My thoughts probably will not be completely coherent having only finished the ep a few minutes ago and being quite sleep deprived, but here they are in a rough stream of consciousness manner
First 30 or so mins so rushed. The grunt action is good and looks pretty but lacks any tension (a problem with the entire episode) due to feeling so disconnected from the central characters.
The characterisation is terrible. For a show that spent so long building up to this finale with ideological discussions it is amazing how any shades of grey are ripped out of the antagonists depiction in this episode. Riddhe basically admits to wanting to commit genocide against Newtypes. Angelo kills his own men FOR NO DISCERNABLE REASON. Banagher meanwhile gracefully disarms his enemies so as not to tarnish his morality.
There are many many elements from the novels which it is now clear should never have been included in the anime. Angelo for instance. He has no purpose in this entire show. He feels completely shoved in here, his actions are insane (kills his own troops, then disarms his own MS) and he drags down the pacing of the episode with his speech about his hatred for Bangher. He never should have been included in the anime. Maridas death needed to have happened earlier, it did not fit pacing wise into the big action scene at the start of the episode. On this note, Full Frontal had interesting characterisation up this point but they botched all that by never fully explaining where he came from, who created him ect. Even if he is no longer an issue, surely his creators are still out there, ready to make another Char clone and start this all up again? Never answered, we arent expected to question anything.
The reveal of Laplace, while probably slightly better executed than the opening battle with Neo Zeon, is still pretty lackluster. We basically see a slideshow while Syam drones on Fukuis exposition. It doesnt help that the charter has pretty effed up fascist implications. Why should Newtypes be given more status in the government? Why does no one question this? Are we all to accept how amazing newtypes are from Banaghers character, and how completely flawless he is shown to be? That doesnt sit well with me.
The whole seeing time scene is hilarious. It also makes no sense. Why does FF know all this? Its like he is guiding Banagher around, showing him the universe. Shouldnt he be freaking out about this insane phenomenon happening around them? No one is acting like a human being.
The re-animated scenes from CCA and the original are of course beautiful, but thats not enough to warm me over. The scene comes across as completely laughable to me, and I usually like crazy newtype magic.
Of course Banagher doesnt kill FF. Too pure for that. He naturally sees Banaghers infallibility with a little help from his Newtype ghost friends.
One last thing, the whole episode to me seems to ratchet down tension instead of increasing it. In the opening we have a pretty chaotic fleet battle going on, which gets off to a good start, but once Angelo is dealt with the Nahel Argama doesnt seem to be have any trouble disposing of a few more ships. Once thats down theres no epic fleet confrontation on the way to the colony, it cuts straight to them approaching it, and when FF attacks he doesnt have any reinforcements, its one lone Mobile Armour against the Nahel argama and two incredibly powerful Gundams. A powerful mobile armour but still, it doesnt make this feel like much of an epic finale. I suppose the big true threat is meant to be the colony laser, which the opening 5 mins does a great job of making threatening, but actually seems to dealt with like its nothing at the end. Its really strange as up to this point I always thought this show was very good at creating a sense of peril, and that was on a much smaller scale than this episode, which felt more like a fancy light show.
You mention the themes being well explored. I think thats only the case if you dont question any of the plot points in the series,
like the charter being undemocratic
. Also, this episode explores those themes by having its characters drone on to the audience about their motivations which gives the whole thing a sense of unreality and often hurts the tension. I know that there is meant to be a theme of Father and Son relationships, but you dont need to have Riddhe and Banagher talk about it right when a laser is about to incinerate the colony. Have them talk about the laser which is going to incinerate the colony!
Anyway. I am sleep deprived and have written too much. I hope people are able to enjoy this episode. I for one still the love the opening 2 episodes with a passion. I need to rewatch the rest to see how it stands up but I worry the amount of buildup that was there to this episode might tarnish them quite a bit.
