Awesome / Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

"I never thought I'd get to crush you with my own hands."

Season 1

• The Gundam Barbatos' entrance in the first episode with the amazing soundtrack accompanying it.
  • To elaborate, the whole build-up with Orga and Eugene running from a Graze in a Mobile Worker with Orga declaring that he won't die and never will is pretty awesome in its own. Then he yells out for Mikazuki...who promptly breaks through the ground and SMASHES the Graze to the ground with Barbatos' mace complete with an amazing track playing in the background.
• CGS Third Group taking on the Gjallarhorn forces and holding their own, despite being ambushed at night AND being at a technological and numerical disadvantage!
  • Of special note is Orga using a remote detonator to set off the First Groups signal flares, who were trying to flee the base while using the Third Group as decoys, effectively beating them at their own game!
• The following exchange between Augus and Kudelia:
  Kudelia Bernstein: Let's shake hands!
  Mikazuki Augus: Uhm...
  Kudelia Bernstein: Why not? I just wanted to be on equal terms with you.
  Mikazuki Augus: (shows his hands) I declined because my hands are dirty.
  Kudelia Bernstein: (blushes) I just...
  Mikazuki Augus: But that means we're not on equal terms to begin with, right?
  Kudelia Bernstein: (speechless)
• The second episode shows Mika managing to hold off Eins and Crank despite being in a suit that's likely gone centuries without use, granted it's a Gundam, on his first deployment and no previous experience using it.
• Episode 3: Mikazuki duels Crank, and holds his own against a superior opponent with a wealth of battle experience. Undaunted by the loss of his Graze's arm and shield, he shatters Mika's mace, only for Mika to grab the remains, shove them into the area right underneath his cockpit, and reveals that it has an injection stake in the tip. Afterwards, he makes sure Crank's suit can't get up again. Crank himself is worthy of praise as well, lasting as long as he did against a superior suit.
  • Kudelia's resolve was impressive as well. Kudelia was more than willing to go to what was her assured death if it meant avoiding anymore meaningless deaths, even then she would do her best to have them listen to her.
  • Additionally, Kudelia considered going through the extremely painful Alaya-Vijnana process to become a Gundam pilot. She was dissuaded but it took a lot of courage to even threaten to do it.
• When Coral tries to bribe Mcgillis Fareed, he responds that if Coral continues, he will be forced to arrest him.
• As Mika is choking the living shit out of Gaelio, Mrs. Sakura calmly walks up behind him and taps him on the head, instantly calming him down.
• Orga being Crazy-Prepared for an incoming ambush from both Gjallarhorn and Orcus Company by preparing a battleship without anybody see it coming. He's the leader of Tekkadan for a good reason.
• Within seconds of seeing Mikazuki fight Gaelio, McGillis determines the Barbatos's weaknesses and becomes the first character to actually put up a decent fight against Mika.
• Eugene volunteering on a dangerous mission to maneuver the battleship through anchoring an asteroid and swivel the ship into a favorable position. To do so, he must take a Mobile Worker out of the Isaribi and down the cable, blow up pieces of the asteroid in order to release the anchors, or the ship will collide. Also, they didn't have the time for an extraction plan. Sure, Eugene may be doing this to prevent Orga from upstaging his heroics, but nonetheless gets the job done.
• Episode 7. Maruba wanted his ship back and he's paying Turbine to do it. Tekkadan ends up picking a fight with a group under Jupiter's biggest mafia Teiwaz, using really outdated mobile suits. They do well enough considering those pilots and their mobile suits were top-of-the-line.
  • "Where's Orga?" Leading a boarding party inside the enemy's ship, apparently.
  • How they managed to board the enemy ship deserves mention. First they fired missiles filled with smoke to cover their approach, then they flew RIGHT AT the enemy ship, performing a barrel roll to avoid a collision, while Orga and his boarding crew managed to get aboard the ship in the brief seconds the Isarabi was above the enemy ship. Blood isn't the only thing made of iron on these orphans!
