The People v. Gundam Wing

At long last, justice arrives in an explosion of musical combat! The evidence has been considered, the songs have been recorded, the votes counted, and the amicus curiae briefs lovingly dismissed! All that remains to be revealed is… THE VERDICT. Is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing RAD… or is it BAD?

The War for Earth is over, which means it's time for the film-length, mostly-canon, sort-of epilogue to Gundam Wing! All our favorite characters scramble over one final, violent hurdle to reach their happyish endings (except for the Gundams themselves, who all get blown up). Is this the coda the series deserves? Does it do enough to make up for the stumbles of episode 49? Is “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz” RAD… or is it BAD?

The final battle for Earth's survival. The final ride of the Old Weirdos. The final duel between Heero and Zechs (finally). There are many ostensibly final things in this episode, because it is the final episode of Gundam Wing! Can the show's writers stick the landing on this dazzling and confusing floor routine? Will our heroic space-faring psychos survive to see a world at total peace? Is “The Final Victor” RAD… or is it BAD?

Treize versus Wu Fei! Quatre versus Dorothy! It's the back-to-back brawls that this series has been building to all along, apparently! Meanwhile, Duo smuggles the Weirdos to the location of their heroic atonement, and Heero finally, at long last, tries a little tenderness with Relena before speeding off for the ultimate(?) showdown with Zechs. Will a new world emerge from the ashes of all this conflict and monologuing? Is “Takeoff into Confusion” RAD… or is it BAD?

Treize leads the Earth Armada on a desperate assault against Zechs and the forces of the White Fang! The Gundam pilots refuse to help him fight the Libra but then they… fight the Libra anyway, so Treize is probably like, “Cool, whatever!” Sally Po unleashes her inner Klingon, and both Zechs and Noin find their willpower nerfed by love! Can justice prevail when character arcs finally collide? Is “Collision in Space” RAD… or is it BAD?

The consolidated forces of Earth finally quit with the bawlin' and make with the brawlin'! With Hilde's stolen data disk in hand and Hilde presumably in a coma somewhere, Heero jacks a White Fang carrier and attempts to rescue Relena from captivity while pretending he totally doesn't care that she is in captivity. Milliardo decides to reject Treize's offer to settle this whole thing with a duel and instead invites Treize to duel the business end of Libra's gigantic beam cannon. Treize is saved in a timely fashion by a highly unlikely figure from his not-too-distant past. Can justice move as quickly as Lady Une coming off an extended hospital stay? Is “Milliardo's Decision” RAD… or is it BAD?

Hilde foregoes the cushy life of a junkyard lessee to work as a covert infiltrator for Team Gundam! Mercurius and Vayeate return to the battlefield, too! Will Hilde's predictable sacrifice give the Gundam Boys the upper hand against Evil Zechs? Will Mercurius and Vayeate tip the scales of war, or will Duo send them back to the scrap heap from whence they came? Is “Signs of the Final Battle” RAD… or is it BAD?

Relena goes forth to talk some sense into her brother but ends up getting tossed forth into a locked room while Zechs unleashes a dangerous and unpredictable new weapon: the terrifying mind of Dorothy Catalonia! Quatre hooks up to the Zero System because nothing bad happened the last time he did that. Sally Po saves basically every protagonist, but will anyone say “Thank you?” Is “Go Forth, Gundam Team” RAD… or is it BAD?

The five Gundam pilots reunite, finally forming the figurative Voltron of moody teen space soldiers. Trowa jacks Wing Zero and, predictably, nearly blows up a colony. Villainous Zechs channels his inner Grand Moff Tarkin and sets out to prove that the Libra is now the ultimate power in the universe (or at least the stretch of space between Earth and the colonies). Libra's beam weapon is powerful, but it can't roast justice! Is “Target: Earth” RAD… or is it BAD?

Lady Une returns, significantly less dead than was expected but significantly more comatose than one would hope. Treize explains to her that he only took over for Relena because the Blessed Burrito Queen was unprepared to do gangster stuff. Wufei plugs his brain into the Zero system and it tells him to rejoin the main plot. Relena's Frontier Airlines flight to space might have many stops, but there's no stopping space justice! Is “Battleship Libra” RAD… or is it BAD?

