"Zech Merquise... or rather, Peacecraft... come here and let me help you out."
—Lucrezia Noin
Japanese Title: The Nightmare of Victoria
Original Airdate: April 28, 1995
US Airdate: March 9, 2000
As Heero recovers with Duo's allies, and Quatre and Trowa bond, Wufei makes the next move of Operation Meteor: an attack on Victoria Base in Africa. One of Zechs' closest associates, Lucrezia Noin, is determined to protect its cache of mobile suits with her top recruits.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- As You Know: Otto and Zechs discussing Zechs' relationship with Noin as top mobile suit recruits in their class at Victoria Base.Zechs: She was always trying to be second, just so I could look better.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: At the cadets' lounge, after Zechs receives a call from Otto about Tallgeese, Noin taps her sword against his.
- Duet Bonding: At the Manganac Corps base, Quatre is playing his violin. Trowa picks up a flute and joins him.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Initially, Duo complimented Heero for getting Gundam Wing up and running in one night. Then he found out how: Heero scrapped the parts of Gundam Deathscythe, leaving it in pieces.Duo: I was just complimenting him! TRAITOR!!!
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: This is the episode where Noin applies a Bright Slap to a recruit. It's probably the same recruit she held as he died after Wufei's bombing.
- Just a Kid: Noin has a chance to arrest or otherwise neutralize Wufei, but is given pause when she sees he is a kid. Ironically, the encounter colors the remainder of the battle, and is likely why Wufei spared Noin in the end...not out of gratitude, but rather out of spite.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Wufei refuses to kill Noin after beating her, thus denying her an honorable death, because she is a woman.
- Mook Horror Show: Wufei bombs the barracks at Victoria Base. The recruits he didn't kill in the initial bombing, he blew out of the sky both by destroying their mobile suits, and shooting down a carrier plane loaded with mobile suits.
- Pietà Plagiarism: After the initial bombing, Noin cradles one of her recruits in her arms as he dies.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Once he's defeated Noin, Wufei makes sure she knows how he defeated her. Then leaves her alive, confident that he's sufficiently broken her such that she is no longer a threat and also denying her an honorable death.Wufei: Are you listening, woman? Huh? You saw that I was a kid and you underestimated me. You're a weak soldier. I don't kill bleeding hearts or women.
- Say My Name: Relena calls out Heero's name on the shores to have him kill her.Relena: HEERO! I'm right over here, so hurry and come kill me!
- Secret-Keeper: Noin is one of the few that knows Zechs' real name.
- Skyward Scream: In the original, both Noin and Duo do this at different times, for different reasons. Both are turned into Big Word Shouts in the English dub (In Noin's case in the uncensored version, an Atomic F-Bomb).
- Villainous Breakdown: Or a Heroic BSoD depending on your point of view: The end of Noin's battle with Wufei and Gundam Shenlong plays out like a descent into madness on her end as Wufei kills her remaining recruits and disables her own mobile suit.
