Recaps

Xiao Ran met Tetsuya and learned that the Earth Force and East Asian Republic wanted the Photon Power Research Institute to hand over information, people, and machines. Doctor Yumi proposed that Xiao Ran join a Nigal Heavy Industries ship bound for Mars, while Xiao Ran chose to head to Orb first and warned that events could drive him to war against the Union.

• Tetsuya doubted Xiao Ran’s claims and criticized Kouji Kabuto for trusting him, while Doctor Yumi apologized for Tetsuya’s behavior.
• Enjun told Doctor Yumi that the Earth Force and East Asian Republic demanded all information about Xiao Ran, along with the people and machines.
• Xiao Ran said he would leave the institute to avoid bringing trouble to it, and Doctor Yumi proposed using Nigal Heavy Industries’ influence to shield him.
• Xiao Ran said he planned to go to Orb first but agreed to consider helping Nigal Heavy Industries investigate the civilians on Mars.
• Xiao Ran warned Doctor Yumi that if the mission angered him, he might overturn the Union and start a war capable of destroying Earth.

Xiao Ran explained his distrust of the Earth Force to Doctor Yumi and left the Photon Power Research Institute with the three girls. At a deserted coastline, he stopped Besi Lu and said they would need another way to reach Orb.

• Xiao Ran told Doctor Yumi that he would stand with ordinary people and peace, despite his resentment toward the Earth Force.
• Tinia chose to accompany Xiao Ran, and Doctor Yumi arranged for Sayaka and Enjun to escort the group out.
• After Xiao Ran left, Kouji Kabuto and Doctor Yumi acknowledged his power and authority, while Tetsuya remained doubtful about his origins.
• Xiao Ran piloted Besi Lu away from the institute with Katia and Melua, while Tinia followed in the Falcon.
• At a deserted coastline, Xiao Ran explained that Besi Lu could not safely reach Orb and said they would use another way.

Xiao Ran brought Giant Whale and the three girls toward Orb, where he planned to contact Representative Asaha and Mina. The girls slept during the journey, and Giant Whale arrived in Orb’s territorial waters three hours later.

• Xiao Ran summoned Giant Whale and explained its storage device to Katia, Tinia, and Melua before boarding with them.
• Feiying transferred its gathered information to Giant Whale, which set course for Orb while concealing their trail and securing Besi Lu.
• Xiao Ran gave the hungry girls emergency food, and Tinia ate three portions before all three girls fell asleep in private sleeping pods.
• After reaching Orb’s territorial waters, Xiao Ran ordered Giant Whale to send Representative Asaha the N2 activation and emergency codes and request a meeting.
• Xiao Ran also ordered Giant Whale to find a secret communications channel for the Hassak Family and contact Mina about meeting her.

Representative Asaha secretly traveled to Orb's backup harbor N2 after receiving an emergency contact, where he found Xiao Ran waiting in a mask. Xiao Ran asked Asaha to examine a data storage device before they spoke, leaving their meeting unresolved.

• Representative Asaha received a coded message confirming N2's activation and an invitation to meet, then secretly departed for the harbor.
• Xiao Ran entered N2 from the Giant Whale, powered up the base, and waited for Asaha while security teams searched the island.
• After investigators found no other people or explosives, Xiao Ran surrendered and was escorted to Asaha.
• Xiao Ran refused to remove his mask and said he had a reason for hiding his identity.
• Xiao Ran told Asaha that a data storage device was in his right pocket and suggested they talk after Asaha examined it, then turned to watch the sunrise.

Xiao Ran gave Lord Asaha Orb’s classified technical data and revealed that he came from another world, where he had served as Orb’s Prime Minister. After recounting that world’s war, Xiao Ran learned this world had not yet experienced Bloody Valentine.

