#but things go prospera's way so

[nias-keca]

( the kids are having a play date )

Delling: You promised to marry this clown?

Miorine: She's not a clown, she's the ring master.

Yushura: Yea, I'm like. The Clown Boss!

Delling:

[not-a-mawmouth]

If I may, personally I feel the pacing is weird because it’s going very very fast and some big things are happening that we probably should have seen. Like Suletta goes from completely despondent and devastated to being determined and emotionally secure enough to recognize and talk about how her mother doesn’t truly love her in two episodes, one of which involved a terror attack on the school and all her friends nearly dying. Which makes sense for the plot and the pacing, but one more episode post-Norea where she comes to that emotional state just a tad slower would be nice. Especially since a lot happened in between episode 20 and 21! Miorine became President, the SAL found out about Quiet Zero, Peil decided to jump ship, Quiet Zero is now operational! And we didn’t get to see any of it happen! If Quiet Zero was this close to being finished why did Prospera need Miorine at all? Did Delling key some important part of it to something only the President would have access to and Prospera needed to steal it? Did she just hate Miorine that much and wanted her to suffer?

It kinda feels like a lot is getting squished right now to fit our 25 episode limit, and I really don’t like it.

As much as I adore Witch from Mercury right now, I feel that its pacing, once you zoom out of the weekly format, is kinda weird. I don't know how to put it into better words yet, but something is just off and I'm glad I get to experience the show on a weekly basis.

[anthurak]

So while I’m currently still emotionally recovering from THAT, an interesting thought occurred to me.

We’ve seen this dramatic point many times before, ‘Break Her Heart to Save Her’ as TvTropes calls it. In romantic terms its where the hero/heroine is suddenly seemingly betrayed/gets their heart broken by their love-interest. Only to later discover/realize their LI was only trying to help them and/or protect them from whatever bad things are going on in some self-sacrificial way and still loves them. And then the hero/heroine has to charge off to save their LI from whatever trouble they’ve gotten themself into and reaffirm their feelings with a big love confession.

However, when we apply this framework to Witch from Mercury and to Suletta and Miorine, some interesting twists/wrinkles start showing up.

It’s pretty clear that Miorine is breaking off her engagement to Suletta in an attempt to protect her from the political machinations and manipulations of her mother. BUT, as some people have already pointed out; by cutting herself out of Suletta’s life, all Miorine has actually done is play right into Prospera’s hands and make Suletta even more reliant on her mother than ever before.

And when we factor in how Miorine isn’t just ‘the Love-Interest’ but is really more the co-protagonist of the show, I think the narrative/dramatic fallout of this episode is going to play out VERY different from how this trope normally goes:

We are NOT going to be following Suletta going through the expected depression, followed by a realization/discovery that Miorine was just trying to protect her and still loves her and then charging off to save Miorine from whatever mess she’s gotten herself into,

Instead, we are likely going to follow Miorine through a brief period of ‘this is for the best...’ rationalizing, only to be suddenly hit with an utterly MASSIVE ‘OH GOD I FUCKED UP!’ realization as she sees her plan backfire. Leading to Miorine being the one to charge off to save Suletta from the mess SHE inadvertently put the girl she loves into.

And I have to say, as someone who normally doesn’t like this trope, I would be REALLY excited to see this particular twist put on it.

[set-wingedwarrior]

After today’s episode I saw, well within reason, a lot of people talking about Prospera’s brainwashing of Suletta, and I wanted to share my two cents.

First of all, my (probably) unpopular opinion: Prospera was kinda right this time.

DON’T KILL ME, LET ME EXPLAIN PLS.

So, Prospera’s technically right: they are being attacked my terrorists, they are in mortal danger, and they need to fight back to survive and save everybody, and that will mean most likely taking lives. Like, that’s fair. War isn’t pretty and survival demands sacrifice.

What’s really wrong and fucked up is:

 1) the way she says and explaines it. Her whole voice and behaviour, the words she chooses, so calm and chill and apparently comforting but actually really dismissive (and kinda creepy imo). She approaches Suletta and the whole situation as if it’s not a big deal.

But at the same time, she does underline that they’re in danger, even pressing on Suletta’s rightful fear in order to have her move forward and fight.

This isn’t a “this is unfortunate, but it’s either us or them” kind of speech, but a “we must get to our goal at all cost”. The line is thin, but there’s a difference. And, most importantly, it is portrayed as if it’s a natural progression and not just a situational thing.

The thing is, we saw Suletta impacted by death, and these words alone aren’t enough to wipe away your morals. That brings me at point two, the most fucked up and vicious:

2) how Suletta has been raised and educated until then. She’s always following her motto with a smile, and helping others, never letting anyone (aside her mother) see her sad or overwhelmed. And what’s her mother’s answer every time she comes to her? “If you run, gain one. Move forward, gain two”.

After Miorine confronting her, we know that Suletta is scared every time and every time her motto is her way to cheer herself up, wear a smile, and keep going. The focus is always on moving forward, on the goal, and it NEVER AKNOWLEDGES OR QUESTIONS HER PRESENT FEELINGS.

It’s very likely that growing up, every time Suletta had to face something scary (harmless growing up stuff), she’s always been encouraged to move forward with that stupid motto instead of processing her feelings and thinking things through. Prospera just never taught her.

So, what does Suletta do instead? Say her motto like a mantra, and move forward withouth questioning anything, actively ignoring and burying her unprocessed feelings under a smile to the point that she doesn’t even realize it (it’s no surprise why she’s also so terrible at social cues and stuff).

Her whole bubbly happy persona is the product of her whole life having to face scary things withouth learning how to process how that made her feel, ignoring everything in favor of putting up her happy persona.

The result? Going from this

to this

because she doesn’t know any other way to “keep moving forward” that isn’t “do what you must and brush everything else off with a smile”. But what’s the result? Saving Miorine at the cost of their relationship because she’s rightfully horrified.

The problem isn’t even that Suletta killed a man; we already estabilished that this is a survival, and even if you can argue that she could have simply incapacitate the terrorist, considering that she’s been fighting for their lives until then it isn’t too unbelievable that instinct woul kick in and end it all the same way.

