This was the ending we’ve all been waiting for. We get an actual epilogue this time around. We basically get to watch an extended version of the last episode. Most of it’s still the same, but they added a few new scenes here and there. They did make some changes as well. For instance, Athrun witnesses Rey, Gilbert, and Talia’s final moments along with Kira. That was fine and all, but what we all needed most was the epilogue. It was only a few minutes long, but it did what it set out to do. We see Shinn finally come to his senses and glady accepting Kira’s request to help them in their fight to rebuild the future. I thought the final departure scene with Kira and Lacus was the best. It would have been nice to have had a few more minutes in the epilogue to tie up some loose ends, but at least we got something. It wasn’t as indepth as I had hoped it to be. All in all I’m not overly disappointed with the epilogue or anything. The last scene with Kira and Lacus make up for the other stuff they left out.

The ending didn’t turn out as I had anticipated. On the whole though, I was satisfied by the ending. My biggest complaint was of course Shinn surviving. Although maybe after that Fllay-recycled appearance by Stellar he may not be such a psychotic brat anymore. As much as I thought Lunamaria was bound to die, I was happy to be proven wrong. She wasn’t making much sense by the end of it all, but I’ll let that slip. So what did I think was good about this last episode? For one thing, I really enjoyed all the action it dished out. Seeing Athrun finish off Shinn was one of the highlights. I liked what they did with Rey’s last scene. You can see, thanks to Kira, that Rey can live his final moment as his own individual. Talia on the other hand, I didn’t exactly like the fact that she orphaned her son by choice. It does add a dramatic effect to that scene nonetheless. I would have liked to see an epilogue though. I’m curious as to see what life for the main characters will be like after the entire ordeal. Considering the popularity of the series maybe they will leave that for an OVA.

Overall I really enjoyed “Gundam SEED Destiny”. It had its fair share of disappointing episodes as well. The recap episodes instantly come to mind. The biggest problem with this series was Shinn. Giving such an annoying character one of the lead roles was a mistake. To make up for it Kira is a complete badass in this series. Gone are the days of constant sobbing. This time he’s all business. The music in terms of opening and ending songs was not as good as the first season. Using a song by Chemistry for an opening song was completely moronic. If you have watched the first season then I would recommend watching the second season as well. In my opinion any fan of mechs should watch this. Of course this series has other qualities besides mechs. Even if mechs aren’t your thing, this may be a series for you to check out to expand your variety in anime.

The beginning of the end. I thought there were lots of good parts in this episode. First off, I liked how they equipped Justice and Freedom with METEOR again purely for nostalgia. Then of course there’s Yzak and Dearka joining sides with Kira and Athrun. Although we didn’t get to see much of that, I’m hoping in the last episode there will be more scenes with them. The other big thing in this episode was Mwu regaining his memories back. I’m actually surprised Akatsuki took no damage from that blast. The other thing that surprised me was Akatsuki’s Fin Funnels. I totally wasn’t expecting it to pull a Nu Gundam with the Fin Funnel shielding. Just one more episode to go before we can hopefully see Shinn die.

I thought the characters they chose for the little “Destiny Plan” explanatory cartoon was very suitable taking the circumstance into account. For one instance Rey’s voice became that of Rau. Rey reveals to Shinn that his life is limited because he is a clone. The Archangel and Eternal set off to face Dullindal to end it all. The last two episodes should be quite action-packed. One of the things I want to see sometime before the very end is Lacus go into SEED mode. The series will probably end up with Kira dealing with Rey and Athrun beating down Shinn in the finale.

Wow, just wow. Another recap so late into the series. Sure it’s Meer’s “journal”, but half of it is just recycled material. We’re shown one of her entries, all in English. The grammatical level of that entry is on par with the level of an average Internet forum poster. I thought the new scenes in this episode were good though. We get to hear Meer’s thoughts on becoming Lacus. There is a decent amount of scenes with the real Lacus too, which is always welcome. Now that Djibril out of the way Dullindal begins his announcement of the “Destiny Plan” to the world. Dullindal’s speech pissed off a normally calm Lacus. When there’s a mad Lacus you know their enemies don’t stand a chance. With only 3 episodes left in the series it’s about time the Archangel begin their final confrontation against Dullindal.

Goodbye Meer. Your jiggle-factor will be missed. “I’m going to killed!” You’d think with such a popular series they would have the budget to hire a proofreader. Putting the Engrish aside, I thought the rest of the episode was good. We get to see a side of Lacus we’ve never seen before. Although it was only one line, we see Lacus unsatisfied with Kira’s comment. Lacus also sheds some tears at the end of the episode, a rare occurence considering the last time that happened was back in season 1. I would have liked to see more Athrun, Meyrin, Lacus, and Kira shopping scenes since we don’t really ever get a chance to see something like that.

With Djibril now out of the way, Dullindal is probably going to begin the Destiny Plan. As much as I don’t want Lunamaria to die, I think it’s quite likely to happen. Shinn needs to suffer even more. Having him die is not enough. As for Kira and the others, they’re about to set off for space as well now that they’re officially part of Orb. Since Cagalli isn’t going with them, she leaves Akatsuki to Neo. We see that she isn’t wearing Athrun’s ring anymore. I can’t be sure of what her reason for that is. There are easily two explanations, but which one I haven’t the slightest idea. I’m just going to have to wait and see.

This episode was pretty much a plot-driven episode. First off, we get the continuation of Lacus’ speech and people’s reaction to it. It puzzles me how people can’t tell the difference between Lacus and Mia. If you just compare their breast size then you can easily tell them apart. Then of course there’s the Requiem. That was one crazy mofo cannon. It looked more powerful than the Genesis. We also find out what the Destiny plan really is. The rest of the series from here on out should be good, now that everyone is on the move. Something I thought I’d mention was when Yzak and them destroyed one of the refracting cylinders the explosion clouds were pink. I just thought that was kind of odd to see pink smoke clouds.

Goodbye Jona. You were annoying till the very end. A well-suited death in my opinion. It looks like it’s just a matter of time before “Neo” regains all of his memory back. I wonder why Kira didn’t instantly take down Rey when they were going at it one on one. Kira was in SEED mode and Rey just plain sucks. We have Athrun trying to convince Shinn again. He should just give up on that, it’s a lost cause. It was nice to see Athrun beating Shinn after they both go into SEED mode though. Lunamaria’s scene was short in this episode, but all I have to say is she’s not much of an elite Zaft pilot. She can’t aim at all. One of the best part of this episode was when the real Lacus interrupted Mia’s propaganda. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next.

This episode plus next week’s episode should make up for the recap we got last week. Cagalli’s fight against Shinn was short considering she’s completely useless against him. But she redeemed herself again after she went to see Jona. We see Kira struggling against Shinn, someone whom we all want to see dead. I think Kira could have taken him out if he really wanted to. He didn’t even use his Fin Funnels. I think they just wanted us to see all the different weapons Strike Freedom has in its arsenal. The arrival of the Dom’s was pretty awesome. The key point being Neya Michiko as the Dom squad leader. With Legend and Destiny heading for Kira and Athrun finally getting off of his ass, we’ll be getting a 2 on 2 fight.