Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury - Tumblr Posts

Gundam Pharact and Elan - by mo84toM0211

Hm, maybe I should start a high grade G-Witch collection for dead pilots.

By my count, I’d have three (for major characters, at least).

Spoilers for Gundam Witch from Mercury episodes 13 and 14 follow.

So, now that we know exactly how Aerial’s been operating this entire time (well, give-or-take a couple details) it does raise the question of what Eri’s role in all this is.

Like, how cognisant is she of her actions? Is she just following Lady Prospera’s orders? Is she protecting her sister? Is she fully aware that she’s murdering all these people?

It’s worth noting that when Suletta expresses doubt about her actions, brought on by witnessing Sophie’s death, Eri (as Aerial) immediately steps in to reassure her that she’s totally on the right path, and should trust her mother (at least that’s the vibe Suletta’s response gives me).

But, in light of this new information, it’s worth considering Elan Four’s fight with (as we now know) Eri (again, as Aerial) and Suletta.

Eri essentially pulled the patented newtype therapy on Elan Four, reminding him of a significant time in his life. But the question is, why?

She had no problem murdering Sophie (though that was somebody actively trying to kill), but why give Elan this?

My immediate though is as a distraction, to give them time to set up that little coup de grace they hit Elan with, but the alternative is that Eri is a good deal more empathetic than someone under Prospera’s thumb should be.

It’s also possible that she was put into Aerial at an early age (I’m not sure how much of a representation what Sophie and Elan saw was) and as such a lot of her development has atrophied.

Other predictions and thoughts on this development:

1. Lady Prospera will almost certainly betray Delling.

Perhaps I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit here, considering that this was already likely, based both on how they act around each other and Lady Prospera’s existence as a char clone (and therefore pretty likely to betray anyone). But I’m thinking that Delling either doesn’t know about this (highly likely) or this is just a small part of the larger quiet zero project, which he also doesn’t know the full details on. Given his position with Cathedra in the prologue, I just can’t imagine him backing this.

2. Lady Prospera will fight in the Aerial.

Okay, so this is the biggie. I’m thinking that Suletta comes around to Miorine’s way of thinking and backs her in the upcoming fight. Aerial is (initially) more loyal to Prospera than Suletta, and Suletta will be forced to use a different unit (though presumably still a Gundam). Throughout the fight, suletta will be desperately trying to appeal to Aerial/Her mother and eventually get through to Aerial, which will then refuse to dodge an attack that kills both Eri and Lady Prospera. Bonus points if it plays out similarly to Scirocco’s death in Zeta Gundam.

Alternatively Lady Prospera takes to the field in a shiny new Gundam, the culmination of Quiet Zero (I wonder if too many of my theories rely on the fact that we know absolutely nothing about the Gundam Schwarzette at this point), and trying to convince Aerial to take her side, while Suletta’s desperately fighting without Eri’s assistance.

*slight spoilers follow for Witch from Mercury episode 17 (or season 2, episode 5)*

I have now watched the episode, and my principal emotion is relief. From the way y’all were talking, I was worried Guel was gonna die.

*Spoilers follow for Witch from Mercury up to episode 17*

Huh, just realised that with Elan Five moving away from the company like his predecessor, we might actually find out what the deal is with the original Elan.

Y’know, this guy.

(And I’m suddenly realising that that picture has the number 2 prominently featured on it, which miiiight be a thing?)

Because other than them building the Pharact and attempting to crush/steal Aerial, Peil Technologies is kinda a cipher among the companies.

Like Jeturk Heavy Machinery was at the whims of Vim Jeturk (trying to crush the Aerial, trying to kill Delling) up until his death, when Lauda took over and then things went downhill. And now we’re seeing Guel move back into the fold. We know about Jeturk, because we know about lots of the characters involved in it (Lauda’s a little lacking, but other than that).

Grassley Defence Systems is essentially turning into Shaddiq’s personal fiefdom. It’s less clear what’s going on in there than Jeturk Heavy Machinery, but with the increased focus on Shaddiq and the reveal that he’s got his fingers in a lot of pies - he’s at the very least got connections in Dawn of Fold, if not directly financing them for use as a personal hitsquad and he was able to get both the Lfrith Pilots (Sophie and Norea) and Nika Nanaura into Asticassia using falsified information (or perhaps in Nika’s case he just provided the funding) -we’re slowly building an insight into the company, moreso that he seems primed to be making some more overt moves as of late (IE. Kidnapping his father).