The problem is, obviously, how she reacted to it. I’d bet anything that, despite being still shocked, if Suletta just stayed serious (maybe still ignoring what she did in in favor of checking on and take care of Miorine because, again, this is a “live or die” situation) then Miorine would have understood and seen Suletta’s actions differently (”she made a sacrifice by doing something terrible to protect me”). But Suletta fucking laughed! How fucked up is that? Was she having fun?

All of this isn’t caused by Prospera’s words alone because they do have some merit in the given circumstances. No, this is about the way she speaks them and the way she knows how Suletta would perceive them.

She spent years raising her to move forward no matter what, withouth ever questioning if moving forward even is the smartest choice (and we saw with Guel the consequences that come from not thinking it through). Raising her to make her the perfect little soldier.

And she succeeded.

[shera-dnd]

Well with the final Suletta sunday I guess it's a good time to do one last bit of thematic analysis and symbolism

There were no actual tomatoes this episode, so I think it's time we address the core theme those tomatoes played into

Choosing Love

Because in the end that's what saves everyone. It's why even our hated villains get to live.

Because when everything went to shit and they could have all chosen anger or despair, they all chose love

Prospera and Suletta, Ericht and Suletta, Lauda and Guel

They chose to love and live and be together as family

Because love here isn't just the romantic love Suletta and Miorine have for each other, but familial love, and the love between friends too

That love comes together as all the gundams join Callibarn at the end (plus Elan's love for Suletta) and release it all in one crowning moment

A gigantic blast of gay rainbows. A love so strong it overrides that super weapon and shuts it down

Lets not fucking forget the ghosts stored in the data storm. All of those who died to the gundam curse returning one last time, as their memories are allowed to live on

All those who our protagonists lost, but that are still with them. The memories of them helping them fight on

It's those memories that let Suletta surpass Permet Score 8

But like Sophie said, Gundams are weapons of war. They're meant only for killing.

And once again they choose love. They decide that if Gundams can only exist to harm, then Gundams shouldn't exist at all. The Mobile Suits, Quiet Zero, every weapon disintegrates, leaving behind the thing they truly wanted Gund Arm tech to be

Medical technology. Something that exists with the sole purpose of helping people.

Love may be stored in the gundam, but with them gone that love is allowed to be free again

Of course the mobile suits disintegrating is also meant to parallel the benerit group falling apart, because guess what Suletta isn't the only one going for that thematic consistency

HER WIFE IS DOING IT TOO

Miorine could spend years using her financial power to fight the other companies or made a big show of making donations to Earth, or "helped" in a myriad other ways that still kept her in power as the head of a mega corporation

But what did the bitch do? She dismantled the company and sent all the assets to earth, so they'd be able to rebuild and flourish without becoming dependent on her company's good will

Because guess what choosing love is choosing vulnerability. Choosing love doesn't mean shit if you're still holding power over others around you. They chose love and that means choosing to let go of that power

No money, no death robots, they don't need the power, they don't need control, they just need to help others in whatever way they can

Considering that clinging to control and power has been a very common recurring trait among our villains, this was genuinely the best way this could have gone

And so they all get to live, in a world they built together, a more peaceful world. Because they made their choice

WAIT HOLD ON THIS MIRRORS HOW THE HOLDER THING WAS TAKING AWAY CHOICE FROM MIORINE AND NOW-

Okay I'll stop. I could write a god damn thesis about this show, but I think this about covers things

Love me a show about being hopeful and full of love and joy in a world that expects only bitterness and spite

[comradeyurika]

And as her plans come to their end and Suletta has exceeded Eri's permet score, Prospera because Elnora again. She believes that she can't ever be forgiven, but both of her daughters are reaching out to her. Despite all the monstrous things she did, in this moment she is just a grieving mother whose daughters want her to be happy.

And in the big final dramatic moment we have the excellent usage of silence to lead into the belief that Suletta has died before we, and Miorine, learn to our relief that she was merely unconscious. It's a very sweet moment that ties us right back to Suletta and Miorine's beginnings as well.

And so we finally reach the end point. The epilogue is brief but gives us a chance to check in on where everyone is at 3 years later. We get to see the Earth House kids finding success, Shaddiq continuing his penance, Petra alive and with prosthetic legs (yay!), and more. The scenes of Ericht taunting Miorine digitally are pretty funny and give us a nice view of what the family dynamic is like with a non-corporeal sister-in-law in the mix. And the scene with Miorine and the former Grassley squad is really nice because it reflects on the fact that maybe all of those profits will just go right back to space and that they've just changed the name of the oppressors, but they have no way of knowing the alternate paths. And so we close with Suletta's dream of building a school back in the mix, just in a different location, and the friends being able to live together in peace at last.

As far as endings go, this is pretty alright. The show definitely needed another season, but considering this is what they had, I think they did okay with it. I would like to see another story set in this universe sometime after this, but I'm content with G Witch even if I feel like it could have reached greater heights with 36 episodes instead of 24.

[housewarningparty]

my favorite Miorine thing is that she's so laser focused on suletta to an almost comical degree. prospera reveals that she wants to ruin delling's life (like, her dad, who is dying at the hospital) and miorine goes "ok but leave suletta out of this!". near the end prospera goes on a tirade about eri and miorine, pissed out of her mind, says "you have another daugher! suletta, remember??". i love her.

LIKE. YEAH.

I think the show does a really good job acknowledging that 1) Suletta and Miorine both have REALLY different methods of parsing their emotions and expressing themselves and 2) holy shit they're fucking IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER FOR REAL

You really cannot meaningfully analyze these characters and the decisions they make and the way they relate to each other without keeping their toxic relationships with their parents in mind. There's SO much projection going on - Miorine project herself onto Suletta and Suletta projects her mother onto Miorine.

When we meet Miorine she's isolated and miserable and her only concern is to spite her father and secure her own future. She feels at once dismissed by Delling and also oppressed and controlled by him. Suletta and, subsequently, Earth House are the only real connections she's made with other people. It doesn't take very long for her priorities to shift from getting herself away from her father to providing for her groom and gund-arm.

