The Witch From Mercury Resorts to "Not the Best Way"...or Does It?
It’s efficient storytelling that sets the stage for the upcoming conflict while teasing future outcomes. But you have to ask: was it really necessary to hinge the final act of the series upon Miorine’s selfish miscommunication?
Welcome to the first installment of ANIWIRE! This time, we are covering the 19th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, the hit new Gundam series. This piece assumes that you have been keeping up with the show so far, so bear in mind that there will be spoilers. Feel free to check out my earlier coverage starting here.
Everything under this line is fair game. Here we go!
Throughout its second season, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury has taken turns kicking its cast of characters while they are down. First came Guel, who we saw imprisoned and force-fed by the Dawn of Fold terrorist organization. Then came Suletta, who was abandoned by her girlfriend, her mother and finally her beloved Aerial. Now it’s Miorine’s turn. In episode 19 of the series, titled “Not the Best Way,” she descends to Earth to reason with the local government and win them to her side. Instead, her supposed ally Prospera takes advantage of Miorine’s cover to pursue her own goals and start a war between Earth and Space in the bargain. Miorine is portrayed in the media as what all her peers assume she is, and what she furiously insists that she is not: just another member of the ruling class eager to enrich herself at the expense of the marginalized.
The audience knows from the moment that Miorine joins forces with Prospera that the latter will betray her eventually. In fact, if they’ve seen Code Geass (an earlier series co-written by scriptwriter Ichiro Okouchi) they may be primed already for something very bad to happen. The biggest twists in Witch From Mercury are effective because the audience has been primed for them before they occur. This episode stands out because of how quickly everything goes wrong: Guel uncovers a conspiracy, Shaddiq is implicated in treason, Prospera starts a war and agent Feng Jun is seemingly killed. All of this just pushes the knife of Miorine’s public disgrace deeper into the flesh. It’s efficient storytelling that sets the stage for the upcoming conflict while teasing future outcomes. But you have to ask: was it really necessary to hinge the final act of the series upon Miorine’s selfish miscommunication?
In a very writerly move, the crux of the episode is given to Martin, who we last saw tattling on Nika to security. Last episode Martin confessed his crimes to a robot Haro in a parody of Revolutionary Girl Utena’s Black Rose elevator sequence. A window lifted to reveal that Dueling Committee member Secelia has heard everything, and she immediately commanded that Martin paint her toenails and live at her beck and call. Martin admitted in a fit of rage and embarrassment that his actions were wrong. “But even so,” he said, “I really, truly thought it was the best way to protect” his friends. When Martin is finally convinced to confess to his friends, his words are voiced again by Earth House’s Lillique. “Even when you know it’s not the best way,” she says, “there are times when there’s only one thing you can do, right?”
In the grand scheme of Witch From Mercury, Martin is a joke. He can’t pilot a cool robot like Suletta, run a corporation like Miorine or punch out jerks like Chuchu. He doesn’t have Till’s dignity or even Nuno’s forthrightness. But his fears touch upon every other big turn of this season. Miorine leaves Suletta to spare her from violence. Nika hides her ties to Grassley from her friends until it’s too late. Aerial leaves Suletta to keep her away from Prospera’s revenge scheme, which Suletta herself dimly recognizes at the end of the episode. Witch From Mercury’s second half pivots upon one of the hoariest tropes of melodrama: when characters cause problems by refusing to talk to each other.
To be fair to Witch From Mercury, it does its homework to show that its cast at least tried other options. Miorine questions Suletta in the greenhouse about her motivations for killing, only to realize just how much her friend is in thrall to her mother. Nika is so horrified by Dawn of Fold’s attack on Asticassia that she attempts to report herself to the authorities before Grassley kidnaps her. The characters only made terrible choices, you see, because they thought they had no other way. But then, the characters of Witch From Mercury are only as real as the people who made them. Somebody on the production made a choice that Suletta and Miorine would be separated through the second half of the show. It’s a decision that makes sense as a way to spur audience reaction, but also keeps these two characters from generating any chemistry or friction with each other for a significant period of time.