• Xiao Ran gave Lord Asaha a storage device containing Orb-focused MS and anti-neutron jammer technologies, earning an audience in his residence.
• Xiao Ran told Lord Asaha a story about Orb’s destruction and revealed that he had been Orb’s Prime Minister and later the Great President of another world.
• Lord Asaha believed Xiao Ran and asked him to explain Orb’s future; Xiao Ran recounted the war between the Alliance, Orb, and PLANT.
• Lord Asaha noted that Junius 7 was still intact and Akatsuki Works had not developed weapons for the Alliance, leaving Xiao Ran to realize Bloody Valentine had not yet happened in this world.

Xiao Ran warned Asaha about the future Bloody Valentine incident and discussed how Orb could prepare while preserving its neutrality. Asaha arranged a residence and help with Xiao Ran’s identity, while Xiao Ran revealed more about his connections to Orb and the machines in N2.

• Xiao Ran explained Bloody Valentine and the repeated nuclear attacks and retaliation from his world, prompting Asaha to consider ways to prevent the incident.
• Asaha said Heaven's Pillar and the Hassak Family existed in this world but that he did not know the Rondo siblings, and Xiao Ran noted how unpredictable the timeline had become.
• Asaha asked what Orb should do, and Xiao Ran argued that neutrality required strength, saying he would cooperate with PLANT before Junius 7 was destroyed and would help prevent the attack.
• Asaha arranged nearby accommodations for Xiao Ran and promised to resolve his identity issues.
• Xiao Ran recalled that his former Orb residence had been Asaha's and described how Asaha and Cruze had influenced his drinking habits.
• Xiao Ran asked Asaha to give the blue experimental unit in N2 to Akatsuki Works for research, leave the other two units alone, and explained that they were sentient Combat Robots while Cruze had been his trusted deputy.

Xiao Ran stayed at an Asaha family residence while gathering intelligence, then discussed the Earth Force’s pressure on Orb with Asaha. Asaha took him to Akatsuki Works so he could explain the applications of the technical materials, and questioned why he carried them despite not understanding the underlying technology.

• Asaha moved Xiao Ran and the three girls to Cagalli’s seaside residence, where Cagalli later took the girls out several times.
• Xiao Ran learned that the Earth Force had attacked Nigal Heavy Industries’ lunar factory, failed to seize Nadeshiko, and placed pressure on the companies and institutes involved.
• Asaha told Xiao Ran that the Earth Force wanted Akatsuki Works to manufacture new MS, and Xiao Ran advised Orb to use cooperation in Heliopolis to buy time while keeping the supplied materials secret.
• Xiao Ran urged Asaha to make and deploy N-Jammers, especially around Junius 7, to prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
• Asaha took Xiao Ran to a classified Akatsuki Works factory, explaining that its staff needed him to clarify the materials’ technical applications.
• Asaha asked why Xiao Ran carried the carefully compiled materials if he did not understand their technology, and Xiao Ran raised a brow beneath his mask.

Xiao Ran explained to Asaha why he carried advanced technology and showed him evidence of his identity and claims. Asaha remained confronted with the scale of the technology and the strange similarities between people in Xiao Ran’s world and his own.

• Asaha questioned why Xiao Ran carried advanced technology, and Xiao Ran explained that his mask and combat robots stored extensive data and could prevent it from being stolen.
• Xiao Ran projected a technology directory for Asaha, who was shocked by its hundreds of entries; Xiao Ran said the technologies were real but he could not hand all the data to Orb.
• Xiao Ran told Asaha that Orb had little to offer him and denied having a scheme for the world.
• Xiao Ran showed photographs of Cagalli, Kira, Athrun, Lacus, Mwu, Symonds, Cruze, himself, and Shanamia, then explained their apparent youth and his extended lifespan.

As the Earth Force prepared to attack PLANT, Xiao Ran learned that fewer than a hundred N-Jammers had been made and planned to get them into space before the expected nuclear strike. He told Asaha to prepare their launch and look after the three girls, but Tinia insisted that she and the others would go with Xiao Ran.