By late S1 she's undergone this massive shift - she's in charge of a project she chose, working with people she cares about. She's got two things she never had before: autonomy and support.

When Miorine hurts Suletta's feelings by trying to take greenhouse duties away from her, by endorsing her spending time with Elan, she is trying to give Suletta the most important thing she can think to give: autonomy. Freedom to choose how she spends her time and with who. It's a great conflict because it's such a revealing miscommunication. By projecting her own feelings and trauma onto Suletta, Miorine misses what Suletta actually needs. And it beautifully foreshadows the conflict in s2.

Bc the turn in s2 is that Miorine needs to reconcile the version of Suletta that she has come to know and care so much about with the Suletta she was confronted with at plant Quetta. Correctly, Miorine identifies that Suletta is being manipulated and controlled by Prospera. But she takes it further - she overlays her own parental trauma onto Suletta. Miorine sees herself and her father in Prospera's control over Suletta. Worse even: to her father, Miorine was a chess piece in reserve. But Prospera isn't holding Suletta back from anything to preserve her though: she's putting her on the front lines. She's using her as a weapon. And Suletta lacks the perspective to see it.

Suletta is, it seems, incapable of conflict. She can't stick up for herself. We see this all the time but especially in the whole lunch fiasco when she decides everyone hates her because she's too sad to ask for food. Miorine, on the other hand, actually has an easier time expressing conflict and disapproval than she does vulnerability. Calling out Prospera for the way she dominates Suletta makes perfect sense because Miorine has been calling her own dad out for the same things pretty much her whole life.

So, ultimately, Miorine deciding that she has the moral right and authority to make decisions on Suletta's behalf is a great piece of character work. The thing she spent her whole life resenting her father for becomes exactly what she does to Suletta.

Suletta projecting her mother onto Miorine is definitely another part of the dynamic. Again, it's something we see most in s2. Right before the sabotaged duel, we see this moment of total cognitive dissonance in Suletta's thinking. Miorine and Prospera come to hold fully oppositional places of importance in Suletta's world. She ascribes basically an equal level of authority to them.

She loves her mom > her mom loves her > her mom would never make choices against Suletta's best interests > whatever her mom says must be right > if it hurts or if it feels wrong, it's because Suletta has to be more mature. And at the same time she loves Miorine > Miorine is smart and capable > Miorine wouldn't make a wrong decision > if she hurts Suletta, it's Suletta's own fault.

After she loses to Guel, Suletta copes by blaming me herself. She doesn't know how to be angry at someone she loves, but she does know how to feel shame for not being good enough. She wasn't the victim of a cruel betrayal, because her love for Miorine means she CANNOT be capable of doing something that bad. It becomes instead a failure of Suletta's - if she has been better, Miorine wouldn't have abandoned her. It's her own fault for losing and for wanting more than she should have in the first place.

It's the exact kind of broken, warped thinking she applies to Prospera. And it's why Prospera is exactly right when she tells Miorine that she too could get anything she wants from Suletta.

This is why I love the reunion so much. It's so explicitly about owning your own actions and allowing the person you love the space and freedom to decide how to respond. Suletta extends her hand. Miorine decides to meet her there.

Suletta chooses to risk herself in the Calibarn. Miorine alone respects her choice enough to raise the permet score, even if she breaks down immediately after.

Anyway wow I'm fully brainsick about these two. Sorry for that long ass rambling reply but oh my god I'm in a chokehold atm

[the-eeveekins]

The 18th Day of G-Witch: Precious Things

So, off the bat I get to address a complaint I saw about Miorine pop-up later in the show: Prospera never manipulates her into her bad choices, she makes them on their own.

And that's true, to an extent. Nearly every bad choice Miorine makes starting in this episode and into the next few were ultimately decisions she made. But in every case, it was Prospera's words that pushed her towards making those decisions. Prospera doesn't actually have to heavily manipulate Miorine into playing into her hands, she doesn't have to actually convince her to do these things, because she understands Miorine so well that she knows just what to say to make Miorine make those choices herself.

This is a perfect example of that. Prospera wonders aloud if Suletta will really give up Aerial and stay uninvolved in her schemes, thus pushing Miorine to concoct a plan to forcibly separate Suletta from Aerial. Time and again, Prospera hands Miorine the rope and she hangs herself with it.

These scenes make this episode so tough. You can tell Suletta has been waiting for Miorine, you can tell how excited she is to finally be reunited with her. And you can tell how excited she is that Miorine is about to turn 17 and they can officially get married. Look at her face, Suletta is so ready to marry Miorine as soon as possible.

This was essentially Miorine's last hail mary attempt to avoid something drastic. I think if she would have gotten a positive reply from Suletta, she would have asked Suletta to simply give up Aerial to Prospera/The Benerit Group and tried a different route of breaking Prospera's grip on Suletta. But Suletta's answers combined with Prospera's earlier words push Miorine into drastic measures.

Look, ultimately I don't like Guel and I disliked his character development and how much focus he got in S2 at the cost of more important characters. But at least the guy handles being rejected properly and accepts Suletta's response. Which makes the way parts of the fandom and even Bandai itself continuing to try and push this relationship so annoying and frustrating. He got rejected TWICE, accepted Suletta's rejection and moved on with his life. I feel bad for fans of his who keep getting stuck with merch trying to push that aspect of his character.

Also, there's nothing complicated about this scene, there's no love triangle going on. Only homophobes desperate to downplay a same-sex relationship would turn a scene where a girl clearly rejects a guy while explaining she has feeling for someone else (Miorine) into some sort of complicated relationship situation. Looking at you, Anime Trendz.

As if to drive home the fact that Suletta was talking about Miorine in the last scene, Miorine also reiterates that she doesn't want to lose the things precious to her (Suletta). I know it was frustrating when the show was airing that they never said "I love you," but given what we know in retrospect, I'm glad the staff still found ways to show that these girls loved each other. I'm so tired of people saying they had no chemistry or their relation was a weak one because they never said those exact words, when we now know that Bandai would have never let the staff do that.