  • Akihiro taking on Amida and Azeer while Mikazuki heads back to protect the Isarabi from Lafter's ambush. Even though it's only his second battle in a Mobile Suit in SPACE no less, he still manages to hold his own against two veteran pilots!
  • Meanwhile, Mika, in a Barbatos that wasn't fully adjusted, went up against a superior opponent in a far faster suit which was the first opponent to actually do significant damage to the gundam (with ranged weapons nonetheless!). While she would have still been a tremendous threat had Barbatos been fully maintained, Mika barely managed to force a draw by slamming the Hyakuri into the meteor it just slammed him into earlier. And even then, Lafter avoided a fatal hit thinks to her suit's hidden arms.
• When Akihiro and Takaki are ambushed by 3 unknown mobile suits, Mikazuki pulls off a Big Damn Heroes moment at the last minute with his upgraded Gundam Barbatos.
• Continuing on from episode 10, Mikazuki engages the enemy Man Rodi suits, and then confronts the Gundam Guison in one-on-one combat. Both pilots get props. Mika, for showing just what the Barbatos can do fully tuned up, and forcing Guison on the defensive multiple times, and Guison's pilot for using it's incredibly fast despite it's size speed to keep Mika on his toes, while using it's heavily armed body to lure Mika into striking it at close range so he can smash it with his hammer.
• In Episode 13:
  • Mika wipes the floor with the Gusion. Defeating a mech as strong as the Gusion demonstrates that Mika is a genuinely skilled pilot and not just relying on the Barbatos's strength.
  • Akihiro takes the Gusion as his own, bringing Tekkadan's fighting strength up to two Gundams.
• Episode 14 shows us what happens when Tekkadan gets caught red-handed in the middle of an illegal arms transaction with a revolting union—despite being outnumbered and only backed by civilian union members, they were able to fight off a Gjallarhorn unit effectively in a stand worthy of Les Misérables.^note This is sadly undercut that their fight, where they intended to simply intimidate-then-negotiate, ended in their massacre at the streets of Dort 3 by Episode 16.
• In Episode 15, Savarin, Biscuit's brother, has arranged for Gjallarhorn to kidnap Biscuit and Atra because they are Kudelia's associates. As the two are cornered by Gjallarhorn soldiers, Atra does some quick-thinking and says she is Kudelia, in order to keep Biscuit and the real Kudelia safe.
  • Later on, Atra is subjected to some very, very brutal torture and questioned by the weapons supplied to the colonists. Does the girl break? Heck no! She has suffered abuse since she worked at that brothel, being beaten up by soldiers is nothing. Atra deserves some respect here.
  • To cap it all off, Mikazuki hears of his friends' kidnapping and goes to their rescue. He crashes a truck in the bad guys' entrance, punches the crap out of everyone inside and gets his friends to safety, with the help of Orga and Tekkadan, of course.
• Episode 17: The entirety of the Gusion Rebake's combat debut: Akihiro blocks a hit meant for Mika from Gaelio's Kimaris. Then they give the Kimaris a hard time.
  • Norba's debut in the Ryusei-Go also counts, facing off against Ein in the Schwalbe Graze. It's Ace Custom vs Ace Custom, with both suits using the same MS frame.
  • Kudelia's Character Development. To wit: notice how her eyes have narrowed, seemingly filled with reflection and weight, but not losing their innocence entirely, her voice seems lower and measured, and how most of her dialogue carry the conviction of the politician she's been meaning to become. This gets to a head by the climax of the episode, where she chooses to pull an Enemy Mine with her treacherous funder Nobliss to get through Gjallarhorn's media blackout and broadcast her message against the massacre at Dort 3, doing it in a very up-front manner that would rival Mineva Zabi's attempts at such at the finale of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn — and with less resources at that! In the next episode, the African Union orders Gjallarhorn to let Tekkadan go because killing Kudelia after that speech would damage their reputation and martyr her for certain.
• In Episode 18, Mikazuki immediately identifies the masked man as McGillis despite having only seen McGillis once before and not hearing the masked man speak. McGillis is quite impressed.