• Xiao Ran explained technology to Symonds and the technicians at Akatsuki Works, then learned from Asaha that the Earth Force intended to bring PLANT under its control.
• As February of Cosmic Era 70 began, the Earth Force and ZAFT increased their military deployments while Xiao Ran stayed in Orb.
• Katia, Tinia, and Melua discovered that Akatsuki Works had nearly dismantled Besi Lu, and Xiao Ran promised them upgraded units.
• Asaha told Xiao Ran that Earth Force fleets were advancing on PLANT and that fewer than a hundred N-Jammers were ready.
• Xiao Ran said the Earth Force would likely strike PLANT with nuclear weapons on Valentine's Day and asked Asaha to get the N-Jammers into space.
• Tinia rushed into the reception room and demanded that Xiao Ran take her and the other girls with him.

Xiao Ran took Katia, Tinia, and Melua into space while Asaha used Orb’s agreement to develop new MS units as cover to send N-Jammers to PLANT. Xiao Ran reached the PLANT Council headquarters undetected and began infiltrating it to seek Cruze.

• Xiao Ran brought Katia, Tinia, and Melua into space aboard the Giant Whale while he piloted the Flying Eagle.
• Asaha agreed to help the Earth Force develop new MS units at Heliopolis and used the project to send N-Jammers into space.
• Asaha secretly arranged for the Scrap Dealer Guild to deliver the N-Jammers to PLANT as the Earth Force began the G Project.
• Xiao Ran approached PLANT under the Mirage System while considering how he might treat Cruze’s genetic disease.
• Xiao Ran attached the Flying Eagle to the PLANT Council satellite, then used Teleportation to enter through a maintenance door without raising an alarm.

Xiao Ran used the Mentor’s name to gain entry to Klein Mansion and meet Lacus, claiming he had urgent business with her father and Chairman Sarra. After admitting that the Mentor had sent no message, he faced a roomful of weapons and offered vital intelligence that could affect hundreds of thousands of PLANT Coordinators.

• Xiao Ran arrived at Klein Mansion and told its guards he was an envoy from the Mentor seeking to meet Lacus, Chairman Klein, and Chairman Sarra.
• Lacus allowed Xiao Ran to meet her in the garden, where he noticed the hidden guards and she had them reveal themselves.
• Xiao Ran admitted that the Mentor had not sent him and that he had borrowed the Mentor’s name to secure the meeting.
• The guards aimed their weapons at Xiao Ran and shielded Lacus.
• Xiao Ran argued that he had come as a guest and said he possessed vital intelligence concerning hundreds of thousands of PLANT Coordinators.

Xiao Ran explained why he had approached Lacus and offered to share sensitive information about the Alliance’s attack on PLANT. Lacus read his private message and was left with serious concerns about what it revealed.

• Lacus questioned Xiao Ran’s identity and wondered how he knew about her mentor’s close ties to the Klein family.
• Xiao Ran refused to reveal his identity in front of the guards and said he would communicate privately with Lacus.
• Lacus asked for paper and a pen, and Xiao Ran wrote a message, folded it into a paper crane, and gave it to a guard.
• Lacus unfolded the paper crane away from the others and read that Xiao Ran came from Orb through a cooperative relationship and had learned that the Alliance’s attack on PLANT had other objectives.

Xiao Ran warned Cigel Klein and Patrick Zala that a secret Earth Force unit planned to use nuclear bombs against PLANT, and offered N-Jammers from Orb. He named Junius 7 as the target and hinted that Rau Le Creuset knew more than he had revealed, leaving the leaders to decide whether to trust him.

• Lacus brought Cigel Klein and Patrick Zala to meet Xiao Ran after reconnaissance confirmed containers at the coordinates he had provided.
• Xiao Ran repeated his warning about the Earth Force’s hidden unit and explained that Orb had supplied completed N-Jammers to protect PLANT’s civilians.
• Patrick demanded evidence and threatened Xiao Ran, while Xiao Ran said Orb would remain neutral and would oppose anyone who endangered civilians.
• Cigel agreed to host Xiao Ran under surveillance while verifying his claims with Orb, but Patrick continued to distrust him.
• Xiao Ran identified Junius 7 as the likely nuclear target and warned Patrick that his wife was there.
• Xiao Ran turned to Rau Le Creuset and suggested he would reveal more important intelligence, ending with an apology to Cruze.