Miorine is doing everything for Suletta's sake, even going behind her back and making decisions for her because she thinks it's for the best (just like her father did to her). This also begins the very frustrating trend of Guel silently sitting back instead of speaking out, because he clearly sees that what she's doing won't keep Suletta uninvolved. And considering his feelings for her, you'd like to think he'd push Miorine a bit harder towards a less drastic course of actions than the one that would hurt her so much.

This is a duel Suletta detractors love to point to when they say Suletta isn't skilled and is carried by the Aerial. "Override is cheating and Suletta was only about to win this fight because she cheated" was a common argument I saw. Setting aside that it's not against the rules, by the same vein, Guel is also cheating by using the AI assist to basically do most of the piloting for him. Funny how people are quick to disparage Suletta's skill as a pilot because they think Ericht controlled the whole suit (it was just the bits), but when Guel literally has an AI program pilot the whole MS for him, there's suddenly not a peep out of those people about Guel being a bad pilot. And sorry I know this is kind of a pointless rant but I've had to read too many sexists on Twitter and Reddit tell me how good Guel is and how bad Suletta is to not say anything.

Anyway, even though Guel had a newly repaired and upgraded Darilbalde against Suletta's damaged Aerial, Suletta still basically had Guel beat easily before the AI saved him and put Suletta on the defensive.

Like, I know Suletta doesn't literally say "Will you marry me?" but look at this dialogue and tell me with a straight face it's not a marriage proposal. If you think this scene is anything but Suletta asking Miorine if she'll marry her, you're either homophobic or have a horrible case of heteronormative you need looked at.

Miorine is a stronger woman than I am. After hearing that I don't think I would've had the strength to push that button, and you can even see her hands shaking in that moment. The anguish she must feel hearing Suletta say those words and knowing what she's about to do must have killed her inside.

Also...we saw what the GUND-BIT Rifle does to a mobile suit even in school regulation mode. Suletta was so determined to win and marry Miorine that I think she was seconds away from accidentally straight up murdering Guel here.

Honestly, this scene probably hurt me more than any Gundam death ever has. I was depressed for a long time after it aired, and it absolutely made in so much worse that there was a one week delay until episode 18 aired, making this the last thing we saw for two whole weeks until the next episode (which was more pain!) Even though this is my 4th time watching it, it's still difficult to sit through, and it's only made bearable by knowing there's a happy ending waiting for them at the end of this.

Lynn said in an interview that Miorine had to be as cruel as she possibly could in this scene because if Suletta had detected even the slightest hint of kindness or care for her in Miorine's words and actions, she would have held onto that and not let go.

I definitely agree that Miorine's actions here are awful to Suletta and I understand it when people say they wouldn't personally be able to forgive her after something like this. But also realize that:

Miorine never expected Suletta to forgive her or come back to her, and she was fully prepared to throw away her own happiness and her relationship with Suletta for the chance that she could break Suletta free of Prospera and let her live an independent, happy life.

For better or worse, as horrible as this is, it does work. This puts a massive dent into Suletta's belief that listening to her mother and following her motto will always lead to gaining positive things in life. And that dent is important in the next episode.

[animebw]

Okay, but you know what freaks me out about the new Gwitch episode? When Prospera's talking to Suletta about the Slap, she tells her she did the right thing and Miorine will surely understand her with time. But when she's talking to Miorine? She says that Suletta went too far and there probably could have been a better way. She's feeding them conflicting narratives on how to feel about it, and neither of them know. So when they finally meet up again and talk about it, they're going to approach it from opposite perspectives thinking the other one needs to come around to their point of view.

And that's going to be ugly.

[instantbee]

Witch from Mercury ED Analysis Time!

Okay the new episode came out and it has some information that I think completely contextualizes the ED. Or maybe not. maybe I'm an insane person. Lets find out! Two pieces of information to state at the top 1) Eri=Aerial. Suletta's gundam is actually her big sister. Wild 2) Quiet Zero, the project that Prospera is trying to get Miorine involved in, is a networking technology that seems to link human minds with both each other and technology

Okay! So! The ED! We start with shots of a ghostly and incorporeal Miorine that Suletta cannot touch no matter how hard she tries. She also has her hairband on. Important? Maybe? Put a pin in it

So these shots seem bad.

Suletta is holding her hand out for Aerial and then Aerial plunges her hand into Suletta's chest. Which, given the implications of the GUND format, Ericht in the Gundam, and the project that Prospera has been working on…maybe not great. But throughout the show we have seen multiple times that Aerial really cares about Suletta. Like a lot. Has done things to protect her and care for her, has comforted her. Suletta refers to them as sisters, etc

The next shots seem to be implying some level of taking over Suletta.

But! The sequence continues. Suletta loses her hairband...that she never takes off...because it was a very important gift...from her mother. The symbolism of the hairband is not missed. Not by me and not by the dozens of other posts that have pointed it out. It represents Prospera's control over Suletta.

This is followed by shots of her finally being able to grab Miorine's hand. The ED started with this ghostly Miorine that Suletta can't touch no matter how much she tries. And she's wearing the headband. But as soon as she loses the headband she's suddenly able to touch Miorine. SYMBOLISM

So, there's a shot of Aerial looking like she's taking over Suletta but it actually sets her free of her mother's influence…which leads her to being able to finally be with Miorine. Aerial is Suletta's older sister that is inside the Gundam. Aerial has protected Suletta and been her companion. They talk to each other. Aerial has comforted Suletta. Suletta thinks she's just the Gundam and loves her as her sister as she is, but I bet Eri knows the truth. Prospera has been demonstrated to have psychologically conditioned Suletta. Ericht is now a data stream in a system that is designed around interlinking human minds. And I fucking BET that Prospera is going to try to use that conditioning, ask Suletta to hurt Miorine in some way as her final revenge against Delling. And I think it's going to work. Suletta is going to be terrified and trying to stop herself from hurting Miorine but unable to overcome her mother's conditioning. And then, Eri is going to link with her and break the conditioning and the sisters will work together to stop Prospera. Because i bet when push comes to shove the sisters will choose each other over their mother.