• From Episode 19:
  • Eugene using his AV system to control both the Isaribi and the Brewers ship at once despite the rest of Tekkadan claiming that such a feat is impossible, throwing Carta's strategy into complete disarray.
  • Lafter and Azee saving Akihiro with their new Rouei mobile suits.
  • Ein finally shows what he's really capable of by wiping the floor with Shino. If Ein hadn't gone off to sacrifice himself to save Gaelio from Mikazuki, he would probably have killed Shino.
  • Mikazuki immediately realizes that the Grimgerde's pilot is McGillis just from watching him fight for a few seconds.
  • Mikazuki manages to survive entry into Earth's atmosphere in the most Mikazuki way possible - by killing the nearest Elite Mook and surfing the mangled wreckage of his suit down from orbit. Mika even salvaged the enemy suit's shoulder armors and put onto his own.
  • Credit to Carta for getting rid of the chaff instead of panicking. Tekkadan were just too clever.
  • Mikazuki shaking Kudelia's hand is awesome in how symbolic it is of how far they've both have come.
• Orga and Biscuit reconciling after their personal argument with each other in Episode 21. Despite Gjallahorn's overwhelming number of troops, those two managed to cripple the majority of the enemy forces thanks to their cooperative strategic minds.
• Mika and the Barbatos casually tossing Grazes around with the new T-Rex mace. Bear in mind Earth's gravity is in effect.
• Episode 22
  • Mika snapping Orga out of his Heroic BSoD by getting up in his face and demanding to be given orders.
  "That's right, take us. Who should I kill next? What should I destroy next? If I can reach your goal, I'll do anything."
  • Orga's speech to the rest of Tekkadan, right after recovering from his slump (thanks to Mika, of all people), essentially amounting to "We will crush any who oppose us".
  • Kudelia's plan gets merit too, allowing them to get around the net that was being set-up for them. Keep in mind that this is the first time she's been to Earth and she thinks of things that someone born here didn't. How does she do this? Study and research whenever possible.
• Episode 23 shows how Mikazuki wrecked Carta's squadrons in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he defeated all of them on his own when they are still talking without learning the lesson from their previous encounter, Gaelio on the other hand appeared and saved Carta from Mika's final blow in a Big Damn Heroes moment.
  "I don't care who you are, it doesn't change that you are my enemy."
• Episode 24 is the ensuing battle between Tekkadan and Gjallarhorn, we finally get to see Graze Ein in action and flips the table against Tekkadan.
  • Eugene, after being left in space to captain the Isaribi for several episodes, shows up with the rest of the ship's crew to reinforce the collapsing Tekkadan vanguard, allowing Orga and others to break Gjallarhorn's defensive line and enter the city.
  • Not to mention Kudelia walking right up to Ein and calling him out. It doesn't matter if you're world-renowned politician, a leader of armed bunch of crooks, a mafia head or a gigantic mobile suit bigger than Barbatos.
• Episode 25 features Mikazuki vs Ein in the streets of Edmonton.
  • Kudelia ignoring Henri Fleurs attempt to interrupt her speech to give an impassioned one to the floor of Arbrau's parliament.
  • When it looks like Ein might actually have Mika on the ropes, what does he do? gloating Mika into forcing the Barbatos's Alaya-Vijnana system to its maximum, giving him reflexes even ''faster'' than Ein, and then proceed to slice the Graze Ein apart with the katana that he hasn't even touched since acquiring the Wrench Mace.
  Mika: "Oh, so that's how you use it."
  • Ultimately, it ended up being an Offscreen Moment of Awesome but while all these events were happening over the course of these two episodes, Akihiro was holding the line and managed to defeat all of Gjallarhorn's Grazes by himself.

Season 2

• Episode 1:
  • Shino and the Ryusei Unit holding the line expertly against the enemies attack.
  • Mikazuki's repeat of the Season 1's Big Damn Hero moment, only this time he drops in from above.
    • Continuing with the tradition of Awesome Music, the above entrance is accompanied by SPYAIR's "Rage of Dust".
