UFO Robo Grendizer 2.08

Teardrop of the Wolf

or The Wolf's Tears Are Falling Stars

or Le mercenaire de l'oppression (The Mercenary of Oppression)

Commander Goss (of the Planet Wolf) is sent by the Supreme Leader of Vega to destroy Duke Fleed and Grendizer. The Great Vega has promised to free Planet Wolf if Goss is successful. He gets to work and almost destroys Grendizer in their first encounter. His saucer is much faster than Grendizer. He has the opportunity to destroy Grendizer and Duke Fleed but he holds off because he wants it to happen when the moon is full.

A stranger arrives at the Shirakaba Ranch. He tells Danbei, Hikaru. and Goro that he is on a quest to destroy Duke Fleed. Daisuke and Goss meet face to face, without their giant robots. Goss tries to kill Daisuke but just as he gets the upper hand Hikaru steps in and breaks it up.

Hikaru takes Goss horseback riding. She tries talking him into not trying to kill Duke Fleed but when he refuses she pulls out a rifle. He shoots her with a dart that comes out of his harmonica. Goss has her tied up by the time Daisuke arrives. The two men fight again. Daisuke tricks Goss and the man from Planet Wolf falls into the river and is getting washed downstream but Daisuke saves him.

Gandal sends a fleet of minifos to help Goss defeat Duke Fleed. The minifos are too much for Duke Fleed but Goss in his saucer beast breaks up the fight and destroys the minifos. Duke Fleed is his to kill. The two men fight in their giant robots but this time Duke Fleed figures out what he needs to do to defeat Goss.

Thoughts

The titles that reference the wolf make more sense to me. 

This one didn't get interesting until the second half of the episode but there is way too much packed into the second half of the episode. I was amused by how quickly Danbei took to Goss.

There's an implication that Goss is a werewolf but there are only hints of that. At one point he runs on all fours. He wants to wait for the full moon to kill Duke Fleed. His natural appearance is more wolf like.

I would love to love this one more than I do but unfortunately it follows a familiar pattern for this show. The Vegans bring in a hired gun and promise him they will free his people if he will just kill Duke Fleed. The hired gun is reluctant and has a noble soul but cannot break with the deal he has made with the Vegans. Ultimately it costs him his life. This probably won't be the last time this plot surfaces on this show.

This is the first episode that I can recall where the minifos proved to be effective against Grendizer. Usually he destroys them fairly easily. I'm not expecting this to happen very much if at all in future episodes.