Noin's Gundam Gang gets caught up in the crossfire (CROSSFFIIYAAAAHHH!!!) when a battle between Space Station Barge and the forces of the White Fang endangers a nearby colony! Treize returns and demotes Queen Relena to Normal Relena, and Zechs unleashes the full flex of Epyon! The prospects for peace are perched on a beam saber's edge, but the Court's search for answers continues: Is “Crossfire at Barge” RAD… or is it BAD?

In a show about high schoolers waging war in giant, mechanized suits of armor, the line of absurdity is finally crossed when the world's nations agree to complete disarmament because Queen Relena asked them nicely. But with world peace at hand, The White Fang declares a new war at the advice of its new leader– Milliardo Peacecraft, for some reason! The writers decide that Duke Dermail has overstayed his usefulness to the plot, and Dorothy mourns the departure of her dear, evil grandfather– or does she? Is “A New Leader” RAD… or is it BAD?

Brooding war hero Zechs Merquise joins the White Fang revolution after they ask really politely! They are less polite when they ask Duo, so he sticks Hilde with the lease on their junkyard apartment and heads back out to space! Does a battlefield reunion with Noin, Quatre, and Trowa mean the band is (mostly) getting back together? Will Dorothy and some old guy blow apart Dermail's plans for a puppet monarchy? Is “Trowa's Return to the Battlefield” RAD… or is it BAD?

Gundam Wing's star-crossed lovers and occasional jam bros are reunited by fate and a circus! Can the purity of their love rescue Trowa from his amnesia? No. Can the opportunity to suit up and do some more killin' rescue Trowa from his amnesia? Oh, absolutely! The war against White Fang rages on for some reason. Newly crowned Queen Relena casually obliterates the concept of national sovereignty, but she can't obliterate the quest for an answer: Is “The Birth of Queen Relena” RAD... or is it BAD?

Zechs and Heero meet again amid the ruins of the Sanc Kingdom. With their homicidal suits at the helm and no bad guys around to fight, they do the only logical thing: Fight each other! With a PR victory in hand, a surprisingly effective Duke Dermail tempts Relena with power and a brand new title. Tsuborov and a bunch of random colonists become casualties of Wu Fei's quest to define integrity, and yet another ragtag band of space revolutionaries appears on the board. Oh great! Another faction with dubious intent! Just what this story needed! Is “Zero vs. Epyon” RAD... or is it BAD?

Quatre reunites with Sandrock and the Maguanac Corps. Duo reunites with Trowa (sort of). Relena reunites with her ideals. Dorothy and Crazy don't have to reunite because they've never been apart. Will Relena's long flight from smitten schoolgirl to sainted champion land with a cheer or an underwhelmed sigh? Is “Sanc Kingdom's Collapse” RAD… or is it BAD?

Wufei punches his way back into the narrative with a late-model gundam and a mission to define the word “integrity,” eventually stumbling into conflict with Zechs. A traumatized Trowa has forgotten who he is but remembers his passion for the circus arts. Quatre crashes an antique fighter jet and just sort of wanders around in the desert for a while. It's a lot, but is it enough to aid the Secret Court in their judicial mission? Is “Return of Wufei” RAD… or is it BAD?

From the most secret depths of the Luxembourg Buffalo Wild Wings, Treize emerges to rain maximum Treiziness all over Heero's day. Zechs loses a Tallgeese but gains a sentient, mind-warping machine of ultimate war. Howard stays high. Can destiny's winners be the losers but also the not-losing winners? Is “And Its Name is Epyon” RAD… or is it BAD?

Like divine fury in a delightful red flight suit, Zechs Merquise returns to the story just in time to trash Tsubarov's day! Relena accepts an invitation to do diplomacy at the Evil Old Boys Club and takes along her most trusted and obviously dangerous psychopath as an escort. Pagan Eight-Guns wraps his car around a tree, but can the Secret Court wrap justice around this episode? Is “The Lonely Battlefield” RAD… or is it BAD?