But Peil Technologies? They’re building Gundams and creating “Enhanced Humans” (say what you will about the Cosmic Era, but “Extended, “Biological CPU” and “Carbon Humans” do roll a little easier off the tongue) and that’s about it. They have an interest in capturing Aerial, but so does pretty much everyone. We’ve also seen very little of the CEO’s other than them killing off Elan four. So are they gonna send in another Elan (six)? Or are they just going to look at the situation and try something else?

Things to ponder.

Though admittedly looking at the situation as things are now, I really don’t see things ending well for Shaddiq in this show. Partially because he seems to be being set up as a Char, and partially because he’s the first to move. It really feels like he’s gonna get outmanoeuvred by Peil or Prospera at some point, or betrayed because he isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.

*Spoilers follow for Witch From Mercury Episode 19*

Alright, I’d been meaning to leave this until I had more relevant images to draw from, or more to say on the topic significantly, but -

Peil Technologies is run using a “sophisticated AI” and rates the various Elans using aptitude tests, with the AI deciding which one is best for that particular time. It’s possible this policy extends to the CEO’s as well (hence why there are four of them).

But the use of an AI by big business’ to increase profits while dehumanising pretty much everyone that’s involved with it?

My, that’s almost *topical*.

*Spoilers for Witch from Mercury Episode 19*

Gonna be honest, I’m really happy that we finally know, at least a little, where the Schwarzette fits into all this - it’s a Gundam that was being developed by Shin Sei and Jeturk Heavy Machinery jointly.

It was just so very central in a lot of theories I had running around that it’s nice to lay it to rest, Y’know?

Though I’ll admit that just because it’s a Jeturk suit that doesn’t really lay to rest who’s gonna eventually pilot the thing. I mean Norea Du Noc was able to pilot the Pharact briefly, so I wouldn’t quite dispel the idea of it being stolen. Given recent events I’d probably have my money on either Suletta or Guel, but I think that Prospera’s still a good option, especially since Aerial doesn’t need a pilot past a certain point. Then again, it’s still possible that this is (or is installed with) “quiet zero” that Prospera and Delling were working on, and is in fact a trap of some kind (especially since it was being developed with Jeturk). Hm. Though this might explain the apparent leverage Prospera had over Vim Jeturk early on, and why he seemed to be hedging his bets when it came to gundams (one one hand, it beat his best; on the other, he’s also in the Gundam development gig and thus can’t tip his hand).

I am looking forward to seeing this thing in action, though I’ll admit it’s quite tentative, mostly because I believe it’s going to be an antagonist (the design and the curves and the colour don’t exactly scream “ally” to me, though on the plus side: Hey! Another White Devil!).

Actually, that might be partially why Miorine went for the Aerial, since it’s more recognisable (from all the duels it won) and less sinister-looking (and of course, she’s seen it in action).

Which reminds me. It is kinda odd that Suletta loses to Guel because of a clear shutdown of her mobile suit, and nobody really thinks to investigate that. Yeah yeah, “the result is the only truth” but given the kinda stuff we’ve seen Aerial pull in the past and the fact that Aerial’s kinda generally terrifying, you’d think that Shaddiq or somebody’d be looking into that.

*heavy spoilers for Gundam: Witch from Mercury episode 19 follow*

I’m writing this almost immediately after watching this weeks episode, so it may come off as a little disjointed, but that’s also because a lot of stuff happens, so I’m going to use bullet points:

We finally know (sorta) what’s happening with Aerial. Eri died, went into Aerial, then Prospera made other children to act as biological components, of which Suletta is the most recent, and the one with the most autonomy. I think. It’s a little unclear as to exactly if there’s just one Eri in Aerial, if there’s multiple Eri’s or if the Eri in Aerial is fractured in some way.

Lauda! He thanks Chuchu and seems to be set up to do *something*. I’m really hoping for development on him.

