Episode
                  29: The Heroine of the Battlefield 
                  Airing Date
                  2000-04-13

            What could possibly be cooler than giant robots fighting in outer 
            space? How about super spies with guns posing as feeble butlers 
            protecting young loud-mouthed spoiled rich girls? No? Well, at least 
            I tried. Believe it or not, though, one of the cooler moments in 
            "The Heroine of the Battlefield" is learning that Relena 
            Peacecraft's trusty butler is actually an agent of the Sanc Kingdom. 

            Both he and Lucrezia Noin -- who I personally believe to be the 
            hottest babe in the After Colony years -- are Sanc patriots willing 
            to risk their lives in order to protect Relena from those elements 
            who might want her dead. Like me. No, really -- there are characters 
            in Gundam Wing who find Relena's total pacifism ideology dangerous. 
            I just find it boring. 
            What's weird is that in the few episodes since we've been on Earth 
            and seen Miss Do Good, she's risen to the top of the elders on the 
            board of the Sanc Kingdom. I know she's the last remaining blood 
            relative and direct heir to the deceased King and Queen (besides 
            Zechs/Milliardo, that is) but, c'mon, could she at least be sent to 
            Princess school so she even knows what the Sanc Kingdom's all about? 
            Suddenly Relena making decisions which'll affect millions of lives 
            when just last month she was planning a lavish birthday party which 
            played more like the prom in Carrie. Whatever. Relena decides that 
            the tiny, ill-equipped Sanc Kingdom can do without the mighty 
            Romefeller Foundation. 
            It is kind of funny watching Relena kick a few OZ soldiers out of 
            "her country" after her big peace meeting breaks up. You can't help 
            having the feeling that what Relena was dreaming about last week -- 
            that she was actually a Princess ruling a sunswept country, la dee 
            da -- was coming true right before her eyes. By this time next week 
            the Sanc's national anthem will be a Britney Spears song and the 
            kids from N'Sync will be featured on the flag. Oy. 

                  Funny. They told me this was a one of a kind outfit. 
            In the other two featured stories, Lucrezia teams up with Sally Po 
            (who'd be no slouch in the hot babe department either if she did 
            something about that hair) to rescue Heero's hidden Gundam Wing from 
            the bottom of the ocean. It's really cool watching two women with 
            guns take on hordes of male soldiers and come out on top. How often 
            do you ever get to see that? Heero and Quatre, meanwhile, spend 
            their time back on Earth avoiding the Romefeller Foundation's plans 
            to assassinate all the Gundam pilots. 
            Of course they have time to discuss the politics of war and frolic 
            with a few guard dogs but it is kind of cool to watch them do the 
            whole "French resistance" thing. When Quatre suggests they go to the 
            Sanc Kingdom, though, the collective groans grow as we realize soon 
            there'll be more scenes of Heero and Relena sighing and saying each 
            other's names. And not doing much else. 

            --Ross Brooks thinks being a Princess should at least require a 
            written test.