Because these are the shots we get after Miorine and Suletta are together

Suletta conducting the gund bits and working with copies of herself

What are the Sulettas working together for? What are they doing? I dunno, but it centers on Miorine

A sketchy and incorporeal Miorine...that cannot be touched...a Miorine that is still Miorine but perhaps can't be physically interacted with...if only there was something in the show that could do that to a person...

I think Prospera is going to put Miorine into Quiet Zero as revenge against Delling and that Suletta and Eri are going to work together to rescue her

Also that looks like a heart. I'm not crazy you're crazy

[socialshakespeare]

Hi! I’m just wondering your stance on pronoun changes for characters? For example, “To thy strong bidding task Ariel and all his quality-“ I’ve seen many productions change that to match the actor’s gender, since Ariel isn’t seen as a strictly male role anymore. Would we be allowed to do that too on the readings? Could we say “Ariel and all their quality”, if we liked? Or is it a strictly stick-to-the-script sort of a thing?

This is a very thoughtful question, thank you for asking!

The short answer is that we don't usually change the textual pronouns of a character, but you're fine to do so as long as it's a minimal change that all parties (the character & anyone referencing them) are able to coordinate.

[If anyone's wondering about the video project then the characters are yours to play with btw!]

We make very minimal changes to the text most months, but we love individuality. That's part of why we do Shakes the way we do - no rehearsals, no directors, and never the same casting twice. Everyone creates something fresh, together, on the day.

That's also why it's harder to make reading-specific character changes. With Ariel, who's only referred to like once by Prospero, it's a lot simpler, but pulling a Julie Taymor turning Prospero into Prospera would require a whole lot of script changes for basically everyone.

Ultimately I (Stef) think it's a matter of coordination and nuance. Specifically as regards Ariel, I'd say go for it! Just reach out to the other actor to discuss it first. if you're Ariel, you want to be sure Prospero is able to edit their script. If you're Prospero, well, you need to know what change you're making, don't you?

[takerfoxx]

Well, it's been a full week since Gundam: The Witch From Mercury has ended, and God, I miss it already.

This was a special show to me, and no joke, it might have made my top five anime of all time. There was just something wonderful about getting invested in a series while it was still running and tuning in week by week and having time to really digest what I've seen before the next episode hit. Granted, I marathoned all of season one and only checked it out because of the SLAP, but even so. It was a wild ride.

And not in the least because wow, a canon wlw couple in a massively mainstream franchise like Gundman, one that ends up getting unambiguously married, and it's not treated like a joke, not played for fanservice, and doesn't portray one of them as a horny molester. That is kind of huge and groundbreaking. And yeah, I am ride or die for SuleMio. They're like number two of my favorite anime couples, second only to KyoSaya, and they actually have the advantage of bursting out of the subtext into undeniable TEXT.

What's funny is that I remember being a little put off by their dynamic in season one. Despite all the hype, there was this weird distance between them, one that was very unromantic, to the point where I started to wonder if they even liked each other in that way, or if it was just a political thing. But then they had their WONDERFUL zero gravity argument, where it was revealed that this was actually a deliberate writing choice, and Suletta and Miorine's differences in backgrounds, ways of thinking, toxic upbringings, and difficulties communicating were going to be obstacles that they had to overcome. And watching them struggle with those problems and make multiple mistakes was honestly far more captivating then a cliched lovey-dovey relationship would have ever been. And seeing them finally come together and get their happy ending was well worth the wait.

But even beyond the main couple, this show fucked. The mech fights were all hype, everything was gorgeously animated, all the side characters were all unique and likeable (seriously, I was making an effort to remember everyone's names, even the throwaway characters with barely any lines), the music was OUTSTANDING (Red: Birthmark still gives me chills) and I still hold that Lady Prospera was not only one of the best and most interesting antagonists in a long time, but she is still one hundred percent Grade A Space MILF.

Still would.

Did it have it's problems? Of course it did. I agree that the last few episodes did feel really rushed, with stuff like the Calibarn and the big space laser suddenly showing up and being super important despite never even being mentioned. All the names of the different organizations were hard to keep track of, even though it was really important to the plot, and there was a lot going on that I felt could have stood to have room to breathe. Honestly, I don't know why WFM only got half the usual amount of episodes for a Gundam show, as it could really used a few more.

And yes, I would have loved to have seen the wedding and a kiss. I know, it's Japan, and Gundam doesn't usually have kissing, but after all that build up!

Still, what we got was still wonderful, and I'm glad that for as shaky as it got, it still stuck the landing.

I'm gonna miss this show. I'm really gonna miss it.

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Season 2 Episode 5 Review

- Happy Birthday is forever doomed, and that greenhouse does nothing but destroy relationships. God, I am suffer

- Sadly, Miorine fell for Prospera’s provocation and decided to team up with her, but on the condition that she leaves Suletta alone. But that’s perfectly fine for Prospera, Suletta doesn’t matter to her. She’s just a replacement daughter, and now that Aerial has hit Permet 7 or 8, she doesn’t need her.

- Shaddiq has the worlds most punchable face, but he is playing the game smart. Peil was an obvious wildcard, so he’s decided to partner with them in order to get them out of the way. And it looks like he already got his father out of the way too. RIP Sarius, you were the only good parent.

- Jeturk House is a literal found family and I can’t stop crying. They all love each other so much. It seems Petra and Lauda are dating and Felsi just learned about it. Also, the fact that Lauda loved his brother and wanted to support him from day one is sweet. God I hope nothing bad happens to any of them.