  • Kudelia showing that all the experiences she had undergone has shaped her into being decisive and acting when needed. She didn't let herself be pushed around by someone else just because they sought to use her.
• Episode 2:
  • Mikazuki quickly makes work of two more pirate mobile suits and would have finished them all of with ease if Barbartos hadn't malfunctioned. Yeah, he broke the brand-new Barbatos Lupus as soon as he drive it!
  • Mikazuki stops Hush from slapping Atra and attempts to break his arm as punishment with a bland face, only stopping because Atra asked him not to hurt Hush.
  "Is this the arm?"
• Episode 4:
  • Julieta shows that she's a match for Mikazuki in melee combat.
  • When the Dawn Horizon pirates capture Julieta's Reginlaze in wires, she simply ejects her shoulder plates to break free and resumes kicking ass.
  • Iok demonstrates that he is an excellent sniper by shooting Sandoval's bodyguards from across the battlefield. Post Calamity mobile suit ranged weapons are notoriously inaccurate because of Ahab reactors and Iok doesn't have the advantage of cybernetics like Akihiro, but he still is a hell of a shot.
  • When Mikazuki finally gets within melee range of Sandoval's Hugo, he beats the crap out of the Hugo with his twin maces, forcing Sandoval to surrender.
  "Capturing a live person is harder than to kill them."
  • After the battle with Dawn Horizon concludes, Orga and Mikazuki go to Allium Gyojan, the man who hired Dawn Horizon to try to assassinate Kudelia and demand that he pay them back for what he cost Tekkadan during the fight, both materials and lives. Gyojan tries to talk his way out of the situation in about half a dozen different ways but Orga's having none of it. He finally tries to get his own men to kill Orga and Mika, but Akihiro and a bunch of other Tekkadan guys have already taken over the building. Finally, Orga tells Gyojan that if he can't "reimburse" them for their friends who were killed by Dawn Horizon, then he'll just have to take it up with their friends in person and Mika shoots him dead. The son of a bitch had it coming and it is so satisfying.
• Episode 7:
  • After learning of Aston's death, Akihiro ends up going into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, very reminiscent of Mikazuki's final fight with Carta. He goes completely BERSERK on Galan Mossa when he finally tracks him down.
• Episode 9:
  • Vidar's first sortie. Calling it a Curb-Stomp Battle would be an understatement as he tears through nearly a dozen enemy mobile suits with casual ease, shoots a Macross Missile Massacre down before it can even get close to him, and proceeds to destroy one of the missile carriers for good measure. All the while showcasing the Kimaris' signature hit-and-run style; new and improved with far greater versatility.
• Episode 10:
  • As Nightmare Fuel as it may be, Hashmal activates for the first time in ages AND firing its beam at the sky]] is certainly an awe-inducing sight, accompanied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm8rruLFs2E awesome soundtrack.
• Episode 12:
  • Vidar calling out McGillis for piloting a Graze Ritter in memory of Carta despite having orchestrated her death.
  • Chad successfully drawing the Hashmal's attention, leading it back towards the trap they were setting. How does he accomplish this? By throwing a rocket-tomahawk at its head.
  • Ride having first hand experience of just how terrifying the Mobile Armor is, doesn't hestitate to head out in the Ryusei-Go III and engage the MA in close combat to lure it into Flauros's attack.
  • For that matter, the Flauros' attack. Twin railcannons which easily blow out the side of a canyon, causing a massive rock slide that blocks off the entire passage; separating the Hashmal from its Plumas.
  • McGillis, Isurugi, and Julieta fighting the Mobile Armor is amazing, as while they all get their asses kicked in the end, they are the first pilots shown to actually give it trouble.
• Episode 13:
  • Mikazuki vs. Hashmal. Mika tanks mulitiple beam weapon blasts, tears up Hashmal with Barbatos's bare hands, and finishes the beast off by stealing the Helmwige Reincar's BFS and impaling Hashmal with it. Moreso, with only one arm!
  • Rustal ending his alliance with the Kujan family over Iok's absurd recklessness from the past few episodes.
• Episode 15:
  • We've seen before that Julieta is a skilled pilot capable of fighting evenly with Mikazuki even before she upgraded to the Reginlaze Julia. We haven't seen Amida fight much, apart from their first fight with Tekkadan (and even then most of her combat scenes was off-screen), and her Hyakuen is fairly outdated. Despite this, Amida managed to fight evenly with Julieta and would have killed her at least five times if the Julia wasn't so durable.
  • The whole rescue operation to save Turbines coming from Shino, of all people. They pretend to test the new rocket boosters for Flauros, Gusion and Raiden-Go in nearby space and just happened to receive distress calls, so that Tekkadan isn't directly involved in the whole mess. Simple enough to work.
    • The trio arriving on time to save Lafter and others, to the tune of none other than Iron-Blooded Orphans, just rank up the awesomeness.
    • Ride, despite having little operating time aboard the Shiden Custom he received from Norba, proves that he can actually hold his own. Extra points for Azee, since she and Lafter taught them in the first place.
  • Naze and Amida using their last moments to try and kill Iok. They fail, but they clearly give Iok the scare of his lifetime, while destroying one of his ships outright.
    • Points for Amida managing to hit the exposed bridge of the ship where Iok was, which was miles away from where she was. Didn't break the front window, but it definitely made a hit; had this been any other Gundam series, Iok and his bridge crew would have been breathing vacuum for sure.
    • Even cooler? Naze decides to borrow a page from Tekkadan's playbook by ramming Iok's ship. This is the same exact tactic Orga used against him in Season 1.
    • Oh, and one more thing: Iok, being a cocky sonuvabitch, refused to retract the bridge of his ship into combat mode when asked if he wanted to earlier. As Naze tries to ram into Iok's ship as part of his Dying Moment of Awesome, Iok doesn't look so confident anymore and is starting to impotently hide behind his chair.
• Episode 17:
  • Merribit's opening monologue practically sets the tone for what's in store in the episode.
  Merribit: Jasley Donomikols, have you said your prayers yet? Tekkadan will not forgive you. Tekkadan will never let you go. So, go ahead and scatter the red flowers upon the graves.
  • We finally see Jasley lose that cocky smile as Tekkadan completely embarrass him. After everything that he did, the Catharsis Factor was so welcome.
  • Jasley calls McMurdo to beg for his life, the old man just calmly reveals he knows Jasley's plan and leaves him to his fate.
    • McMurdo's plan itself bears mentioning. He contacted Rustal Elion to put Iok Kujan and his forces, whom Jasley's plan hinged on to succeed, on a tight leash in exchange for turning a blind eye their role in framing the Turbines.
    • Rustal himself, though unseen throughout the episode, has a minor one. He continues to display Reasonable Authority Figure by being able to keep Iok under control and unable to help Jasley. He may still be tolerating the stupid kid, but even he knows that Iok still needs someone to put him on a VERY tight leash.
  • Jasley opens communications with Orga and still tries to act like he's in control, trying to pay them off. Orga just says all he wanted was to see Jasley beg for his life. He then has Mika kill them.
    • Moreso, Orga isn't telling Jasley to beg to say "Beg for your life and give me everything I ask for and maybe I'll let you live," he's saying "Grovel for my amusement and I'll let you have a few more precious seconds of life." Jasley fails to impress. This is up there with Inigo's final exchange with Rugen in The Princess Bride for how awesome it is.
  • Hush finally gets to put all that training he's received from Mikazuki to work. He actually manages to hold his own for much of the battle, only struggling when the Human Debris with Alaya-Vijnana enter the battle.
  • The conference by McGillis' faction at the end of the episode, revealing the crimes of Rustal and Iok's faction and their role in recent events (awakening of Hashmal and getting Teiwaz, a civilian organization involved). A little more crude than McGillis' scheme in season 1 to expose Gjallarhorn's corruption through the Graze Ein's existence, but it makes the same impact and sets the stage for the final episodes.
• Episode 18:
  • The reveal that Gaelio used Ein's brain that was digitized by the Alaya-Vijnana as an added system to his Gundam. This is shown by him having the advantage against Mika. It's stated to be equal to Mika when he destroyed Hashmal.