Xiao Ran exposed Rau Le Creuset’s identity and plan to destroy the world, turning Patrick against his trusted adviser. Cruze admitted the revelations were true, then questioned how Xiao Ran knew so much about him.

• Xiao Ran told Patrick, Siegel, Lacus, and Cruze that he knew Cruze’s identity and that Cruze had never met him.
• Xiao Ran revealed that Cruze was a rapidly aging clone who planned to use the ZAFT-Alliance war to destroy the world.
• Patrick drew his pistol and ordered Cruze to remove his mask, while Cruze prepared to seize a hostage.
• Lacus played along with Xiao Ran’s joke about Cruze being an “old driver,” easing the tense atmosphere and prompting Patrick to lower his gun.
• Cruze admitted that Xiao Ran’s account was true and asked how Xiao Ran knew his secret identity and plans.

Xiao Ran revealed that he came from another world, where he knew a different Cruze and had seen the fates of Siegel, Patrick, and Lacus. He warned Cruze that he could cure his illness and left the group confronting the possibility that their futures might follow the same path as the other world.

• Cruze questioned Xiao Ran about his confidence, and Xiao Ran said it came from his strength and his knowledge of everyone present.
• Xiao Ran explained that he knew Cruze from another world, where they had fought together, and said that Cruze's illness could be cured.
• Xiao Ran revealed that the other world's Cruze had tried to destroy Earth with Genesis before becoming his trusted deputy.
• Siegel and the others realized Xiao Ran was claiming to have come from another world, and Patrick grew tense when Xiao Ran mentioned the secret Genesis plans.
• Xiao Ran introduced himself as Orb's administrator and described how Siegel, Patrick, and Lacus had died in the other world.
• Cruze wondered whether those events had been their original fate.

Xiao Ran tried to convince the PLANT leaders that he came from another world and wanted to prevent its tragedies from repeating. Cruze believed him and sided with him, while Siegel asked why he had come and Xiao Ran said he hoped to change their fates and find a way home.

• Siegel rejected Xiao Ran’s account of his death, and Xiao Ran explained how Lacus and Patrick had contributed to it in the other world.
• Patrick ordered his guards to bring Madam back, while Cruze admitted he believed Xiao Ran and confessed he had planned to take someone hostage.
• Patrick ordered Xiao Ran seized, but Xiao Ran used the blue light in his eyes to restrain Patrick and the guards and take Patrick’s gun.
• Cruze removed the bullets from the gun and stood behind Xiao Ran, explaining that he trusted Xiao Ran’s knowledge of his past and Ray.
• Siegel stopped Patrick from escalating the confrontation and asked Xiao Ran why he had come to their world.
• Xiao Ran said his arrival had been an accident, that he wanted to prevent the other world’s tragedies, and that he hoped to use PLANT, Orb, and other forces to find a way home.

Xiao Ran won cautious cooperation from Siegel and left Patrick doubting him while trying to verify his claims. Siegel and Cruze departed, and Lacus asked Xiao Ran about his abilities and the man in a photograph.

• Patrick took copies of Xiao Ran’s photos and stationed ZAFT soldiers outside Siegel’s home as he left.
• Xiao Ran told Siegel he would provide information about ZAFT’s future mobile suits and warships, and asked for a hangar on the satellite.
• Siegel said he did not fully believe Xiao Ran but respected Lacus’s trust in him, then left with Cruze.
• Cruze agreed to return with more questions, while his position in ZAFT had become untenable.
• Lacus asked Xiao Ran whether he was a Newtype or Innovator and whether the man in the photograph was her future husband.

Xiao Ran answered Lacus’s questions about her and Athrun’s lives in another world, while she weighed how little those futures had to do with her own choices. Lacus then asked him to tell her the story of his past, and Xiao Ran began recounting events involving PLANT, Orb, the Alliance, and the people they knew.