This choice, along with the fact that several of the characters have been stuck in a room together for the past few episodes, is a reminder that anime series (and frankly, episode counts) are as much a consequence of practicality as creativity. While it’s very possible that Witch From Mercury may last for another 24 episodes following its second season finale, I’m willing to bet that the series was pitched from the start as a relatively short Gundam saga. This isn’t necessarily a weakness considering past mecha series (including Code Geass!) had a habit of outstaying their welcome. But while the short length of Witch From Mercury allows for tighter pacing, it also makes it particularly obvious whenever the series rearranges the pieces on the board for the sake of the plot. For instance, does Suletta come out of her funk because of the ministrations of Earth House, or because the plot demands that she does so?
Still, I think you could mount a strong argument that the show’s use of misunderstanding is grounded in the characters themselves. Miorine is competent for her age, but she’s also headstrong and naive. She promises Earth’s diplomats that she will engineer a “30% rise in local employment,” only to be reminded that her father’s people have murdered or kidnapped 1,529 Earthian citizens since the attack on Plant Quetta. Meanwhile, Suletta and Aerial were isolated by their mother on Mercury for many years, where they were taught to follow orders rather than make their own choices. These two characters, and their classmates, all live within a jury-rigged system of capital that’s resistant to change. Even worse, they’re all teenagers, with enough power to ensure any one of their bad decisions could hurt many other people.
The adults of Witch From Mercury aren’t much better either. Miorine’s father Delling has only ever given her part of the truth, while Prospera has lied to Suletta over and over. These choices were supposedly made for the good of their children, but instead they taught those children to repeat their mistakes. Other adults like Belmeria are at least capable of expressing regret, but even then fear accountability for their actions. Here we find the core of Gundam: rage at the older generation who commanded the younger to fight their battles for them, and then abandoned them to make all the same errors they did. The closest we’ve seen to a proper role model so far is episode 15’s Olcott, whose example taught Guel to be the most well-adjusted member of the main cast (not a high bar!)
This episode had plenty of small details I enjoyed. For instance, Guel’s breakthrough comes not by a unique act of kindness or genius on his part, but by sheer dumb luck when he stumbles across the right person. Miorine’s encounter with Earth’s representatives is well-handled, utilizing camera angles and blocking to ensure each part of their conversation is distinct. Shaddiq’s assertion that Guel has “defiled” Miorine is an absurd, gross non sequitur that is perfectly in keeping with his feelings towards her. The episode’s money shot, where a crying child is threatened by a massive, inhuman mobile suit, nicely embodies Gundam’s “war is hell” mantra. All in all I’m loving the experience that is following Witch From Mercury week to week. But I can’t say if the show will be able to tie it all together until I see how it ends.
This week’s addendum
What is Ochs Earth?: For folks whose heads were spinning at the “Space Assembly League owns Ochs Earth” reveal this episode, I recommend this Twitter thread courtesy of Benjanun Sriduangkaew. If you haven’t seen the prologue yet, now is the time to do so.
Food Watch: Witch From Mercury is all about food, from Feng Jun’s attempt to bribe Belmeria with dessert to Suletta’s longing for ham. This may be worth its own piece in the future.
Earth House Watch: Till proves himself the true MVP in this episode. Not only does he ease Martin’s worries without letting him off the hook, but he sends him where he truly belongs: to the barns.
Detention Room Watch: As funny as it has been that the series just left three characters to chill in a room together for several episodes, watching Norea bounce off Elan has been a highlight. It's also the most we've seen this Elan relate to another person's struggles; just like his predecessor, he wants to live more than anything.
Kiznaiver Corner: This has more to do with a previous episode, but I couldn’t help but think after the reveal of multiple Eris that director Hiroshi Kobayashi really has a thing for hidden pasts involving little ghost children. Could be a coincidence!
Is Feng Jun Dead?: Place your bets here. Personally speaking, I think she still has a chance…
Reading Material: Those curious about readerly manipulation might enjoy this Cory Doctorow piece on “The Cold Equations” and moral hazard.
