Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans - Anime Spoilers & Speculation

[Skye629]

Originally Posted by tdx

Ugh, why isn't he dead from diabetes already

Maybe the few times we saw him eating sweets were his once-a-day permissions from his doctor lol

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

Norman barely counted since we saw like a few scenes with him. And now his relationship with his daughter is pretty ireperable and she will soar while he'll lose his job and be forgotten, so I'm not worried about him.

Maruba got enslaved somewhere so I can count that as just deserts.

Todo, got a beatdown and embarressed so that was fine for his one time offense. He's basically just a comic relief toady anyway.

Orcas, doesn't really matter. If for the story's sake, you can say that Tekkadan cause him a lot of damage which caused his business to go bankrupt. Brooke lost everything so, that's taken care of, and I'm sure Teiwaz did something unpleasant to him.
Nobliss will probably get taken care of eventually.
Iznario might just find his way back into the plot as a loose thread that needs to be taken care of, especially since they sort of brought him back into the limelight this episode.
Sandoval? Who was that again? Was he the guy in charge of Dawn Horizon? If so, he's imprisoned, so that story's done.

There you go, only really a few thread that might make another appearance in the show. And only a few that need to.

Well, all of them still have their lives, which is my core point.

[SonicSP]

Originally Posted by tdx

Ugh, why isn't he dead from diabetes already.

Rich people in IBO's world can live up to 200 years, so I doubt diabetis is a threat to him given the medical services he has access to. Even if he can't live that long due to his less than stellar health that comes with that shape.

[tdx]

From the preview screencaps on twitter the one I find the most worrisome is with distressed Orga because the caption to it reads: "Tekkadan has been dragged into Gjallarhorn's iternal strife well and truly. According to Liza, McGillis' obtaining Bael meant the plan succeeded... or so it was supposed to be..."

Don't tell me McGillis really expected Rustal to raise his hands and say, "Okay, you win" just because he took an old relic out of the treasure chest? Rustal's fleet is currently at least double of what McGillis mustered, for crying out loud. Unless McGillis has some more allies or at least effective tricks up his sleeve, things will turn real ugly, real fast. I mean, no matter how good and elite Tekkadan is as fighters, he can't be seriously counting on them with their measly 2 ships to take out all of Arianrhod's 40+ ships for him, now can he?

Also, about blood on Almiria's hands. If it's not her daddy's or her own, then maybe of some servants/maids that tried to protest or protect her?

[SonicSP]

Originally Posted by tdx

Don't tell me McGillis really expected Rustal to raise his hands and say, "Okay, you win" just because he took an old relic out of the treasure chest?

A part of me suspect Bael may be more powerful than we think. Probabaly not to the point where it can solo Rustal's army but likely far above average. It's real power though is for what it has: the soul Agnika Kaoru, pretty much the the embodiment of Gjallahorn. McGillis in a way seems like he is trying to do some sort of second coming like scenario here as a reborn version of him. On that note, I also suspect out information about him is still incomplete which may be revealed in the coming episodes.

It is an organization where symbols matter a lot, and if Agnika is viewed as a holy figure of sorts because of his feats during the Calamity War (and possibly being completely consumed by it perhaps eventually) then being able to control Bael may be seen as a great feat worthy of political power of its own. Kings in the past did rule because it was generally perceived that they had a holy divine mandate, I suspect something similar is in play here. Maybe not unlike the legend of King Arthur where the person who draws the sword was given the right to rule England, it's a legitimacy symbol. Presumably it's also not just somebody can take I assume, McGillis likely worked his research on the AV System (and possibly some risks on implants) throughly to make sure his chances of success are high.

Of course not everybody is just gonna give up and surrender, but in an organization that takes its symbolism serious and whose political power is controlled by families whose virtue was that their ancestors killed a lot of mobile armors a long time ago, things like this matter. Resolves of some of the Rustal's soldiers be shaken while some will turn sides, which further gives strength and legitimacy to McGillis despite the way he started it.

Gjallahorn is is an organization that respects strength quite a bit, it is an organization that was formed because a bunch of people banded together wanted to take the initiative to end the war and save humanity. While it respects order and stability a lot, it also traditionally respects these type of characters.

Which is why Gaelio's actions may be important here as he's acting as a symbolic counterweight. If he beats McGillis who is linked with the soul of Angola Kaoru, he pretty much kills his legitimacy. The divine will has spoken about its choice.

