The festival begins. There is food and competition but Tanikaze is still recovering and cannot take part in the sparring competition for the Gravity Cup. Norio Kunato is one of the favorites to win the tournament but he has to go up against members of the elite squad. Mochikuni Akai, the leader of the elite squad, defeats Kunato by using a technique he saw Tanikaze use against Gauna 487 in 1.02.
Yuhata continues to find out what she can about Tanikaze and his encountred with Gauna 487. She tells her older brother, one of the elite squad, about what she found. He is skeptical but she continues to observe and speculate. Her report on the battle also makes it to Captain Kobayashi. Seii, her lieutenant, would like to return to duty as a pilot and nominates Yuhata to take his place.
Tanikaze goes to the festival where he runs into Hoshijiro. Izana is also there but she is too nervous to approach Tanikaze when he his hanging out with Hoshijiro. Chance brings them together anyway when Tanikaze and Hoshijiro step in to help Izana after she was knocked down by Kunato. He was in a bad mood after getting eliminated from the competition for the Gravity Cup and took it out on Izana who bumped into him by accident.
The elite squad is sent out to deal with Gauna 487, the same one that Tanikaze, Kunato, Hoshijiro and Izana dealt with recently. It is locked in on Sidonia and approaching fast. Everyone is ready for a show. All the other pilots and cadets are watching together. The elite squad think that they are prepared but they aren't prepared enough.
The Gauna is stronger and heals faster than they thought it would. Momose is snagged by one of the gauna's tentacles. Akai cuts her loose but he places himself in a vulnerable position. Gauna 487 strikes and kills him. The elite squad is without their leader. Momose starts screaming when she sees what happened to Akai. One by one Momose and the other two members of the squad are killed by Gauna 487. Nagate, Hoshijiro, and the others watch in horror from the relative safety of Sidonia as their comrades are killed.
Thoughts
Yuhata's star continues to rise. Tanikaze is sidelined but is also caught in the midst of a triangle with Shinatose and Hoshijiro. Izana seems to be painfully aware of the triangle but Shizuka is either unaware or unconcerned by it. Kunato continues to act like a brat.
The destruction of the elite squad was not completely unexpected. It seems like a bit of a trope to have a great hope taken out of action. If nothing else it clears the way for Tanikaze to rise to greater prominence. He will still have Kunato to deal with.
The mood is mostly upbeat until the final battle. The music really helped to set the mood during that scene.
This is another good episode that is jam packed with action, drama, and information.
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