Knights of Sidonia 1.07

Resolve

The episode opens with a flashback to the battle that was alluded to but not shown in 1.06. Thirty-six gardes were sent out to take on the Gauna pod. There were 27 individual Gauna within the pod. The Kunato squad was tasked with destroying the tail of the pod. while other squads attacked other parts of it.

The Kunato squad planted explosive charges. It was vital that they all detonate them at the same time. Kunato sabotaged the mission but made it look like Nagate was to blame. He opened a private com channel to Nagate and told him to detonate his charges. Nagate followed orders thinking that they had all been ordered to do so.

Things went from bad to worse. Several pilots were lost, including Shikuka who was killed while trying to rescue Nagate. No one suspected what Kunato had done and he tried to play it off like it was the whole squad that failed. Still, the rumor going around is that Nagate is the one who blew it.

Nagate encounters Kunato in the hangar, near the remains of Garde 702, Hoshijiro's ship. Nagate wants to know why but Kunato only response is to tell him that Hoshijiro's death is his fault.

Ochiai suggests to Captain Kobayashi that Tanikaze should be removed from active duty but she disagrees. Tanikaze will continue to pilot a garde.

Yuhata Midorikawa is promoted to sub-commander. She takes the place of Sub-Commander Seii who is sent out to the front lines along with 15 pilots in training who have been promoted to replace those recently killed in battle.

Anti-war protests intensify in the wake of the mission against the Gauna pod. The protesters insist that the Gauna won't attack if they just abandon their weapons.

Nagate gets very distraught over the death of Shizuka and locks himself in his room. Lala hears about his behavior from Izana. Lala breaks down the door and kicks Nagate out. She orders him to take a walk while she straightens up his living space. Something she says jogs his memory and he recalls something his grandfather told him about fighting the Gauna.

Ochiai informs Kobayashi about the protesters and their claims. She orders him to provide the protesters with a ship so that they can leave. She then talks to Professor Yure and tells her to prepare the resurrection ritual.

Nagate gets pelted with rocks by a couple of guys who see him while he and Izana are out walking around.

Yuhata takes up her role as probationary sub-commander for the first time. Captain Kobayahi orders at attack on rogue planet N68203L. The gauna pod was last seen there. An interplanetary missile (IPM) is launched. The planet is destroyed but the Gauna survive. Kobayashi orders that a strike force be sent to investigate.

Three squads (Samari, Nakazono, Kunato) are sent to find out what is left of the Gauna pod. Kunato warns Nagate, on a private com channel, not to try and blame him for what happened to Hoshijiro. Nagate says he is just there to fight the Gauna. Everyone gets a shock when they near the Gauna and see that they look like Hoshijiro's Garde 702.

Thoughts

The first part of this episode is much more focused than the second half. The second half has all sorts of things going on, where as the first half is all about what happened in the first fight with the Gauna pod.

Captain Kobayashi is shown photosynthesizing in the scene where she talks to Ochiai about providing the protesters with a ship. She is nude in the scene but in the Netflix version the scene is edited so that her bare breasts are not shown.

What is the resurrection ritual? How long can Kunato get away with the crap he is pulling?

Good to great episode but you really have to watch this show carefully to catch on to everything that is going on..