Episode
                  5: Relena's Secret 
                  Airing Date
                  2000-03-10
           
            Now this was an episode. After leaving us with more questions that 
            your basic episode of The X-Files, Gundam Wing finally gives us some 
            hard-earned answers. The biggest news, of course, concerns our Miss 
            Relena. After her father, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian, takes young 
            Relena into space to speak with representatives of the Space 
            Colonies (who totally deny initiating Operation Meteor and attacking 
            the United Earth Sphere, by the way) Darlian is assassinated. On his 
            death-cot, Darlian admits to Relena that her biological father was 
            really King Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom. At first, Relena is more 
            in denial than Moses when he was a baby. She's probably also feeling 
            some guilt at playing a hand in Dad's death. I'm sure Lady Une 
            appreciates the help, though. Operating on orders from Treize 
            Khushrenada, Lady Une proves herself to be one cool operator. 
            There are some cool sci-fi elements of this episode which are more 
            than worth mentioning. First, we witness a Space Shuttle leave Earth 
            for the infinite boundaries of space. Instead of what we're used to 
            seeing on C-SPAN, the shuttle fires its thrusters like a plane (that 
            is, when it's horizontal) and then zooms up a giant ramp until it's 
            vertical. At that point the shuttle leaves the ramp and continues 
            upward until it's through Earth's atmosphere. Smart plan. Plus it's 
            cool to see some reality-based innovations on our everyday NASA 
            science. Later, as the shuttle approaches one of the Space Colonies, 
            twin beams are shot out from a docking bay on the colony. Acting 
            like a transparent runway, the shuttle merely follows the two beams 
            into the docking bay at a perfect angle. Also smart. Later, when 
            Lady Une plants the bomb that eventually kills Minister Darlian, 
            it's revealed to be in a makeup case. Tiny as a credit card, the 
            resulting explosion is impressive. 
            Juicier still is the back history we're given when Relena meets 
            Doctor J, the man who's responsible for Heero being an operative on 
            behalf of the Space Colonies. One of the original five scientists 
            who created the Tallgeese (now in the hands of the incredibly sleazy 
            Zechs Merquise), Doctor J went on to build the Wing Gundam and help 
            train Heero to become the super-agent that he is today. Doctor J 
            fills us in on the blood-soaked history of the five colonies and 
            their volatile relationship with Earth. 

                  Heero, I am your father. 
            There's also a scene where Heero and Duo, back on Earth, face off in 
            their Gundams. For a moment it appears as if we'll be treated to the 
            fight of the century but Heero instead saves Duo's life and then 
            zooms off into the blue sky. Duo, embarrassed and angry, promises to 
            get Heero back. Now that we know a little about Heero, our thoughts 
            turn to Duo and the other three Gundam pilots. If their stories are 
            as fascinating as Mr. Yuy's, it's definitely worth telling. We're 
            already looking forward to meeting their versions of Doctor J. Stay 
            tuned for more as it develops. 

            --Ross Brooks likes secrets. Especially when he can tell people 
            about them.