#i will be okay with being on the periphery eventually and the insights that gives me

[separatismor]

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[logh-icebergs]

Episode 27: First Battle

January 798/489. The first season of Legend of Galactic Heroes is the prelude. With the opening of season two, the real first act begins; and it kicks off with an unplanned skirmish between an Imperial fleet and a training mission from Iserlohn. Not realizing that the forces they’ve encountered are mostly new recruits and trainees, the Imperial commander assumes that the cautious and uncoordinated movements of the enemy troops are a patented Yang Wenli Tactic™, and doesn’t attack very aggressively while trying to decipher the clever ruse. The delay gives the entire fleet of 10,000 ships that Yang mobilized from Iserlohn time to show up and say “boo,” scaring the Imperial troops away before the entire training mission is annihilated. During the short battle, Julian, who was there for training, manages to shoot down three Valkyries and a cruiser. Meanwhile on Odin, Reinhard negotiates political reforms, finances, and staffing from behind eyes as cold and empty as Oberstein’s.

Separation...

We’ve seen Julian separated from Yang before, but only in the context of Yang going off to have adventures while Julian is left behind watching wistfully after him.

Left back at the house while Yang and Dusty fight the PKC... (From episode 3.)

...Left on Heinessen while Yang sets out to capture Iserlohn... (From episode 6.)

...And of course left alone in a back alley while Yang goes on a stroll with Jessica. (From episode 10.)

In this episode, for the first time, it’s Julian who’s thrown into the middle of the action on his own, when an unexpected battle breaks out during a training mission. This feels like a kind of test run of the whole concept of Julian actually enlisting and going to war: For Julian, that means facing real split-second life-or-death decisions on his own for the first time, rather than just listening to Yang (or Poplan or Schenkopp or any of his other mentors) pontificate about tactics; for Yang, it means facing more tangibly than ever before the very real possibility that this war he’s been trying (unsuccessfully) to end will actually result in Julian’s life being cut short.

Yang may have any number of philosophical or moral objections to the continuation of the war and the role of the military in society, but there’s also a very simple reason he doesn’t want Julian to become a soldier.

The moment right before Julian launches into battle gives us the second ever departure from strict realism in LoGH’s cinematography, a glimpse into Julian’s mind where we find a snippet of memory (or imagination?) devoid of context: just himself and Yang, in blackness, talking about premonitions of death. With an emphatic shake of his head, Julian seems to physically force both his fear of death and thoughts of Yang out of his mind. For right now, he’s on his own.

...Okay did Julian have an emo phase no one told me about?

Julian, Alone

Icebergs readers would be forgiven for getting the impression that Julian is a main focus (if not the main focus) of the season one Alliance story, since I pretty much talked constantly about him all season. But of course that’s not true: Julian’s story so far has taken place in the periphery of the action, mostly via small gestures, body language, glances, smiles. This is the first time the narrative actually centers him, seeing the battle from his perspective and through his emotions.

Julian’s reaction to killing someone for the first time is intense but narratively understated. He’s overwhelmed, shaking; but this is what he signed up for, and still in the heat of battle he can’t spare time or emotional energy to dwell on it.

This moment is a) adorable, and b) a deft bit of commentary, with Julian chastising himself for almost shooting at an ally that flew into his path. Of course that’s how battle works: Killing the other guys is good; killing your guys is bad. In context Julian’s reaction makes perfect sense—it’s how he’s supposed to think—but I find it chilling.

His flashiest accomplishment is taking out a whole cruiser, which he does by having the presence of mind to hover right against the side of the ship to hide from its scope, and then use its own weapons to take it down. This was clever of him, but also lucky—more a result of right place/right time than incredible heroism or brilliant planning.

In this gorgeously directed sequence, the Spartanian mothership that Julian was anchored at is critically hit, and Julian just barely manages to launch before it explodes.

Once again the emotional difference between the deaths of allies and enemies is highlighted here. In a rage of grief over the deaths of the people he knew on his mothership, Julian shoots down the first Valkyrie he sees…

...when just shortly before he was almost killed himself by a Valkyrie pilot in exactly the same position, whose mothership he himself had just destroyed. Karma’s a bitch.

Phew. It’s an intense nine hours for Julian: His life is directly at risk for the first time—in fact he’s only saved from being shot down when Poplan picks off all three Valkyries that are going after him. He kills, albeit in an anonymous, impersonal way. He sees many people he knows and works with not return from this (meaningless, unplanned) battle. It’s a hell of a lot for a fifteen-year-old, and he both handles it well and is clearly struggling against feeling overwhelmed. 

