Episode
                  36: The Collapse of the Sanc Kingdom 
                  Airing Date
                  2000-04-24


            On April 7, 1979 in Japan, an anime series quietly debuted to low 
            ratings and little respect. Mobile Suit Gundam was nearly canceled 
            before its initial run was over but its producers barely eked out a 
            promise from their network to finish what they had started. 
            Eventually 43 episodes of the series were produced. 
            Once the show begin to re-run, much like with Star Trek before it, a 
            cult following popped up and legions of fans began demanding further 
            adventures of the Sci-Fi epic. Since then, multiple series and 
            feature films have been received with a near religious fervor. It's 
            clear that the Gundam universe won't end any time soon. Prequels, 
            alternate universes -- there are as many different takes on the 
            Gundam saga as there are fan fics about Kirk & company. 
            Now, finally, the Gundam phenom comes to the United States. Gundam 
            Wing debuted on the Cartoon Network on March 6, 2000. Its 49 
            episodes are running in order and we begin reviewing them with 
            Episode 36, "The Collapse of the Sanc Kingdom." 

            This episode begins with the pacifist Sanc Kingdom trembling under 
            the massive forces of the Romefeller Foundation. Builders of the 
            dreaded Mobile Suits, which have proven a valuable war time 
            commodity, the Foundation realizes that if the Sanc Kingdom's 
            peaceful philosophies begin to spread across the planet and 
            throughout the five outer space colonies, they'll be without what's 
            become their bread and butter. To assure that this doesn't occur, 
            the United Earth Sphere Alliance, Romefeller's puppet government, 
            brings together a massive invasion force and threatens to attack the 
            Sanc Kingdom. Relena Peacecraft, ruler of the pacifist nation, waits 
            in her castle while she debates whether a people dedicated to peace 
            have the right to take up arms against their would-be oppressors. 
            Unlike the often mindless American animation shows we all grew up 
            on, Gundam Wing isn't afraid to explore heady issues. When 
            Romefeller's Mobile Suits begin to attack and a small band of Sanc 
            warriors offer meager resistance, Relena engages in a debate with 
            Dorothy Catalonia, an exchange student from the Romefeller 
            Foundation. While Relena feels very strongly about her Kingdom 
            sticking to its pacifist ideas, even in the face of total 
            annihilation, Dorothy is a cynical realist who believes that humans 
            basically love conflict and war is the ultimate form of conflict. 
            Watching through a window as the Mobile Suits storm toward them, the 
            two women go back and forth until it appears that Dorothy has 
            convinced Relena that in order to protect her idyllic sanctuary of a 
            nation, her people must take up arms. After all, if no one is 
            willing to fight for a peaceful future then their vision for that 
            future will never become a reality. 

                  Pacifist? This pacifist's gonna kick your ass. 
            Instead of encouraging her citizens to take up arms, though, Relena 
            surrenders. She asks that Heero and Quatre in their Gundams, and the 
            warriors who bravely fight beside them, allow the Alliance's Mobile 
            Suits to enter the Sanc Kingdom peacefully. Relena agrees to be 
            taken to the Romefeller Foundation where terms can be discussed. 
            Fearing that she's made a mistake yet unable to bring herself to 
            order her citizens to fight, the young Queen finds herself between a 
            rock and a very hard place. 
            Our main man Heero, meanwhile, begins to feel the affects of his 
            Zero System and cannot stop himself from attacking the Romefeller's 
            Mobile Suits. As the episode ends, he whips through the countryside 
            leaving destroyed Mobile Suits in his wake. We fear he's losing his 
            mind. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if we're right. 

            --Ross Brooks , who used to consider "Scooby Doo" a thinking kid's 
            cartoon.