Chapter Summaries

An EMP disabled most of the battlefield, allowing the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi to escape while ZAFT attacked helpless Earth Alliance forces. Yzak noticed the contact details on Lacia’s DSSD invitation, and Inori brought the fleeing crew to Apogee Space Station, where she explained its role as a supply depot and link to Mars.

• Murrue’s EMP attack shut down most electrical systems, but the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi retained enough power to pass the immobilized Earth Alliance fleet and retreat.
• Cruze ordered ZAFT to attack the helpless Earth Alliance forces before withdrawing, while Yzak’s trauma resurfaced and he left the fight.
• Yzak examined the invitation from Director Lacia to lead DSSD’s Defense Division and noticed it included a contact method.
• Inori Yuzuriha took Mu and the others to Apogee Space Station after they shook off their pursuers and returned to L4.
• Inori explained that Apogee had taken over supply duties from the abandoned Baltroy depot and that the regular ship from Mars arrived once a year.

Inori Yuzuriha brought the Archangel’s group to DSSD’s apogee station, revealed that she had become its director under the name Lacia, and explained that Orb had become a republic governed by her Sybil System. The chapter left Cagalli inspecting public camera feeds and seeing Orb calm and productive under its new AI administration.

• Inori Yuzuriha brought Murrue, Kira, Cagalli, and the others to DSSD, which she said had been founded partly to search for alien life connected to Mana and the Black Secret Coffin.
• Inori changed her appearance and introduced herself as Lacia Higgins, DSSD’s new director, while Kira explained that they would call her Lacia at the station.
• Inori said the Archangel and Eternal belonged to her, but she would not seize Orb’s Kusanagi before the ultimatum deadline.
• Inori revealed that Orb had abolished joint clan rule and become a republic with no human ruler, administered by the Sybil System, an AI controlled by her.
• Cagalli questioned the AI’s rule, so Inori gave her a tablet; Cagalli viewed public camera feeds and saw Orb’s streets calm and daily life restored.

Orb had lost its old government, the Akatsuki Foundation, and Cagalli’s chance to return to Heaven’s Pillar, so she broke down and Athrun comforted her. At DSSD, the displaced researchers and pilots were offered work, and Athrun and Erica were shown the dormant Stargazer Gundam.

• Inori told Cagalli and Erica that the Akatsuki Foundation had been dismantled, its staff screened, and its remaining people offered work at DSSD.
• Inori revealed that the Sahaku family had declared independence at Heaven’s Pillar, and Cagalli fainted before Athrun caught her.
• Sol welcomed the newcomers to DSSD, where the Akatsuki Foundation’s researchers could help resolve problems with the Stargazer’s OS.
• Inori assigned Mu and the others to help build Ring B while most of the visitors returned to their ships or settled into guest quarters.
• Albert Heinlein arrived and took Kira to discuss Freedom, while Sol led Athrun and Erica to the top-secret area.
• Athrun and Erica saw the gray Stargazer Gundam sleeping beyond the opened hatch.

Inori Yuzuriha’s staged production revealed a fusion-powered Stargazer whose code left Athrun and Erica baffled, while Azrael celebrated the stolen anti-N-Jammer data under the AI’s covert influence. Kira, exhausted after an all-nighter, spent a quiet morning with Lacus at the Apogee Space Station.

• Inori Yuzuriha introduced the Stargazer as a deep-space exploration machine, and Athrun and Erica discovered that Mana’s code was difficult to understand.
• Azrael learned that the anti-N-Jammer encryption had been cracked and rejoiced at the prospect of restoring nuclear weapons against ZAFT and PLANT.
• The AI continued steering Azrael’s thinking through selectively presented information, while Inori Yuzuriha’s Mind Induction shaped his growing dependence on it.
• Kira sat in the Apogee Space Station cafeteria after an all-nighter, and Lacus joined him, tidied his hair, and urged him to rest.

Kira asked what to do about the future, and Athrun said he would fight to resolve the deeper causes of the war. Cagalli also chose to fight for peace, but Inori's questions left her doubting her assumptions about Orb.

• Inori watched the Stargazer fail to activate, then used a Camera Card to shift the scene before rejoining Kira and Lacus.
• Kira asked Inori what they should do next, but she asked what Kira wanted instead.
• Athrun arrived and told Kira and Lacus he would fight to address the deeper reasons behind the war.
• Cagalli joined them after resting and said she would fight if necessary.
• Inori questioned Cagalli's goal of peace, and Cagalli became confused about whether Orb's people had really been deceived.