He has a good story too - a royal bloodline who was killed by the chaotic (adopted non-bloodline) traitor and came back to life to save Gjallahorn from him and restore order. He didn't note the part about McGillis killing him in his speech but I guess he could always say that later. All he needs to do is beat him in combat.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the "twist and turns" is really just Gaelio's showing up with some sort of Vidar upgrade add on to challenge McGillis one on one, which delays his divine acceptance and momentum. People will want to wait and see who fate has blessed.

[Irenesharda]

Looking at the PV pics, it really looks like a set up for quite the dark new battle coming up. You get this real sense of foreboding as you see everyone's solemn looks. You have to ask if everyone is ready for this?
Gaelio and McGillis/Bael have become symbols for the two opposite eras of a regime. Revolutions are rarely bloodless and can get ugly before things get better. Gallus looks pissed as I'm sure he would be. Almiria looks like her world is crashing down around her. Honestly I do feel sorry for the poor thing, living her whole life as simply a tool and yet is happy in it because she doesn't really get that she's a tool, and she doesn't know how to respond to her brother and her intended's discord.

And Tekkadan feels like they are stuck in the middle. I sure hope Macky has a better plan than simply Bael. It would be really weird considering how good of a commander he's been thus far in both the MA and the Arbrau incident. If not, there are either 3 things that are going on: 1) he knows something about Bael we don't and that thing is some super WMD, 2) he's become so obsessed that it has clouded that keen mind that we have seen thus far, and it will cause him to fail and fail hard, or 3) McGillis already has planned this all out and there is a method to his madness that we have yet to see.

We'll have to see which of the three it is, and what will happen in this coming battle.

Also, the last PV tweet given actually suggests that "the fateful day" that Kudelia talked about in narration, will be the battle starting in episode 45. How long is this battle supposed to last? And if that is the "fateful day", than what do we have in store for the next five episodes after that one?

[Batknight]

Originally Posted by tdx

From the preview screencaps on twitter the one I find the most worrisome is with distressed Orga because the caption to it reads: "Tekkadan has been dragged into Gjallarhorn's iternal strife well and truly. According to Liza, McGillis' obtaining Bael meant the plan succeeded... or so it was supposed to be..."

Don't tell me McGillis really expected Rustal to raise his hands and say, "Okay, you win" just because he took an old relic out of the treasure chest? Rustal's fleet is currently at least double of what McGillis mustered, for crying out loud. Unless McGillis has some more allies or at least effective tricks up his sleeve, things will turn real ugly, real fast. I mean, no matter how good and elite Tekkadan is as fighters, he can't be seriously counting on them with their measly 2 ships to take out all of Arianrhod's 40+ ships for him, now can he?

Also, about blood on Almiria's hands. If it's not her daddy's or her own, then maybe of some servants/maids that tried to protest or protect her?

I didn't get that impression from Mcgillis at the end of last episode. When Gaelio announces he's going to crush him and the coup, Mcgillis is just like 'yeah come at me bro' he knows Gaelio is loyal to Rustal so none of this seems like a surprise to him and he appears fairly confident about how it's playing out.

[tdx]

Gjallarhorn is an organization that's basing its influence on strength, but do they really respect strength all that much? If they did, we wouldn't have Iok who's as much of a good-for-nothing as a person can get. It's long since obvious that GH isn't based on meritocracy, and that's its downfall.

The times in IBO aren't the Middle Ages though where people believed in existence of magic and God unconditionally. With no magic, no divine chosenness I find it hard to swallow that McGillis really can believe people will worship and follow him just because of his starting up Bael. Unless his perspective is distorted because he's not quite sane, that is.

All the more because the symbolic aspect can be countered by Gaelio like SonicSP said, and in physical fighting McGillis' current forces are clearly inferior to Rustal, at least in sheer numbers. That's why I'm seriously hoping that, if the show's not going with the insanity angle, McGillis has some really potent ace in the hole saved up. (I'll laugh so hard if Arianrhod is crippled somehow because they're unlucky enough to have Iok on their side though )

Tekkadan is really caught in the middle, they apparently weren't let in on McGillis' full plan, got no clue what's going on and will be used as attack dogs because they're obviously the best and most experienced fighters out there. I won't be surprised if Orga has to coordinate the joint attack front while Gaelio is keeping McGillis busy because it's just falling apart on them, threatening to get them all killed in Arianrhod's sweep. With the information we have atm, it all makes Tekkadan's very chances of survival very uncertain.

[DMurphy]

I don't think faith is necessarily a requirement here -- Gjallarhorn's laws themselves seemingly say that Bael's pilot is always the supreme leader of the organisation. McGillis doesn't really need everyone to bow to his authority anyway, he just needs enough of Rustal's fleet to defect (because McGillis is now their rightful leader), and then the four Gundams his side has will do the rest.

[Irenesharda]

I think it's been stated more than once, even by Okada herself, that Gaelio is basically Garma, if Garma had survived and came back to confront Char.

If Garma had lived, he would still be with his family, and the Zabi regime would have still needed to be taken down.
In the same vein, Gaelio lives, but he's still with current Gjallerhorn, including his father, Rustal, and Iok, a regime that still needs to be taken down.
So, where does that leave Gaelio?

While if Garma had killed Char after returning from the dead, I still think the the Zabis would have been eventually toppled. Here, if Gaelio kills McGillis and ends the coup, I think it would effectively halt any kind of change, and leave everything worse than where it started. No one else would have the opportunity that Macky has created here through years of patient planning and moving of pieces. Even Gali would have trouble if he suddenly decided to change things, since he would have a vast lack of support. He would be seen as a traitor by Rustal and those loyal to him including Julietta and Iok, and any of Macky's supporters would hate or not trust him.

So, what do we do here? How do we untangle this mess?

And Tekkadan's in a bind, as if they lose this fight and don't get destroyed, they become become criminal rebels, which is actually worse than where they started in the beginning. And with nowhere else to turn, what do they do?

[Skaddix]

Richie Richie Nobliss gets a Private Army? And is the real King of Mars with Kudelia as a puppet leader?

I assume McGillis was trying to sway Public and Gjhallahorn Opinion. Rustal was never going to surrender but weakening his fleet numbers via Defection wouldn't hurt. Since Rustal has the troop lead. McGillis is going to be piloting Bael now. I suppose that means Orga will get command of the actual battle plan while Eugene flies the ships. Will Orga and Mika actually lose? They have never lost before.

The merit part of Gjhallahorn applies to the underlings not the House Leaders.

[asaqe]

They lost the battle of the Turbines vs Arianhod as in the end all of combat capable Turbines are removed as a threat.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by asaqe

They lost the battle of the Turbines vs Arianhod as in the end all of combat capable Turbines are removed as a threat.

The Turbines =\=Tekkadan, as Naze emphasized several times. The Turbines were an ally, but not Tekkadan itself. Tekkadan proper, and specifically Mika, have never lost a battle thus far. The closest they've gotten was when they fought the Turbines the first time, but it was really going to end in a draw. And also when they faced Arianrhod the first time, but that ended up being a win for them via Kudelia.

So, no, they still haven't lost a battle.

[asaqe]

Their whole goal was not to get booted from Teiwaz and they still did with the salt in the wound that the Turbines are no more in almost every sense of the word.

A victory will be Naze and most of the Turbine in exile but still alive. Since they had been expelled by McMurdo and Orga was goimg to expelled for killing Jasley amyways it was better to shoot first in this case

In terms of objectives they have lost. Naze and Orga's goal was to keep Tekkadan in Teiwaz and he failed to uphold that to avenge the Turbines

[tdx]

Originally Posted by DMurphy

I don't think faith is necessarily a requirement here -- Gjallarhorn's laws themselves seemingly say that Bael's pilot is always the supreme leader of the organisation. McGillis doesn't really need everyone to bow to his authority anyway, he just needs enough of Rustal's fleet to defect (because McGillis is now their rightful leader), and then the four Gundams his side has will do the rest.

The thing with the defection hopes is that I don't find it likely that many would want to defect from Arianrhod to McGillis just because of ideology that postulates that the one with Bael should be the head. That ideology itself has been eroded in people by corruption and double standards within the organization anyway: I'm pretty sure GH isn't supposed to slaughter people left and right, yet they do anyway. En masse. And no one within Arianrhod was ever shown to have a problem with that (only a grunt on Earth during the Edmonton battle expressed dissatisfaction, and that was it). Arianrhod is comprised of the same people who took Dainsleifs and didn't bat an eye when firing them at escape pods full of civilians, who gladly agreed to turn a blind eye to Iok's war crimes and idiocy (and who are still loyal to him and even admire him after!), who cynically rigged anything the Dort workers could use as weapons and brutally and mercilessly slaughtered them. Heck, they didn't even bother to rig anything during that protest except staging a sloppy explosion, they just moved down the crowd of protesters.

I seriously doubt that many of those people care about symbolism any and will suddenly open their eyes to the wrongness of their commander's - and their own by extension - ways. Add to that the fact that atm even the most stupid of fools can see that Arianrhod has the overwhelming advantage of numbers. So how many would willingly abandon what for all intents and purposes looks like the winning side just to go join the losing one and die together with it? Not many, I assure you, ideology notwithstanding. Even if there are some, it's so few that they won't make any difference.

So with how things look atm, McGillis stands to lose, Bael or no Bael. But, from the description for episode 45, something will happen that will mess both sides' plans, whether it's a third side coming into picture or something else. So ultimately, the outcome is still shrouded in mystery.

Originally Posted by Skaddix

Richie Richie Nobliss gets a Private Army? And is the real King of Mars with Kudelia as a puppet leader?

That will be like one of the worst endings possible. On the same level as Rustal becoming the sole head of Gjallarhorn, probably.

Originally Posted by Skaddix

The merit part of Gjhallahorn applies to the underlings not the House Leaders.

Not quite either. Ein was a decent pilot, yet he was discriminated by some scum that probably didn't even see a real fight. Crank was definitely more capable than that Stanger guy, yet Stranger was put in charge. Coral, too, a corrupt fool in the position as important as the head of Martian GH. Corruption has long since spread to the whole structure of GH, undermining it on every level, so we can't talk about meritocracy anywhere within it.

Originally Posted by asaqe

In terms of objectives they have lost. Naze and Orga's goal was to keep Tekkadan in Teiwaz and he failed to uphold that to avenge the Turbines

You're right about goal not achieved but that's not battle. That's politicking and reasons behind battle. In battle proper Tekkadan have yet to lose.

Originally Posted by Irenesharda

So, what do we do here? How do we untangle this mess?

And Tekkadan's in a bind, as if they lose this fight and don't get destroyed, they become become criminal rebels, which is actually worse than where they started in the beginning. And with nowhere else to turn, what do they do?

That's the question

That shouldn't escalate that far as them completely losing and getting labeled as criminals across the system. Every time Tekkadan was about to lose in the past, something happened that saved them from that. That's how the plot goes, so something like that should happen this time, too.

[darkone45]

speaking of Ein, I Feel Mika's relationship to Hush is a lot like how Gaelio and Ein were in season 1 coincidence ? and heck if Hush dose die Protecting Mika from Gaelio's finishing blow ( if they fight again) I mean he still has a lot of reasons to hate Mika ( given what happen in season 1 and how he respected Ein) and I get mcgillis was behind it all but our boy Mika was still the one who pull the trigger ( even if it was Ein's fault ) plus it will be Orga's turn to motivate Mika, which also makes their relationship stronger as well as at the same time hit the theme of who ends the cycle of revenge, since the theme of this show has always been is revenge right ? I feel Mika might come to that answer before the end but that just me

[vic-vic]

BTW, if Rustal fraction wins and Gaelio was a major contributor to the victory then it would give him a LOT of weight in GH. Which could give him to opportunity to to toss the poverball snowball that would unleash the avalanche.

For example he could fore the council to give the power blocks Ahab reactor technology. AT first, it wouldn't do much to Gjallarhorn grip to power, but few decades later each nation could be able to roll out a massive army of Mobile Suits and thus force GH to be much more delicate in their approach... or GJ would face a treat of a massive war they can easilly lose.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by asaqe

Their whole goal was not to get booted from Teiwaz and they still did with the salt in the wound that the Turbines are no more in almost every sense of the word.

A victory will be Naze and most of the Turbine in exile but still alive. Since they had been expelled by McMurdo and Orga was goimg to expelled for killing Jasley amyways it was better to shoot first in this case

In terms of objectives they have lost. Naze and Orga's goal was to keep Tekkadan in Teiwaz and he failed to uphold that to avenge the Turbines

Actually, their main goal was to become "king of Mars" at this point, not "stay part of Teiwaz". Yes, that would be amicable to do so, but it wasn't their "main goal". And none of this is the same as an actual military "loss". Unfortunate circumstances yes, much of which were out of their control considering Iok and Jasley concocted the whole affair. But not a "loss".

In a battle, they have not lost once.

Originally Posted by darkone45

speaking of Ein, I Feel Mika's relationship to Hush is a lot like how Gaelio and Ein were in season 1 coincidence ? and heck if Hush dose die Protecting Mika from Gaelio's finishing blow ( if they fight again) I mean he still has a lot of reasons to hate Mika ( given what happen in season 1 and how he respected Ein) and I get mcgillis was behind it all but our boy Mika was still the one who pull the trigger ( even if it was Ein's fault ) plus it will be Orga's turn to motivate Mika, which also makes their relationship stronger as well as at the same time hit the theme of who ends the cycle of revenge, since the theme of this show has always been is revenge right ? I feel Mika might come to that answer before the end but that just me

I don't know if I would say they're all that similar. Gaelio was much more emotional and naive than Mika is, and so his relationship with Ein was more intimate and closer than Mika's is with Hush. Hush and Mika serve each other as mentor and student, but they still wouldn't be classified as the close friends Gaelio and Ein were. Ein told Gaelio secrets about his past, Ein was Gaelio's confidant. Mika and Hush have nothing like that together. So, while I do see what you're trying to say, I don't think the relationships mirror in quite that way.

And I don't think the series itself is about revenge. Revenge does factor, but it's not the main theme. The main theme is more about the have and the have nots, the underdogs who rise up against all odds and change the world. We see that with Tekkadan, with the Turbines, with McGillis, it's throughout. Revenge does feature at points, but it's not the main thing.

Originally Posted by vic-vic

BTW, if Rustal fraction wins and Gaelio was a major contributor to the victory then it would give him a LOT of weight in GH. Which could give him to opportunity to to toss the poverball snowball that would unleash the avalanche.

For example he could fore the council to give the power blocks Ahab reactor technology. AT first, it wouldn't do much to Gjallarhorn grip to power, but few decades later each nation could be able to roll out a massive army of Mobile Suits and thus force GH to be much more delicate in their approach... or GJ would face a treat of a massive war they can easilly lose.

While this is possible, one, he would have to get past his dad, who is the current lord of his family. Also, it seems that right now, if this coup doesn't work, all the other older families are going to hunker down and want to keep everything exactly the same after this scare they just had. Do you think they would accept any changes anymore from Gaelio than from McGillis? Not really.

And Rustal himself is the king of trying to keep everything at status quo. He would never okay allowing the dissidents more tech and power. It would mean more potential "uprisings" that would "disturb the peace". And if Rustal does win this, he would have a lot more power that Gaelio. Gaelio is basically just a face, a symbol. Rustal is the one with the army, and the one in charge. And his men are very loyal as we see no only from Julietta and Galan, but if you go back to season one, you saw that the Arianrhod soldiers knowingly kept information of what was going on from Gaelio, even though he was working right along with them. So, what Gaelio and the Bauduins might move up a level or so in the Seven Stars, he would still probably be behind the other higher families.

[Irenesharda]

McGillis is looking pretty thoughtful here, and if you look close, it's the exact same setting as the Almiria shot from the PV. Knowing that, we can probably conclude it's the same scene and if so, then it looks to be only the two of them out there.
If so, that can only be either her blood or his. So either, she tried to hurt herself, hurt him, or he hurt her.
Considering the way her face is scrunched as if she's in the middle of talking, I'm going to guess that it's one of the first two.

Spoiler for PV shots:

[NBG]

This is one way I see the series ending

Note that this is just a crazy idea that just happened to pop into my brain and well here I am

Tekkadan+McGillis group will fight against Arianhod fleet for 2/3 episodes
During those 2/3 eps many will die on all sides
Arianhod tho will have the advantage due to sheer numbers
During the battle McGillis will use a semi-important Tekkadan member as a shield and get said pilot killed.
Orga and crew will get mad and ponder the thought of betraying McGillis
Suddenly a emergency calls comes in. . . it's from Arianhod
Gaelio offers orga a deal
Betray/kill McGillis and they let Tekkadan go
After heated debate Orga and Mikazuki decide to accept the deal
However there is a big catch
Orga and Mikazuki must pay with their lives after the deed is done

That's all I got

Also I'm assuming this whole "soul of agnika" thing will end up being a huge powerup of some sorts that will make mcgillis a extremely dangerous adversary

Idk i'm bored