• Lacus asked whether revealing another world’s future might change their lives and whether she and Athrun had been happy there.
• Xiao Ran said the other Lacus and Kira had a good relationship, while Athrun had another lover besides Cagalli, and Lacus said she would treat that world’s events only as a reference.
• Lacus said she wanted Athrun to learn that his future wife was not her but two other girls, then asked whether another Xiao Ran existed in this world.
• Xiao Ran explained that there was no other Xiao Ran who had worked as a teacher in Heliopolis and that he might be a major variable between the worlds.
• Lacus asked Xiao Ran to tell her about his past and the stories of PLANT, Orb, the Alliance, Athrun, and how the Orb Princess and prince met, and he began his account.

Xiao Ran told Lacus about the other SEED world's war and its dangers, and Lacus resolved to prevent the same events from happening in her world. After she left him briefly to investigate Kira, she returned with Cruze, Tinia, Melua, and Katia as the war approached.

• Xiao Ran recounted the other world's events to Lacus, who recognized the dangers of the Librarian Organization and Genesis and said she would warn her father.
• Lacus reflected on the burden of losing her father and said she would not let the other world's tragedies happen again before leaving Xiao Ran alone.
• Lacus privately decided that Kira Yamato needed careful investigation, while Xiao Ran realized her favorability toward him had reached its maximum.
• Lacus returned with Cruze, Tinia, Melua, and Katia, and Cruze told Xiao Ran that Siegel had arranged the two robots.
• Xiao Ran told Cruze to prepare for the coming war and promised Eagle's assistance, then Tinia greeted Lacus excitedly and Lacus welcomed her interest.

Xiao Ran considered the plot, missions, and factions in the world and planned how to prepare for the challenges ahead. He decided to train potential allies and strengthen ties with Orb and PLANT before later dealing with Fury.

• Lacus guided Xiao Ran's three companions through a conversation in the garden to learn more about him.
• Xiao Ran reviewed the world's plot and concluded that his strength let him act independently of it.
• Xiao Ran determined that he needed allies to complete missions involving world suppression and maintaining peace, and he chose Orb as his main partner while keeping PLANT as a reserve.
• Xiao Ran planned to train Tinia, Katia, Melua, and promising pilots such as Kira and Athrun, while seeking an S-class enemy to fulfill another mission.
• Xiao Ran planned to avoid joining the coming PLANT-Alliance war unless PLANT asked for his help, prevent nuclear missiles from striking the colonies, and later bring Fury's strength under his control.

As the Earth Force fleet neared PLANT, Xiao Ran proposed giving Siegel and Patrick advanced MS technology in exchange for delaying its battlefield use and forming a joint special unit. He urged them to dismantle the Earth Force and unite Earth, warning that alien threats made humanity’s internal conflict seem ridiculous.

• The Earth Force ignored Siegel’s attempts to communicate while Patrick prepared PLANT for battle, and Lacus broadcast songs to comfort its people.
• Xiao Ran met Siegel and Patrick in the Klein Mansion glasshouse as the Earth Force fleet approached the front lines.
• Xiao Ran offered PLANT advanced MS, reactor, weapon, armor, and warship technology, on the condition that it stay off the battlefield for at least a year; Patrick objected, but Xiao Ran argued that PLANT should preserve its long-term advantage.
• Xiao Ran proposed creating a special unit of PLANT, Orb, and personally recruited members, whom he would train before returning them to PLANT.
• Xiao Ran proposed that PLANT and Orb lead a new unified government after the Earth Force’s dismantling, with Lacus as PLANT’s chairwoman, Siegel as the government’s first leader, and Patrick overseeing military strength.
• Xiao Ran revealed that he had become Great President of a unified government in another world and warned Siegel and Patrick that alien civilizations threatened Earth, making humanity’s internal conflict seem ridiculous.

