Episode 42: Battleship Libra Airing Date 2000-05-02 Like a musical in which the songs don't move the story forward, battle scenes which only serve to raise the body count (even when the "bodies" are Mobile Dolls) are a waste of time and make for less-than-thrilling storytelling. It's disappointing that the majority of "Battleship Libra" (which has very little to do with the Libra, by the way) is filled with such scenes. Change Wufei spends nearly the entire first half of this episode battling in space but there's no reason for it and nothing's gained. Similarly, long speeches by both Zechs Merquise and Treize Khushrenada telling us what we already know (that both sides feel they must eliminate the other) do nothing but make us reach for the remote. The only story development of any interest -- and it's a doozy -- has to do with Wufei and the mysterious Zero System. The Zero System is an important part of the technology in the Gundam Wing universe so it's worth a moment to explain exactly what it is. Installed in only two Gundam units -- the Wing Zero and the Epyon -- the Zero System integrates a pilot's brain waves into the Gundam suit itself. Any information that the Gundam receives is directly related to the pilot's brain. This allows for a split second difference between detection and reaction and is core to the Zero System's invincibility. Conversely, any thoughts the pilot might experience are instantaneously sent through the Zero System and processed at light speed. Results are then relayed back to the pilot, in effect turning the human brain into a Pentium 1000 computer. Sounds great, right? The downside, of course, is that too often the human brain cannot handle all this immediate information. The result is overload, which in laymen's terms means psychosis. Takin' it to the streets. When Chang Wufei is left floating in space after the already mentioned battle scene, he's picked up by Heero Yuy, who's on his way to the Battleship Peacemillion to deliver Trowa his lost Gundam. When their shuttle is surrounded by forty White Fang Mobile Dolls (forty!), Heero offers Wufei his Wing Zero. Chang gets busy against the MDs and has an out-of-mind experience with the Zero System. Interestingly, though, since Chang's already a space case, the Zero System brings him back to Earth (so to speak) and shows him that his true path belongs with the four other Gundam pilots. Wufei returns to the shuttle and announces that his destiny is to kill both Zechs and Treize. You've got to admit -- it's a great plan. Both of these nuts are about to engage in a war that'll wipe out humanity. Now that Chang's back on track and the five Gundam pilots are about to reunite, there's hope that some measure of sanity will return to the Milky Way. Unless Heero keeps lending out his Wing Zero, that is. --Ross Brooks, who majored in Zero Systems engineering at the University of Uranus. Go U!