Duo uncloaks his sweet new ride and immediately finds himself in conflict with the galaxy's most ambitious IT dude riding the galaxy's most insanely dangerous gundam. Alleged Hilde rejoins the story for some reason. Tsubarov mispronounces his own name, but no silent “s” can stop the Secret Court from answering one crucial question: Is “The God of Death Meets Zero” RAD… or is it BAD?

Headmistress Relena welcomes two new students to the Institute of Unwavering Pacifism, immediately resulting in a sword fight followed by an all-out military invasion. Will she stay true to her principles, or will she be like every other character who bemoans war while painting hot-rod flames on the guns of their badass death machine? Crazy Dorothy might have all the secret intel, but there's one question she can't answer: Is “The Glass Kingdom” RAD… or is it BAD?

Bored Heero goes merc for the Treize Faction. Quatre goes Waltzin' Matilda to make friends with Father Dowling and a village full of stoic farmer-philosophers. Fights break out, both literal and rhetorical, and it's all just prelude to an awkward and long-awaited reunion on an airport tarmac. Is “Reunion with Relena” RAD… or is it BAD?

A golden Lincoln Towncar full of crazy rolls into Relena's life, threatening her peace initiative and her top spot as chief deliverer of unsettling line reads. Heero and Quatre crash-land back in The Sovereign Republic of East Texas without much of a plan beyond playing with dogs and getting captured. Noin springs Sally Po from the clutches of OZ, and they briefly become the baddest duo in the Earth Sphere. Dorothy wants everyone to hurry up and start a war, but the Secret Court wants to hurry up and answer one question: Is “The Heroine of the Battlefield” RAD… or is it BAD?

The Secret Court returns, whiskey in hand, to procedurally tackle the dreaded two-part recap episode! Relena talks to a picture frame and reminisces about the sweet boy who threatened to kill her. Treize takes a carriage ride and drafts his next Medium post while on house arrest. Does any of this clarify the plot thus far? Um, kind of? They aren't really RAD and they aren't BAD, but “The Locus of Victory and Defeat” and “Passing Destinies” must be entered into the record!

The Romafeller Foundation has fractured into warring factions following Treize's refusal to participate in Dermail's plan to unleash the new mobile dolls on Earth. We know all of this because the narrator explains it in the first five or so minutes of the episode. Quatre mopes about Trowa, and it turns out that Wing Zero's advanced targeting interface can kind of turn you into a murderer. Is “The Eternal Flame of the Shooting Stars” RAD… or is it BAD?

,It's Wing Zero versus Angry Heero in a battle that will determine the future of Quatre's sanity! Meanwhile, Tubarov launches a lunar mutiny. Trowa's exploding suit launches him into space. Treize turns in his resignation from the Romafeller Foundation. Lady Une receives an entirely different type of professional separation. The Secret Earth Sphere Kourt Alliance is gainfully employed to answer one question: Is “Quatre vs. Heero” RAD… or is it BAD?

Duo throws a duffel bag at a stranger's face after she harasses him at an airport. The stranger then abandons her oaths, sacrifices her career and possibly her life to make sure Duo gets to attack a high-security OZ facility and presumably kill everyone inside it. Such is the charisma of the god of death, which Duo isn't, but apparently once was and might possibly be again someday if he can get out of pilot jail with Heero and Wu Fei. Also, Zechs attends a meeting. Is “Duo, the God of Death Once Again” RAD… or is it BAD?

Zechs stops wreaking havoc just long enough to begin his career as a diplomat. Trowa finds fun, new ways to make Nichol look like a chump. Treize's refusal to accept his destiny as King of Space sends Good'Une careening ‘round the bend, and only Zechs can save her from nobly throwing herself at the business end of a beam cannon. Meanwhile, the Secret Earth Sphere Kourtroom Alliance points the beam cannon of truth at one question: Is “The Fight for Independence” RAD… or is it BAD?

An injured Quatre falls into the care of a doctor with a secret, and why her secret is a secret is also a secret (to the audience). The Winner family patriarch is introduced just in time to die a noble death at the hands of OZ, and the show's gentlest star child goes nuts as a result. Zechs begins his diplomatic career by killing a bunch of dudes, but it won't stop the Secret Earth Sphere Court from negotiating an answer to space's most pressing question: Is “Grief Stricken Quatre” RAD… or is it BAD?