Xiao Ran explained the alien threats and the history of his world, then argued that PLANT, Orb, and he needed a year to build trust and strength before overthrowing the Alliance. He offered to seize every Alliance military base and headquarters in three days if Siegel and Patrick could guarantee PLANT would work with Orb to take over the world afterward.

• Siegel asked whether the alien threats in Xiao Ran’s world included the gigantic flower-like motherships, and Xiao Ran said they did not.
• Xiao Ran told Siegel and Patrick that an alien race was hidden inside the Moon and had watched their war with the Alliance.
• Xiao Ran described how his world united against the Alliance, encountered alien life, and eventually entered an era of cosmic expansion.
• Xiao Ran said he wanted PLANT, Orb, and himself to spend a year building trust, strengthening their forces, and training Super Aces before confronting the Alliance.
• Siegel questioned Xiao Ran’s motives, and Xiao Ran said he wanted to prevent the deaths and oppression he had witnessed in his world.
• Xiao Ran offered to seize every Alliance military base and headquarters in three days if Siegel and Patrick promised PLANT would cooperate with Orb after the Alliance fell.

Xiao Ran convinced Siegel and Patrick of his power and offered PLANT and Orb advanced mecha technology in exchange for their cooperation. Patrick accepted Xiao Ran’s conditions and entrusted him with the coming battle against the Earth Force.

• Xiao Ran described his A-class strength and claimed he could destroy PLANT’s forces and satellites within an hour, but said he would hold back for now.
• Xiao Ran offered PLANT and Orb next-generation mecha technology, including B-class mass-production designs, custom A-class mecha, and Genesis technology.
• Siegel asked Patrick about Genesis, and Patrick agreed to share its information with him rather than keep secrets between them.
• Xiao Ran gave Siegel a data storage device and named Athrun, Nicol, Yzak, Dearka, Heine Westenfluss, Lunamaria Hawke, Shia Haneffs, and Meyrin Hawke as people who must join his group.
• Patrick agreed to Xiao Ran’s conditions, including cooperation with Orb and a unified government after the Earth Force was dismantled, while Siegel left the coming battle in Xiao Ran’s hands.

As war between the Earth Force and ZAFT approached, Patrick and Siegel arranged covert preparations based on Xiao Ran’s information while Patrick sent Cruze to the front. The Earth Force launched a massive attack on PLANT’s defensive line, and ZAFT immediately counterattacked.

• Patrick told Siegel to forget the engagement, arrange a secret mission to Orb, prepare to manufacture new machines, and select personnel for Xiao Ran’s special unit.
• Patrick assigned Cruze to the front lines, hoping the danger would spur Xiao Ran to intervene, but Xiao Ran said he would defend PLANT regardless.
• Xiao Ran decided to keep the Flying Eagle in the rear to guard against Earth Force special operations and nuclear attacks, while withholding the Giant Whale to avoid revealing too much of his strength.
• The Earth Force began the battle by firing tens of thousands of missiles and warship beams at ZAFT’s defensive forces and the Colony Satellites behind them.
• ZAFT launched its mobile suits to intercept the missiles and counterattacked the Earth Force fleet, plunging both sides into intense fighting.

Xiao Ran refused Tinia’s pleas to join the battle, explaining that PLANT had to defend itself despite the help he had already provided. After the Earth Force and ZAFT fought for a day and night, Lacus brought him urgent news that the Earth Force planned a nuclear strike and PLANT leaders were considering retaliation.

• Tinia urged Xiao Ran to use his strength to end the battle, but he said PLANT had to take responsibility for its own choices.
• Lacus supported Xiao Ran’s decision and reminded Tinia that he had already provided PLANT with N-Jammers, technology, and Flying Eagle’s protection.
• The Earth Force and ZAFT continued fighting for a day and night while Xiao Ran stayed out of the battle and Giant Whale guarded the satellite.
• Lacus told Xiao Ran that a reconnaissance team had found the Earth Force’s nuclear strike team and that ZAFT officials were considering a nuclear counterattack.