Farewell of the Friend That Is Coming from Space
or L'oiseau de feu (Fire Bird)
or Farewell, My Friend In Space!
Minister Zuril has a new scheme to destroy Grendizer that he shows to Gandal. He is going to shrink Commander Haruko, a champion from the Planet Delta, using a compression cell. Haruko will then infiltrate the Space Center of Professor Umon and figure out where Grendizer is hidden.
Gandal thinks the mission is too dangerous but Commander Haruko accepts the risky nature of the mission. Zuril promises that they will erect a statue of him on Planet Delta. Haruko asks that they put it somewhere that there are doves.
Goro is tasked with taking care of the turtle doves at school. He arrives one morning only to discover that Haruko Idiora, a new student, has fed the turtle doves. Goro is given the responsibility of helping Haruko. He notices that the new student has cold, wet hands. Goro thinks nothing of it but he mentions it to Daisuke who gets suspicious when he hears that.
Daisuke later sees Haruko sitting in tree staring at the Space Center. He thinks he's strange but doesn't follow him when Haruko runs off.
Haruko asks Goro about the Space Center, the next day. He wants to see it. Goro takes him there but Kouji won't let them in. Haruko returns to the house where he is staying. He contacts Zuril who tells him to use the turtle doves to spy on the Space Center. Haruko objects because he loves the birds but Zuril insists.
The next day Goro goes to feed the turtle doves but they are gone. The other students are ready to blame Haruko but Goro takes the blame.
Haruko contacts Zuril again, later that day. Haruko has transformed the turtle doves into cyborg surveillance devices. They are able to see into the space center. Zuril sends a saucer beast to Earth.
Daisuke starts putting the pieces together after an unknown transmission is detected coming from Mount E. He tells Professor Umon and the others at the Space Center to be on the look out for turtle doves. Kouji spots one peering into the Space Center. He goes after it and kills it.
Goro goes looking for Haruko near Mount E. He finds him and proof that Haruko did something horrible to the missing turtle doves. Goro confronts his new friend. The compression cell that tranformed Commander Haruko into Haruko Idiora wears off. Commander Haruko doesn't want to but he tells Goro that he has to kill him now that he knows the truth about him.
Haruko reveals his story as he gets ready to kill Goro. He used to take care of doves on Planet Delta, before the war began. He was forced to fight and discovered that he was good at it even though it meant killing lots of doves. He knows he is supposed to kill Goro but in the end he can't and lets him go.
The saucer beast arrives and Haruko gets in. He fights with Grendizer, after Goro has escaped. Grendizer wins and Haruko is killed.
Thoughts
Kouji is still on the sidelines, for the most part. Hikaru gets to do a little bit but not too much. Danbei is only in this episode at the very beginning.
Haruko seems a bit conflicted about harming the turtle doves but his duty to his superiors seems to take precedence. He seems to want to believe that he is still a good person despite what he does to those birds whom he professes to love.
Does Goro know what happened to his friend, Commander Haruko? How would he feel if he knew that Duke Fleed killed him?
I kind of like this one even if it is similar to previous episodes. Commander Haruko isn't the first reluctant champion of Vega to battle Duke Fleed and Grendizer, and lose. There were at least a couple in the first season: 1.09 (Overcome the Forbidden Anger) and 1.15 (To My Dear Mother).
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