Heero dumps ol' busted-up Duo at the nearest colony and takes off to break stuff on the moon. The Consortium of Old Weirdos continues work on two slick new mobile suits, while Major Sally and the Maganac Corps have a fateful meeting on the way to dealing with Quatre's gundam. Good'une makes the case for a robust arms program while Bad'une recruits a familiar new pilot. It's all about deterrence theory, but that can't deter the Secret Earth Sphere Court from answering one key question: Is “The Lunar Base Infiltration” RAD… or is it BAD?

Zechs awakens to the shocking news that he is now best bros with Howard, the chillest dude in the Earth Sphere. Lady Une suffers an off-screen psychotic break that causes her to be nice half the time. Two gundams get an arm shot off, and Heero decides not to kill Duo (yet). It'll take more than a Taurus suit's crappy targeting software to spot the answer to our question: Is “Assault on Barge” RAD… or is it BAD?

The boys are back in space and… mostly napping, for the time being. Alliance remnants plot to steal a derelict Quatre, but Une wants him as leverage against the galaxy's most dangerous gang of slovenly weirdos. Zechs faces a mask-shattering test of friendship. This might not be appropriate subject matter for your welcome speech, but it's appropriate for answering this question: Is “Tallgeese Destroyed” RAD… or is it BAD?

Lady Une loses the glasses and goes corporate chic to win the hearts and minds of the dorks who run the colonies. Quatre decides it's time to return to space for reasons, and Duo and the others go along for the ride (also for reasons). This episode might have cost the gang a gundam, but it was worth it to answer the most important question in outer space: Is “Betrayed by Home, Far Away” RAD… or is it BAD?

Thunda on the Tundra! It's Zechs versus Heero: The Rematch, and the result promises to be just as inconclusive! Will Zechs finally offload his Heero-related baggage? Will Relena shout them into a peaceful resolution? Will Trowa be completely over it all? Is “The Sorrowful Battle” RAD…or is it BAD?

With the Reverse Revenge Tour complete, Noin scoops up Moody Boy Team Alpha and spirits them away to Ant-ARK-tica where a fateful rematch awaits! Relena goes digging for exposition and Pagan Eight-Guns proves he's still the fastest googler in the West! Trowa punctuates the action with a laughably stylish finishing move, but it's not half as laughable or stylish as the Secret Court's answer to this essential question: Is “To the Battleground Antarctica” RAD… or is it BAD?

In Gundam Wing's most realistic episode to date, Relena cops some boss duds and infiltrates a gathering of rich, inbred oligarchs who have been orchestrating wars in order to cement their own wealth and power! It's practically a documentary! Meanwhile, Zechs does sneaky stuff at the office! Heero continues to generously offer Field Marshall Noventa's family the opportunity to shoot him, but they'd rather have answers to the Earth Sphere's most salient question: Is “The Order to Destroy 01” RAD… or is it BAD?

Zechs masters falling out of planes in the Tallgeese! Alex and Mueller master blowing people up while they're attempting to surrender! Catherine masters just kind of rambling for a few minutes while Trowa shoots up a circus! Can the Secret Alliance Court grab this episode by the claws and rip it apart to find the gooey justice inside? Is “Catherine's Tears” RAD... or is it BAD?

Join the Resistance and fight alongside Major Sally, Dockworker, and Old Guy! Join Wu Fei in a rowboat and float aimlessly down a metaphorical river of self-loathing and an actual river of water! Join Colonel Bunte and, well, actually, don't join Colonel Bunte— but do join the Alliance Secret Podcast Court as it seeks to answer a question essential to peace and order in the colonies: Is “Bewildered Warriors” RAD... or is it BAD??

Episode Notes (for iTunes/site) OZ scoops up the wreckage of Heero’s gundam. Treize stomps on the wreckage of Lady Une’s heart. Agent Relena crashes a party dressed in her finest, but she’d rather be dressed in the blood of her enemies. The Maganacs finally get to stunt all over some bad guys, and the Alliance Secret Podcast Court gets to stunt all over the essential legal question of our age: Is “The Whereabouts of Happiness” RAD... or is it BAD?