  • Just as McGillis is declaring his authority over Gjallarhorn with his control of Gundam Bael, Gaelio in Gundam Vidar broadcasts his return as himself, a member of the Seven Stars, and will strike down the traitorous McGillis.
• Episode 19:
  • If anything can overtake Bright Slap, It's Orga punching McGillis for being drunk with power, then proceed to say that he won't betray McGillis... but won't completely endanger his men either. You can see even McGillis' respect for him grow slightly.
• Episode 20:
  • Rustal finally shows off his tactical genius. He had one of his men infiltrate McGillis's revolutionaries, fire a Danslief at the Arianrhod forces, and commit suicide. This gives Rustal justification to use an army of Danslief-equipped Grazes to devastate McGillis's fleet.
  • Julieta demonstrates that her poor performance against Amida was a fluke, as she seems to be evenly matched against Mikazuki. She also manages to stop Shino's Super Galaxy Cannon from killing Rustal, albeit at the cost of one of the Julia's arms.
  • Isurugi manages to fight off the newly upgraded Gundam Kimaris Vidar, despite Gaelio using the E System to enhance his abilities.
  • Shino's last stand. Though it failed due to Julieta's last second intervention, it was still enough to wipe the smug smirk off of Rustal's face after the latter verbally looked down on Tekkadan as the usual "space rats". Just watch Rustal's expression when he sees the newly emerged, Dansleif-armed Flauros take aim at the Skipjack's bridge. That alone arguably made Shino's sacrifice worth it.
• Episode 21:
  • Mikazuki vs Julieta is one for both sides. Mika manages to practically demolish the Reginlaze Julia despite its extreme speed and durability. And Julieta manages to continue fighting, albeit very briefly, after Mika smashed her cockpit and critically injured her.
  • McGillis vs Vidar is one for McGillis. Gaelio's Alaya-Vijnana Type E allows him to fight with the equivalent of an unlimted AV system. In addition, the Kimaris Vidar is considerably more heavily armed than the Bael. Despite this, McGillis manages to fight Gaelio evenly until his wound from Almiria's Interrupted Suicide starts to act up.
• Episode 23:
  • Obviously crossing with Tear Jerker, Orga's Dying Moment of Awesome: when assassins come out of nowhere to kill him, Ride, Chad, and presumably Kudelia and Atra, Orga takes several bullets meant for Ride, then whips Mikazuki's gun out and takes out two of the assassins (with only three shots), forcing them to retreat. Then, standing in a growing pool of his own blood, reaffirms his position of "Boss of Tekkadan" before managing to walk a solid distance before finally succumbing to his injuries. This man is truly worthy of the title "Iron-Blooded Orphan".
• Episode 24:
  • McGillis' Badass Boast to Vidar, done with a Slasher Smile to boot.
  McGillis: If you insist on getting in my way Gaelio, I REALLY WILL KILL YOU THIS TIME!!
  • McGillis' solo suicide run on the Arianrhod fleet. Once his men and even Todo have jumped ship as ordered, he sends his lone ship on a collision run towards the fleet, then emerges against the mobile suits. Just as he reaches Rustal's ship, out comes Gaelio and the two have duke it out...and Gaelio barely wins. Despite Bael getting trashed, he manages to drag the two Gundams within the ship's hangar, causing monumental damage. He then goes on foot WITH A METAL ROD JAMMED IN HIS SIDE to continue attempting to take down Rustal. Sadly, he is stopped once and for all by Gaelio.
    • McGillis' solo run against the fleet before Gaelio shows up speaks words. He's arguably the most powerful pilot in the setting at this point. He was skilled enough to fight AV system users with just standard controls, and only after reaching the pinnacle of skill of those does he get an AV system himself with all the enhanced awareness and syncing to his machine to allow perfect humanlike movement that the system grants, AND he gained a Gundam with it's dual reactor power. What follows is one of the fastest and brutal slaughters in the show as he takes out dozens of Rustal's pilots flying around so fast they only can see a streak of light. He has the raw power of a Gundam but also incredible precision and skill and the kind of fancy swordsmanship of a duelist and not the dull slow swings the automated movement pattern creates. Arguably the only reason he loses to Gaelio is that Kimaris Vidar had more weapons and features than Bael did. Notably Kimaris Vidar features a Dainsielf launcher, the same weapon that had caused so much damage and would later be the weapon to do in the Gundam's of Tekkadan. Gaelio never even tries to use it against Bael, he knows he'll never be able to hit McGillis with it.
