UFO Robo Grendizer 3.17

The Sacrifice of a Son to Save his Father

or Father Offers an Aurora of Love

or Tel père, tel fils (Like father, like son)

Zuril's ship is stuck on Earth. It lacks the fuel needed to return to Skull Moon Base. He requests that someone be sent with enough Vegatron fuel to get him and his crew back to the Moon. Gandal and Vega Daioh send Zuril's son, Zuril Junior.

Zuril tries to get his son to turn around and return to Skull Moon Base but Zuril Junior refuses. Zuril doesn't want to see any harm come to his son.

Zuril Junior attacks Grendizer and has Duke Fleed on the ropes but Duke Fleed breaks free. Zuril gets injured when the Grendizer team attacks. Zuril Junior takes charge and orders one of his father's men to return to Skull Moon Base with his father. Zuril is unconscious and unable to react at that point.

Zuril Junior, in a saucer beast, attacks Grendizer. He has the upper hand, once again, but loses it. Duke Fleed tries to convince Zuril Junior that they should stop fighting. Zuril recovers and tries talking his son into returning to Skull Moon Base but Zuril Junior refuses.

His father is in tears. He wants to go and help his son but he is far away and almost out of fuel. Zuril Junior blows himself and his saucer beast to pieces hoping that Grendizer will also be destroyed but Grendizer and Duke Fleed survive undamaged. 

Thoughts

This is a key episode according to Wikirak. I'm not sure why. Maybe the death of Zuril's son will change him in some way or maybe this is the final appearance of Zuril. He wasn't killed but I also didn't see him in the preview for the next episode.

There is also a moment in this episode when Danbei gives Hikaru a yellow scarf. He says that it belonged to her mother, Maria witnesses this and is very jealous. I'm not sure what to make of all this because it doesn't seem to play a crucial role in the outcome of the episode.

This felt a little paint by numbers. I want to like this episode more than I do but it just didn't do it for me. I didn't feel moved by Zuril's tears. A little more subtlety might make me like this episode more.