Episode 9
Although this show is one of my favorites, if not THE favorite, there is also a favorite episode and for me personally is episode 9! This episode has a lot of emotional impact both in the viewer and the characters and the ramifications of the events reverberate in the rest of the story.
First off, we see than when Keith finds Shiroe, he has just made a narrow escape. The guards are pursuing him while he goes to find his book and then Keith finds him behind the bushes. Keith is concerned, so he takes Shiroe with him and treats him.
Once Shiroe wakes up, Keith takes the chance to ask him why he rebels against Mother Eliza so much. Shiroe bitterly admits he doesn’t want to be under the control of the same machines that took his precious memories away. He also takes the chance to take a jab at Keith and tell him the truth that he’s an artificial being created by Mother. This particular fact has always been thought-provoking for me because it’s not as if other human are made naturally in this universe, but I suppose the fact that Keith didn’t have a childhood does make him different.
As they talk, the guard catch up to them and Shiroe is taken awaym, but not before he tells Keith to find out the truth in the restricted area 001. Keith is once again left confused.
While all the commotion is going on, the memories of the events regarding the Mu are erased from the students’ minds. Keith finds out the next day and he’s even more frantic, but while he’s trying to figure things out, there is another incoming psychic connection from Jomy and everyone is affected by Keith.
The curious part about this ‘takeover’ of sorts is that it regresses everyone to a younger state mentally, giving them access to the precious memories of their childhood that although seem to have been erased, might still be there in the unconscious. I suppose that Keith was not affected because he lacks these memories so the link couldn’t be established.
Once he forced a system shutdown in the station, things go back to normal and he’s able to meet Mother Eliza. Keith barrages her with a number of questions right away, things that have been on his mind about himself and his origins, but Mother doesn’t reply any of them. She tries to calm him down, but once she realizes Shiroe has escaped, she orders Keith to follow him.
We see that Shiroe has reawakened his Mu psion powers and he’s in the cockpit of his getaway ship very excitedly reciting lines from his favorite book ‘Peter Pan’. The lines are pretty significant too as they create parallelism to the current storyline of refusing to become an adult and the idea of Terra as the promised land where children can be free again.
While we see Shiroe in this state, Keith listens in and reflects out loud of how he’s changed after meeting Shiroe and how conflicted he is with all these new emotions he is experiencing. Mother orders Keith to shoot down Shiroe and although he hesitates for a moment, eventually he complies, although it obviously pains him to do so.
This moment is always very emotional for me. The contrast of Shiroe’s rapture is finally reaching his Neverland and calling for Peter Pan and the painful choice Keith is faced with. The fact that he does his duty like he should because he is an adult and he thinks he has no choice. This is very likely my very favorite scene in the whole show.
The episode ends with Keith crying inside his spacesuit in the battlecraft he pursued Shiroe in, maybe filled with some regret, but mostly affected with the loss of someone who impacted him so much, I’d say.
Episode 10
We’re back on the Mu ship this time around while they’re under enemy attack, but soon enough they warp off to safety. It’s a bit difficult to place this battle in terms of timeline, but it seems we get a time-skip right after.
The tone in this episode is more calm and melancholic. Parts of it are narrated as captain logs for the ship and they serve as a nice touch to tell the passage of time. Harley says they’ve been roaming the galaxy looking for Terra for 12 years now, but no luck so far. We get a few interactions between the crew members and some retelling of events that happened while the story was focused on E-1077.
The Mu children are all grown up now even though the adults still look the same as they did when Jomy became Soldier Shin. Jomy’s attitude has changed too. He’s more taciturn and self-possessed, but people respect him more now.
On the human-side, we see Swena has now become a reporter and she’s investigating the ‘White Whale’ sightings. She finds out about station E-1077 being closed down after an incident and that Keith has now become a Member Elite of the National Guard.
During a conversation with the Mu children, the topic of offspring comes up and now Jomy is excited with the idea that this might be a way to connect their current culture with the future, as they don’t know when they might find Terra.
They soon find a red planet which Physis had seen in her predictions and they decide to settle on this planet for the time being. The planet is baptized as Nazca. Zell is the only one against the motion, but with majority on the vote, it’s a go.
During these moments we also witness the coupling of Karina and Yui, two of the young members of the Shangri-La crew. The future is filled with hope and possibilities for the Mu with all of these exciting new things. The idea of them recovering things that humans have left behind due to them being considered ‘illogical’ is quite exciting and I’m looking forward to how the Mu will fare living on land for a while.