Aww. <3

Yang

Meanwhile back on Iserlohn, Yang confronts the possibility of Julian’s death in battle by—with the calm and composed air of an objective commander—promptly sending every available ship out as reinforcements. 

I find Frederica’s forced optimism here actually quite irritating. Julian’s an untrained kid who should not be thrown into battle yet. “Don’t worry, he’s lucky!” is a meaningless thing to say, as Yang clearly knows.

Yang often uses the method of placing trust in someone to earn their loyalty, and this move is similar, but also serves a couple of other purposes: It lets him learn more about Merkatz’s tactical philosophy, and it also conveniently gives added justification to his plan to immediately mobilize the entire fleet and charge into battle. When the suggestion initially comes from Merkatz, no one can accuse Yang of acting rashly because Julian happens to be in danger.

I said this battle is a test run, and that’s how I feel Yang treats it for himself. He obviously cares about Julian a ton and doesn’t want him involved in the war; but Julian isn’t actually his child, or his family at all. The show has been a bit coy about the details of their official relationship so far (we’ll learn more soon), but the technical legal situation is basically that the government has paid Yang to put a roof over Julian’s head for a few years, and maybe teach him a bit about the ways of war while he’s at it, before Julian inevitably joins the military to pay the government back for putting him through school.

With Yang’s deep belief in self-determination, the coercive nature of this system for dealing with war orphans is among the reasons he’s opposed to Julian’s path—he doesn’t see it as really Julian’s own choice. Back in episode 3 he offered to take on Julian’s debt himself, but that suggestion wounded Julian’s pride. (From episode 3.)

Their current arrangement, then, is fundamentally tenuous: The most probable outcome involves Julian eventually going to battle and being killed; and since that’s been true from the beginning, despite Yang’s grumblings, I think that Yang’s forced stoicism in this episode comes partly from feeling like it’s not quite his place to display too much parental protectiveness or emotional attachment.

Yang doesn’t ask after Julian’s safety even when they’ve scared the Imperial troops away and the battle is over, but he can’t quite hide either his bracing against bad news or his intense relief behind that cup of tea.

Yang in season one: “I hate soldiers.” “I don’t want Julian to go to war.” “I don’t want Julian to have to kill anyone.” Yang in season two: “Holy crap he blew up a ship? All by himself?? Badass!!” ...I mean I guess if Julian *has* to be a soldier, he might as well be a good one, huh Yang?

...And Reunion

This is my favorite moment of the episode. Julian may have appointed himself Yang’s physical protector, but this time it’s Yang who appears like a knight in shining armor to rescue him. There’s so much relief, gratitude, and total emotional exhaustion in his laughter here.

The battle that began with Julian physically forcing Yang out of his thoughts ends with Yang’s fleet appearing on his radar screen just when the tide of battle was turning in the enemy’s favor. As a battle, it’s pretty anticlimactic and pointless. The scene that’s framed narratively as the climax of the episode isn’t the end of the battle, but rather Julian and Yang’s reunion.

Even though Julian just conducted himself admirably in battle and notched several kills, he is very much still a kid, as this shot emphasizes.

The reason everyone bursts into laughter here is that this little awkward display of scolding is so out of character, as well as factually inaccurate—I doubt Yang has ever bothered to tell Julian not to do dangerous things.

This awkwardness from Yang’s side is new—throughout season one he treated Julian with an easy, paternal-ish affection, praising him freely and ruffling his hair (a bit condescendingly) when he offered his own insights or boasted of his skills.

(From episodes 17 and 19.)

But the events of this episode are nothing if not symbolic of the fact that Julian’s in the process of growing up; and as Julian does grow up, it’s unclear exactly how they’re supposed to relate to each other—as parent/child? As family? As commander/soldier? As friends? I’ve already diagnosed Julian’s attachment to Yang as the early stages of a crush; and while I think Yang’s oblivious to that angle at this point, it also threatens to complicate their relationship going forward. This scene highlights the fact that, despite how close they are, there’s a tension that didn’t used to exist in the air between them; and if there’s one thing I can promise you it’s that we will be keeping an eye on that throughout the season.

Poplan and Konev!

Speaking of things to keep an eye on as we begin a new season, we also get to see more of Poplan and Konev during this battle: mentoring the trainees as they head off to fight; grumbling about the government; saving Julian’s ass; competing as always for the most kills.

I love this for two reasons. One, Konev is adorable—his syntax is funnier in Japanese, where he answers Poplan’s “dou iu imi da?” with a parallel “sou iu imi sa,” even making use of the emphatic particle sa to rhyme with the copula verb in Poplan’s sentence. (Literally the exchange is “What sort of meaning?” / “*That* sort of meaning.”) And two, this isn’t just random goofiness: They’re about to send kids into an unplanned and likely deadly battle, and banter like this has the effect of both encouraging and relaxing them.