- The callbacks and dark reflections in this episode to Episodes 1 and 3 have slayed me. The end of the episode was an exact copy of the end of episode 1, but this time, Miorine is saying goodbye instead of hello, all underneath a darkened sky compared to the bright dawn we originally saw. The entire dueling room and then elevator-hallway scene was an exact copy of Episode 3, so much so that they reused Secelia’s animation. Since the three main characters this episode were Suletta, Miorine, and Guel, it makes sense to bring back references to the episodes that started their character development in the first place

- also somebody gotta glue Secelia’s ass to that couch cause every time she gets up some bad shit happens

- Guel and Suletta’s scene at the greenhouse made me feel like I was walking on air. Guel has grown so much and has decided to be honest with his feelings, and you can tell just how happy those words made Suletta. But at the end of the day, Suletta loves Miorine, and Guel supports her. He isn’t that selfish jerk we saw in episode 1 anymore. He wants what’s best for others to, not just himself. But also the GueSule shipper in me was crying a bit

- But that beautiful scene in the greenhouse leads to Miorine strengthening her resolve to give Suletta a good life, even if it means hurting her. She’s willing to work with Guel, someone she absolutely hated, because she knows he loves her just as much as she does, and all they want is for Suletta to be happy. The fact that Miorine is willing to sacrifice herself and enter a marriage she doesn’t want is heartbreaking, but there’s no one else she can trust.

- The scene where Guel says there’s no world without Gundams and weapons hurts a whole lot. Miorine and Suletta, despite all they’ve gone through, still haven’t seen the true harshness of the world. Guel, who’s experienced even just a fraction of what horrible things are taking place, can’t see any world where peace is absolute.

- Guel suffering from PTSD makes so much sense. As much as we like to meme that suffering builds character, what it ultimately did was fuck up Guel’s life forever. He’ll always carry the trauma of killing his father, but as we saw in this episode, the impassioned cries of his family is what snaps him out of it. Really, between Chuchu and Guel, I think Felsi has the magic voice ready to heal trauma. Maybe she should hang out with Suletta after this ep

- All right, this is going to be a long fucking section about El5n, because I genuinely have so many thoughts rotating in my head about this failson. First, the greenhouse scene. Seeing the way he so violently assaults Suletta out of desperation is terrifying. He’s being pushed to the absolute brink. He even brought a taser just to knock Suletta out. It’s a large change compared to his usual “just smile and wave” and I think it’s wholly because of last episode. El5n had his mind violated by Eri, the one place that not even Peil could assault and change. And that combined with Belmeria’s whining set off a bomb inside him. He realized in that moment that he will never be safe as long as he plays by Peil’s books. Any more attempts of hijacking the Aerial would continue to hurt the one thing he has control of, his mind, and if he sticks with Peil any longer, he’s going to die

- But what hit me the hardest was his anger at Suletta’s cries for Elan, specifically the line “The man you’re thinking of isn’t here.” It’s a short line but packed with so many meanings. First of which, the simple one being that El5n finally lets the cat out of the bag, stating that he and El4n are two different people. But looking at it deeper, we can see more to this statement. The second meaning could be the intense hatred he possibly feels towards the original Elan. That the man Suletta thinks he is has been hiding behind body doubles and living his life without even sparing a single thought towards her. The third meaning is that El5n is pissed that El4n is dead, and that Suletta’s cries for him just make his grieving so much worse. Fourth, and finally, is the fact that El5n doesn’t want to be a replacement for Elan, he wants to be his only person. All Suletta can see is Elan, not the kid underneath the mask, and that hurts him. The fact that his very identity and status as a person has been torn away is sick, but no one but him knows.

- But before any more of his true self can pour out, Guel comes in to protect Suletta, just twisting the knife further into El5n. He’s had no one to stand up for and protect him, he’s alone from everyone, separated by a mask. And the fact that the one who comes to Suletta’s rescue is a man who’s lived in luxury and hasn’t struggled a day in his life (at least on El5n’s eyes) is even more painful. The final shot was the “What are you afraid of?” line Guel says to him. Cause for the first time, someone has finally seen the pain and hurt he’s going through, and it happens to be some spoiled rich kid. But really, what is El5n afraid of? Is it a physical death or a spiritual death? Is he willing to wear the mask of Elan as long as he isn’t incinerated, or does he not want to lose his true self?

- Ultimately this retrospection El5n goes through is hidden to us, but we see the outcome. In which he’s chilling in a room with Norea and Nika for no reason. Truly a king. The dub said this line, but El5n feels like Norea is a kindred spirit. Someone who can understand what he’s going through and the amount of rage bottled up inside him at the unfairness of his situation. God, I hope these two end up together, or at least as partners. They need to fix each other so bad

- But where does El5n go from here? He can’t hang out with Peil anymore, so will he cooperate with Shaddiq? But Shaddiq is now working with Peil so that would cause some issues. Will he go full scorched earth at the presidential elections and air everyone’s dirty laundry? I think that would be an amazingly funny moment. Will he and Norea bond over their tragic pasts? I want to dig into his backstory so fucking much, but I know that doing so would only hurt me further

- Also small detail but El5n saying to Nika that her friends missed her was pretty sweet. He understands what it’s like to feel alone so he reassures Nika that she isn’t.

- When the happy birthday song came in and Suletta pulled out the big fucking gun, I got scared for Guel. We’ve already seen that thing eviscerate a mobile suit’s legs, so it’d probably have killed Guel if Mio didn’t step in. But still, who the fuck decided to put that song in there?! This isn’t funny anymore Okouchi

- God, Suletta’s love for Miorine hurts so badly. She wants to be properly married and do everything a married couple can, but in the end, it’s taken from her. Suletta’s codependency on her mother, Aerial, and Miorine is not healthy, and she needs to experience the loss of these things in order to grow as a person. But the real question is will she regress or progress? She still has Earth House, who are filled with nothing but the sweetest children, but she could also be taken advantage of by Shaddiq or simply dig herself into a hole. In the end, it’s all Suletta’s choice. She has to find strength within herself

- Miorine hesitated when hearing about Suletta’s dreams for the future. She wants just what Suletta wants, a happy life with the one she loves. But in Miorine’s mind, as long as Suletta is tied to the Aerial, her mother, and her, then Suletta will forever be stuck and taken advantage of. Miorine is willing to play the bad guy, no matter how much it hurts her, because she loves Suletta. She’s become the person she hated so much, her father, and you can feel the pain it’s causing her.