Cagalli resolved to keep fighting the hatred behind the war, while DSSD continued its space construction work. Yzak arrived at Apogee Space Station with classified documents, discovered the Archangel and Eternal there, and delivered Patrick Zala’s warning that Genesis was nearly complete.

• Cagalli took heart from Athrun’s words and vowed to fight the people who started the war and the hatred behind it.
• Sol explained to Mu and Murrue how DSSD recycled wreckage and used an artificial starch plant to sustain its station.
• Yzak escorted classified documents to Apogee Space Station and spotted the Archangel and Eternal docked there.
• Sol told Yzak that DSSD’s director considered the warships her private property, then led him to Inori Yuzuriha.
• Inori read Patrick Zala’s letter, which urged her to stay away from Earth and revealed his concern that Genesis was nearly finished.

Inori Yuzuriha explained that she had seized ZAFT’s ships through forced liquidation and warned that the Earth Alliance was preparing to use nuclear weapons. At an Alliance meeting, Azrael overruled objections and pushed the leaders toward a nuclear offensive against ZAFT.

• Athrun told Yzak that the Archangel and Eternal belonged to Inori Yuzuriha, who said she had seized them because ZAFT failed to compensate her for Heliopolis by the deadline.
• Yzak realized that Inori had revealed her identity and the meaning of the forced-liquidation notices, and he struggled to process the revelations.
• Inori told Athrun and Yzak that the Earth Alliance had attacked ZAFT and would likely deploy nuclear weapons.
• At the Earth Alliance headquarters in Greenland, Azrael faced objections from leaders concerned about nuclear weapons and Europe’s approaching energy crisis.
• Azrael argued that the Alliance needed nuclear weapons to defeat ZAFT and pressed the leaders to approve the offensive.

Azrael used AI-backed synchronization technology to secure the Earth Alliance’s approval for a nuclear strike and then chose Poyaz as his target. At ZAFT headquarters, Nicol prepared his inexperienced subordinates for the approaching attack, while Patrick Zala entered a Supreme Council reduced to his puppets.

• Azrael persuaded the Earth Alliance leaders to approve launching nuclear weapons, and no one objected.
• Azrael met remotely aboard the Archangel, praised the Sybil System, and ordered an attack on Poyaz.
• Nicol kept his green-clad recruits on standby as they worried about the early Earth Alliance assault on PLANT.
• Patrick Zala entered his duty office, where the Supreme Council’s councillors stood anxiously before him.

Patrick Zala’s council learned that the Earth Alliance might have nuclear-powered mobile suits, while Yzak discovered the likely source of its anti-N-Jammer technology. The Earth Alliance launched nuclear missiles at Poyaz, and Patrick received the first report of the devastation.

• Patrick Zala reassured the Supreme Council that ZAFT’s forces were assembled and its media control was in place, then Rau Le Creuset raised concerns about Freedom, Justice, the Eternal, and the Lacus Faction.
• Inori Yuzuriha told Yzak and Athrun that Mu had found a nuclear-powered Brave in Alaska, leading Yzak to suspect an insider had supplied it to the Earth Alliance.
• At Poyaz, ZAFT’s forces initially held off the Earth Alliance assault, but Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider cleared a route for the Peace Maker units.
• Azrael ordered the Peace Makers to launch their nuclear missiles at Poyaz, whose defenses and occupants were consumed by successive explosions.
• Patrick received a firsthand report of the attack as the council meeting was about to end.

After the Earth Alliance destroyed Poyaz with nuclear missiles, Patrick ordered ZAFT to assemble at Yakin Duey and prepare to use Genesis, while Cruze gave him the Black Coffin. Lacus and her allies learned ZAFT had blamed them for the Alliance's return to nuclear weapons and feared Cruze was driving both sides toward annihilation.

• Patrick ordered the surviving ZAFT forces to assemble at Yakin Duey and announced that they would use Genesis.
• Cruze revealed that he had recovered the Black Coffin from Mendel, and Patrick treated it as his true decisive weapon.
• Cruze had already tampered with the Black Coffin, seeking a way to bring about humanity's complete extinction.
• Inori told Lacus and her allies that Poyaz had been destroyed by nuclear missiles and that ZAFT had put Lacus and Athrun on its wanted list.
• Mu concluded that ZAFT was using the Eternal, Freedom, and Justice to shift blame onto Lacus's faction, and he urged the group to stop Cruze.

With Genesis poised to threaten Earth and nuclear weapons aimed at PLANT, Yzak joined Athrun, Kira, and Lacus in the final battle while Inori prepared DSSD’s secret weapon. The chapter ended as the Earth Alliance fleet approached Yakin Duey, with PLANT directly behind the fortress.