Poplan plays up his cocky, goofball side to make the trainees laugh, but he also takes this battle and his job as their teacher very seriously…

...and as soon as the trainees are gone so is his confidence, as he turns to complain to Konev about being forced to fight with inexperienced pilots who will be no match for Reinhard’s troops. Discussing/arguing about politics is one of the many facets of their relationship, as we’ll see more later on.

Three of those 22 kills of Poplan’s come right in a row, as he saves Julian’s life by cleanly picking off three Valkyries that are chasing him. Do not think for one second that Poplan is just a background comic relief character: Not only does he take his role as mentor to the younger soldiers seriously, but when he says he’s a genius at piloting, he’s absolutely correct.

...and Heteronormativity

I’ve mentioned that Poplan plays the role of one of the show’s mouthpieces of heteronormativity, specifically a version of masculinity that’s centered around (many, many) sexual relations with women, and in this episode we see that clearly for the first time.

This raised pinky gesture refers, in 20th century Japan at least, to a (man’s) girlfriend/wife/mistress; I assume the same meaning survived 1600 years into the future? Translation note: Poplan actually says “there are more interesting things than piloting that I have to teach you about”—highlighting not just the importance of Julian learning all about sleeping with women, but his own implied expertise in the matter. (The verb is 教えてやる, oshiete-yaru, to do the favor of teaching something to someone.)

This exchange comes right after Julian comments that he doesn’t want to die so young, and right before he flies back into battle. Poplan’s innuendo and picking a fight with Konev serve a similar purpose to his cocky boasting to the trainees before the battle began: lightening the mood away from a focus on possible impending death, in order to help Julian relax a bit before plunging back into the fight. The impulse is kind, but the content of Poplan’s teasing is miscalculated. Julian doesn’t react with laugher, but rather seems uncomfortable and unsure how to respond—turning away with raised eyebrows, and only smiling after Konev changes the subject back to the battle.

Note the easy intimacy of Konev pushing Poplan’s head away here; body language communicates a ton in this show, and Poplan and Konev routinely occupy each other’s personal space with a comfort that’s rare among all the friendships we see.

Whatever Poplan’s intention, the effect of his speech is still to present a view of masculinity tied to (hetero)sexual prowess, and Julian doesn’t seem to relate. But Poplan isn’t a solo act—and Konev’s role as the other half of the duo is key to the overall tone of the scene. Far from seeming to take any offense at Poplan’s insinuations about his preference for crossword puzzles over sleeping around, Konev nonchalantly ignores Poplan and changes the subject. By not defending himself or seeming at all self-conscious, he undermines whatever Poplan was about to say about the duties of men, treating it as irrelevant and not worth engaging with. Konev provides not only an alternative model of masculinity to what Poplan espouses, but also a good example of exactly how seriously to take Poplan’s bluster—namely not at all.

Unlike Poplan’s exaggerated machismo, Konev’s habit of standing in the background of scenes staring at someone with an unguarded, fond smile is something Julian definitely *can* relate to. Konev...people can see you, you know.

Stray Tidbits

Reinhard has been busy over in the empire, enacting an impressive list of reforms, including freedom of the press, democratic constitutions (for local governments, I guess?), and...credit unions for farmers? Okie doke. Score one for benevolent dictatorship. The skill of both the animators and the voice acting in showing Reinhard’s utter heartbreak is so impressive; how can a few frames of animation convey the ice in someone’s soul this well?

Speaking of the animators’ skill, I love this page from the production booklet that comes with the season two LaserDiscs showing the details of Julian’s Spartanian pilot uniform—which patches and decals go where, how everything connects, a closeup of the glove. The righthand page says “helmet markings for Julian” at the bottom and “for the main helmet design, see separate section” at the top, which I find adorable. 

Dear Dusty, I know you were also really badass in this episode, and I promise sometime soon I will give you more space in a post than a few screenshots down in the tidbits section. <3

Daaamn, Yang is all prepared for the 798 Iserlohn pin up calendar. (Is that even a comfortable way to nap, Yang...??)

I’m so happy that the analogy sex:Poplan :: tea:Yang :: revenge:Oberstein is official LoGH canon.

The casual LoGH viewer might believe that this is the first glimpse we get of any Imperial Valkyrie pilots, but we at Icebergs are here to disabuse the world of such shallow readings: In fact we saw a Valkyrie pilot way back in episode 2 (5:57, go watch it). We have dubbed him Heinrich. RIP Heinrich, we hardly knew ye.

I can’t believe we’re already starting season two!! Thank you for journeying through a whole season with us, and buckle up—this show just gets better and better.