- Guel and Miorine feeling extremely guilty for what they did just means that Jeturk finally took another L. Though I hope Guel will be able to help Miorine realize it’s okay for her to love Suletta

- Ever Eri feels bad for what happened, but it also seems like she’s moved onto a higher plane, possibly within Prospera’s mask. I guess if she really is gone, that means the Aerial is back to killing people status. Or maybe it’ll find a new leech?

Guel claiming a W but still getting an L is perfectly on brand. The lesbians are going through a divorce arc. And I can’t believe I spent that much talking about El5n when he only showed up for like 3 minutes. All of our characters are suffering but Shaddiq, the bastard

[anthurak]

Something I haven’t seen much discussion about but I think makes Lady Prospera so interesting as a character is just how we simply don’t get a good sense of just where she stands as a mother to Suletta.

Like I’ve seen a number of people theorize that at some point Prospera will drop some ‘It was all a lie’/’I never loved you’/’You were never my REAL daughter’ bombshell on Suletta and try to kill her or just abandon her. Or simply read Prospera as the shitty, manipulative parent as Delling, Jeturk, Piel and Grassley.

But the thing is, that is simply not the case. Unlike basically EVER other parent we’ve seen in a position of power, Prospera seems to display some surprisingly genuine care and affection towards Suletta. Certainly FAR more than Delling, Jerturk or any of the others.

Now it’s certainly possible that this is all some act. But if it is, Prospera has put a surprising amount of time and effort into this act.

We’ve seen multiple instances of Prospera going out of her way to check up on Suletta to see if she’s alright or putting other work on hold when Suletta calls her to talk about something. Not exactly the behavior we’d expect from someone who sees her daughter as nothing but a tool.

Now of course that’s not to say that Prospera hasn’t been SUPER shady and manipulative towards Suletta. Or that she hasn’t still been using Suletta as a pawn in her grand schemes. Rather, while it’s easy to look at Delling, Jeturk and the rest and say ‘they see their children as nothing but tool in their schemes’, with Prospera things seem to be a lot more layered, nuanced and generally complicated.

Like even as we approach the final episode of Part 1, I’d say we still CAN’T tell for sure just how exactly Prospera views Suletta. Is Prospera’s care and affection sincere, or does she truly see Suletta as nothing but a pawn?

Though if I had to guess/hope, I think the most unsettling/interesting option is essentially BOTH. That Prospera Mercury genuinely DOES love and care for Suletta, and Aerial as her daughters. Daughters that she is still using as pawns in her grand scheme for revenge.

[animehouse-moe]

Mobile Suit Gundam - The Witch From Mercury S2 Episode 11: Unrelenting Tenderness

Ah, nothing like being stressed out for an entire episode as to whether or not Suletta will succumb to the high permet score, or if Guel will end up killed by Lauda or kill another family member, or if our Elan will go off and die like the others, or this that and the other thing, all to get faked out for the real danger/moment. Incredible work on the episode that skirts around a more high level narrative to instead approach characters head on to unify them for this "final" episode to come, so certainly lots to talk about!

Well actually, sort of unexpectedly, the episode starts with a Calibarn vs Aerial fight that's showing off to the max. Of course, Suletta and Eri are having their chat about ideals and what's right/what they should be doing, but I'm pretty sure most people understand what's going on, so I'll just share how absolutely cool the fighting is for these scenes.

The pacing is wild, and given the scale of the combat, I think the decision to take the objects further away from the viewer so details matter less was a great idea. It allows for incredible pace in the fight without worry of being perfect, or taking absolute ages to complete. Plus, the way the fight's constructed in three dimensional space, you still get close ups and flybys past the camera that allow you a closer glimpse into the combat. Just really, really well orchestrated combat for the feel that was desired of it.

Similarly, I love how well designed the combat style of the Calibarn is. If you notice through the sequence, Suletta isn't actually retaliating against the Gund Bits at all, rather she's purely evading them. As you'd expect of Calibarn. It's main form of movement is also its source of combat power as the, as I like to call it, "broomstick" is used for high powered propulsion through the fight. And I think that's a super cool idea for a design, especially with how this episode show it off.

But anyways, the fight rages on as Lauda engages with Guel, the Earth House + Elan + Bel, and Felsi all sortie to enter the fray as we cut to the opening.

Following the opening, and a bit more dancing around with various characters to establish where they are/what they're doing, the data storm of Quiet Zero suddenly begins to wane/fail. This is a really cool piece that reminds viewers of where Quiet Zero began. Under the supervision of Miorine's mother Notrette. It also reminds viewers about the fact that Delling Rembran continued the Quiet Zero project in secrecy, but disavowed the existence of Gundams. Anyways, I present to you the notion that Notrette still exists in the Data Storm, and that she's the one interfering with Prospera and Eri. Ericht's frustration in regards to the data storm stalling out are directed at someone, nothing something, but another person that shares a similar goal/ideal to Ericht. Prospera's comment on pest control. It all implies a lot of things, and there's not many others that would check enough boxes aside from Notrette.

We temporarily shift from Quiet Zero towards a very interesting conversation with the Space Assembly League. Given what we've known with the last while in regards to the league, I wouldn't say it was expected, but it was certainly a possibility that they would stick their nose into the situation in full. What I find most interesting about it is how much this opens up the world of GWitch. The existence of a massive space laser that's a "tool for transferring energy", and the idea that civil unrest and discord still exists on Earth, coupled with the fact that Shaddiq's character arc hasn't actually been concluded. There's a lot of moving pieces that say, "but we're not done yet!", so I'm very curious to see what comes from their involvement and the various politics surrounding the league as well as Earth.

Now, onto the most nerve-wracking and stressful part of the episode: Lauda vs Guel. My heart was in my throat this whole time. The conversation, the Gundam vs Mobile Suit, the flashback. So much of it. I'd been stressed since we saw Lauda show up in the last episode, and they certainly drew it out in today's, but the character development for Lauda in particular was outstanding.