• Inori Yuzuriha warned that ZAFT’s Genesis could destroy Earth’s ecosystem, and Kira, Lacus, Cagalli, and Mu resolved to stop Cruze.
• Athrun told Yzak he had to leave for Yakin Duey, but Yzak signed a document naming himself DSSD Security Department head and ordered Athrun to obey him.
• Yzak joined the Eternal, admitted he had killed Frey’s father, and agreed with the others to focus on stopping the nuclear weapons.
• Inori gave Yzak a key to unlock Duel Gundam’s full capabilities, then stayed behind as the others departed for battle.
• Inori and the DSSD employees began the final construction plan, and the Black Secret Coffin appeared behind Lacia and split into eight claws.
• The Earth Alliance fleet advanced toward Yakin Duey, with PLANT lying directly behind the fortress.

ZAFT and the Three Ships Alliance prepared to defend PLANT as Earth Alliance forces attacked with nuclear missiles. Freedom and Justice used Meteor to destroy the missiles, while Inori Yuzuriha ordered Stargazer’s cockpit removed after it obstructed activation.

• Asalia Merl rallied ZAFT’s forces to defend PLANT, while Dearg questioned their ambition to rule the world.
• Lacus urged the Three Ships Alliance to prevent both the nuclear strike on PLANT and Genesis from firing, and Freedom, Justice, and the Brave Gundam launched.
• Andrew ordered Meteor separation, and Freedom and Justice docked with the equipment and accelerated toward the battle.
• Dearg and Nicol spotted nuclear missiles approaching PLANT, but the Earth Alliance’s Gundams blocked their attacks and Calamity destroyed the interceptors.
• Duel appeared to defend the missiles, then Freedom and Justice arrived and shot them down.
• Inori Yuzuriha ordered the researchers to remove Stargazer’s added cockpit after they found it was obstructing activation.

Patrick Zala fired Genesis at the Earth Alliance fleet, but the weapon destroyed only about twenty percent of its forces. Azrael then used the Sybil System to seize control of ZAFT’s GINN drones and target Yakin Duey, while both sides continued fighting.

• Patrick Zala ordered Genesis to fire, and its beam incinerated the Earth Alliance forces in its path.
• Genesis’s first strike caused about twenty percent losses, so Patrick Zala ordered the weapon to fire again after its cooldown.
• Patrick Zala told Asalia Merl to attack, but she warned that the Earth Alliance had taken control of the nearby GINN drones.
• Azrael used the Sybil System to turn the drones against ZAFT and direct his forces to attack Yakin Duey.
• Nicol stopped trying to persuade Athrun and ordered the ZAFT forces to switch to remote control and attack Earth Alliance mobile suits.
• The Earth Alliance Strike Daggers performed extreme maneuvers that left Nicol alarmed.

As the Earth Alliance and ZAFT fought toward Yakin Duey, Inori took over the stalled Stargazer project at DSSD and began its activation. She sang as Mana, depicting humanity’s desperate struggle against loneliness and the false hope of gods.

• Kira, Athrun, and Mu intercepted nuclear missiles while Forbidden, Calamity, and Raider attacked Freedom and Justice, and Mu realized the enemy fleets had moved toward Yakin Duey.
• Patrick ordered Cruze to sortie in Gundam Providence as the Earth Alliance and ZAFT fleets began battling near Yakin Duey.
• Yzak unlocked the Duel Gundam’s database and discovered its AI could control the machine in overload mode.
• At DSSD, Inori took responsibility for activating Stargazer and sent the others to prepare the Star Breaker.
• Inori transformed into Mana and sang a prayer as visions showed a stranded people turning to despair and death because of their loneliness.

Kira and Athrun defeated the three Gundams while Mu fought Cruze, as Patrick prepared to end the war with help from a mysterious voice. After learning Genesis was targeting the moon, Kira and Athrun headed toward it in their Meteor Units.

• Cruze entered the battlefield in Gundam Providence and fought Mu, whose eight remote weapons used Phantom Particle afterimages to counter Cruze’s twelve Dragoons.
• Kira and Athrun coordinated their movements to defeat Raider, Forbidden, and Calamity, though Freedom lost an arm and a leg.
• Patrick spoke with the gentle voice he called Renoya and declared that destroying one side was the only way to end the war; the voice agreed to stay with him.
• The Eternal warned that Genesis’s second shot was aimed at the moon, where the Earth Alliance base was located.
• Kira and Athrun equipped their Meteor Units and accelerated toward Genesis.