  • Lets also break down the fight: McGillis has the Bael, which has been unused and unmodified for 300 years, is only armed with a pair of swords, and only has higher than average agility as its particular attribute. Gaelio's Kimaris Vidar has been heavily upgraded from the ground up, is armed and armored to the teeth, and carries an Alaya-Vijnana variant that allows its pilot to utilize its full power with no drawbacks. They prove a near-even match, with Gaelio only being able to land a solid hit after intentionally taking a hit and pushing the Type-E system to its limit.
  • Gaelio with some posthumous help from Ein finally manages to hand McGillis an utter defeat. First, by pinning the Bael against the ship it was going to destroy, then breaking the mobile suit's sword and crippling its agility by tearing off one of the Vidar's own shields to smash its boosters. When McGillis manages to kick off the drill the Vidar was going to use for the coup de grace, Gaelio quickly grabs the broken drill and uses it to stab the Bael in the chest. Later, when McGillis tries to reach Rustal on foot, Gaelio manages to outmaneuver him the moment he steps out of the elevator, looking none the worse for wear while his former friend is on his last legs. Unrepentant and furious, McGillis screams in rage and tries to murder Gaelio one last time, but his kill shot is stopped by the Vidar helmet, a piece of armor Gaelio wouldn't have been wearing if McGillis had never betrayed him in the first place.
• Episode 25:
  • The final battle: after Rustal uses an orbital Dainsleif strike against Tekkadan, Mika and Akihiro manage to continue fighting despite their Gundams being nearly torn to shreds. Akihiro fights Iok and gives him the gruesome fate he deserves: being crushed by Gusion's scissor-shield. Mikazuki releases Barbatos's limiter and tears a bloody swathe through the Arianrhod forces, only failing to kill Julieta because the backlash killed him just a few seconds too early. While Mika and Akihiro both die, they shed far more Gjallarhorn blood than any of the characters expected. In addition, Iok's death contributes to Rustal's decision to disband the Seven Stars and make rulership of Gjallarhorn democratic.
  Akihiro: Akihiro Altland, Gundam Gusian Rebake Full City.
  Mikazuki: Mikazuki Augus, Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex.
  Mikazuki & Akihiro: Let's do this.
  • As the battle unfolds, it becomes apparent that the Gjallahorn troops actually view Mikazuki and Akihiro as The Dreaded. They keep fighting, even after getting hit by the Dainsleif railguns. It literally takes their Gundams falling apart for them to finally fall in battle.
  • Two words: Iok's death. That is all. ^note More details on the Gjallarhorn Character and Nightmare Fuel pages.
    Akihiro: Good things come to you if you just live long enough. To think I'd be able to crush you with my own hands...
  • Ride kills Nobliss, years after it looked like he would get away with everything.
  • Rustal Elion has finally gotten what he wanted: the "destruction" of Tekkadan. Even if he doesn't kill every last member, he permanently tarnishes their reputation and forces them to go on the run. He even takes over Gjallarhorn and turns it into a democratic government. It really says something about this guy when the surviving protagonists have to get new identities in order to get a semblance of a happy ending. And it's implied he knows who they really are and only lets them live because it's convenient for him.
  • For Tekkadan, they don't need fame or total victory to find the peace they seek: the rest of them are safe, Gjallarhorn's corruption is finally removed (abolishing the Seven Stars ruling system in the process), Mars gaining independence, and the Human Debris becomes illegal. In other words, they created a world where no more children would end up becoming like them. It seems that what's left of Tekkadan are currently minding their own business peacefully and not showing up again for a very long time.