Lady Une, distracted by a giant PowerPoint! The Alliance, distracted by getting its ass kicked! The Murder Boys, distracted by a mission to destroy OZ’s AI-powered space suit! Gundam-01, distracted by getting blown up! Is “Heero, Distracted by Defeat” RAD... or is it BAD?

Zechs returns home with Tallgeese, a wildly powerful proto-gundam with a troubling record of injuring its pilots! Duo returns to the hard court with Heero, a wildly dunktastic power forward with a troubling history of killing the occasional classmate! But even mopey Wu Fei and stalkin’-ass Relena can’t deter the court from diving headlong into judicial truth. Is “Portrait of a Ruined Country” RAD... or is it BAD?

Zechs lays siege to Luxembourg and takes revenge on a shouty officer guy from his past! Heero saves 300 square kilometers from nuclear devastation AND gets a new stalker! The Earthsphere Alliance Secret Court tackles yet another episode of Gundam Wing, and this time there is no dueling code! Is “The Treize Assassination” GOOD... or is it GARBAGE?

Being kind of stupid finally catches up with the Lil’ Murder Gang as the theatrically-inclined Colonel Treize puts his pieces into motion! Zechs leads a tasteful military coup, and Lady Une pulls off a headshot to make any COD: Warzone player weep with envy and pride! The heroes may have massacred a bunch of pacifists, but that won’t prevent this court from deciding if “A Scenario for Bloodshed” is RAD... or BAD!

Release your songbirds and have your friends visualize you in a fabulous blue dress! It’s party time at Gundam Prep, and this party don’t stop ‘til there are at least a few civilian casualties! Lady Une harshes Heero’s good time with a mobile suit attack, a throwing knife harshes Trowa’s face, but nothing can harsh the pursuit of an answer: Is “Party Night” RAD... or is it BAD?

The mysterious truth behind Relena’s whole weird deal is 34% revealed, costing her a father but gaining her a creepy old guy and a ride to the airport. Heero has a new mission. Duo has a new bro. Screw on your unsettling cyborg parts and prepare to ride the info dump! The armor-plated fancy lads are back in gear, and so is this mission of cosmic critique! Is “Relena’s Secret” RAD... or is it BAD?

Threads of a larger mystery begin to connect. Old flames rekindle in the face of a growing threat. New sparks fly during an ultra-posh jam sesh. Leap from a cliff’s edge onto a motorcycle and speed to your nearest disco-themed lounge! The saga of the Gundam Wing Murder Boys continues, and so does this crucial mission of critique! Is “The Victoria Nightmare” RAD... or is it BAD?

Hope you like Gundams, because this episode has five, count ‘em, FIVE Gundams, and each one is guaranteed to be 100% confirmed! Will that be enough confirmed Gundams to provoke a coherent response from the Alliance military? Will Quatre and Trowa confirm the friendship sprouting from the peepee flaps of their respective mobile suits? Will Relena be confirmed as a big weirdo? Is "Five Gundams Confirmed" RAD… or is it BAD?

Gundam Wing’s writers roll out an episode title that is certifiably metal af! Heero stunts on horseback! The noble quest for clarity takes our courtroom warriors from the depths of the ocean to a super-awkward birthday party and to all the roadside circuses and rich-boy picnics in between! Will Zechs and his gang of lovable oafs scam their way to the powerful robo-treasure napping on the floor of the sea? Will Relena unravel the mystery of the handsome stranger at her prep school who would rather kill her than go to her boring-ass party? How many episodes will it take for Judge Josh to learn the names of all the Handsome Murder Boys? Is Episode 2, “The Gundam Deathscythe,” RAD… or is it BAD?

A solar system stands on the edge of war as tensions between Earth and her unruly colonies strain to a breaking point. The only thing that can heal the divide is an answer to the unanswerable question: Is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing RAD… or is it BAD? Join two dueling anime aficionados and a guy who can definitely point to Japan on a map as they dive into Gundam Wing, braving the tempestuous sea of murder boys, giant robot warriors, and questionable line readings in search of elusive truth-- one action-packed episode at a time!