“The Woven Path” acts as a setup for the conclusion of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. It simultaneously ties up some loose ends and initiates several confrontations as the series speeds towards the finale. While it occasionally suffers from a breakneck pace and contrived resolutions in some scenes, it also delivers some strong character moments, as Suletta and company resolve to atone for their mistakes and move forward so that things don’t get any worse. Of course, this is still a Gundam series, and with so many characters heading into the final battle, “The Woven Path” raises a lot of red flags that suggest this might be the last hurrah for a lot of them. And, in typical Gundam fashion, it’s anyone’s guess who will actually make it through to the end.
For a setup episode like this, we expect a lot of moving parts and interactions, which can be tricky to manage. In that regard, “The Woven Path” is at its weakest when it’s moving things too quickly or setting situations up only to resolve them just as fast. The opening teaser is a perfect example: a massive Space Assembly League fleet attempts another assault on Quiet Zero, only for Quiet Zero to hack their guided missiles and send them right back, quickly forcing the fleet’s retreat. The problem is, the whole sequence is over in less than ninety seconds, so a scene that could have had considerable weight feels glossed over. It also doesn’t help that this opening is kind of redundant: we just saw a similar “look how powerful Quiet Zero is!” scene at the conclusion of last week’s episode, but with far better execution and dramatic impact.
Similarly, this week’s episode features what has to be the most superficial duel in the series. Miorine, still devastated from recent events, has holed herself up in her room, so Suletta goes to the Benerit Group headquarters to talk with her. Guel, however, refuses to let them meet unless Suletta defeats him in a duel, since Miorine is technically his fiancée again. This time around, it’s a fencing match instead of mobile suit combat, and even though it goes through the same format and dramatic buildup of the duels from season 1, Suletta ultimately wins in about ten seconds. It’s frustrating, since this is a type of battle that would have much more significance any other time in the series, but here it’s reduced to sort of a parlor trick. Admittedly, it is a cute callback to Amuro’s sword fight with Char in the last episode of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, but as a plot point, it’s an overly elaborate solution to a minor snag.
Fortunately, these issues don’t detract too much from “The Woven Path” as a whole, and the stronger parts of the episode make up for them. In one early scene at Asticassia, for instance, Suletta tells Elan she would rather risk everything to stop her mother’s plans than run away from the impending conflict. Her emphasis that this is her choice, though, and not another direction from her mother, reveals how much she’s matured since the start of the season. Interestingly, Miorine has a similar moment of fortitude in the second half of the episode. After Delling wakes up from his coma, she confronts him face-to-face and vows that she’s done running, as well: from him, from the Benerit Group, and from the Gundam’s “curse.” It’s a convincing parallel, and a solid indication that Suletta and Miorine are fed up with their controlling parents and finally, truly ready to move on from them. If the earliest episodes of The Witch from Mercury saw the first cracks of these unhealthy parent-child dynamics, the final episodes are witnessing the last stages of their collapse.
The meeting between Suletta and Miorine midway through stands out as the episode’s most substantial scene, as well as one of the more moving exchanges in the whole series. It’s a moment of raw honesty, as both characters face their fears and mistakes and bare them to one another. While Miorine reflects on the violent fallout of her political maneuverings, and her scheme with Prospera to drive Suletta away, Suletta feels remorse for killing Sophie and several others during the Plant Quetta incident, even if it was in self-defense. The turning point for both of them, though, comes when Suletta acknowledges that they can’t undo the mistakes of the past, but they can atone for them by trying to do better in the future. This admission gives Miorine a new resolve, and she finally gets up and opens her door to greet Suletta, despite being a disheveled mess. It’s a striking moment of vulnerability, especially for Miorine, with both of them admitting how much they need each other’s support as they try to set things right. It also clearly signals a new depth to their relationship, and a new level of personal closeness. Intimate and romantic relationships in the Gundam franchise haven’t always been convincing, but Suletta and Miorine have definitely convinced, especially down the stretch.
(On a side note, this scene also has a neat visual detail worth mentioning. When Miorine is sitting alone, just as Suletta arrives, her room is completely dark, but as Suletta talks to her and inspires her to keep moving forward, the sun gradually rises behind Miorine and slowly illuminates the room. Very subtle, but very effective when you notice it…)
Things take a sharper turn in the finale of “The Woven Path” when Suletta takes the Calibarn Gundam to stop Prospera and disable Quiet Zero. Much of the supporting cast joins her, but Suletta dominates the early stages of this final conflict, since the Calibarn is the only mobile suit capable of withstanding Quiet Zero’s data storm. The decision pays off, as Calibarn’s debut is absolutely exhilarating. Suletta explodes onto the battlefield, penetrating Quiet Zero’s outer defenses and taking down a squadron of drone Gundams attacking her from all angles. From the visuals, to the swelling music, to Suletta pushing herself to her limits, it succeeds on just about every front as a fast-paced, gripping battle sequence. It’s also essentially a clever reversal of the previous episode’s finale: whereas Quiet Zero’s debut inspired fear as it annihilated the Space Assembly League’s fleet, Suletta’s debut in the Calibarn inspires hope, and maybe just a little fear in Prospera herself. And I love the in-joke for the design of Calibarn’s beam rifle. If everyone keeps insisting on calling the Gundam designers and pilots “witches,” it’s only fitting at least one Gundam should have a broomstick. 😉
“The Woven Path” closes by setting up a final duel between Suletta and Eri—fittingly, a battle between two Gundams. On the side of this main conflict, a battle between the Jeturk brothers also kicks off, with Lauda taking the new Schwarzette Gundam to confront Guel and air out his grievances. And, with so many supporting characters from Earth House, the Space Assembly League, the Benerit Group, and elsewhere waiting in the wings, we can expect this final confrontation to get bigger and far messier as more of them jump into the fray. The pieces are in place, and the first moves have been made. Like any chess match, though, as things unfold, we’re all but certain to witness some surprising twists, bold moves, and many, many sacrifices.
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© Sotsu / Sunrise / MBS