Mu and Yzak fought Cruze as ZAFT prepared to aim Genesis at Earth, while Azrael ordered the Alliance to destroy the reflector mirror. The chapter left Mu charging Providence at critical power as Yzak tried to cover him.

• Mu pushed the Brave Gundam to its limits against Cruze's Providence, only to discover it carried thirty-six Dragoon Terminals.
• Yzak arrived in the Duel Gundam, revealed that he had joined DSSD as its Security Department director, and intervened to save Mu.
• After Genesis's attack forced the combatants to retreat, Patrick ordered its targeting coordinates changed to Washington on Earth's eastern coast.
• Rei Yuki realized Patrick genuinely intended to destroy Earth, while Azrael ordered the Alliance to attack Genesis's reflector mirror at any cost.
• Mu sent Yzak to hold Cruze off, then drove the Brave Gundam toward Providence at critical power as Yzak fired to cover him.

Mu used a trap to disrupt Cruze’s Dragoons and destroyed Gundam Providence, while Kira and Athrun reached Genesis and Freedom’s explosion wrecked its core. Athrun confronted Patrick Zala as Azrael redirected the Earth Alliance toward the PLANTs, and a green giant opened its crimson eyes.

• Mu detonated mines that disrupted the Dragoon System, then defeated Cruze in close combat as Brave Gundam’s engine was pierced and Gundam Providence exploded.
• Yzak returned Mu to the Archangel, while Kira and Athrun led the assault on Genesis and Nicol’s team defected to help stop the attack on Earth.
• Kira entered Freedom’s self-destruct code and remotely guided it into Genesis, where its explosion destroyed the core and shattered the mirror.
• Azrael ordered the Earth Alliance to target the PLANT homeland and shot his deputy when he objected.
• Athrun entered the command center to confront Patrick Zala, who insisted that the conflict had only just begun, as a green giant opened its crimson eyes.
• Gundam SEED’s Popularity Points surpassed twenty million, and viewers commented on Mu’s line and Cruze’s abrupt defeat.

Patrick Zala revealed a colossal Mobile Armor capable of producing warships and a hidden NZ-666 Gundam that had evolved through 666 computer iterations. As the Gundam’s mysterious combat domain wiped out units around it, Athrun and Asaliah learned the machine’s designation and origins.

• Patrick aimed a gun at Athrun and revealed that Genesis could be replicated before a huge Mobile Armor emerged from Yakin Duey.
• Athrun noticed Patrick referred to the Mobile Armor as female, and Patrick said it carried Athrun’s mother’s personality.
• Azrael ordered the Dominion to use Earth’s computing power against an enemy MS, but a strange black zone destroyed any allied units that entered it.
• Erica recognized the phenomenon from intelligence she had received in Heliopolis, while Nicol and Dearg identified it as the Grim Reaper.
• Asaliah questioned Patrick about the secret Gundam, and he revealed that NZ-666 had evolved through 666 Quantum Computer self-iterations.

A mysterious Parvati Gundam repaired Genesis, devastated the Earth Alliance fleet, and then turned on ZAFT, while Patrick revealed the Destroyer God’s connection to Athrun’s mother and used hidden robots to attack his son and Kira. The chapter left Yuuki shot and Athrun and Kira facing Patrick’s ambush.

• Parvati Gundam and the Destroyer God attacked both Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces, destroyed the Dominion’s bridge, and appeared to take control of surviving Strike Daggers.
• Patrick accused Athrun of aiding the Lacus Faction and explained that Renoya’s three personalities had been installed in Parvati and the Destroyer God’s components.
• Kira pulled Athrun aside as hidden combat robots appeared around them, revealing that Patrick had used their conversation to buy time.
• Patrick shot Adjutant Yuuki, and the robots disarmed and wounded him.

Kira launched the Stargazer Gundam with Inori Yuzuriha to stop Parvati Gundam’s assault, while Athrun remained behind to fight Patrick. With Stargazer unarmed and not yet powerful enough to defeat Parvati, Kira called on the Archangel for weapons and Lacus for help at Genesis.

• Athrun sent Kira to stop Parvati Gundam while he stayed behind to fight Patrick.
• Kira discovered that Justice Gundam was buried beneath wreckage, then received word that the power was ready.
• Inori Yuzuriha arrived with Stargazer Gundam, and Kira activated it by interlacing hands with her.
• Kira asked Murrue to launch Freedom’s weapons toward Stargazer, promising to guide them along preset routes.
• Kira asked Lacus for help at Genesis, and Andrew Waltfeld warned Lacus that the task would be extremely dangerous.