Chapter Summaries

Andrew Waltfeld met Kira, Cagalli, and Inori and offered to treat the Archangel’s refugees if the Astrays stayed out of the battle. Kira remained uncertain about leaving, but Frey joined the Earth Alliance and urged him to help defend the ship.

• Andrew Waltfeld met the children aboard the Gold Astray and recognized Inori as a performer he admired.
• Andrew offered medical treatment and passage to Orb for the refugees in exchange for keeping the neutral nation’s Astrays out of the conflict.
• Kira accepted Andrew’s condition within his jurisdiction, and Andrew returned to prepare a medical team.
• Cagalli asked Kira what he planned to do, but he remained undecided as she reassured him that he could leave with his friends.
• Frey appeared in an Earth Alliance uniform, took Kira’s hand, and said she would protect the Archangel with him.

Kira and Cagalli chose to stay aboard the Archangel, while Andrew sent medical personnel to treat the refugees and came aboard himself. As the injured began leaving with ZAFT and others debated whether to trust the convoy, Inori planned a concert and a new paint job for the Gold Astray.

• Kira and Cagalli decided to remain with the Archangel so Kira could protect its crew and get everyone to Alaska.
• Murrue restricted movement and information after a Red Cross convoy approached, wary that Andrew might be testing them.
• Andrew boarded the Archangel in disguise, revealed himself as the Desert Tiger, and said he had come to invite Inori to hold a concert.
• Inori accepted the idea of a concert and suggested repainting the Gold Astray as a Red Astray.
• The Archangel's crew arranged for injured refugees to leave with ZAFT, while Sai, Kazui, and Tolle discussed whether the convoy could be trusted.

Kira struggled with his dependence on the Gundam and found comfort in Inori’s reassurance before recovering enough to prepare for a concert. As the Archangel repaired itself and planned its route, Mu warned Kira that Blue Cosmos might control the Atlantic Federation, leaving Admiral Halberton in a precarious position.

• Kira told the others he would escort the Archangel while Inori prepared to give a concert for ZAFT.
• Kira admitted to Inori that wearing his pilot suit and piloting a Gundam made him feel safe, and Inori comforted him by describing the Gundam as a power for protection and connection.
• The Archangel’s crew treated the wounded, and Murrue and Andrew discussed how difficult it would be for ZAFT’s desert forces to challenge the ship and its Gundam.
• After resting, Kira felt better, and the crew prepared to repaint the captured Gold Astray red and equip it with stage props for the performance.
• Mu asked Kira to buy supplies and explained that the Archangel planned to cross the desert and Indian Ocean toward Alaska before returning Kira to Orb.
• Mu warned Kira that Blue Cosmos might control the Atlantic Federation and that Admiral Halberton was probably in trouble.

Mu and Kira discussed how the Eighth Fleet might prove Blue Cosmos’s role in the war, while DSSD researchers investigated Lacia’s technology and watched a concert broadcast featuring Inori Yuzuriha. The concert was interrupted by a scene shift to Athrun driving through PLANT’s capital, Aprilius One.

• Mu told Kira that Harbaton’s remaining supporters could challenge Blue Cosmos if they found evidence linking it to the theft of data and the attack on Heliopolis.
• DSSD researchers examined Lacia’s AI designs and blueprints, recognizing that the files included sensitive ZAFT and Earth Alliance technologies.
• The DSSD team opened Lacia’s free concert link and discussed her identity as the broadcast showed Inori Yuzuriha performing for ZAFT.
• A red Astray flew toward the concert amid the audience’s cheers, but the episode ended before the performance began.
• The next episode shifted to Athrun, who drove through a peaceful residential district on Aprilius One, PLANT’s capital satellite.

Athrun visited Lacus and watched Inori’s concert on television, reflecting on how much he and his life had changed. The concert also captivated the Archangel crew, while Murrue wondered whether a P.A.R.A. protective suit might let Mu pilot Strike.

• Athrun arrived at the Klein residence, where Lacus welcomed him and invited him to watch a concert.
• Lacus showed Athrun Inori’s performance, and he watched her sing and dance beneath Red Astray.
• The Desert Tiger cheered for Inori among the soldiers as she performed “My Boyfriend is a Pilot.”
• Mu discussed Inori’s concert persona with Murrue and Murrue Ramius, then stopped when they gave her disapproving looks about Inori’s outfits.
• Murrue wondered whether Mu could pilot Strike with a P.A.R.A. protective suit.

Athrun questioned Lacus about the lives of people outside PLANT and whether ZAFT’s actions in North Africa amounted to an invasion. As Inori Yuzuriha performed, Lacus noticed that the concert omitted a song from the album and that its version of “Scarborough Fair” left out an anti-war refrain.

• Athrun watched Inori Yuzuriha’s concert while focusing on the Red Astray behind her.
• Lacus quieted the Haroplas and welcomed Athrun, who apologized for not visiting her.
• Athrun asked Lacus whether she knew how people outside PLANT lived and whether ZAFT was invading North Africa.
• Inori announced “Scarborough Fair” as the concert’s final song, and Lacus noticed that the album included a North African folk song the concert had omitted.
• Lacus found that the album’s version of “Scarborough Fair” included an anti-war refrain that Inori’s performance left out.

After Athrun saw a folk song MV linking Dawn Desert to resistance against occupation, he learned that Cruze's team was preparing to attack Gibraltar and feared fighting Kira again. During a private conversation, Athrun questioned ZAFT's occupation of African lands, revealing a growing distance between him and Lacus.

• Lacus ended her concert with a folk song performed by an elderly Tuareg singer, whose MV portrayed childhood friends becoming warriors against a monstrous force.
• Athrun received a message that Cruze's team was heading to Earth, with Gibraltar as its first target, and worried he would have to fight Kira.
• Athrun and Lacus met in the garden, where Lacus apologized that he had missed the Bloody Valentine memorial service and thanked him for helping bring Inori's song there.
• Lacus said more people were volunteering for the military, while Athrun wondered aloud about ZAFT's occupation of African lands.
• Athrun sensed a thick barrier between himself and Lacus after she looked at him.

Lacus told Athrun that they could not be together because she could not be the bond he needed, while Inori Yuzuriha's concert ended and Andrew invited her, Kira, and Cagalli to dinner. Andrew revealed that the concert had been intended to lure out Blue Cosmos members, though Inori had already helped capture them.

• Lacus told Athrun she understood his resolve as a warrior but did not want to become his bond, and said they probably could not be together.
• After the concert, Andrew noticed that Inori Yuzuriha had performed a North African folk song regarded as a rebel song in ZAFT and praised her performance backstage.
• Andrew bought Inori's album, received her autograph, and reflected that PLANT had been unable to suppress her presence or information about her.
• Cagalli realized she had ended up helping as concert staff, and Andrew invited her, Kira, and Inori to dinner, suggesting Kira's classmates could join them.
• Andrew explained that the concert had been planned to draw out Blue Cosmos, but Inori had already helped capture their members.

Inori Yuzuriha’s concert continued after Kira and Cagalli agreed to take a short break, while Andrew questioned Kira about being a Coordinator. Athrun’s team headed for Earth, but an Earth Alliance ambush near their deployment orbit left Athrun preparing to sortie and buy the transport ships time to escape.

• Kira agreed to take a short break from piloting the Gundam Astray, and Andrew asked whether Kira was a Coordinator.
• Athrun’s friends noticed he seemed happier, while Athrun privately realized his relationship with Lacus was not love.
• Athrun’s team boarded two Lohengrin Class vessels and set course for Earth to attack the Archangel.
• An Earth Alliance fleet ambushed the transport ships near their deployment orbit, and Athrun suspected their plans had leaked.
• Athrun decided to sortie and buy time for the transport ships to complete their deployment and leave the area.

Athrun piloted the Crimson Aegis alone against Blue Cosmos forces, clearing a path for the Lohengrin Class ships to retreat and entering Earth’s atmosphere under heavy missile fire. He survived the descent but missed Gibraltar, plunging toward the Adjel Plateau, as the story shifted to Kira’s side.

• Athrun ordered Nicol to stay aboard and launched the Crimson Aegis to confront the enemy fleet.
• Athrun used the Crimson Aegis’s transformations and Kraken cannon to destroy Mobiuses and pierce an Agamemnon-class ship’s bridge with an Anti-ship Sword.
• Athrun stopped two escort ships from breaking through as the Lohengrin Class ships deployed their landing capsule and retreated.
• Inori Yuzuriha secretly supported Athrun through Funeru, helping the Crimson Aegis evade missiles and continue its descent.
• Athrun entered the atmosphere with nearly depleted energy and crashed off course toward the Adjel Plateau, after which the scene switched to Kira.

