package. Quatre, who in the previous episode was run through by Dorothy Twigbrow's sword, is fine. He's even joined by his loyal servants, who show up just in time in their Mobile Suits to help destroy the Libra. Zechs either does or doesn't give up his life to aid in that destruction -- but safe money's on Zechs somehow surviving for another adventure in the future. The five Gundam scientists give their lives, and take Quinze with them, when they detonate the Peacemillion's engines in order to reverse its collision course with the Earth. Miss (Goody Two Shoes) Relena is made Vice Foreign Minister of the newly formed Earth Sphere Unified Nation. And finally we assume that the five Gundam boys hang their helmets up and retire to a life of public appearances and Tang commercials.

Now it's time to say goodbye to all our company.

So now that it's all over, what are we left with? A romance between Heero and Relena which was more spiritual than physical, the desire for real life Gundams to be built so we can each own our very own and the stern belief that too much philosophizing about peace, even when it's played over battles between giant robots in space, can be a bit too much of a good thing. Still, when most cartoons are about dogs with the munchies who're afraid of their own shadows or pocket monsters so sugary watching one episode creates instant cavities, it's worth applauding a series which takes heady ideas and makes them palatable for fans of every age. If all that Gundam action must come with an equal amount of wordy debate, then bring it on. Just don't skimp on the giant robot in space part. Thank you.

--Ross Brooks thinks he could handle the Zero System.

Past Gundam Wing Reviews

48: Take Off Into Confusion
47: Collision in Space
46: Milliardo's Decision
45: Signs of the Final Battle
44: Go Forth, Gundam Team
43: Target: Earth
42: Battleship Libra
41: Crossfire at Barge
40: A New Leader
39: Trowa Returns to the Battlefield
38: Relena Becomes Queen
37: Zero vs. Epyon
36: The Collapse of the Sanc Kingdom

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