Kenanji Avery’s back and he has a history with Guel that’s gonna be expanded on.

We’re gonna see (more of) what Earth’s like, and we’ll maybe see Olcott again (that guy with Dawn of Fold Guel talks to).

Shaddiq’s still working behind the scenes. I’m really interested in how this is gonna play out, since I fully expect him to fail on a personal level, but I’ve no idea what’ll become of his plans.

Martin’s just not having a good time. I kinda expect him to die at some point.

The Space Assembly league’s moving again. They’re having a chat with Belmiria (and honestly I feel like if they take her into protective custody then they’ve got a case).

And now we have the delightful double-whammy of:

Prospera actually expressing DOUBT over a choice she’s made and talking to aerial about it. And Aerial’s like “no, this was the best decision, look how happy she is” and it just cuts to suletta crying. And Prospera actually seems to feel…..bad? About manipulating this child to serve her own ends? I am loving this.

We know what Elan is!

Alright then, since this is the last chance I’ll have to talk about it on its own, let’s have a look at episode 20, shall we?

I’m just rewatching it before the new Ep., since I had a lot I wanted to talk about, but couldn’t really focus.

*the following contains spoilers for Gundam: Witch From Mercury episode 20 (and 19)*

*Talk about imagery of Prospera destroying multiple other Lfrith frames and how that corresponds with suletta and Eri.* -(awk. Seems I left some notes here)

First off, I’m gonna nip back to episode 19, where Prospera destroys the Lfrith Prototypes (mass production lfrith’s?). I find this interesting for two reasons; One, the consequences of Prospera starting a firefight to cover this are kinda massive (ie episode 20), especially since it throws GUND-arm inc to the wolves, screwing over her daughter’s friends for her own gain. Second, these are machines that Prospera has worked on. These are the machines she built with Dr. Cardo Nabo. Her destroying them is her violently destroying aspects of her past. Furthermore, it parallels with Eri and Suletta. Assuming that the Multiple Eri’s Suletta saw are just representative, it shows Prospera destroying her older children in favour of Aerial, because she doesn’t need them. She doesn’t need the Lfrith’s like she doesn’t need suletta, and it cements her as a Char to me. She doesn’t actively wish harm or dislike suletta, she just finds something else more important, and thus abandons her. It’s a very charlike thing to do, at least to me.

But the first point is also very notable, because basically all of Norea’s actions in Ep 20 are down to Prospera. Due to Prospera causing the fight on Earth, not only is Shaddiq forced to move, but Norea loses it and goes on a full-on rampage in the school. Norea meets a violent end in response to Prospera’s direct actions, and her attacking the school could very easily have led to Suletta being killed, heck, if she’d been standing slightly to the right, she would’ve. Prospera told Suletta to go back to the school and live out her dreams, in a *safe* environment, but because of Prospera, the school is no longer safe. It’ll be very interesting to see Prospera’s reaction when she finds out about this, though of course she won’t realise the connection. I expect she either won’t even blink, or when she finds out Suletta survived she’ll rationalise it easily.

Elan 5 being a coward was not something I expected to be this relevant. Huh. Kinda a parallel with Guel. They both lose someone in combat that they care deeply about, and then (presumably) go and become a better person after the fact. It’s also interesting that this is essentially the first time we’ve seen any development with Elan 5, where he’s actually cared about something and not just been evasive.

Guel and Shaddiq’s big showdown, while great, I don’t really have a whole lot to say about, other than notice the ms differences and wonder how that’s gonna show on the model kits.

Lauda had a really bad time in this ep, which is…. Something? On one hand, that sucks for him, but I fully expect him to either die or get character development, so………yay?

Other general points:

It’s nice to see the Beguir-Pente’s seeing more use.

Weird thing to notice, but the Asticassia school bell sounds super nice. Just a lovely noise.

Anyone else think that that fight between Guel and Shaddiq ended similarly to Gundam Thunderbolt (December Sky)? Maybe I’m reading too much into the mutual kill.

Is it me, or does the Michaelis have a subtly different head design? Maybe it’s just the shot.

I’m honestly kinda annoyed we got so many great shots of the Lfrith Thorn this episode, since it got wrecked. Though both it and the gunvolva’s were very evocative at the end, intercut with the devastation of the school.