Andrew hosted Kira and her companions at a hotel, where Kira and Cagalli appeared in matching formal dresses and drew attention for how much they resembled each other. Later, Andrew privately questioned Kira about piloting the Strike and brought up a fossil displayed at the hotel, leaving her wondering why he called it Evidence01.

• Andrew treated Kira's group to dinner at a hotel rather than at the base.
• Miriallia, Kira, and Cagalli changed into formal dresses, and the group remarked on Kira and Cagalli's strong resemblance.
• Inori Yuzuriha and Andrew praised the two girls' appearances while Cagalli and Kira complained about their dresses.
• After dinner, Andrew approached Kira and asked whether she was the Strike's pilot, assuring her he would not act against her.
• Andrew discussed his doubts about the Archangel being a major threat, and Kira noticed a fossil displayed on the hotel wall.
• Andrew called the fossil Evidence01 and asked Kira whether she had seen the real thing.

Kira, Andrew, Cagalli, and Inori Yuzuriha discussed Evidence01 and whether humanity’s hopes and ambitions had caused the war between Naturals and Coordinators. Inori argued that war arose from material and social contradictions, but that efforts to prevent war were still part of humanity’s progress toward the future.

• Andrew explained that Evidence01 had inspired hope in humanity’s ability to advance, which he said had helped lead to genetic modification and conflict between Naturals and Coordinators.
• Cagalli examined the Whale Stone and suggested its apparent wings might be arms or bones from another creature.
• Inori Yuzuriha called Coordinators a manifestation of humanity’s desire to reach land and named SEED as the legs that could carry humanity forward.
• Inori Yuzuriha argued that war arose from contradictions between productive forces and social relations, while avoiding and stopping war remained necessary steps toward progress.
• Kira grew confused by the discussion, and Inori Yuzuriha took his hand and urged him to keep moving forward.
• The viewers debated Inori Yuzuriha’s ideas until someone asked whether tofu pudding should be sweet or savory, prompting a joke about starting a war.

Kira decided she needed power of her own and took responsibility for pursuing it, while Inori supported her. Inori used the identity of Lacia Higgins to join DSSD and supply its researchers with extensive technology, and Kira began modifying the Strike as she prepared to move forward.

• Andrew told Dacosta that he had no reason to fight the Archangel, since he could not defeat it and feared Inori would act against him.
• Kira told Inori she wanted power of her own and would take responsibility, then fell asleep in Inori’s embrace.
• Doctor MacGreev received an email from Lacia and announced that she had accepted DSSD’s invitation.
• Inori, posing as Lacia Higgins, addressed DSSD and sent the researchers a large collection of research documents to support deep-space development.
• Kira went to the hangar, took charge of programming the Strike’s modifications, and recognized that she needed to speed up her preparations.

Kira resolved to become strong enough to protect others while the Archangel’s crew considered its route and dwindling ammunition. Andrew sought Inori’s help finding a missing pilot, but returned to discover Dawn Desert had attacked a ZAFT supply convoy.

• Frey brought Kira breakfast and noticed that she seemed more confident and striking than before.
• Kira told Frey she wanted to grow strong enough to protect everyone.
• Murrue and Mu discussed avoiding Cruzes’s team and chose an eastward route, while recognizing that the Archangel urgently needed ammunition.
• Andrew visited Inori and asked her to help locate a ZAFT pilot who had crashed near the Adjel Plateau, where Dawn Desert operated.
• Inori assured Andrew that the missing pilot was safe but warned that Andrew was in danger.
• Andrew returned to learn that Dawn Desert had attacked a supply convoy and targeted two GOUFs.

Athrun woke in Dawn Desert’s makeshift hospital and learned that they believed he was an Orb student named Kira Yamato, while he realized Inori had helped arrange his rescue. Meanwhile, Andrew prepared an attack on Dawn Desert’s base, and Athrun learned the Crimson Aegis had been destroyed.

• Athrun awoke injured in a makeshift hospital, where a bearded soldier identified him as Kira Yamato from an electronic file.
• Athrun realized he had landed at Dawn Desert’s base and credited Inori with helping conceal and rescue him.
• Andrew reviewed the Archangel’s landing and Dawn Desert’s attack, then ordered his forces to sortie against the Adjel Plateau.
• Andrew’s forces reached the outskirts of the Adjel Plateau at night, and he ordered a warning before attacking in fifteen minutes.
• Athrun, recovering in the hospital, learned that the Crimson Aegis had been destroyed.