The whole idea of the being the younger brother that just wanted to stand beside his sibling but never could rings so clearly with his words. That Guel chose Miorine over his own brother, that Guel killed their father and never told Lauda, that Guel left Lauda just as quickly as he returned. All he wants is the big brother that accepted him all those years ago, the big brother that give him the gift of a family, someone to look up to, someone to go running to when times were tough. It's an incredibly emotional piece that builds off of Guel's similar encounter with his father. It had me so scared. Going back into Lauda's memories to find Guel hug and accept Lauda, and then returning to see Guel's Dilanza embrace Lauda's Schwarzette in the same way as sparks fly and you sense the end of Guel.

I'll never forgive GWitch for scaring me that badly, but thank God Felsi had already rocketed out in her mobile suit to break up the fight. But yeah, Gigabob continues his tear of being the best boy this season, and brings his little brother Lauda under his wing finally. Incredible piece that gives Guel the chance to right the wrongs of his past with his father, and to step into the light with his burden lightened.

So with the most nerve-wracking sequence finished, we return to Earth House and Co who have infiltrated Quiet Zero and are trying to shut it down. It's tense and high stakes, and there's great moments like Bel standing up to Prospera, who represents the sins that Bel herself bears.

The real moment though is Miorine (and Notrette to a degree). Miorine is tasked with inputting the shut down code for Quiet Zero, which was originally 'Quod Erat Demonstrandum', or in the literal translation 'What Was To Be Shown'. Typically, it's used at the end of math proofs as a way to conclude them, so an interesting addition in the form of originally 'concluding' Quiet Zero while staying true to Notrette's penchant for latin phrases.

Of course, Prospera changed the code so it doesn't work, but like Eri hinted at earlier, Notrette isn't completely gone, and is still helping her daughter Miorine by providing a backdoor to which only she would know the answer: part of the genetic code of the tomatoes that her mother left behind. A really sweet piece that speaks to Notrette's love for Miorine, but also like I said further proves the existence of her within Quiet Zero/the Data Storm.

Truthfully, I think the introduction of Notrette via the data storm helps bring Suletta (and by extension Prospera) and Miorine closer as lead characters. Giving them something that's been lost, and that they struggle with through similar aspects allows them to be placed on equal footing while providing different approaches/ understandings to their unique situations.

But anyways, Quiet Zero gets shut down and the Benerit Group/Earth House/sorta Space Assembly League succeeds in their goal of defeating it. But the Space Assembly League at the top has a different idea, as they turn that weapon on Quiet Zero and fire, leaving Eri on her own to protect everyone.

I really like this piece, specifically because it's Eri's decision. It's Ericht moving to protect her mother and her little sister, and their friends and family. It's not Eri acting for the sake of Prospera, or under her order or wishes, it's one of the few scenes where Eri acts under her own agency and desire. And within that, it's incredibly ironic that she ends up destroyed.

And our episode ends here. Aerial destroyed, Quiet Zero shut down, no defenses, no protections as they stare down the barrel of the universe's most dangerous weapon.

A dire situation, one that seems to have little hope of surviving for our characters involved, but let me show you these details first.

Starting off with Prospera, her permet pattern is different. The shape is decidedly different from the usual that we see from all the other pilots/characters. Alongside that, she's not actually piloting or directly interacting with a Gundam or anything, so it shouldn't be visible in the first place. So why can we see it, and why is it different? Well, for one, she seems to use it as a way to connect/interact with Ericht and Aerial, but more than that I feel it's connected to Carbo Nado and Prospera's past with her that was teased in the prologue.

Secondly, I think it's easy to forget how Suletta refers to Aerial/Ericht, and how we're shown the girl/Gundam. Suletta commonly uses 'Miina' to refer to Aerial and her Gund Bits, which means "everyone". Suletta sees, experiences, and understands Aerial as a multitude of Ericht's, and we see them that way as well. Even in this episode we see several Ericht's that take the place/form of Gund Bits.

And if you pay attention to the wreckage, you'll notice that some of the Gund Bits from Aerial are still intact, floating around Suletta and Calibarn.

So I'm sure most know what this means, but Eri is still alive. Aerial is gone, but Ericht lives on through her Gund Bits, and will ultimately integrated with Suletta and Calibarn to form a defense against the Giant Space Laser ™️.

And that's the end of the episode, this time. For sure. Definitely. I'm really quite interested to see what they do with this final upcoming episode though. There's the potential to expand the scope of GWitch to place further focus on Earth through the Space Assembly and Shaddiq, but there's also the opportunity to call it a day with the final episode with whatever the outcome may be from that. It's a good position to find themselves in, and I think I'll be relatively satisfied with whatever they do there. So many character arcs have been resolved, and goals reached between them all. But it also doesn't mean there's an entire world for them to explore out there, for new challenges to arise or progression to be made, particularly with characters like Shaddiq and Miorine. Only time will tell though, and with a countdown of one week, we won't be left waiting long to find out.

[mayhem-ensues]

Okay, so I'd have to imagine that the SuleMio reunion is coming next episode for sure. The whole reason Miorine walked away from Suletta in the first place was to make sure that Suletta stayed away from both Prospera and Gundams and now she's headed straight toward both of those things. Dramaturgically speaking it simply doesn't make sense to have Suletta get in the Gundam without addressing this core conflict.

I'm not gonna call this a prediction because it's really more like a wish for how the next episode is gonna go, but what I want to see is Miorine somehow learning that Suletta is going to pilot a Gundam and confront Prospera, and desperately wanting to stop her. After all, literally everything that Miorine has been through and suffered has been for the sole purpose of keeping Suletta safe. Their's no way she wouldn't go in person to try and stop Suletta from getting in a Gundam if that's what she has to do. From there we should get the tearful SuleMio reunion where they finally communicate what they want properly (and it better be lengthy after the amount of time their relationship has spent in the background).

From there you can have Lauda show up in the Schwarzette to try and get them, Guel can try and stop Lauda to finish off his character arc and free up Suletta and Miorine to go after Prospera together.