Headmistress Relena welcomes two new students to the Institute of Unwavering Pacifism, immediately resulting in a sword fight followed by an all-out military invasion. Will she stay true to her principles, or will she be like every other character who bemoans war while painting hot-rod flames on the guns of their badass death machine? Crazy Dorothy might have all the secret intel, but there’s one question she can’t answer: Is “The Glass Kingdom” RAD… or is it BAD?
Bored Heero goes merc for the Treize Faction. Quatre goes Waltzin’ Matilda to make friends with Father Dowling and a village full of stoic farmer-philosophers. Fights break out, both literal and rhetorical, and it’s all just prelude to an awkward and long-awaited reunion on an airport tarmac. Is “Reunion with Relena” RAD… or is it BAD?
A golden Lincoln Towncar full of crazy rolls into Relena’s life, threatening her peace initiative and her top spot as chief deliverer of unsettling line reads. Heero and Quatre crash-land back in The Sovereign Republic of East Texas without much of a plan beyond playing with dogs and getting captured. Noin springs Sally Po from the clutches of OZ, and they briefly become the baddest duo in the Earth Sphere. Dorothy wants everyone to hurry up and start a war, but the Secret Court wants to hurry up and answer one question: Is “The Heroine of the Battlefield” RAD… or is it BAD?
The Secret Court returns, whiskey in hand, to procedurally tackle the dreaded two-part recap episode! Relena talks to a picture frame and reminisces about the sweet boy who threatened to kill her. Treize takes a carriage ride and drafts his next Medium post while on house arrest. Does any of this clarify the plot thus far? Um, kind of? They aren’t really RAD and they aren’t BAD, but “The Locus of Victory and Defeat” and “Passing Destinies” must be entered into the record!
The Romafeller Foundation has fractured into warring factions following Treize’s refusal to participate in Dermail’s plan to unleash the new mobile dolls on Earth. We know all of this because the narrator explains it in the first five or so minutes of the episode. Quatre mopes about Trowa, and it turns out that Wing Zero’s advanced targeting interface can kind of turn you into a murderer. Is “The Eternal Flame of the Shooting Stars” RAD… or is it BAD?
It’s Wing Zero versus Angry Heero in a battle that will determine the future of Quatre’s sanity! Meanwhile, Tubarov launches a lunar mutiny. Trowa’s exploding suit launches him into space. Treize turns in his resignation from the Romafeller Foundation. Lady Une receives an entirely different type of professional separation. The Secret Earth Sphere Kourt Alliance is gainfully employed to answer one question: Is “Quatre vs. Heero” RAD… or is it BAD?
From the dark corners of the soul of space, Quatre emerges at the helm of the biggest, baddest gundam yet— and he’s got some major almost-villainy on his mind. Bad’Une dispatches her favorite pilot and her favorite prisoner to put an end to his terror spree, only to find that OZ’s best suits are no match for a weapon too insane for its canonically insane creators. Heero squares up for the fight of his life while the Secret Earth Sphere Kourt Alliance squares up on the day’s most important question: Is the “The Gundam They Called Zero” RAD… or is it BAD?
Duo throws a duffel bag at a stranger’s face after she harasses him at an airport. The stranger then abandons her oaths, sacrifices her career and possibly her life to make sure Duo gets to attack a high-security OZ facility and presumably kill everyone inside it. Such is the charisma of the god of death, which Duo isn’t, but apparently once was and might possibly be again someday if he can get out of pilot jail with Heero and Wu Fei. Also, Zechs attends a meeting. Is “Duo, the God of Death Once Again” RAD… or is it BAD?
Zechs stops wreaking havoc just long enough to begin his career as a diplomat. Trowa finds fun, new ways to make Nichol look like a chump. Treize’s refusal to accept his destiny as King of Space sends Good’Une careening ‘round the bend, and only Zechs can save her from nobly throwing herself at the business end of a beam cannon. Meanwhile, the Secret Earth Sphere Kourtroom Alliance points the beam cannon of truth at one question: Is “The Fight for Independence” RAD… or is it BAD?
An injured Quatre falls into the care of a doctor with a secret, and why her secret is a secret is also a secret (to the audience). The Winner family patriarch is introduced just in time to die a noble death at the hands of OZ, and the show’s gentlest star child goes nuts as a result. Zechs begins his diplomatic career by killing a bunch of dudes, but it won’t stop the Secret Earth Sphere Court from negotiating an answer to space’s most pressing question: Is “Grief Stricken Quatre” RAD… or is it BAD?
Heero dumps ol’ busted-up Duo at the nearest colony and takes off to break stuff on the moon. The Consortium of Old Weirdos continues work on two slick new mobile suits, while Major Sally and the Maganac Corps have a fateful meeting on the way to dealing with Quatre’s gundam. Good’une makes the case for a robust arms program while Bad’une recruits a familiar new pilot. It’s all about deterrence theory, but that can’t deter the Secret Earth Sphere Court from answering one key question: Is “The Lunar Base Infiltration” RAD… or is it BAD?
Zechs awakens to the shocking news that he is now best bros with Howard, the chillest dude in the Earth Sphere. Lady Une suffers an off-screen psychotic break that causes her to be nice half the time. Two gundams get an arm shot off, and Heero decides not to kill Duo (yet). It’ll take more than a Taurus suit’s crappy targeting software to spot the answer to our question: Is “Assault on Barge” RAD… or is it BAD?
The boys are back in space and… mostly napping, for the time being. Alliance remnants plot to steal a derelict Quatre, but Une wants him as leverage against the galaxy’s most dangerous gang of slovenly weirdos. Zechs faces a mask-shattering test of friendship. This might not be appropriate subject matter for your welcome speech, but it’s appropriate for answering this question: Is “Tallgeese Destroyed” RAD… or is it BAD?
Lady Une loses the glasses and goes corporate chic to win the hearts and minds of the dorks who run the colonies. Quatre decides it’s time to return to space for reasons, and Duo and the others go along for the ride (also for reasons). This episode might have cost the gang a gundam, but it was worth it to answer the most important question in outer space: Is “Betrayed by Home, Far Away” RAD… or is it BAD?
Thunda on the Tundra! It’s Zechs versus Heero: The Rematch, and the result promises to be just as inconclusive! Will Zechs finally offload his Heero-related baggage? Will Relena shout them into a peaceful resolution? Will Trowa be completely over it all? Is “The Sorrowful Battle” RAD…or is it BAD?
With the Reverse Revenge Tour complete, Noin scoops up Moody Boy Team Alpha and spirits them away to Ant-ARK-tica where a fateful rematch awaits! Relena goes digging for exposition and Pagan Eight-Guns proves he’s still the fastest googler in the West! Trowa punctuates the action with a laughably stylish finishing move, but it’s not half as laughable or stylish as the Secret Court’s answer to this essential question: Is “To the Battleground Antarctica” RAD… or is it BAD?
In Gundam Wing’s most realistic episode to date, Relena cops some boss duds and infiltrates a gathering of rich, inbred oligarchs who have been orchestrating wars in order to cement their own wealth and power! It’s practically a documentary! Meanwhile, Zechs does sneaky stuff at the office! Heero continues to generously offer Field Marshall Noventa’s family the opportunity to shoot him, but they’d rather have answers to the Earth Sphere’s most salient question: Is “The Order to Destroy 01” RAD… or is it BAD?
Zechs masters falling out of planes in the Tallgeese! Alex and Mueller master blowing people up while they’re attempting to surrender! Catherine masters just kind of rambling for a few minutes while Trowa shoots up a circus! Can the Secret Alliance Court grab this episode by the claws and rip it apart to find the gooey justice inside? Is “Catherine’s Tears” RAD... or is it BAD?
Join the Resistance and fight alongside Major Sally, Dockworker, and Old Guy! Join Wu Fei in a rowboat and float aimlessly down a metaphorical river of self-loathing and an actual river of water! Join Colonel Bunte and, well, actually, don’t join Colonel Bunte— but do join the Alliance Secret Podcast Court as it seeks to answer a question essential to peace and order in the colonies: Is “Bewildered Warriors” RAD... or is it BAD??
Episode Notes (for iTunes/site) OZ scoops up the wreckage of Heero’s gundam. Treize stomps on the wreckage of Lady Une’s heart. Agent Relena crashes a party dressed in her finest, but she’d rather be dressed in the blood of her enemies. The Maganacs finally get to stunt all over some bad guys, and the Alliance Secret Podcast Court gets to stunt all over the essential legal question of our age: Is “The Whereabouts of Happiness” RAD... or is it BAD?