Athrun helped evacuate Adjel Plateau after Andrew’s ZAFT forces set the city ablaze, then organized relief for the survivors. The city was reduced to ashes, but the residents survived, and Athrun argued that ZAFT’s restraint was only a self-righteous handout.

• Seibu Ashman introduced himself to Athrun and said Dawn Desert would take him to a ZAFT-controlled city the next day.
• ZAFT’s GOUFs entered Adjel Plateau and began burning the city, so Seibu and Athrun helped evacuate its residents.
• Andrew ordered ZAFT to withdraw after the city had been evacuated, leaving Adjel Plateau devastated but with no confirmed deaths.
• Dawn Desert’s returning soldiers rushed to find their families, and Seibu struggled to organize aid for the displaced residents.
• Athrun directed the survivors to safety and organized disaster relief, then told them Andrew’s restraint was a self-righteous handout.

Athrun helped Dawn Desert with relief efforts and learned why Seibu refused to submit to ZAFT, even as their food shortage remained unresolved. Inori arranged supplies through Rau Le Creuset, while the Archangel prepared to leave Africa.

• Athrun coordinated the transfer of wounded people and food to Dawn Desert's base.
• Seibu explained that Dawn Desert had tried to seize GOUFs, and Athrun warned that doing so would provoke ZAFT and bring destruction.
• Seibu told Athrun that his people would not submit to ZAFT, just as they had refused to submit to France, but Athrun asked how they would address their food shortage.
• Rau Le Creuset arrived at Dawn Desert's base, saying that the Songstress had commissioned him and bringing food supplies.
• Athrun recognized Rau and realized that Inori had arranged the supplies as the Archangel prepared to leave Africa.

Patrick Zala pushed to expand the war and eliminate his political opponents, while Sieghel Klein warned that Coordinators were biologically incomplete and resolved to act. In the desert, Rau Le Creuset examined the damaged Aegis and proposed salvaging parts of it as Athrun struggled with the harsh conditions.

• Patrick Zala accused Orb and other enemies of betraying PLANT, attacked Inori Yuzuriha's music, and considered assassinating her.
• Sieghel Klein challenged Patrick's efforts to inflame hatred and questioned whether Coordinators could truly be considered a new race.
• Patrick left to address the Supreme Council, while Sieghel reflected on Coordinators' limitations and made a decision.
• Rau Le Creuset assessed the wrecked Aegis and suggested that its usable cannon and components could be assembled into a functioning unit.
• Athrun sighed over the loss of his Aegis and endured the desert's heat, sand, and scarce water.

Athrun worried that Dawn Desert would attack ZAFT after Andrew Waltfeld’s arrest, while the Archangel prepared to face the forces pursuing it. Athrun found that Rau Le Creuset had turned his damaged Aegis into a spherical desert-camouflaged machine.

• Athrun saw Dawn Desert celebrate Waltfeld’s arrest and feared the inexperienced fighters would mistake the news for a chance to defeat ZAFT.
• Inori explained Waltfeld’s reputation and warned the Archangel that his arrest had left ZAFT’s North African forces under new command, which could intercept them before the Red Sea.
• Kira said the Strike was ready and vowed to protect the Archangel from whoever came after it.
• Athrun tried to dissuade Seibu from attacking ZAFT, but Seibu planned to use the captured GOUFs and insisted Athrun remain behind.
• Athrun went to check on his Aegis and discovered Rau had welded armor and equipment around it to make a spherical, desert-camouflaged machine.

Rau Le Creuset turned Athrun’s damaged Aegis into a land-based Ball as ZAFT assembled its forces to pursue the Archangel. Kira launched in the upgraded Strike Gundam IWSP and struck the approaching ZAFT formation, leaving the battle underway.

• Rau Le Creuset explained that Aegis was too badly damaged to repair, so he was modifying it into a Ball, and Athrun accepted the makeshift solution.
• Yzak took temporary command after Andrew Waltfeld was detained and led ZAFT’s gathered North African forces in pursuit of the Archangel.
• Yzak learned that the damaged Archangel had been found and outlined a plan to attack it, with Duel, Buster, and Blitz assigned to engage Strike.
• Kira debuted the Strike Gundam IWSP and destroyed or damaged several GOUFs and GINNs with a six-target barrage.
• Kira dropped into the GINN formation, crippled two units with Strike’s railguns, and used a third GINN as a foothold to leap back into the air.