Not to sound like one of those asshole fans who are all like “oh, the REAL Gundam starts here”, but I do expect Asticassia’s destruction to shake up things quite a bit, and with Shaddiq pushing for the Space Assembly League AND Belmiria about to blow the whole Quiet Zero thing wide open I’m curious as to if things are gonna end up in a full-scale brawl.

Shaddiq also states “we’ll use the witch for as long as we can”. I’m assuming he’s talking about Norea here. Kinda hypocritical of him, and it shows that he’s fundamentally no different than those others who would exploit Norea.

Shaddiq says “weren’t you told to secure your target before you’re suspected”? So, does he have a mole in cathdra? Or is he just good a predicting?

Lastly, Petra. I’ve seen a lot of people drawing her with GUND Prosthetics or expecting her to have survived, but honestly? I think she’s dead. Her running and saying what she wanted to do makes it seem like she’s going to actually die here.

Alright, it’s probably too early for me to be doing this sort of analysis (I normally like to wait until things are a little more concluded) but

I wonder if the grudge between Renee Costa and Lillique Kadoka Lipati being comparatively petty (Lillique refused an invitation from a boy, Renee viewed this as a insult to him, and by extension her, since he was “number 12 on her list of back-up boyfriends”) is supposed to illustrate that the students settling these thing via near-lethal duels is a bad idea?

(Even weakened beams can still easily kill, as shown by Suletta’s fight against Elan 4)

Furthermore, it enforces the idea that power (in this case Mobile suits) is the deciding factor. Any student on the MS course will have an advantage, regardless of the effectiveness of their support team, since the pilot’s skill matters most. It’s entirely possible for one strong pilot to dominate the house, any duels being passed back to them to resolve, as seen with Guel and Suletta (With their losses greatly impacting the house). It also weakens them against the kind of soft power that Shaddiq and Miorine employ.

I do find it interesting how it’s only Grassley that goes all in on Duelling, with 6 suits compared to Jeturk’s 4 and Peil’s 2 (though that’s mostly suppositions both, since they could have had more off-screen, and that Shaddiq was likely stockpiling materials for his move.).

If nothing else, Renee and Lillique’s duel provides a good contrast to the corporate machinations of Peil and Prospera.

Immediate thought while watching the opening of Witch From Mercury episode 22:

I wonder if this is a metaphor for how lack of oversight into corporate dealings will eventually lead to them becoming untouchable monoliths, where oversight is pointless because they can either absorb losses or just overrule them.

Artista - @nizisousakudayo

Soooooooo………. The Witch from Mercury finale dropped today.

I’m gonna be honest I was fully expecting a 50-ep lot here.

Like I don’t think it ended badly or anything, I was just expecting more.

*Spoilers for Witch From Mercury Finale Follow*

Oh! I do just want to call out dead quick - Ericht is in the little red iceman, and they state that Suletta moved “them” out of the Gundam. Assuming that they don’t mean it in a “we are legion, the one who is many” way, this implies that Elan 4 has been moved to the little blue iceman.

I’m seeing a lot of takes about Witch From Mercury’s ending (specifically about it feeling rushed since we only got 25 episodes), so I’m just gonna throw my two cents in now, maybe do a proper analysis of the actual ending at one point.

I quite like the ending of Witch From Mercury. I’ll admit I expected to get more out of it, but what we got was really good.

But the whole line about “the execs didn’t have faith in it, that’s why it’s only 25 eps” I’m seeing……. I’m not so sure about it.

Like yes, it’s not typically Gundam’s demographic (it normally leans more towards male demographics) and yuri is typically seen as something enjoyed by female ones, so obviously they didn’t expect it to blow up as it has……

But I’m given to understand that Yuri is an absolute *powerhouse* in Japan, so them not having faith seems like a weird take.

Artista - @nizisousakudayo

An absolute treat.

Suletta and Miorine in 79's Gundam style

“The burden of the Jeturk name”

Catching up on some unposted art, starting with the fanart of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From mercury.

Gundam Shwartzette drawn with Posca paint pens.

The Witches from Earth by reoenl // Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury