Suisei no Gargantia - Character Discussion - Ledo

[Pellissier]

The purpose of this thread is to provide a place to discuss all things Ledo related.

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[sky black swordman]

Great MC. There are moments (mostly near the end of Ep 2) when he reminds of Setsuna F Seiei (Gundam 00) and Heero Yuy (Gundam Wing).

[NoemiChan]

Pretty emotionless and clueless in the first couple of episodes.... Hope he interacts more,,,

[ReddyRedWolf]

No Ledo is not emotionless as you guys think. Ledo tried to save his comrades and let loose Chamber's limiters even if it could mean they run out of power.

Unlike those characters Ledo is not of a one track mind. He thinks things through and is careful in not harming the natives who are only in the defensive.

Pirates were a threat to civilians and he did what any soldier would've done. Neutralize the hostage takers before they can harm the civvies.

He even accepted the new Rules of Engagement when dealing with the Gargantia fleet.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Agreed, right now it is just cultural differences. The people of Gargantia's value is closer to us, while Ledo's value and beliefs are more foreign. So to us Ledo might feel colder, but as Ledo get uses to more of the culture and the language we should get his true-self.

[Raviel]

I wouldn't call Ledo emotionless, I don't think he would have volunteered to hold off the Hideauze for the rest of his squadron or bothered to try to help his trapped comrades during the first episode otherwise. He also shows visible anger at the Hideauze just before he gets sucked into the wormhole.

I think it would be more accurate to say Ledo is a product of the environment he was raised in, the fight against the Hideauze looks like it leaves very little time to do anything but practical day-to-day routines (we don't even know if the pilots get any other chances for shore leave besides the one shown to Ledo).

[MisaoFan]

I thought he was emotionless in the promo material, and I was totally wrong when he's more than just that. His biggest weakness was the fact that he's unable to interact foreigners from what I've seen so far, so he needs to learn more about the civility behind Gargantia. His fighting moments are great, hope he'll protect the civilians even though he's forced to neutralize them whenever we're in a threatful situation.

[Raviel]

^I wouldn't worry about Ledo doing anything rash, he's arguably one of the most sensible and level-headed male MCs I've ever seen. His difficulty in interacting with the people of Gargantia is pretty understandable considering that he's so far removed from the environment he is used to.

[Bonta Kun]

Originally Posted by Raviel

^I wouldn't worry about Ledo doing anything rash, he's arguably one of the most sensible and level-headed male MCs I've ever seen. His difficulty in interacting with the people of Gargantia is pretty understandable considering that he's so far removed from the environment he is used to.

Yea very level headed, especially for a mecha pilot which is a what I'm enjoying the most about Ledo's character atm.

He's doing rather well given his situation and it's portrayed in a somewhat more realistic way than the norm, usually the MC would be either in a terrible state or fitting in as a local in a matter of minutes.

[p-kun]

The soldier clones in ep 1 look Ledo's age. I wonder if Avalon only started mass cloning soldiers recently due to Hideauze attack. As population (of soldiers) increases tremendously compared to Avalon's carrying capacity, soldiers were only allowed limited citizenships.

This gives a very gloomy implication for ep 1, as the soldiers who died might have been Ledo's siblings, while his colonel might be his parent (or the DNA source).

[Jan-Poo]

How do you know that they are clones?

[Shinhwa]

I wonder if they are going to go with translation-only way of talking between Ledo and the people of Earth, or if he will learn their language somehow lol

[LKK]

If think Ledo will gain a rudimentary ability to speak the Gargantians' language. He's already learned to say "Thank you". He'll probably learn enough to get by on a daily basis. But complicated discussions would still be translated by Chamber.

[ReddyRedWolf]

I love it when he freaks out when girls try to feed him dead things.

In 16 years of his life all that he has eaten are MREs. I take it Avalon has real food but much like Macross Frontier episode 1 real meat would be a luxury.

Unless the Galactic Human Alliance turned vegetarian.

[MeisterBabylon]

I think they eat just nutrient packs... It's only logical.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Raviel

I think it would be more accurate to say Ledo is a product of the environment he was raised in, the fight against the Hideauze looks like it leaves very little time to do anything but practical day-to-day routines (we don't even know if the pilots get any other chances for shore leave besides the one shown to Ledo).

Exactly. This is a rather fascinating scenario to consider. We already know that cultures can vary widely based on how the real world operates. Now we have a split in humanity (those that were stranded on Earth and those that went to space), and an unknown yet apparently lengthy period of time has elapsed. Human culture and the structure of society changes slowly with time, and Ledo's society has clearly changed quite a bit from that on Earth (which Gargantia presents in a manner that isn't so different from modern-day western society). It isn't a matter of good or bad (or good vs. evil), it just is. We may recoil from how Ledo's society operates, but that's only because we're examining it from our own present-day society and Ledo's society seems rather harsh.

Thus Raviel has it right that Ledo's behaviors and expectations were shaped by the society that he's accustomed to (as are we all). Ledo's society values efficiency and is purpose-driven, and hence Ledo was initially operating from that standpoint.

As of episode 5 I'd say that Ledo is showing remarkable flexibility and open-mindedness with how he's accepting of the operations and expectations of the society on the Gargantia. Even though his society is clearly superior (at least from a technological standpoint) he isn't attempting to dictate how the people of Gargantia should be living or what they should be doing. Open-minded indeed.

I feel that there's a fairly predictable end point coming, though. Ledo will acclimate and then fit in to Gargantian society, and then will face difficulty re-integrating with the Galactic Alliance. The theme will probably be along the lines of how the Galactic Alliance lost what it "truly meant to be human," or some such thing... we'll see.

Otherwise, this is a very interesting premise, and Ledo is a very interesting character. You have to wonder if such differences in society can and will develop if and when humans colonize other planets and space.

[taofd]

Originally Posted by ReddyRedWolf

No Ledo is not emotionless as you guys think. Ledo tried to save his comrades and let loose Chamber's limiters even if it meant they would burn out.

FTFY

At no point was power mentioned as an issue, the two concepts used were "burning out" and "preserving unit functionality".

[bastek66]

Ledo's tan

Spoiler for big pic:

[Jan-Poo]

Wow is it really that consistent? If it is, it's amazing that they care about such a particular considering the vast majority won't even notice.

[mechalord]

Why don't they just make him the teacher? He seems to pick up language fast.

He's a genetically engineered, super soldier from outer space. He's probably a peak human specimen with a 200 IQ. He's average for his kind but a genius for the primitives.